Day 26: 29 Days of the Everyday

Day 25: 29 Days of the Everyday

As a parent, I have begrudgingly accepted routine. As a parent, you really have no choice in the matter, if you want some semblance of a happy child and home.

And while I am not one to want to be away from home (and the routine) for very long — even pre-Lucy, a week’s vacation was borderline more than enough — I get bored easily. It’s a rather frustrating existence, really. Being married to a man that thrives on routine, who gets a indigestion when he’s away from home for more than two days, who lives for the comfortableness in the same, can be challenging. Throw in a child, and well, jeez.

So I break things up with small indulgences: The colour and length of my hair. New shampoos and body and hand wash and dish soap. Seeking out new friends. Visiting new stores. Purposely NOT cleaning the house exactly every week or 10 days or *gasp* three weeks. Trying new foods and restaurants.

But some parts of the routine we cannot escape, can we? Dishes are ingrained in our family’s routine. Every night after dinner, after Lucy is in bed, they beckon. They line the countertops: Plastic sippy cups, the booster seat chair, favourite spoons that can’t be missed for as often as the dishwasher is run, pots and pans and cooking utensils from tonight’s dinner, Tupperware that must be hand washed.

Because they are here, I’ve come to rely on them as part of the process to unwind from the day. I enjoy the act of filling the sink with hot soapy water and scrubbing each piece with the yellow and green sponge. There is something…fresh about dishes, something clean as they drop into the drying rack sudsy and warm.

No matter what the day has brought or tomorrow will bring, they are a constant. And I like that.

(Don’t tell Eric.)

Day 24: 29 Days of the Everyday

Day 23: 29 Days of the Everyday

You know it’s been a great party when the guest of honour ends up half-nekkid at the end of the night in a Benny Hill montage.

Pics and post to come soon.

Day 22: 29 Days of the Everyday
Lucy, Doggie, Boo-Boo and Elephant kickin’ back with Elmo.

I am so far behind on, well, everything right now. But it’s all going to have to wait, because it’s my little girl’s birthday weekend!

Eric’s mom arrived just before lunch. Lucy spent the morning talking about the “big hugs” she was going to give her Gramie.

Tomorrow our immediate family is here for a little birthday dinner party. Lucy knows she’s turning 2, and is currently 1. She’s also well knowledged on cake. Actually, this morning she was licking the television screen when a cake came on.

The fingerprints of babyhood have been replaced by the lickprints of toddlerhood. Our poor television. (Just watch — Eric will use this as yet another reason for a wall-mounted, flat screen television.)

Lucy’s birthday celebrations continue next weekend when Jen O. and I have the Durham Mom’s Night Out ladies and their babies out for a joint Lucy-Eirinn play party. Can’t wait for that.

Hope you all have an excellent weekend. I am bursting with posts and will (need to!) get them out next week.