A day in the life of having an almost 3 year old and an almost 5 year old during the week.

So, it goes something like this.

Some ungodly hour between 4 and 5: M climbs into bed with us and starts to slowly steal my pillow from me. (This seems to be waning, we hope…)

6:20: Alarm goes off. I reach over M to hit snooze. Repeat. C wakes up and comes in to get M and go downstairs. The dog debate begins. (The dog debate surrounds Skyler, our dog. If Skyler wants to play, run around, eat, etc. Skyler is “our dog.” If it’s first thing in the morning, Skyler wants to go out and I don’t want to get out of bed, Skyler is “my dog.”)

6:30: I get out of bed, pull on clothes. M is hungry and yelling about it. (Alternate version: M has gone downstairs to poop and is screaming up at me to come wipe his butt. Why can’t he use the upstairs bathroom?)

Breakfast begins. Our daily choices are one of: Yogurt, Cheerios, Oatmeal, bagels or toast. Lately, we choose several of the above in varying order. Boys are growing. OJ for C, milk for M.

Breakfast complete. M begins doing the Curious George dance. C begins his rant that if he has to go upstairs and get dressed for school he’ll miss George. The explanation that if we go and get dressed, brush our teeth and come back we won’t miss any George takes long enough for George to begin. M settles in, C begins to whine.

We go upstairs. C begins the lament that he always misses George. An argument begins as to why Connor is now naked in bed complaining about having to get dressed. I go to shave and shower. C finally gets dressed, comes in to brush his teeth and let all the warm air out of the bathroom. He has now missed all of Curious George, but is happy because he “beat me” in our apparent race to get dressed.

I dress. K and I get ready for work. Nanny arrives. Sid the Science Kid comes on. C fails to pack his bag for school or put his shoes on because he is on the couch watching Sid with M. TV gets turned off. Whines begin. Bag is packed, shoes are tied, jackets are put on.

M refuses to kiss anyone good bye, except C. We leave and walk to school. We arrive and kiss C good bye. We wait in the parking lot for the wave from the window. We go to work.

In the interim M and the nanny pick C up from school. A snack is had, naps are thought about. Diego is watched. Puzzles are put together, games are played. Dinner is ready.

C grudgingly eats his dinner. M begs for dessert. We come home. Begging for dessert becomes a fine art. Nanny leaves. We try to weasel info from the boys about their days. Games are played. C challenges me to a game on Wii. M runs in circles around the house.

Bath time. Both boys strip and streak through the house. We bathe, dry and argue over which pajamas are best for tonight (M will change his at random periods throughout the night). Hair is combed, ears are cleaned, teeth are brushed. Dragon Tales is watched (if we’re good). Stories are chosen and read, songs are sung. General silliness begins. Periodic yells of “go to bed” are let out. Several trips to the bathroom are made.

C passes out. M is incensed at this breach in bed time protocol. He alternates between yelling at C and standing at the top of the stairs yelling to me that he is lonely. Another story is read, a sip of water is had, another song is sung. If we’re lucky, M gives in and goes to sleep. If not, he lays on the rug at the top of the stairs and laments the monsters in his room, the penny he lost, his loneliness, his need for something, anything.

We get cleaned up and ready for bed. We water C (he doesn’t make it through the night, although M does). Put both boys under the covers (admire M’s current wardrobe selection). We collapse.