juggling act

I am constantly rushing around, and I am really, really tired. The work week goes something like this:

Monday:

5:30 Batu calls out for "Mommy." I'm usually awake about 5 minutes before the "call" and every morning I hope and pray that it will be quiet, for the next hour.

5:45 I climb into Batu's bed for the possibility of more sleep.

6:30 We get up, go downstairs and watch a little t.v.(very bad, I know, but it's only for 20 minutes). While Batu watches Dora, I get the nebulizer ready and make coffee. We do the neb for 10 minutes, change into clothes, and start to make breakfast.

And if you are wondering what my wonderful husband is doing during this time, the answer is SLEEPING. That's right. Ozan snoozes until Ayla wakes up, usually around 7am. More on this later. Grrr.

7:00 Batu eats breakfast, sometimes with a few bouts of whining about wanting only milk, or his latest rant about wanting to play with money (real money! dirty. gross.)

In the meantime, Ayla is awake and Ozan gets her bottle ready and feeds her. I say good morning.

7:30 Clean up, try to get Batu tp use the potty.I get ready for work in about 10 minutes.

Ayla sits in the little co-sleeper in our bedroom while Ozan does his morning rituals.

7:45 I put Batu in the car and head off to daycare.

Say goodmorning to daycare teachers, and kiss Batu goodbye.

8:00 Wait for express bus to go to work

Sometime between now and 9:00 Ozan takes Ayla to daycare and drives to work

8:30-4:30 Work

4:45 Wait for express bus (which drops me off in front of the daycare)

5:20 Pick up Batu and Ayla

5:45 Get home. Unload car, get mail. Change clothes. Feed Ayla. Feed Batu. Manage occasional temper tantrums and other bad, end of the day behavior. Convince Batu that vegetables are really, really good for him. Dream about collapsing into bed for the next 10 hours. Sometimes dream about sneaking off to a deserted island for a week.

6:30 Ozan gets home. Play with kids for 15 minutes

6:45 Start the nighttime routines.

7:00 Ayla Bath

7:15 Batu Bath, Ayla Bottle

7:30 Ayla is in bed

8:00 Batu is in bed

8:30 I dream about going to the gym. Instead, I clean kitchen, get Ozan's dinner ready, check work email, and maybe watch some t.v., or blog.

10:00 I am in bed

Repeat above for the next 4 days.

finger licker

While dropping Batu off at daycare this morning, I observed the strangest thing. Little "Justin" (not his real name) was sitting alone on the bench near the cubbies licking his fingers and hands. At first I thought, "Maybe he just ate something and was trying to nip off a crumb." After a few more minutes, he continued to lick his fingers and hands all at the same time, cupping them in a ball, while drooling all over himself. I looked up at the teacher and said, "What's going on here?" She apologetically acknowledged that "it's strange behavior" and they will clean him up once it's over. I was like, "Clean him now and stop this nonsense, or send him home!"

After I left, I couldn't get the vision of this kid's finger licking out of my head. I thought about it as I drove up to NH for work. I mentioned it to a co-worker to see her reaction. Her response, "probably some sort of compulsive disorder." I later googled "toddler finger licking" but didn't find much information. It's episodes like this that make me want to take my kids out of daycare.