A Day In The Life Of Working Parents
By Steven Wallace
Monday 31st May 1999
Today is a miserable day and half the daily routine will not be done as the weather has halted progress. It’s 10.30 am and I’m just about to have a cuppa. Let me take you back a few hours with the dawning of our day.
The morning alarm rings which usually isn’t electronic – Sydney beats that. It’s 5.45 am and Sydney is ready to face another day. The rush is on! Between now and 7am we will have fed, changed and given Sydney her morning bottle while I would have got myself ready for work and eaten (if I had time).
This allows Marama an extra hour lie-in because she has the evening shift when I am at work. Time is now running out fast. It has just gone 6.45 am and I am only shoving the bottle into her mouth. I say my hurried good-byes as I’m rushing out the door off to work.
Now it’s time to relax, as I know Sydney is left in careful hands.
Well, here we are back at 10.30 am, the kettle has just boiled.
Since I left you I’ve had my cuppa and something to eat. I’ve just put Sydney down for her morning nap and now it’s time to think of something for her lunch, while I have the chance, as she will be up and on the go in an hour or so. Pumpkin soup today.
I have already planned for this yesterday so all I have to do is make it up, only a quick half hour and it will be ready. Having the soup ready to go has given me the time to write a few notes for this.
11.45am Sydney is up again and ready to roar, soup all ready. I’ll just grab the toaster and shove in some toast.
There it is – lunch – Syd, I hope you like it. Well, I know she does. It’s all over her face, through her hair and if I know Syd, up her nose. Other quick easy lunches I like to make are cherios and mixed vegetables, crumbed fish fingers and chips, and the good old baked beans or spaghetti.
With Sydney in her chair there’s time to organise our afternoon. Well, we can’t go for a walk to the park or anywhere as the weather cuts that out. Perhaps a game of indoor soccer to pass the time. After lunch is over, it’s time to prepare something for tea for Mum and Sydney as I have dinner at work.
With lunch over Sydney is cleaned and changed for the afternoon and now is charging off into my clean lounge. Twenty minutes later the place is a mess. The once tidy toy box tucked away in the corner has been dug out and toys, most likely if Sydney could speak, “strategically” placed all over the lounge floor.
After trying to prepare tea, record a tape and write a few more notes, not to mention clean up the water which was poured all over the tape deck, I think it’s nearly time for another coffee, and it’s not even two o’clock.
With our game of indoor soccer now over she shows no sign of slowing down.
Then all of a sudden there is a deadly silence and the child has temporarily disappeared. After a quick scout around, she is found down in her bedroom, randomly choosing a book to look at, you guessed it – the unlucky books are all over her bedroom floor.
After she has carefully chosen her book it’s plain to see she is nowhere near time for book reading. She has too much on her mind. Things have been at a “full-on” pace all afternoon, hopefully a good sleep may be in store as yet another clean-up is awaiting me.
A quick snack before sleep would do nicely, I think. A few pieces of kiwifruit will do, but by the expression on Sydney’s face it wasn’t quite ripe enough for her. So half a banana will do, no guesses who gets the kiwifruit.
Well, it is nearing 3pm. Time for an afternoon nap. As I am settling her in my arms, I find it hard not to laugh as she is trying to poke out my eyes or ears. Finally, I give up, she wins round one, but not the match, but it took half an hour. Finally my much deserved/needed cup of coffee. Half past three – that’s not too bad.
It’s just on 4pm. Sydney is asleep and dinner is prepared. Now it is time to get ready for work as my afternoon is almost over. 4.15pm – Sydney is up, time for a quick cuddle while she wakes. Marama’s home for the evening.
A quick day report, start dinner and it’s almost time to go.
4:45pm Steve
It’s time for me to go off to work. It’s only a short ten minute bike ride or if I’m too tired I’ll drive. Work starts off at 5pm with opening the bar, setting up and making sure the bar is ready to go.
Shortly afterward, half an hour or so, one of our regular guests, wanders down for a quiet drink. After a quick chat it’s time to set up the restaurant making sure heating is set right and lighting atmosphere is correct.
After noting the specials from the kitchen, I make sure the restaurant is ready for opening.
6pmswings on by.The first 10-15 minutes are quiet in the restaurant so every so often I swing by the bar and keep everyone in drinks. After a while guests are arriving to eat.
I go and take their orders and get things ready for them. After a few meals and drink orders everything is running according to plan.
Well, no hiccups or major hassles as the evening draws to a close. The restaurant closes at 9pm so I get myself prepared for setting up for the next mornings breakfast. It’s been a pretty quiet night, so everything is set up for breakfast.
The time to close really depends on who is around, generally after the last guest has left is a good time to clean up. Sometimes it’s around 9.30pm or even near midnight but that is not often.
Tonight it is just after ten, a pretty quiet night, all ready to clean up. I can close, then I’m out the door away home around 10.30pm I get home, check Sydney, take the time for a walk then sit down for a well deserved cup of tea.
11.15pm Time to retire and rest for another early morning rise and another busy day.
The evening shift with Mum now takes over. With dinner over and done with it’s just past five, and it’s time for play. After dragging half her toys out of her toybox again, Sydney enjoys hiding them in her cupboard or in the seat of her car which she plays with every evening for a minimum of ten minutes.
She will bring out books for me to read but only the first page and then takes it off me so she can babble away to herself for the rest of the book.
As the day is nearing an end for Sydney it’s time for her bottle, but not before she pulls funny faces and “screaming” games until the bottle is heated, which thankfully isn’t very long.
She will sit in her own seat most of the time and then she comes over to finish it off on Marama’s knee.
Then it’s ready for the “what’s that” game which is traditional. She will play around for a while chasing the dog or throwing him the ball.
7pm – it’s time for a quick bath and change into her PJ’s then Sydney will settle down on Marama’s knee and rest until it’s time for bed.
7.30pm comes around and it’s time for bed. If Sydney does not have this settling period before she goes to bed she will cry and not settle very well. Now it’s cleanup time again, and until the morning comes around, a chance for some well deserved rest.
