I love November and December. It is when work is at its least and I have more time with the loves of my life. However it is also a period where wedding invitations are at its peak. So, the husband is practically away on most weekends for photography assignments. Eversince we had Umar Khalif, a lot of things changed. One of the things that we did to be more efficient was to do up a monthly schedule. The monthly schedule includes Umar’s activities, our short dates, family outings, etc. November and December would be no different. Only that I could maximize the activities with the time I have. I could also recover the time lost when I was busy working. Furthermore, it is easy for me to plan his activities. On days when the husband has photography assignments, I would mentally prep myself a couple of days in advance. Sometimes, I will prep everything overnight so I can just whip it out the following day like a true magician. Haha!!
A typical (lonely) morning will be a walk to the nearest mart after our bath and his breakfast. The sun would be so bright and yellow yet it isn’t harsh. In fact, it gives a nice warm touch to your skin. Nevertheless, it is definitely strong enough for some shadow play.
Not forgetting, the gandpops at the fitness center who would smile and wave at him as he gleefully plays around the fitness equipments before we proceed to the mart.
I love the pathway to the mart. It is lined with lots of trees that provide ample shade from the sun at any time of the day. Plus, it is truly a sight for Umar Khalif as there are plenty of birds for him to chase and cats to wave at.
We would be home with my breakfast while he continues his breakfast of bread and/or fruits. After a morning nap, it would be time for his lunch. Umar Khalif’s mealtimes always give me anxiety attacks. When I am around, he would want to nurse more than eat. While I am fine with that, there is a tiny part of me that worries about his diet. So I will usually prepare mealtime activities to distract him and make mealtimes painless for both him and myself.
A friend of mine wondered out loud one day asking how Umar Khalif can be confined to a spot for the longest time during an activity. “Doesn’t he mess up other parts of the house as well?” Well, truth is, mess is inevitable. I just don’t take pictures of the mess because all I want to do after he is done is to clear and clean up as fast as I could.
When I do activities with him, I feel it is important for me to do a mess-scaling of the activity. With no domestic helper around, I have to keep the mess to a minimum because I do not want to feel tired cleaning because, in turn, I would throw tantrums instead. Hehe.
For mess level of 0-3, I will let him play anywhere in our home. This mess level perhaps only requires vacuuming or sweeping or a simple wipe with a wet cloth.
Mess level 4-6 I will confine the activity in the kitchen. This is due to the nature of the flooring in the kitchen compared to the rest of the house. Haha. My husband thinks mopping the kitchen everyday is easier than having to mop the whole house. Bless his kind heart!
Mess level 7-10 I would do the activities at the corridor area outside of our home. I can simply sweep it off or take a huge pail of water and wash it down the drain. Sometimes I would just leave it outside and once my sweetest husband is home, he would assist me to clear up the mess. 😀