Francie Pavelek is a stay-at-home mom to two girls: Corina, 4 and a half, and Clementine, 7 weeks. She currently serves as secretary on the Parent Board of Denton’s Cornerstone Cooperative Preschool and is on the Production Board of Denton Community Theatre. She lives in Denton with her husband, Brian, an engineer and college football fan.
2:30AM Crawl out of bed and nurse Clementine. Back in bed by 3:15.
7:30AM Up to feed baby and start waking up Corina. Today Corina is excited to get up because mommy and daddy will be the parent helpers at her preschool. (Some days getting her out of bed can be a dangerous job.)
8AM Help Corina get breakfast, teeth brushed and hair fixed.
8:35AM Brian and Corina are off to school with snack in hand!
8:40AM Coffee!!! It’s time for breakfast and a short break to read the newspaper. I try not to freak out about all of the headlines about swine flu.
9AM Jump in the shower and try to “get ready” while keeping the baby happy. Thank God for bouncy seats!
9:30AM Nurse Clementine.
10AM My sister, “Aunt Whitney,” comes over to stay with Clementine while I go to Corina’s school to relieve Brian of parent-helper duties so he can get to work.
10AM-12:30PM I work at Corina’s school as the parent helper. The school was so much fun today. We painted the kids’ hands and feet and they made a mural of prints.
12:30PM I’m too tired to make lunch, so we stop by Whataburger on the way home.
1PM Relieve Whitney and nurse Clementine. Corina eats a burger and fries (yikes) for lunch.
1:30PM Eat lunch and get Clementine down for nap. While she’s napping, I catch up on shows I’ve DVR’d and Corina relaxes while watching some PBS. Her new favorite show is Dinosaur Train.
2:30PM Clementine is still napping, so I check my e-mail and chat with a couple of friends. I hold my breath and check online banking—whew, tomorrow’s payday! Corina hangs with me in the office. The house is quiet and peaceful for a few minutes.
3PM Snack time with pineapple and crackers. I call Brian to fill him in on the rest of the day’s activities and discuss dinner, etc. He agrees to make dinner and I love him even more!
3:30PM We clean up the snack and do a little laundry while the baby is asleep. I pop in a Backyardigans video for Corina.
4PM Clementine is still asleep! Corina and I get out all of the blocks in the house and fill the living room floor with towers and roads.
4:30PM My mom, “Mimi,” comes over to visit and I sneak a little “child-appropriate” Oprah. Clementine is still asleep, so I wake her up and feed her.
5:15PM I start bugging Corina about getting ready for choir practice. By 5:45, she is ready to go, but the living room is still “block land.”
6-6:30PM Corina has choir practice and Clementine and I hang out at the church with some other parents. Thirty minutes of adult conversation while nursing at the same time. After choir, we get gas and head home for dinner.
7PM Brian is home from work and has a delicious and nutritious dinner ready (makes up for the burger and fries from lunch). We sit down as a family and have a really nice dinner, thanks to Brian.
8PM I get the girls in the bathroom. Corina bathes herself in the tub and I bathe Clementine in the sink. How cute—Brian is cleaning up dinner.
8:30PM The girls are ready for bed. I nurse Clementine and Brian helps Corina clean up the blocks; the living room is no longer an obstacle course.
9PM Brian has storytime with Corina and I finish nursing Clementine and put her in bed.
9:30PM Both girls are in bed … collective sigh of relief. I try and finish up the laundry I started earlier and we sit on the couch and watch some useless TV and let our brains turn to mush.
10:30PM I’m asleep!
