A Day in the Life
Remembering the details of a single day.
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Many years ago, I remember writing out the details of a single day. Somewhat for posterity, somewhat for myself so I could look back one day when I am older and have no young children and wonder how I survived. Every day, I write in my journal, but it is a brief, bullet-point list of the highlights.
Early yesterday morning, I decided to make mental notes of the day, for the purpose of sitting down and writing it all out later. I went back and looked at my own writing, and the last time I did this was on January 11th, 2010 — when my oldest son was only four months old. Once every 10-ish years is likely going to show me a drastic difference in how the days unfold.
Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
-The Beatles, “A Day in the Life”
I woke up at 5:12 a.m. (according to my FitBit). I wake of my own accord, no alarm. Get dressed, dry shampoo, wash face, eye cream.
I go down to the kitchen and prepare my morning cup of coffee with heavy cream. I sit at the kitchen table with my journal and record the prior day, read a few pages of George Orwell’s Why I Write and read a few poems from Mary Oliver’s American Primitive.
My parents had provided their Christmas plans for a visit the day prior so I checked train arrival times. Chatted with a friend via Messenger about the holidays. Checked Amazon, because I plan to make several Christmas purchases on Black Friday in hopes of deals. Cross-checked Target and found a LEGO item even cheaper at Target — by quite a bit — so I went ahead and placed the order.
The 7-year-old appeared at my side close to 6:00 am. He had the beginnings of a bloody nose, which he is prone to in the dry months. It stopped quickly and he sat next to me at the table with a few blank pieces of paper. He has been working on a comic called “The Little Ice Cream” and drew out several more scenes before handing it to me to read.
The kids have no school for this entire week before Thanksgiving, so the day was going to be juggling them and work. I wrote out a schedule for the entire day because my kids do a lot better when they know “the plan.”
