A Blog post to participate in "A day in the life with Down syndrome":
Adrienne
lives in Fort Worth with her husband Mark and their two children:
Brianne, 3, who has Down syndrome, and Bryce, 2.
5:45AM Wake up to “Mommy … Mommy … Mommy” and a tapping at the
bedroom door; Bryce thinks the sun is up and is ready to start the day.
5:55AM Let Bryce into the room and spend a few minutes snuggling
in bed.
6:05AM My alarm clock goes off on my phone. “Game?” Bryce asks.
I turn off the alarm and put a toddler game on my phone for him and head to the shower.
6:25AM “Potty!
Potty!” Brianne is awake and wants to head to
the bathroom. I sit her on the potty seat, close the door and listen to
see if it will be a successful potty morning – it is! Smiles and hugs
follow as we celebrate, put on a Pull-Up and wash hands.
6:30AM Breakfast
time. Ask the kids if they want cereal or waffles.
Bryce requests toast. Get milk and a banana for them. “Toast done?”
Bryce asks as Brianne is pulling at my hand and asking for Elmo. Daddy
joins us in the kitchen and starts getting Brianne’s lunch together.
6:35AM Bryce
chows down on breakfast and Brianne drinks her
milk and takes a bite of toast but quickly says, “Play!” I entice her
to stay in the chair for a few more minutes by letting her watch a video
on my phone while I comb her hair and put it in a ponytail.
6:45AM Brianne has dumped the blocks on the floor and is happily
playing. Bryce is still eating. Mark and I make coffee and pack our lunches.
6:55AM Mark gets Brianne dressed, and I take Bryce to his room
to pick out the day’s outfit.
7:05AM Everybody
is clothed, shoed and fed (no small task!).
Kiss goodbye to Mark and a big hug to Brianne. Bryce and I are out the
door to his day care while Mark takes Brianne to her Pre-K class at
KinderFrogs School at TCU.
7:10AM I
walk Bryce into his classroom at day care. He clings
to my leg when we get there, but the teacher gives him a big smile and
asks him if he wants to wave to me from the front window.
7:11AM I’m getting in my car and smiling as I see Bryce’s little
hand waving goodbye to me.
7:20AM Driving to work. Realize that I don’t need to be jamming
to the kids’ CD anymore and change the radio to an entertaining morning talk show.
8AM I arrive to work and get my computer booted up. Sort through
emails and check out what meetings are on the agenda. Muster up some motivation and dive into my latest projects.
11:30AM Head
to the break room and heat up my leftovers. Back
to my desk to eat and enjoy some quiet time playing Words with Friends
and scoping out the latest happenings on Facebook before getting back to
work.
2:45PM Grandma Suzie calls to let me know she’s arrived at Brianne’s
school and is there to pick her up.
4:30PM Power down my computer and head to the car. Time to pick
up the kids.
5PM Arrive
at Bryce’s day care. Enjoy peeking in the window
to see what he’s doing when I get there. Today he’s playing with cars
but sees me, drops everything and runs excitedly to the door.
5:10PM Pull in at Grandma’s. She brings Brianne out to the car
and loads her in. We discuss the week’s agenda, and she kisses the kids goodbye.
5:30PM Home
sweet home. Feed the pugs. Put coloring books on
the table for the kids while I get dinner going. Try to maintain count
of all the crayons so none go missing. Brianne is quickly done coloring
and asking for Elmo. I oblige and put on the TV, so I can finish getting
dinner together. Bryce is asking for markers
… Brianne asks for milk … Bryce asks for juice … Brianne asks for potty
… Bryce asks for train … Somehow, dinner comes together.
5:55PM Daddy’s
home. Kids are excited and give him a hug. We
get dinner on the table and sit down together, carefully watching
Brianne to make sure she doesn’t toss her plate on the floor. Bryce is
busy eating, and Brianne is actually trying the spaghetti and seems
happy – a dinner success!
6:30PM Head outside to draw with chalk, play with bubbles and
let the little ones run off some energy.
7PM Bath time. I bathe the kids while Mark washes the dinner
dishes and packs up the leftovers.
7:30PM Kiddos are in their pajamas and hair is brushed. Quality
family time as we play with the train set and do a few puzzles.
7:50PM Teeth-brushing
time. Then it’s time for bedtime stories.
Tonight we’re “Going on a Bear Hunt,” and I smile as I see that the
kids have learned most of the motions that go along with the story.
8:10PM Kisses, hugs and lights off. Tell them we’ll see them
when the sun comes up.
8:20PM Washing the last of the dishes and kids’ cups and a final
wipe-down of the table and counters. Think of the many chores I should do but figure they can wait another day.
8:30PM Grab
the laptop and consider updating my blog but opt
to search Pinterest for recipes and ideas on activities to do with the
kids instead. Chat with Mark about our days and the upcoming
appointments and plans.
9:50PM Pick out my clothes for tomorrow and brush my teeth.
10PM Bedtime. Snuggle under the covers and a goodnight
kiss. Time to get some zzz’s; a little one will be tapping at our door before we know it.
**************************************************************
Brianne is out of
pull-ups and no longer needs help getting on the potty (although she
will ask for help if she wants to string you along – little lady knows
how to work people!).
Sleeping/wake-ups have changed....Brianne has now started heading
to our bed around 1am…she’ll wander in and climb in the middle of us and we are too sleepy to send her back to her room (bad habit - but really like the snuggles...provided she's not kicking us and laying sideways)…Bryce will show up around 6am
and ask “why does Brianne always beat me in here?” and snuggle in for a
bit. They now argue over what to
watch on Netflix while I take a shower – Brianne requests Barney, Bryce
wants Chuggington – they both seem okay when we put on Curious George.
We still have the same typical weekday morning and evening chaos…they
have just grown and are now more independent…”I
do it” is a common phrase from Brianne – along with “keep trying – get
better” which she learned from a Daniel Tiger episode (she would be a
serious TV junkie if we let her…but we try to limit her screen time as
much as we can).
I have recently proclaimed that our Family Motto
is:
“We Thrive On Chaos”……which is likely due to the various nonstop-activities
we add to the calendar, whether it is a Board Meeting for the Down
Syndrome Partnership of North Texas, Gymnastics
class for Brianne, T-ball for Bryce, Dinner with friends, a playdate at
Gymboree….there are very few days of ‘nothing’….but I think chaos is
something that exists when there are children involved –
extra
chromosomes or not!
