I work, a lot. But I always carve out time in my day for Abby. People at work know that I am out of pocket from 5pm - 7:30pm in the evenings and that it's rare I make it in the office before 8:30am. For the work I can't get to during the day, I make up for it in the evenings after Abby goes to bed. This arrangement works pretty well.
Every morning, we have a routine. Routine is king in our house. It makes the days much easier and more predictable, so when something comes along out of the ordinary, we can easily handle it. There are two very special parts of my morning routine. Ones I savor and look forward to every day.
The first special part of my day is make-up time. After showering, I come out to the living room with my makeup bag. Abby sees it, excitedly rushes over to the couch, climbs up and sits right in the middle. I sit down next to her. She opens the makeup case for me and starts pulling everything out. She is such a great little helper! We now have sound effects for putting on lip liner and blush, it's really very cute. When we are all done (I'm the only one who actually puts makeup on), she helps me put everything back in the bag and zips it up.
The second special part of my day is toast time. I eat toast in the mornings, not necessarily because I like it, but because it creates another special block of time with Abby. I make toast and go sit in our oversized chair in our living room. Abby again runs over, climbs up and sits next to me. During either Curious George (her choice) or the Today Show (my choice) we share our toast. She looks at me a few times during our toast time, holds out her piece of bread and says 'toast'. When she's done with a piece and wants more, she looks at me and says 'more'.
These are two of my most favorite times of the day. Special times she shares only with me and she gets so excited about them. Who knew toast and makeup could be so special.
