A Day in the Life

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Woke up, got out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up, i noticed i was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
Somebody spoke and i went into a dream
Ah......

Well, not really...but...I thought it might be fun if people wanted to share a day...perhaps with the really boring bits edited a little....

Here's my day, and it's a work day.....

Wake up at 6.40 am.....hit snooze button...REALLY wake up at 7.15....crawl out and have coffee....check news and A2k.....realize I am late and wash and dress in a blur.

Arrive at work and sneakily avoid boring meetings...rush upstairs and make phone calls and answer emails...several schools wanting to discuss kids, others wanting to make referrals....

Dash across road to see first client. Place in shambles!!! Therapists milling about, all rooms booked, waiting room packed to the gunwales, children fizzing and popping in waiting room, along with anxious adults.....someone is in MY room!

We have a new reception person over there...she is desperately anxious to make a good impression, and hence is highly anxious...her name is H.

She (thank heavens, poor thing) has to register all our client stats for us. As ever, my x family of three little people living in a home and cared for by paid staff (because their behaviour was so extreme they could not be fostered) has her (as with her predecessors) puzzled.

Later in the day, I am attending a meeting with The Powers That Be, the main carers and three prospective foster carers. This means that I have all three little people booked into the same time space, as we will be discussing all three of them. Also, the meeting is miles away, in the offices of The Powers That Be, so I have not booked a room to see them in.

"You're seeing ALL of them???!!!" Well, not really, I am going to a meeting ABOUT all of them. "ALL of them?" Yes. "Do you SEE all of them?" Yes. "But you're not seeing all of them today?" No. "Which one are you seeing?" I'm not actually SEEING any of them. I am DISCUSSING all of them. "But you saw all of them at the meeting on Monday?" No. "But you went to their house." Yes. "But they weren't there?" No (getting a little impatient, but trying to hide it.) I met with their carers. I meet with them regularly to help them work with the x's. "But you went to the school on Tuesday?" Yes. "So you see them at the school?" No..I SEE them here...the school meeting was a regular review about how they are going, and planning for next year." Puzzled look...so I take time to explain that working with such damaged little people often means lots of work with every major player in their lives, as their needs are so complex, and they are hard to manage. Light dawns....really, it is good that H really wants to understand, but not right now.

First client and his mum and I find a room that is not the room I booked....but IS free. Towards the end of session, to help little fella settle again, we play a game of flicking little plastic frogs into a container. Mass hilarity ensues...it turns out I am a champion frog flicker...we erupt giggling into MORE chaos.

Three boys, of gradually increasing height and weight are hurling themselves with all their might at the (sturdy) door from the waiting room into the work areas.

We can see them do it, because part of the door is glass.

We all stare transfixed at this amazing sight. I decide we shall use the secret back exit (as I call it, to entice reluctant kids to leave) commenting "The barbarians are at the gate!" which causes more laughter.

Other than the waiting room, the rest of the place is still chaos. People are still milling about to find rooms, as the person who took my room has caused a kind of bottle-neck.

As I pass reception, poor, new, H dashes out nearly in tears, as the sound of the children throwing themselves against the door continues to reverberate..."Can you do something, they won't listen to me!!!!???" Whose clients are they? "I don't know!!!" Do you know where their parents/carers are? "No!!!"

I march out to face the barbarians....they make a concerted rush to get through the door as I open it....but my hairy eyeball and suggestion that they need to stop doing that, because this is a safe place and that isn't safe, stops them in mid rush.

We determine that their parent is meeting with their therapists, that this meeting has gone on too long, and they are desperate to get into their respective therapy rooms with their respective workers and do what they usually do.

We decide that we need to let parent go on having time with their workers, as they must be discussing Important Adult Stuff to help the boys.

I say I am happy to get them toys from the store room, but we need to clean up the toys they have been playing with first.

The barbarians turn into eager helpers, and, slowly, the mounds of paper, giant lego, trains, cars, barbecues (including plastic sausages, hamburger patties, and talking condiments), chalk, textas and numerous objects I have never actually seen unearthed before, end up back in their respective containers. We agree that the sentiments expressed in large, chalk letters on the blackboard, involving body parts not usually called by those names in polite company, might be distressing if any sensitive child were to see them, and they are rubbed off.

At last, the toy choosing begins!

The tallest boy wants the plastic armour and the two swords......but agrees reluctantly that these weapons require adult supervision...the littlest boy, meanwhile, is begging desperately for his black costume, and the thing on the stick. I have no idea what this means, but it sounds dangerous, and we are negotiating about games and more cars when the long-awaited workers arrive with the long-awaited parent!!!

I finish tidying, and get back into the work area just in time to see the mystery of the black costume and the thing on the stick revealed, as a very small Grim Reaper, complete with scythe, is having his Milo made for him.

More of today to follow.

How about you?

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@dlowan,

dlowan wrote:

Well, not really...but...I thought it might be fun if people wanted to share a day...perhaps with the really boring bits edited a little....

a typical day with the boring bits edited

got up in the morning
went to bed a night

1 Reply

@djjd62,

You're not trying!!!

1 Reply

@dlowan,

funny, most people i meet say i'm very trying

1 Reply

@djjd62,

What sort of trying little thing is your avatar?

Perhaps your avatar could have a Day?

0 Replies

I awake at 7:23 a.m.

Unless it is a client-site day, I get some caffeine, commute down the hall to my office, and am at work by 7:30.

E-mail and prioritizing clients, possible meeting (as today) discussing best practices, or particular issues at a customer.

I begin solving computer problems. E-mail not arriving? Call Drew. Can't access the Federal Reserve site? Call Drew. Weird errors on the server? Call Drew. Need a secure connection between your branches? Call Drew.

Lunch with the wife and kiddos. I see art projects, teach about what healthy things are in the food we're having today.

More problem solving in the afternoon. Occasional evening work when Microsoft releases updates, or we're making a potentially disruptive router change.

I commute home by walking back into the kitchen. Hugs all around.

1 Reply

@dlowan,

Wow! Nice (if chaotic) slice of life there. What does "having his Milo made for him" mean?

OK lesse -- only 9:50 AM here right now so I'll do a recent day (Wednesday, yesterday was extra-boring) instead:

Woke up at about 7:15 -- just naturally, no alarm. Later than I hoped. Came downstairs (fa-reezing!), turn on computer, turn off outside lights, putter around a bit (put sozlet's homework from last night in her backpack, put a snack in her backpack, etc.)

Go upstairs to wake her up. Not happening. Super-sleepy, super-snuggly, super-warm girl wants to stay in bed.

Various boring preparations here, including finding suitable clothes for her, and starting to dress her under the covers as she's sleepy and the house is cold and I don't entirely blame her for being reluctant to get out but we need to get going. Easier if she's already dressed. She sleepily complies, then snuggles up against me and makes ME sleepy and I'm sorely tempted to just lay down and snuggle warmly for a while. But no, we need to get to school.

Get her downstairs, she starts to wake up. She watches Animal Planet (our new favorite show is "Barking Mad") while I get her breakfast ready. Feed her, do her hair, she brushes teeth and washes face, I make sure she has everything she needs in her backpack, and we're out the door. Actually make it with time to spare.

Come home, have breakfast, chill a bit. Do some work, do some cleaning. Then go to meet my friend at a costume store -- I need some props for sozlet's upcoming bday party and my friend recommended this store and then let it be known that she'd love to come with me... She's good company, so sure.

Super-cool store, has absolutely EVERYTHING. Will be going back a lot.

It's near North Market ( http://northmarket.com/ ) and it was getting close to lunch time so we decided to go there. Got some wonderful Indian food and sat in a patch of sun upstairs and people-watched and chatted for about an hour. That was nice.

Then off to do a bunch of errands (excised for boringness).

Then picked up sozlet and a friend at school and brought them home -- they ran off to do their thing, I did some computer stuff, some cleaning, some party planning, etc.

Then brought friend home, stopped at store and got some food, came home and cooked dinner.

Checked email and there was something from sozlet's friend's mom about something that happened during the playdate. Complicated and involved perhaps improper sharing of confidential information (something I unthinkingly told sozlet that I perhaps shouldn't have, or should have been more careful about) so I'm loathe to go ahead and go into it here (can just imagine if the friend's mom -- who is my friend too -- came across it for some reason). But there was a bit of drama there as I figured out how to best handle it and waited for response emails. After a few exchanges, seemed to be all handled and resolved. Whew.

Finished making dinner, ate, started getting ready for bed. E.G. got home (late). Hung around and chatted. I finished up on computer. Sozlet and I hung out reading (me= latest Jhumpa Lahiri; her= "Little Town on the Prairie"). Made various comments on reading material (especially sozlet showing me stuff). Tucked her in, turned off light, went to bed.

2 Replies

@sozobe,

Quote:

What does "having his Milo made for him" mean?

You guys don't have Milo?

Mil is a delicious chocolate drink...it comes in crunchy granules, and is mixed into milk.

It is a ritual where I work...kids are offered drinks...and mostly choose Milo....they love watching it made, or scooping their own Milo out....they have favourite mugs...will it be cold or warm?

It is a lovely, nurturing, warm part of their experience.

Now reading other's lives.....

0 Replies

@DrewDad,

Cool working from home???????

1 Reply

@sozobe,

I would very likely have ended up snuggling!!!!

Nearly did it with sick cat this am.....feel she needs extra snuggles.

Glad issue was sorted....fun to be able stop and people watch a bit during the day, eh??????

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Got up at some time--rarely note time unless I have a morning appointment--put on warm robe as house is cold--mosey into kitchen where hubby has already made coffee and feel appreciative of that--pour a cup--go to the computer in office next to kitchen and check calendar. Hubby arrives from shower and we prepare a healthy light breakfast together (we're both working at losing weight.)

Check e-mails on my business account and then on my everybody else account. Check my fantasy football and hockey teams. Scan the newspaper and spend about half an hour reading the news while finishing a second cup of coffee. Note market is tanking again.

Call our primary client in Phoenix to advise that I will be on the east side of the state in early December and does he have any audits that need working over there?

No write ups or appointments today due to an interminable jury duty stint, so work on a temperament typing program I will give in January. Call the court late morning to determine if I have jury duty that afternoon. I don't so make a grocery list and after a tunafish salad lunch, hubby and I go to the store to get the rest of the stuff for next week's Thanksgiving--big family dinner at our house.

Put in a load of wash and pop a couple of tiny cornish game hens into the oven. A few posts on A2K, a second check of the news, some work on a private writing project.

Call the court late afternoon to see if I'm needed for jury duty the next morning. Am advised that I am freed from that responsibility after three interminable weeks of never knowing when I will be called in. Celebrate!

Dinner. A little TV watching, reading, and enjoying a good movie I got for $3.99 in a bargain bin at the grocery store earlier. 20 minutes on the treadmill, a shower, check e-mail one last time, and bed.

1 Reply

Got up at crack of dawn.

Stuffed up the crack.

Went back to sleep.

1 Reply

@Foxfyre,

Jury over?????

0 Replies

@Merry Andrew,

Don't you mean bavk?

0 Replies

When home

Get up at 4 and check data feeds to see if anything is "shaking". Go back to bed till about 7 and get up and ablute. Call clinets and check on budgets with staff on sites. (We do AM conferencing every day pretty much).

Talk to several colleagues on recent events .
Play on A2K and Woodworking and Artworld as time allows (Do this several times between real work).

walk the doggies down to swamp and look for stuff to draw. Drove 30 miles to Turkey Point lighthouse for a brisk walk in the crisp snowy air Filmed snow geese.

Day aint over yet. Goin to look at a Blackberry Storm so I can have some neater technology in the woods.

Im collecting Ginko leaves right now and eating a PB&S sammich.

2 Replies

@farmerman,

Bang, bang, clatter, thud, thud, thud " energised 11year old runs downstairs...oof...might as well get up, shower, hear phone alarm shouting at me it’s time to get up...”I am up” " turns off, dress, slowly downstairs, puts on dryer, plates in dishwasher, makes a cuppa, grabs school bag, coooold outside, get’s in car with mug of tea, takes little fella to bus, drops off, drives back home, dries hair, puts on face, eats weetabix, dogs out for constitutional, get’s in car, drives to work, behind tractor, 5 mins late, walks in to work. High high on a hill. Oh so cold and blowing a hooley.

Grumpy PGCE students last day at school, say goodmorning, get ignored (they are so grumpy). In office, computer on, parents milling, children laughing playing holding hands, shake awake, phone rings a lot, computer’s a piece of crap, keeps crashing.

Governors arrive 10am for meeting about log cabin we want to build as a classroom. Governor W has her new baby. Grabs baby, governors go off and yap, baby in pretty purple dress and spangly tights and I go into Bodmin class, “Oliver” is on whiteboard, rehearsals commencing for Crimbo production, into staff room, makes tea, refuse to hand baby to teaching assistant who wishes to steal her from me, goes back in classroom, sings “food glorious food” with kids and baby on hip, back into office, tries to staple parent governor election papers, baby wants stapler.

Architect arrives about log cabin, takes him to governors. Baby handed back.

Finished office stuff, Head brings me a banana, cook brings me fresh baked chocolate cookie, Headteacher gets rid of governors and architect, goes thru umpteen dozen policies with me to print off and upload to website. Busy, busy, busy. Phone rings constantly.

Looks at time, 12.30, wants to leave, need to stay coz Boss won’t leave office, ‘til 1.20pm. Mosies out the door, get’s in car, negotiates school gate (close, so close....), home singing Leona Lewis loudly, in front door, COLD COLD COLD, too pooped to scoop. Puts dogs out, makes tea, logs on A2K, tells the crew I’m going to bed. Upstairs, COLD COLD COLD, gets hairdryer, places in bed, turns on, heats bed, gets in bed, pulls doonah up, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Wakes up, downstairs, COLD, turns heating on, makes tea, stomach growling, eats weetabix with way too much sugar on, turns on laptop, signs onto A2K, sees “a day in the life of....”

Bores everyone with my day so far. It’s bloody frrrrrreeezing here. Dark outside.

2 Replies

@Izzie,

wake up 11ish

realise i have nothing to do.

buy pass which they reaised the price of.

save for tooth extraction.

buy some hamburger patties

check is gone. yay. xanax, bottle of bourbon..

i feel nothing. i have been sober for months and a xanax 7 shots of bourbon and i feel nothing.

clean house and dishes. organize house, open my planner, examine my goals and measure how far i am to completing them,
get 2 dollars for babysitting an adorable girl whos mom is a tweaker bitch..

drink more feel nothing, this is disturbing me, i never drnk

organize clothes...

think to myself 6 more months and i will be on the path to success

this is my daily routine minus the booze and pills which i do once a week. i usually stay sober because i know it willl detract from my success.

spend 10 hours trying to fall asleep, wake up 4 hours after 3 in the morning, and then awatch movies on cable..

my life so far for the past month. i need to excercise!

i need my dog to walk with me and my 15 miles tripes i cant do it without her. damnit :L

2 Replies

@OGIONIK,

Quote:

spend 10 hours trying to fall asleep, wake up 4 hours after 3 in the morning, and then awatch movies on cable..

Drinking alcohol causes insomnia. Instead of buying bourbon put the money away to buy treats for your dog. Both of you will be happier.

1 Reply

@Green Witch,

I woke up at 7:15 when I heard my daughter's alarm clock going off in her room and realized she wasn't hearing it and wasn't getting up.

Went downstairs and made her lunch

Put a load of laundry in the washing machine and hung a load on the radiators to dry.

Went back to bed and read the Sunday Times magazine section with Bob Dylan's poetry set to some fifties/sixties black and white photographer - thought '''he's better at lyrics'

Said goodbye to my daughter and got in the shower.

Left the house at 9:00 - got to the shop at 9:09.

Made coffee and waited for my helper to arrive then went to the store and bought what I needed - hurray! No butcher today.
Bought my breakfast - toblerone and diet pepsi

Prepared stuff for stir-fry- put money in register- picked cd's.

Cooked and served and washed dishes...mostly strangers today...except for Jonathan...he brought me a bottle of Pear cider. Sat and drank our cider with him as he ate lunch - chicken stir fry.

Then more cooking then sat with Jack as he had his tea and teacake - I had a diet coke. This takes me to about 3:00 pm- we talked about how some people can play instruments and others can't and the street names in the town we live in (he's 86 and grew up in this town).

Cooked some more.

Went to the store again to buy some Stella and the clerk said - 'You know those toblerone things you like - they're 4 for £1.00. (they're usually 38 pence a piece). So he rang up four for me and I picked them up on the way out.

Supper - right now - two pints of Stella and a toblerone. I still have three in my pocket - maybe I'll finish them off tonight.

I don't know what I'll do tonight - son is with girlfriend, daughter's with dad...
I might get some chinese food later.

1 Reply

I like this idea, dlowan!

Alarms (I have two alarms set to wake me up. I have my reasons) start going off at around 6:05 am. I get out of bed (if I'm good) by 6:30. Spend a half hour making coffee, making toast, washing face, brushing hair and pulling it back into some apparatus, feeding, testing and shooting the cat. I grab a frozen lunch item, pack into my bag with any work I brought home and a water bottle. I leave, locking two doors and latching the gate. I go find my car (city parking!) and drive off.

I eat the toast and drink the coffee on the way to work, listening to NPR and swearing at all the idiots driving around me, at the construction, at a few pedestrians. I head North from the city to the town I work at. I do more swearing as I approach the school and see parents doing stupid things. They are blocking the busses, they are dropping their kids off so that they have to cross the entrance to the parking lot (loads of traffic), they are pulling into traffic stream with no blinkers and apparently not looking first.

I drop my stuff off in the room I work out of. I have no desk. I organize my stuff on the corner of counter I am alotted and stow my bag and coat below. I grab a planner and make the rounds. I climb the the second floor to write 3 classes' homework down, trot down another flight to check the 4th class. I peek in my mailbox for mail. And, drop down to ground level to write all the homework on my side of the white board. I usually chat with my direct supervisor whom I share the room with.

I have 1 to 3 kids, depending on the day, to work with on various academic skills for the first period (about 45 minutes) of the day. Today I had 3 who worked on an English Scrapbook to assess their understanding of the Great Depression. One girl then did her science homework (she hates me, her mom told me earlier this week).

I run up two flights to go to science class. I listen to the lessons, take notes, nudge a couple students back into focus, write down grades gotten, make sure people are following along. I then run down a flight for English. I spend a lot of time translating the teacher here. She is a fun, interesting person, but not very organized or clear with her expectations. I write down notes and assignments here, too. I do the reading, I keep kids on track, make sure they understand the expectations. I often redo her written assignments so they can better understand them. I show her because maybe she'll learn.

Lunch starts at 10:26! Hello! We have a half hour to eat. I go downstairs to ground floor, microwave my lunch, eat, drink some water and it's over.

Up two flights to math class to relearn all the math I missed in my own school years. This class is fun. It's like a game to me. I help kids who don't want to interupt the flow of the math teacher. I compete with one to see how fast we can get to the right answer. I take notes, do problems. Next I go down the hall to Social Studies or I stay in math class for a lower level group. In lower math I do the same as in the previous class, in ss I don't do much. I do keep up with what the kids are learning so I don't have to read the textbook.

Then down two flights to ground floor. I have two learning center groups to round out the day. We work on skills, one group works a little on social skills as well. After the final bell of the day I write all the homework down in an email to one students' parents. I send a weekly report to the same parents about how he's doing, what he needs to catch up on, what grades he's received, and anything else that comes up.

I then spend some time redoing English assignments, making study guides, preparing for IEP meetings, making graphic organizers, etc. Sometimes I tutor. Somedays I leave a half hour after school ends, somedays 2 hours later. Check the mailbox one more time and go down the flight to the exit.

The drive home encorporates more swearing and often a stop at the grocery store I pass on the way. It also occasional includes a stop at the bank or liquor store. A flight up to home. Sometimes I nap when I get home. Usually I use the computer, have dinner, use the computer, shower and prepare for bed. Sometimes I bring work home or watch TV.

Asleep, if I'm good before 11:00.

1 Reply

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