Monday
Brandin took today off after our weekend at the wedding so he’s at home with me to go and get Atlas from Bea’s at around 9am, once all of her boys are dressed, fed and off to school.
I had semi wondered if this weekend would be a way for us to stop breastfeeding – I’d pumped some milk before I left, but then totally forgot to give it to Bea and Atlas was fine without it – but the minute I see him, he runs over to me, gives me a big hug and then starts to do the sign for “milk” and point to the armchair in Beatrice’s house.
You might think, well, you could’ve said no… but that would be a fundamental misunderstanding of mine and Atlas’ parent-child relationship. No one says no to that baby. (One of the texts I got from Bea over the weekend simply read, “he really does not like to be told no, does he?”)
Anyway, I sit down to nurse him with a cup of tea and then we head home to the numerous piles of laundry that seem to have accumulated over the weekend – despite the fact that we weren’t even in the house – and relax a bit after all of our travels (and travails).
After lunch of pasta, I head upstairs to do a bit of work before the book club I’m doing as part of the Kildare Readers’ Festival, where author and journalist Roe McDermott is interviewing me about This is Not About You. If you’re interested, you can watch (most of) the interview below.
Brandin needs to go and pick the boys up at 4.30pm, so I have him on standby to take Atlas with him – the book club starts at 3pm my time, but I’m worried that, Ireland being Ireland, it’ll start a bit late and go on a lot late… but it doesn’t and I’m back downstairs to hang out with Atlas while Brandin goes to get the boys and bring them to soccer. (Just one week of soccer left until a little winter break… thank God. No one warns you about the pain of extracurriculars with children, let me tell you.)
When the boys get back we have spaghetti and bolognese for dinner (yes, I totally forgot this was our plan when I had pasta for lunch…), bath and bedtime for the three of them and then Brandin and I watch the first episode of the new series of Sex Education. I love this show so much but also… I really need it to have a happy ending. (You’d think, four seasons in, I’d have accepted that this isn’t really its modus operandi but no. I have hope.)
Daily total: $0
A little spoiler alert for you: this may be a zero-dollar day, but do not allow this to trick you into thinking this is going to be a frugal week. Heaven forbid.
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