Tragic Sandwich

Tag: Wicket

  • Why Our House Is a Disaster – Weekday Edition

    caution tape

    We’re refinancing, and on a recent Friday, we had a visit from an appraiser. The house was not even remotely clean, although I did set my alarm for 5 a.m. so that I’d have time to at least straighten up the living room (read: put things in stacks). Instead, I was so exhausted that I just kept hitting the snooze button. Sorry, appraiser.

    Mr. Sandwich and I are constantly evaluating the way we spend our time, particularly on weeknights, so that we can finish everything we need to and be ready for the next morning, while still getting Baguette to bed. What does that look like right now?

    5:30 a.m.
    Get up, wash face and brush teeth, unload dishwasher, wash any dishes in sink and put in drain rack to dry, give dog her medicine, open dog door, take one egg out of the refrigerator, put skillet on burner (which is not yet turned on). If it’s a day when we send lunch for Baguette, prep thermos with hot water.

    5:48 a.m.
    Finish bathroom routine. Shower if I’m lucky.

    5:53 a.m.
    Go back to bed to keep Baguette from rolling out; Mr. Sandwich gets up, gets dressed, and leaves for work.

    6:20 a.m.
    Get up, counting on Baguette to not roll out; get dressed, pull her pre-selected clothes/socks/shoes off of the shelf, get diaper and wipes and put them with her clothes, scramble and cook egg, heat up food to go in thermos, put egg in portable container, put food in thermos, assemble her lunch bag, put her breakfast in her tote bag along with anything else needed that day (set out the night before). Put yogurt and granola in my lunch bag if set up the night before; otherwise plan to buy breakfast at work. Feed dog. Make sure back door is locked, cabinets are latched, stove is off, and refrigator is closed.

    6:40 a.m.
    Unplug anything that has been charging overnight and put in handbag. Go back to bedroom and change Baguette’s diaper. Put her pajamas in the hamper and dress her for the day. Comb her hair. After she lies back down, sit her up and comb her hair again.

    6:50 a.m.
    Make Baguette stand up and walk to front door. Pet dog goodbye. Pick up bags, lock door, coax Baguette down steps, put her and bags in car.

    6:55 a.m.
    Arrive at day care. Get Baguette and her bags out of car, sign her in, drop off tuition or hot lunch money or other paperwork as needed, and walk her to classroom.

    7:02 a.m. If I’m lucky.
    Leave day care. Drive to bus stop. Park car, run across street, hope to catch bus. If I do, hope to get seat. If I don’t, drive to work. It’s an hour either way.

    8:05 a.m.
    Enter building. Buy breakfast and coffee, or just coffee if I managed to pack my own breakfast (lunch is even less likely). Go upstairs and work.

    5:00 p.m. Unless I have to work late.
    Leave building. Walk to bus stop. Catch bus home.*

    6:00 p.m. Unless traffic is worse than usual.
    Exit bus. Get in car and drive home.

    6:07 p.m.
    Arrive home. Pet dog hello. Change clothes. Put away any dishes in drain rack. Pour milk into straw cups for evening and next day.

    6:12 p.m.
    Mr. Sandwich brings Baguette home. Feed Baguette as much fruit and/or Goldfish as she will eat.

    6:25 p.m.
    Take Baguette and dog for walk around the block (1/2-mile distance). Discuss day. Encourage Baguette to walk, but carry her for intermittent stretches. Let her run back and forth when the impulse strikes her.

    7:10 p.m.
    Return home. Pull together some semblance of dinner for Baguette while Mr. Sandwich helps her play with the hose (it’s hot out). Start her bath.

    7:20 p.m.
    Change Baguette’s wet clothes and feed her.

    7:50 p.m.
    Mr. Sandwich gives Baguette her bath. Set out her pajamas and nighttime diaper, take dog out, feed dog, close dog door, wash dishes from her dinner, empty her lunch bag and clean containers, straw cups, and thermos, probably wash the skillet from that morning.

    8:05 p.m.
    Dry Baguette off, put her in nighttime diaper and pajamas, let her watch Sesame Street. Continue to prep for next day, gathering any paperwork or materials needed for day care. Eat tortilla with peanut butter (if lucky).

    9:10 p.m.
    Go to bed. All of us, because otherwise Baguette won’t. (Note: That’s “go to bed,” not “go to sleep.” There’s no telling how long that could take.)

    What’s missing from this picture?

    *This is when Mr. Sandwich does as much laundry as humanly possible in 50 minutes. Neither one of us has time to fold it or put it away.

    Photo by skyloader, via Flickr.

  • It’s My SITS Day!

    What do you call a community of some 40,000 women who support each other? SITS!

    Women Online

    Just like the name says, the secret is in support. Each day, the site features a blogger, and today’s my day.

    Those of you who are new to Tragic Sandwich may be wondering what’s up with my name. You can find that on my About page.

    So who am I?

    • I’m a 40-something writer/editor/social media marketer with a husband (Mr. Sandwich) and one daughter (Baguette).
    • I’ve lived all over the country, but have been in L.A. since Mr. Sandwich and I got married in 2004. We have a dog named Wicket who adopted us a few months before Baguette was born, and we love reading, TV, movies, travel, and the outdoors.
    • I like to cook, but I rarely have time–I’m not even able to pull together slow-cooker meals as consistently as I’d like. Simple and fast are key these days.

    This blog is about our daily life–things we do, and things I think about. If you’d like to take a look around, here are a few recent-ish posts to get you started:

    Tales of the Dragon Mother–I’ve always been fight-y, but motherhood means that my ferocity sometimes surprises even me.

    All the Single Ladies–I’m not a single mother, but I think society should stop giving them grief and start giving them more support. Because this job is hard.

    It’s Not Rat Poison–Everybody calm down. It’s just formula, and it’s fine.

    Guest Post: Mr. Sandwich    –Our marriage is based on teamwork and mutual respect, and that extends to my blog. I can’t leave out this post!

    Work-Life Balance–I think this sums it up.

    Thanks for stopping by–I hope you’ll come back! And please feel free to comment wherever you’d like. I’m always open to civil discourse, regardless of whether we agree with one another!

  • The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same

    Baguette’s crib is long gone, and the toddler bed Mr. Sandwich made for her now stands in its place. No matter–she doesn’t sleep in it, either.

    The pack-n-play still stands in our living room. She hasn’t spent a moment in it for over six months. But it’s great for storing things we want to keep away from her.

    When she started to walk, we knew that Wicket needed a safe refuge. Mr. Sandwich built a platform for the dog’s car booster seat (just typing that sounds silly and indulgent–but much as this dog loved car rides, she hated traditional carriers like she was a cat) behind the couch. Immaterial, now that Baguette is a champion climber. Also not necessary, now that Baguette knows to be gentle with Wicket.

    The travel bed/changing table is still in the corner of the living room, now used for miscellaneous storage (note to self: that must change this weekend–cannot stand it much longer).

    Some day we’ll have a living room that looks like it’s a home for adults. But not right now. We’re too busy repurposing baby items.

    At least we packed up the activity center. Cute as it was, the only additional use I can think of would have been as a place to drape clothes. And it stood right next to the travel bed/changing table, so that niche was already filled.

    Fortunately, none of this gets in the way of Saturday Night Sofa Bed.

  • Saturday Night Sofa Bed

    We don’t have a TV in our bedroom. Sometimes, though, we want to watch TV in bed. This is most likely to come up when one of us is sick, but there are occasions when we just like to lounge.

    So we developed a new tradition: Saturday Night Sofa Bed. We pull out the sofa bed, layer it with blankets, and spend the evening reading, watching TV, and sometimes even eating. All four of us (me, Mr. Sandwich, Baguette, and Wicket) fit with plenty of room to spare, and we have a great family evening.

    Then, through trial and a lot of error, we realized something else: the sofa bed is pretty much the only place we can get Baguette to nap. Apparently at day care she’s amazing at naps. But what we realized is that there, she doesn’t nap alone. There’s a whole room full of napping toddlers.

    Which is why the sofa bed is now out for the entire weekend. One of us (usually me, but not always) sits next to her and reads or works on the computer, while Wicket perches on a nearby cushion.

    It’s actually kind of awesome.

  • Baguette Fears Nothing. Except the Roomba.

    Wicket couldn’t care less about the Roomba. The first time we ran it after she came home, we wondered how she’d react–run away, or ride it like a cat? The answer: neither. From her perch on the couch, she looked at it, put her head down, and went to sleep.

    Baguette does not share that equanimity. She finds the Roomba to be an agent of evil, set on killing us all. One day I ran it while we were out. When we came back, it had stalled under a chair. She would not even let me put it back on its base in the other room–it was clearly too dangerous to touch. She still checks under that chair periodically.

    While Roomba is very convenient most of the time–no one needs to be home while the vacuuming takes place–there are times when we still need a traditional vacuum. Want to do a quick touch-up before the party? Roomba is not what you’re looking for. Last month we started vacuum-shopping on a trip to Costco, and today we decided to take the plunge. We are now the proud owners of a Hoover Rewind Plus, which was incredibly easy to assemble, has easy-access accessories for cleaning, and pulled an alarming amount of dirt out of our living room carpet.

    No one is frightened. And I think I’m in love.

  • Tower of Clothes

    So in keeping with my ongoing overhaul-one-room-a-month plan, I took today off. Well, originally I took today off so that I could go to the Halloween parade at Baguette’s day care. But as long as I was home, I figured, I might as well tackle the room I didn’t get to last month: our room.

    There’s still some work to be done, but I accomplished my main goal:

    This used to be a huge pile in the corner of our room, making it difficult to get into the closet. How huge? For a sense of proportion, please note the toy poodle in the lower right corner.

  • In The Good Old Summertime

    The Rabbit and the Rose

    Yesterday, Meagan Francis of The Happiest Mom wrote about making the most of the remaining summer days. My thought at the time was that because Baguette isn’t in school, and because our weather is mild for so much of the year, this doesn’t have the same resonance for me right now that it does for others.

    That said, I think I had one of our nicest summer evenings last night. We took Baguette and Wicket out for a walk. About a block away, we encountered a neighbor who we’ve spoken with many times. She’s in her 80s and is a retired teacher, with a garden full of ornaments that appeal to small children–and she is completely unconcerned with the effect of small children on that garden. Baguette wandered around her front yard, spinning whirligigs and petting the dachshunds (one of which is quite frail, requiring significant oversight from Mr. Sandwich). Wicket and I sat on the lawn, and all of us talked about dogs and children and our neighborhood. It was relaxed and friendly and comfortable.

    I can’t think of a lovelier way to spend an evening.

    Photo by rustler2x4, via Flickr.

  • We Know This Dog

    The previous owner never claimed her, in spite of numerous signs and online postings, and a week in the shelter (for her, not for us or the owner). So we went back to the shelter and picked her up, after which we found a groomer and a vet. She’s too good a dog to leave behind: well-trained, sweet-natured, and affectionate, and immensely fond of walks and tummy rubs. When she rolls onto her back for one of the aforementioned tummy rubs, she looks like an Ewok. Thus, we have named her Wicket. Why, yes, the Sandwiches are total geeks. Why do you ask?

    Both the shelter and the vet estimate that she’s about 12 years old, which may account for her numerous naps. However, if you saw how she bounces when she realizes that you’re going to take her for a walk, you’d never guess that she’s an older dog.

    However old she is, we’re really glad that she’s ours. And she seems to be, too.