Simple Pleasures: A Day in the Life of Elsie, New Mom

By Elsie Callender, Contributing Writer

I’m just entering the stage of life I always looked forward to the most: motherhood. I’ve dreamed about these days for a long time, and in April of this year our son was born.

Life is so very different now, but it’s beautiful and full of simple abundance. I’ve had to learn how to hold my plans loosely, because I never know what Little Dude and the day will bring. Unpredictability is good for me, though, as I’ve held to my own agenda for a very long time!

I picked a random Tuesday to record my “day in the life.” And a deliciously rainy day it was. Nothing very exciting happened, and nothing very awful. It was the sort of quietly beautiful everyday that makes having more money or a bigger house or more work time seem very unimportant and un-eternal.

You might find this day interesting, or you might think it’s as boring as a world without butter. For myself, this is life’s butter, and I expect I’ll have many more days like it. I nod in agreement with Anne of Green Gables that “…the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”

Wee hours of the morning: I feed Little Dude and then feed myself. He gets milk, I get a dish of peanut butter swirled with butter and raw honey.

7:15 a.m. My husband has left for school (he’s a teacher), and Little Dude and I wake up to rain pouring on the tin roof of our cabin. I have breakfast (homemade yogurt and an orange roll from a local bakery) and read my Bible while Little Dude watches from his swing. I check the weather forecast–rain off and on all day! Usually baby and I like to go for a swim in the afternoon, but I doubt that will happen today!

8:15 a.m. I take Little Dude up to the loft and we get dressed. My brother texts me. He can’t work because of the weather. Would we like to walk during a break in the rain? I’m all for it! We walk the gravel road, enjoying the rain-lush colors and a break from the Alabama sun. It starts to drizzle as we return home.

9:30 a.m. Back from our walk, I feed Little Dude up in the loft and he falls asleep on my bed.

10:00 a.m. It’s work time! I have a part-time job as a Virtual Assistant, and the only time I can get much done is while the boy is sleeping! This has been one of the hardest transitions for me into motherhood. I used to be able to work hours on end, but those days are gone for good!

12:30 a.m. I hear Little Dude waking up. I’m amazed–and so grateful–that he’s slept so long! I get a big batch of red raspberry leaf tea going on the stove and then fix lunch. I’m having a super-healthy meal of leftover Jets pizza.(: I watch an old Survivor episode while I eat and Little Dude chills in his swing. Ten minutes in, I look down and notice that Little Dude’s stuffed elephant has yellow paws. Oops! Closer investigation reveals one of the worst blow-outs of Little Dude’s little life! I change his diaper, but then decide to go ahead an give him a bath.

1:30 p.m. I snuggle on the couch with a clean baby and we finish watching Survivor together.

2:35 p.m. We go out onto the porch to watch the downpour, then upstairs where Little Dude eats again and takes another nap. I wash the swing and the elephant’s paws.

2:50 p.m. Back at my laptop, I work on a sponsored post that’s due on my blog. The rain comes down heavy, which keeps Little Dude asleep for a good long while!

4:15 p.m. Little Dude is up. My husband texts me to say he’s heading home!

4:15-5:40 p.m. I get stuck in a time vortex, apparently. I have no idea what we did! Mommy brain takes over…

5:45 p.m. He’s home! We walk up to my parents’ house so they can visit with Little Dude. Afterwards, my brother mentions another walk so we head down the gravel road again.

6:40 p.m. My husband offers to make dinner. We’re having ricotta gnocchi with brown butter sauce and fresh spinach. I clean the bathroom and then put Little Dude to bed while my husband cooks.

8:08 p.m. After a few trials and tribulations, Little Dude is finally down. Eric and I eat, ravenously, and talk til bedtime.

9:30 p.m. Bedtime!