A Day in the Life ... of Mommy

Since I know people really have no idea what my actual everyday life is like (well, most people reading from outside Egypt anyway), I thought I'd give a rundown of a typical workday. And I chose today. So here goes:

7 a.m. -- I wake up. I think, wow, did Maya sleep through the night in her room? I don't remember her getting up. I roll over in bed, and there is Maya, sound asleep next to me. I guess she came in sometime in the middle of the night. But I don't remember it.

7:05 a.m. -- I get out of bed. Since Maya's asleep, I want to catch a few minutes of time for myself before she gets up. Plus I want to check on the phone and internet connections, which were cut off on Friday with no warning for lack of paying a phone bill that we habitually never receive. It is now paid, and the line was supposed to be switched back on by morning.

7:06 a.m. -- I hear little feet pitter pattering behind me. I turn around to see groggy Maya. So much for a quiet morning. I ask her if she needs to use the potty. She says no and asks to go downstairs. Meanwhile, daddy is stirring. I look at the internet router, which appears not to be working. I pick up the phone line. No dial tone. Grrrr.

7:09 a.m. -- I look at Maya's hair. Her twists are still in, but they are frizzy and wild because we washed her hair last night. I grab a tub of ponytail holders from Maya's room.

7:10 a.m. -- Maya and I climb down the stairs. She wants breakfast, yoghurt specifically, and so we go to the kitchen and I pull out a strawberry yoghurt. I offer her the choice of peach or applejuice, and she chooses peach. So she gets a glass of peach juice. I take her food to the table, pull the top off the yoghurt and get her a spoon. While Maya eats her breakfast, I sit at the table with her. I check my e-mail on my mobile phone.

7:30 a.m. -- Maya and I goof around a little while Mike takes his shower upstairs and gets ready for work.

8:00 a.m. -- I put Maya's hair into four ponytails. It's really easy this morning because the parts are already basically done because her head is already full of 6-day-old twists. I like the look that twists make when pulled into ponytails. It looks like wild little spiral curls.

8:15 a.m. -- Maya is getting anxious. She starts to call: "Daddy downstairs". But daddy isn't coming so we decide to make a trip upstairs to visit him. When we go up, he is just about ready. I go to Maya's room and pick out some clothes for her. Blue stretchy pants and a striped, long-sleeved T-shirt. Meanwhile, Mike changes her into her diaper. Then we slip her clothes on.

8:30 a.m. -- Finally it's my turn to take a shower and get ready. I hop in the shower, and Mike takes Maya downstairs. But after just a few minutes in the shower, Mike comes up to say he has to leave for work.

8:40 a.m. -- I get out of the shower while Maya runs around wild. I pick out some clothes. I have to dress nicely today for a story so I actually iron my clothes. I get dressed.

8:50 a.m. -- Mike leaves. Maya decides to wash her hands in the sink, one of her favorite activities. I let her play in the sink while I collect a load of "whites" and throw them in the washer, then turn it on. I also stuff some clothes back in my closet -- because our cleaning lady is coming and I don;t want the room to be a total mess. While picking up, I find Maya's red comb -- the one I use to part her hair -- has broken. It needs to be replaced before the next time I do her hair. Aaah!

9:00 a.m. -- Maya is still washing her hands. The doorbell rings. It's Tiberh. I grab Maya and we go downstairs. Tiberh and I play with Maya for a couple minutes, then I continue getting ready for work. I have to make sure I have my press pass, cab money, and a sweater because the place I am going today is habitually freezing due to air conditioner overdrive.

9:30 a.m. -- I leave for the office. I grab a taxi on the street and arrive at the office about 9:45. I turn on my computer and check what is going on in the world. I am supposed to go cover a VIP meeting (sorry, but don't want to go into details of my work on this blog as I';m trying to keep that life seperate!). I find out that the driver we use at the office has called in sick, so I have to take a long and expensive taxi ride to where I'm going. Grrr.

9:45 a.m. -- I remember that I forgot to check with Ayman, our doorman (bowab), about the phone line when I left. So I call Mike and ask him to do it. I know he has Ayman's mobile phone number saved in his phone.

10:30 a.m. -- I head out to the thing I'm supposed to cover, and arrive just on time at 11:30 a.m. But the VIPs are late, so I have to sit around forever. Fortunately, I expected this, so I pull out my book and a diet coke from my bag. I am reading The Big Test, and it is pretty interesting. I want to check my e-mail on my mobile phone, but I had to relinquish my phone before I came in to cover this meeting. So all I can do is read. I read, and read, and read, and read.

3:30 p.m. -- Finally the meeting is finished and there is a press conference by the spokesperson of one of the VIPs. It only lasts five minutes. Not enough for me to write a story about. Very frustrating. But oh well. I find some colleagues and hitch a ride back to my office.

4:30 p.m.-- I'm back at the office. I check to see what else is going on. Not much. I check my work e-mail. Nothing much there either. I call a photographer colleague to see when she wants to schedule an appointment to take pictures on a joint story we are working on. We agree to decide tomorrow morning. Now there's no time left to start any work. I take a look at the feature I'm working on, make a few changes and leave it for tomorrow. Then I edit and send a story by a colleague to our editors in London.

5:00 p.m. -- Time to get ready for tomorrow. I prepare an item that will go out tomorrow that summarises the economic news of the day.

5:30 p.m. -- Then I sent a daily outlook to the editors and send them a message that I am closing for the day and I will be on call. Fortunately, one of my colleagues says the schedule has actually been changed and he will be on call instead of me. How nice! I leave the office, but not to go home. I need to go to the grocery store. Mike is going on a business trip and we have no food.

5:50 p.m. -- I arrive at the grocery store and race through the isles throwing things into my cart. I need to hurry to be home by 6:30 so Tiberh can leave. I remember to get a new comb for Maya to replace the broken one, as well as wet wipes, which we are out of. At checkout, I ask them to deliver the groceries, as otherwise I won't make it home on time. I run out and take a taxi home.

6:27 p.m. -- I arrive home. But the house is dark. I told Tiberh I would be home a little late today, so Tiberh took Maya to church with her to an Amharic service. They are not back yet. I run upstairs and look at the internet router. All lights are lit! The internet is back! I go downstairs for a few minutes of surfing before Maya comes home.

6:45 p.m. -- Maya and Tiberh arrive at home. Maya is happy from all the singing at Tiberh's church. Tiberh tells me that Maya learned how to say: "How old are you?" in Amharic, and knows to answer that she is two, also in Amharic. Then Tiberh leaves and it is time for dinner.

7 p.m. -- The groceries still haven't arrived, and there is no food in the house. So I take a can of tuna fish and a can of corn and mix them together. It's a sort of tuna and corn salad for dinner. Yes, not that great. But it's Maya's bedtime and I don't have time to make anything more complex.

7:05 p.m. -- Groceries arrive. They land in bags on the kitchen floor. Ayman calls up on the phone to see if it is working. I tell him, thank you, it is.

7:10 p.m. -- Maya and I finish dinner, then we run upstairs to put pajamas on. Maya goes potty, then puts her jammies on, then decides to wash her hands. I hand her her toothbrush and she sort of brushes her teeth.

7:30 p.m. -- We read five million stories together while I sit in the beanbag in Maya's room and Maya sits in my lap. We read: Brown Bear, Brown Bear; The Very Hungry Caterpillar; Fire, Fire; Families; and The Family Book.

8 p.m. -- Lights out. Well, except for the very bright nightlight, that is. Mike asks for a backrub, and wants me to sing: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to her. But when I start to rub her back she decides she actually wants a footrub instead, so I rub her feet and sing to her. She settles down, and then asks for "covers". I put her covers on her and sing a little more.

8:30 p.m. -- Maya is slowly drifting away when I hear the door open downstairs. Mike is home from teaching his class. He comes up and Maya wakes up and has to tell him about her day. I stay for a while, then go downstairs.

9 p.m. -- I put away the perishable goods into the fridge and leave the rest on the floor for Mike. One of the yoghurts I got popped open, so I throw it away.

9:15 p.m. -- Finally, some time for me. I get on my computer to write my blog.