My 2020: Just a normal day: This is what's an average day currently looks like for me

Another My2020 contest hosted by @anomadsoul and @blocktrades

I loved participating in the previous ones and was actually bummed that the my2020 contests had seemed to have ended when 2020 arrived. Thankfully, this wasn't the case. Here's to another my2020 contest!

This time we are asked to write a post about our daily life. The funny thing is that just an hour ago, I was walking back from bringing my daughter to school and thinking about some things to write today. I was wondering if I could write something about what I see when bringing her to school and picking her up. Coincidence? Probably not!

My morning routine

Usually, I wake up around the same time (7 AM), even during the weekends, although during the weekends it's my internal clock waking me up, not the alarm. Which I actually prefer honestly. But as I can't risk not waking up when it's a school day, I have to set the alarm during the weekdays.

The bitmoji above shows how I feel waking up during a spring day, during these cold months I feel like an old lady trying to get up actually. It will take me at least 1 cup of coffee to get me started. I used to eat breakfast before taking my daughter to the nursery, but I now eat breakfast when I get back home.

I always take a moment to myself after I woke up and have another alarm set to wake up my daughter as she's currently a sleepyhead. Whenever she wakes up before I do, she will dive in bed with me for 5 minutes or so to wake up a bit. But at the moment, I'm the first one to wake up. You know the drill, going to the toilet and most important: make myself a coffee!

Ok, I know it looks a bit weird, but I can't function when I skip this part of my routine. I know it's a bad habit and it's actually something that I'm aware of but not willing to let go yet. So, coffee it is!

As soon as I finish my coffee I will wake up my daughter and by that time we have one hour left before we have to leave. I make sure she went to the toilet (twice) and had her breakfast and drank water. Then it's time to put on her clothes, brush teeth and do her hair. She wears her hair in 2 braids lately, so every evening and morning that's become part of my routine: fixing the braids.

Time to go to the nursery and start being productive

Once both of us are ready to go, we leave to the subway and take the metro to go to the nursery. This may sound stupid for 1 stop, but it will avoid us having to stand in a tram filled with all kinds of diseases. The tram seems to be filled with more homeless people while the metro is used by the working people. I started to love using the metro since I decided to use it for school days, it's fast and we're never late.

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Fun fact: a year ago I was afraid of using these stairs in the subway stations, I almost fainted when I used them. Luckily, today it's not a problem anymore.

The fun part of bringing my daughter to the nursery begins as soon as we leave the subway station. We have to walk through a nice park to get to school and while we're walking there we enjoy what's around us. We chat and these are actually quite precious mommy-daughter moments.

Usually, we see a lot of people and quite a few of them are walking their dogs in the park. Nowadays I really take a moment to take it all in, seeing these dogs have fun chasing a ball and the owners joining them in their fun, while others just walk there to start their working day soon. The park somehow makes me feel happy every single morning I cross it.

Last week we had some snow and back then the park looked even nicer. While this extra ambiance sure has a special touch to it, I really enjoy the park on a cloudy day as well. It somehow clears my head walking there for 5 minutes. It seems as if I'm really taking more and more time to enjoy the little things in life, maybe that's why the winter depression isn't winning it from my productive side this year?

As soon as I walk back from the nursery, I think about what I will do these hours. I sometimes think about what blog to write today, but sometimes I decide on what needs to be done first today and just take it from there. Every other day I do a few groceries while going back home.
Today I accidentally discovered there's an outdoor gym in this park, with some equipment as shown below:

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Today I tried every one of them and there are a few that I should definitely avoid with my knee at the moment, but I decided to at least go there to loosen up all the other joints that feel sort of frozen because of the low temperatures. It will at least help me start to get in the workout routine, and it's free. Who knows I might prefer this over the paid gym in a while. I hope I will feel fitter soon and that this will stay part of my daily routine.

Once I arrive at home, I eat breakfast and have another coffee. Then it's time to start being productive. I have quite a to-do-list on my desk and it all depends on my flow and often if there are deadlines for those tasks. Lately, I've managed to spend my time well when my daughter is at the nursery, especially since she is staying there until the afternoon nowadays.

Time to pick up the little lady

Usually, when it's time to pick up my daughter, I've managed to complete some tasks including writing a blog. Meaning, that I will pick her up with a feeling of satisfaction because I managed to get some things off my list. I promised my daughter to not be behind the laptop much after she gets home from the nursery, so I really aim to finish important things while she's there.

I always take some moments to enjoy the park view like in the mornings when I pick her up. She's always happy that I'm there and full of things she wants to share with me. Usually, we go straight home, because for some reason she won't use the toilet at school and I want to avoid her having an accident while she's being such a champ being potty trained.

Usually, we have some late lunch together as she doesn't fancy the school food much, which I understand most of the days. It's fine by me, I'm not going to make a fuzz about that anymore. I try to motivate her to try it but it's not worth a battle at this point.

Once done eating she often wants to paint or draw. So we do that together or she does it alone, it depends on the day or mood. Last week we spent several days after school time to paint some rocks as they needed to dry before the next layer. She enjoys being creative, and so do I.

Dinner time and the evenings

Dinner time arrives quite fast since the afternoons are different than a few months ago, but honestly, I love this new routine.

Sometimes my daughter and I eat early as my boyfriend will be late due to Spanish classes for example, but other times, we wait and eat together. Soon after it's time to get the lady cleaned in the bath, brush teeth and her father is her hairdresser as he apparently is a champ at blowdrying our hair. So I think that's a good way to divide those after-bath tasks, as I will have to fix the braids afterward.

Storytime has arrived! Nowadays, our daughter knows most stories half by heart, so it's actually a very fun and engaging time to read her a story. Sometimes I do it, other days her dad, it's just all depending on the rest of the day.

Quality time with the boyfriend

Now the little lady is sleeping, we can enjoy some tv shows on Netflix or have good talks. Those talks have been happening almost daily the past few weeks as we seem to be on that stage in our lives that we are going to make some drastic changes for the better. Also, we have discussed the options for the future years and seem to be on the same page of what we should do and what's best for us three. I'm glad we are on the same page and I'm glad we are taking more time to speak up about how we feel and what we think we should do. It's all very helpful clearing my head whenever I'm in doubt.

I have to admit that I go to bed quite on time lately, as my routine is really becoming a routine and I just need to be in bed on time. Somewhere between 10 and 11 pm I usually land in bed and fall asleep quite fast lol.

Winter vs Summer

Of course, I'm describing the days as they are now, during the winter. Because of the cold affecting my back and knee a lot, I'm not walking as much as I would be during the summer months. I prefer public transport over walking during the winter to ease the pain a bit, but absolutely prefer walking over public transport when the sun shows its face more often.

Summer means going to the island of fun

I love the feeling of a fresh spring breeze while walking in the sunshine with no jacket and wearing my slippers. Especially if it means my skin catches some color while doing so. Needless to say, that during these months we also spend much more time outside having fun as a little family.

For now, let's just enjoy the days as they are, whether they are cold or not. I'm actually trying to make the most out of my days and I'm trying to get a healthier routine and healthier habits bit by bit as well.

Hope you enjoyed reading about my normal day!