A Day in the Life

Every day is a little different, but here's a typical schedule (my exact day this Monday actually):

5:15 - Baby is crying. Breastfeed in bed and pretend I'm still sleeping.

5:45 - Get out of bed, get myself ready but not dressed, eat breakfast.

6:30 - Get the kids up. The 3-year-old can dress herself with the clothes I picked out the night before. I breastfeed and dress the baby.

6:55 - Load the car with their daycare bag, my breast pump, etc.

7:00 - Get dressed.

7:05 - Discover that the baby has had a massive poop. Rush to change her.

7:10 - Start the dishwasher and leave the house.

7:11 - Get the kids in the carseat, crabby because we're running late as always.

7:20 - Arrive at daycare. Kiss my angels goodbye. Still feel a lump in my throat as I leave them every day.

7:35 - Arrive at work, 5 minutes late.

9:30 - Take a "break" to pump breastmilk.

12:30 - Lunchbreak (which I like to call "Pump and Munch")

4:05 - Get the heck out of there to go pick up my babies.

4:20 - Arrive at daycare, hug the kids, chat with the provider.

4:40 - Arrive home.

4:45 - Change clothes.

4:50 - Get older child a snack.

4:55 - Breastfeed baby, watch the tail end of Oprah.

5:15 - Start thinking about supper (assuming I wasn't organized enough to throw something in the crockpot that morning--which seems to happen a lot lately). Play with the kids on the floor, maybe read them some books. Try not to act as tired as I feel.

5:30 - Start making supper.

5:45 - Unload dishwasher while supper cooks.

6:00 - Try to eat while feeding baby spoonfuls of sweet potatoes. Give 3-year-old the evil eye for blowing bubbles in her milk.

6:30 - Clean up baby. Put her on the floor where she cries while I clean up 3-year-old, clean up kitchen and sweep floor so baby doesn't find 3-year-old's "leftovers."

6:45 - Husband gets home. Where has he been all my life?

6:50 - I take a shower while husband watches the kids.

7:05 - Family time.

7:10 - Get out the kids' clothes for the next day.

7:15 - Baby is very crabby so I dress her in her jammies and sit down to breastfeed her in the dark while my husband gives our older child a bath.

7:30 - Put baby to bed.

7:40 - Snuggle with 3-year-old.

8:00 - Husband puts 3-year-old to bed.

8:05 - We try to watch TV while I get things ready for the next day and he washes bottles.

9:00 - Grown-up time. Drink a beer, maybe watch an episode of "Six Feet Under" from Netflix.

10:00 - Go to bed.

10:05 - Talk.

10:10 - Husband is asleep.

10:15 - Even though I'm exhausted, I can't sleep so I read.

10:45 - Shut out my light and embrace sleep.

2:00 a.m. - Get up to feed baby.

5:15 a.m. - Start all over again.

I'm trying to fit working out back into my schedule. I'm thinking maybe 4:30 a.m.?

A Day In the Life of Me

Being a working mom means going by schedules and routines as much as possible...At least it does in our house! I wouldn't say I am the most organized person I know, but I have my own system and it seems to work. So here is a typical day for us:

5:30am, daughter usually wakes up and wants to watch Winnie the Pooh. Unfortunately, the Disney Channel changed their early morning lineup and Pooh Bear is no longer on at that time. So there were a few days of fits over this. Not something I want to deal with at such an hour. Thankfully, in it's place is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and she seems to enjoy that. Once I get her settled, I hop in the shower. Sometimes my husband will get up with her and I get in the shower right away, and sometimes, on a wonderful rare day, she sleeps until 6am. On those days, I get up at about 5:40 to shower. My baby boy is a great sleeper and sleeps right through this.

6am, get everyone ready. I usually have to wake the baby at 6:20 to get him a bottle and then dressed. Tackling the 3 year old can be difficult on some mornings, but somehow we get out of there everyday by 6:50-7am.

7-7:10am, drop kids off at daycare. Get the baby settled with toys and the 3 year old with cereal.

7:30ish get to work. I only take a 30 minute lunch, in order to get off 30 minutes early.

4pm I'm out the door on my way to pick up the kids. I almost never stay late--my employer doesn't want us to, and frankly, I am staying there 1 minute longer than I have to.

4:30pm, get to daycare. Pick up the 3 year old first, then head to the baby room. We usually chat with the baby's teacher for a few minutes, just learning about his day, talking about anything that might have come up recently for him.

5ish, we get home and the fun begins! The 3 year old instantly wants milk, the baby wants some mommy time, and the dog wants to go outside. I have been trying to get dinners somewhat planned and prepared the night before, but that doesn't always happen. So this is the hour I am usually trying to juggle the baby, interact with the 3 year old, and get dinner going. My husband is often times home when we get home, in which case we tag team. The baby still likes a catnap when we get home, so there is a break for me to sit with him and let him fall asleep for 30 minutes.

6ish is dinner. Usually consists of fighting the 3 year old to even take bites of what was made, and trying to feed the baby his food fast enough to keep him satisfied.

6:30-7pm is bath time, every other night. Again, we usually tag team for this or I put the baby in his bath seat in the tub with the 3 year old (otherwise, he gets bathed in our big kitchen sink). If it's not bath night, we play.

7-8pm is getting ready for bed and doing some playing. Baby gets his bottle and is usually out not long after. 8pm is bedtime for the 3 year old and we always read a book before lights out. By 8:30, the house is quiet!

8:30-10pm is cleaning time. Bottles cleaned and prepared, dinner dishes done, laundry is usually on the list also. We fit in some favorite TV shows between tasks.

10pm is bedtime for me!

Now, there are times that things get a little off. For instance, the 3 year old and I just started a mommy and me swim class 2 evenings a week. They start right at our normal dinner time, so we are usually scrambling to get meals done. The baby stays home with daddy in order to keep his schedule somewhat the same.

Oh, and my husband goes out of town from time to time. Usually for a week at a time. When this happens, it's all about survival. So basically I do whatever I can to get food in tummies and kids in bed as close to their normal time as possible. We are usually exhausted by the end of the week. And I come of out of those weeks with an incredibly deep admiration for single moms who do it on a daily basis.