It really doesn’t matter if you are mom working inside or outside the home. Let’s face it – either way you are working and trying your best to make time to fit it all in. For our kids, our partners, our chores, our health, our hobbies, our families and whatever else and it’s not easy.
I wondered if there were things in my day I could do to make more time. See if I was being wasteful or worse, selfish. I decided to write out my day to see where I could do better. Following is my confessional. Turns out I am neither wasteful nor selfish; I just need a housekeeper, cook, driver, personal trainer and babysitter. In other words, I need a wife!
5:00 am – Wake up at the butt-crack of dark. Curse my sleeping husband. Stub toe on something I can’t see in the dark on my way to the bathroom.
5:15 am – Leave for gym. Talk myself down from the irrational fear that I’ll be mugged in my driveway this early while everyone sleeps.
6:15 am – Get home from gym and get ready for day. No leisurely shower for you my friend. Fast and furious before anyone wakes up and interrupts that “Me” time.
7:00 am – Wake the toddler and dress her. Give 2 options for outfit which won’t matter because they are not a tutu and super girl cape. Debate ponytail or barrette.
7:10 am – Breakfast for Toddler. This one is easy; Gogurt, strawberries and …. Not so fast. She’s not feeling that today.
7:20 am – Brush teeth. We do this together as a game of Ready? Set. Go! It’s a flurry of brushing and blue foam and spitting and it’s SO fun.
7:25 am – Make coffee in to-go cup and load car with all our bags. Thank you Keurig. I am forever in your debt for making ONE THING in my life that can be started and completed in under a minute.
7:30 am – Leave for daycare. Miracle of miracles we might be on time today.
7:40 am – Drop off/leave for work. Call mom for daily chat while I’m alone and Dad is sleeping. Hear all about doctor appointments and tell her about potty training. Who are we?
8:30 am – Arrive at office. It’s quiet. Is it Saturday? Check phone. No. OK.
8:35 am – Eat a yogurt and granola bar while sorting emails and prepping for day. Check Facebook.
12:00 pm – Lunch at my desk. Nicely packed and healthy (or bought from the food truck) scarf it down before someone needs something. Pray no one looks in the window as you have dressing on your chin and crumbs on your shirt.
5:00 pm – Leave for home. Traffic. SO. MUCH. TRAFFIC.
5:45 pm – Arrive home/start dinner. (Except the exceptionally blessed, glorious days when husband makes dinner. These fall fairly frequently from January – July. Then football practice and hunting start. Forget getting a meal; wonder if you still have a husband.) If he’s cooking, make all sides, set table. He still gets credit.
5:48 pm – Handle tantrum from toddler that wants to help. No, only you, not Elmo. Didn’t we learn that in the whole Elmo loses a foot fiasco?
6:30 pm – Sit down to dinner. Pray. Take bites in between grabbing what I forgot from the fridge and coaxing toddler to “just try it.”
7:00 pm – Bath; tub crayons, boats, duckies, butterflies in nets. OR skip bath and do puzzles, read books, paint pictures. Hands down, best part of the day.
7:30 pm – Lay in Mama and Daddy’s bed. Watch Wizard of Oz from where we left off yesterday. Finally, 15 minutes of uninterrupted relaxing. Toddler in my face saying “Open you eyes Mama!”
7:45 pm – 8:00 pm – Toddler to bed. Ritual of prayers, kisses, 2 books, 1 song and “daddy hit the lights!”
8:05 pm – Make lunch for tomorrow. Clean up dishes, put out gym clothes, throw in a load of wash, pick up toys and pack the bags for tomorrow…..
8:45 pm – Sit down for time with husband. Debate what to watch on TV. Finally agree.
9:00 pm – Promptly fall asleep until bed time.
All of your posts have really resonated with me! Thanks for your honesty and transparency! I need a wife, too!! 🙂
What a nice compliment! Thank you – I’m glad you are enjoying!
You are amazing!
Far from but thank you!
This was great. It’s nice to read that someone else’s day is non-stop from start to finish. Sometimes I wonder!