I love these posts. I love reading them as much as I love writing them, actually more. So a BUNCH of us are teaming up to share what a day in the life is like for us. The best part of this is that we’re all different, some are moms or dads, some are fitness professionals, and some are corporate professionals. The best part of these is getting to see how everyone works fitness into their uniquely challenged lives. It’s inspiring and reminds us that it is possible, we just have to want it! Before we start you can read my two earlier Day in the Life posts here and here. They were from a couple years ago when I just had one kid.
Use the link up below to hop around and read about a day in the life. So here’s mine.
My day starts at 6:30 or whenever the kids get up, which ever comes first. I wish I was a morning fitness person but I’m not (at least not yet). I spend 30 minutes-ish getting ready for work. I have a corporate executive job so I have to look presentable which usually means showering, curling or flat-ironing my hair and putting makeup on (ugh). Sometimes, I get to do this without any disruptions but most of the time I’m balancing a toddler on my lap, who is playing with a makeup brush. The scene usually resembles something like this:
From 7:00 to 7:30 I get the kids ready, pack lunches and load the car. It doesn’t sound like a lot but sometimes I feel like I deserve a medal just for making it to work at a reasonable time. MiniE LOVES her sleep and usually fights me to get out of her crib. I’m talking grips the bars with all her might type of fight. Most of the time, I just take her in her pj’s. Yep, I’m that mom. It makes her happier and I’m in no mood to fight a battle over pj’s. MiniE gets dropped off at the sitters and E gets dropped off at pre-school. E loves his pre-school and most of the time enjoys playfully pushing me out the door. It’s a little sad as a mama but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m fortunate that both kids love where they are. As a mom that works outside of the home, that makes all the difference. It’s hard enough to leave them so knowing they are happy helps.
After drop off and commute, I usually get to work around 8:15ish. I spend the next 9 hours on nonstop conference calls and heads down work, some days I have to schedule time to go to the bathroom and even that can get rescheduled on super busy days. My day job is corporate real estate strategy for a fortune 20 healthcare company. My job is to help the company figure out where the best places in the country are to do the work that we do. I travel 50% of the time, all over the country. As a matter of fact, today I’m in Washington, missing my babies dearly. Next week…the east coast.
By Five ‘o’ clock I’m mentally and physically exhausted. At this point, there are really only two things that excite me: the thought of reuniting with my kids (and husband) after a LONG day and sweating out the chaos of the day. Around 6:00 we all get home, I make the kids dinner (usually left over grilled chicken with BBQ sauce, Green Beans and quinoa). S and I scarf down a granola bar and then we either head to the gym or head downstairs. We’ve slowly been building up our home gym so we can do a fair amount in the comfort of our home without ever leaving our kids. On “rest days”, I usually take the kids swimming at the Y. They love it, and so do I! E was really nervous around the water when we started going there but he’s really gotten more comfortable with every lesson (as evidence in the photos in my Florida post)
Workout done, it’s bathtime and dinner time (for S and I). We usually divide and conquer here. If I’m bathing, he’s cooking and vice versa. I’ll admit, I love bathtime more so most of the time my menu is pretty basic so I know it won’t give S any trouble. At 4 and 1, both kids are still sharing a bath and it’s a wonderful time of the night. I let them play for a while before we get down to the business of cleaning kids.
With baths done, I take dry off E who gets himself dressed (almost always his flannel PJ’s and Monster robe) and I dress MiniE (footy pajamas) and do her hair.
By now it’s 8:15 or so and MiniE has had it. We brush our teeth and I take MiniE to bed. This is my favorite part of the night. Yes, I’m exhausted but it’s probably the most meaningful 3o minutes of the day. MiniE picks out a book, we sit in the rocking chair in her room and read it. Then I try to cuddle her for a little while but she is NOT a cuddler. In the style of Jake Taylor in Major League, she points to the crib as if to say…”put me there” so I make one last feeble attempt at cuddling then I put her in her crib with her two blankets. She instantly rolls over and drifts off to sleep.
Then I head downstairs usually to find S and E are wrestling or playing legos or something. I let him stay up just a little longer because I want to make sure he gets enough mommy/daddy time. Then its off to bed too. Luckily this one IS a cuddler. E says his prayers and we have just a little time one on one. I ask him questions, he asks me questions…we talk and its fabulous. It’s the other 15 minutes of the best 30 of the day. It’s the little things. Read about some of the memories we’ve created during this little window of time. READ HERE.
Once he’s in bed, S and I usually do some housework then settle in for about an hour of quiet time. He watches TV and I do this…blog. We’re still together but we enjoy doing different things during that time. 99.9% of my blogging and email answering happens the night before a post goes live, I’m not bragging that’s just literally all the time I have.
Once 11:00 hits, I’m off to bed…after all, I get to do it all again tomorrow! So there it is! My day..pretty exciting huh? It’s real life and it’s how we roll in our house. It’s not always ideal but we make the most of our time together. Now link up or hop around and check out how other moms and dads are doing it!
I LOVE these posts! I will write one for next week – with getting back into school I totally forgot about the link up. Whoops.
Wow, I’m pretty tired just reading about your day! I do love reading these posts too. So interesting to get the inside scoop 🙂
It’s so fun to read everyone’s days… especially remembering back to when my kids were smaller and I didn’t play taxi service from 6pm – 9pm.
I love posts like these! We are all different but the one thing that remains the same is that we bust our butt all day long!
Thanks for hosting…you are doing a great job managing your family, work, and fitness. Love your scarf!
Thanks Amy
Thanks for setting this up! Love seeing how other moms fit everything into their days!
No problem! Tons of fun to see.
I kind of miss those days of bathtime with the kids. Fun to take a peek into others lives. I need to do one of these too!
I love bathtime. One of my favorite parts of the nice.
Looks like a busy day! Having little ones is a lot of work, but I do miss those days!
🙂 I’m still soaking up every minute of it
You are a super mom! Not being a mom, it’s nice to know what I’ll be signing up for 🙂 Some days are probably rough, but in the end its all worth it because a happy mom is a happy life! Thanks for sharing!
It is definitely worth it. Exhausting but worth it
This was fun to read! You’ve got a very full day for sure. I do not miss corporate travel one bit.
Ha! There are definitely days I wish I had a different lifestyle
Motherhood is no joke. I dunno who has it more difficult at times….. working moms or stay at home moms. You seem to have your act together for sure. I dunno if I could pull it off if I was working full time too.
Both jobs are difficult! Seriously! One is not easier than the other.
I kind of envy your need to do the whole makeup, hair, etc every day. I used to do that…
Sadly it’s a perception thing at work. 🙁
You are so busy! Love reading everyone’s Day in the Life posts. Thanks for coordinating us 🙂
Thanks for participating Rachel!
Great idea for a link-up! Love reading about everyone’s day 🙂 Whewww, you are a busy mama! Didn’t realize you traveled so much. Love the bathtime picture – LJ loves bubble baths too!
🙂 Bathtime is the best! I travel about two weeks a month.
This is such a fun post, thanks for hosting. I am enjoying all of these 🙂
Me too!
You are amazing. Seriously, I don’t know how you do it all. I stay home with the boys all week and work on the weekends and STILL don’t feel productive. You have quite the system going! You go girl!!
You are more productive than you give yourself credit for!
Thanks for hosting this link-up! It’s been fun to reading everyone’s posts.
Definitely!
Whoosh, I’m tired just reading this. I’m amazed at how well you fit it all in.
Thanks for hosting this link up!
Thanks!!
I’m so glad I found this linkup. What a fun idea to read about several “day in the life” posts from various walks of life.
Our second child was just born seven weeks ago…what a great look ahead to how life might be if I go back to work in a year or so..
I’ve done these 4 years in a row now too. It’s so fun looking back on how crazy life used to be (or how calm for that matter. Lol.) I just added my link though.