A Day In The Life Link Up

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:

Bathroom Hijinks

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.

Corporate Mom

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)

Family Locker Room Selfies

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.

Quality family time is so important.

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.

Bathtime

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!