The last time I gave you all a peek into our daily routine was two years ago while I was on
maternity leave...with Caroline! Oh my, how times have changed!
So I'm going to do my best to capture what a "typical" day looks like for us right now, but know that no two days are ever the same with our unpredictable kiddos. Also, in full disclosure, it took me like a week to write this post and take all the pictures because well, a typical day is just too crazy to document it all!
6:30 am: Daddy is up and in the shower. Mommy sleeps in until she hears banging on the walls from one or both of the kids' rooms.
7 am: Caroline is up but lucky for us she will sing and play in her crib for awhile before she starts calling for "Daddy!!!!" (Yes, it's always dadddy). Meanwhile Thomas is rolling around his crib giggling or bouncing and slapping the wall. I hop out of bed and quickly brush my teeth, get my makeup started and pick out my outfit. I grab Tom Tom and take a little field trip to Caroline's room so they can hug it out and play in her crib for a minute, or vice versa.
7:30 am: Both kids are glued to Elmo or Mickey Mouse in hi-chairs in our bedroom eating a banana or mandarin oranges with grits, or oatmeal or frozen pancakes, whatever daddy has whipped up. We also wrestle a patch on Tom Tom's right eye. He removes it. We re-patch. Also during this time both Matt and I are attempting to get ready while keeping an eye on both kids who are now threatening to jump out of their hi-chairs.
7:45 am: Mom and dad are dressed and ready, sort of. Time to strip the kids out of their breakfast covered clothes. Either Matt or I will negotiate with the kids to put on clothes and lather them in sunscreen. The other packs the daycare bags and load the car. Once that battle is won we let them completely destroy the living room or jump on their bed for about 10 minutes while I fry up some egg sandwiches to-go for me and Matt. We also finish getting dressed and ready during these last few minutes.
8 am: Out the door by 8 am on a good day! Matt and I rotate daycare drop-off and pick-up depending on our schedules that day. We leave at the same time and take opposite turns at the end of our street. We sing all of Caroline's song requests during the one mile ride to daycare.
8:10 am: Arrive at daycare. Unload kids. Spend way too much time supervising Caroline scrubbing in at the hand washing station. Two pumps of soap. Water. More soap. More soap. More soap. Rinse. Done. Hopefully. Sign Caroline in her class and say goodbyes. Most of the time she doesn't care that I'm leaving but every now and then she'll give an oscar-winning meltdown performance. Run across the hall to sign Thomas into class, play on the floor with him for a bit and then say goodbye when it's time for his (second) breakfast.
8:30 am: Head to the office and stop for coffee on the way. If I am not on drop-off, I am arriving to the office at this time and grab coffee with my fellow bottomless mug friend.
9 am - 5 pm: A pretty standard day is filled with conference calls, meetings, event planning, compiling pitch materials, coffee runs and more. Most days I work through lunch but every now and then I'll meet Matt or a girlfriend for lunch. I also use my lunch break to run any errands I prefer to do sans-kids (ex: Target).
5:00 pm: Pack up and head to daycare!
5:30 pm: Arrive to daycare and pick up the kiddos (the very, very, very best part of my day)! I love hearing about their day, reviewing their artwork and learning why Caroline received a stamp that day. Convince Caroline to get in her car seat with a snack bribe, usually a graham cracker, goldfish or yogurt melts.
5:45 pm: Arrive home, change and load up the wagon with dinner/snacks for a walk around the neighborhood. Daddy arrives home and changes.
Favorite on-the-go pre-dinner snacks and dinners include Uncrustables, Lunchables, string cheese, fruit and veggie pouches, cheerios, peanut butter crackers, raisins, string cheese, snack keepers of black beans, fruit, etc.
6 pm: Off for a walk! Most of the time we can get a very slow mile in before meltdowns begin but sometimes Caroline abandons the wagon at the furthest point from our house and is adamant about walking home at -2 mph.
6:30 pm: Arrive home. Provide leftovers for dinner for the kids. Play for ~15 minutes if the kids are in good spirits. If they are melting down we immediately begin baths.
7 pm: Bath time! I begin prepping dinner for me and Matt while he bathes both kids together.
7:15 pm: Begin bed time. Either Matt will put both kids down so I can finish cooking dinner or I'll put Thomas down while Matt puts Caroline down.
8 pm: Kids down! Not necessarily asleep but definitely down after many rounds of books, songs, a sip of water, prayers and other random things that have fallen into the bedtime routine along the way. Matt and I finish cooking and eat dinner, pick up the living room disaster, pack lunches for the next day, flip laundry, clean the kitchen. I shower at night so I can sleep in as long as possible in the morning
*Note: Waiting to eat dinner with Matt until after the kids are in bed has been huge for us. This is sometimes the only time of day we actually get to catch up uninterrupted and without distractions. No TV, no work emails, just conversation over a quick dinner.
9 pm: On a good day we are collapsing into bed by 9, but sometimes even earlier! Fire up laptops to finish work for Matt or blogging (and sometimes work) for me! Watch 3-9 minutes of a TV show (that Matt usually has not agreed on) and pass out by 10 pm. Matt passes out way later.
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Like most of you, our days are filled to the brim! And as you can see, choosing to be a two-career family means there really isn't that much time we get with our kiddos during the work week. However, we really embrace the weekends with our minis and try to cram in as much family stuff as possible while also catching up on laundry, grocery shopping, errands, etc.
I know being a working mama isn't for every family but I'm really happy with how we've made it work for ours. I honestly owe most of the credit to my amazing husband for being such a rock star daddy, credit to my insanely understandable and flexible working mama boss and credit to our daycare facility and teachers who send me pictures, texts and updates throughout the day to let me know how loved my kids are.
