A Day in the Life of a Working Mom Turned Work-At-Home Mom

Maddie

Since the last time I wrote a “day in the life” post, my days have changed rather significantly. Before, I was a busy WOH mom of one. Now, I am an equally busy work-at-home mom of two, Jack and Cora.

We’ve made some pretty big life changes in order for me to work from home. We sold one of our cars and we are living with one car, with my husband riding his bike to work most days. We also took our son out of full-day daycare, and he now just attends VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten) from 8:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. 5 days per week. We have also started him in swim lessons and t-ball, now that I have time to take him to these activities.

Here’s what a typical day is looking like for me right now!

4 a.m. – The baby wakes up hungry and fussing. I fix her a bottle, feed her, and hope like nothing else that both of us are able to go back to sleep.

5:40 a.m. – The alarm goes off for my husband, Les. If the weather is not great, I wake up, too, because we will be getting up to take him to work.

7 a.m. – My husband leaves for work, and Jack and Cora usually are waking up for the day. If I don’t have to take Les to work, I start to stir for the day also.

7:30 a.m. – I get the baby ready for the day by changing her diaper and outfit, and maybe feeding her again if she is hungry. I coerce Jack into getting himself dressed for the day, often by bribing him with cookies for breakfast (oops).

8:20 a.m. – I load everyone into the car and drop Jack off at pre-kindergarten.

8:40-11:20 a.m. – I try to entertain the baby while feverishly accomplishing any and all work that I can. I unload the dishwasher and reload it, make the beds, and start some laundry. I also make any appointments for myself or the baby during this time. One week, we had appointments on four out of five days. (Cora has hydronephrosis that is being monitored at a children’s hospital, and I am having trouble keeping my iron and B-12 levels up, so we see several doctors.)

11:30 a.m. – I pick up Jack and head home. I try to figure out something to eat for lunch. Often, this is the time that I realize I am starving because I have yet to eat anything.

12:30 p.m. – I attempt to get Cora to take a long nap and get Jack to rest quietly in his room. Once again, I feverishly try to complete any work that I can before one or both of them gets too restless to be left alone.

2 p.m. – I try to finish whatever chores didn’t get done earlier in the day. I try to do at least one load of laundry a day, and dishes are a never-ending battle. I start thinking about what to make for dinner. I also play with Jack, if the baby allows it.

3:30 p.m. – We get ready for afternoon activities. Tuesdays and Thursdays are swim lessons. On other days, my husband and I try to go to the gym for an hour. The gym daycare is a godsend!

6 p.m. – We head home and get started on dinner.

7 p.m. – We eat dinner and start to get Jack thinking about a bath and bedtime. Meanwhile, the baby is often a little fussy at this time. Les tries to keep her happy while I do the bedtime routine with Jack.

8 p.m. – I settle in to work and watch evening TV for about an hour, and then it’s time to give the baby a bath, get her ready for bed, and give her a bottle. I continue working until I can’t take it anymore.

11 p.m. – I crash into bed and sleep like the dead.

Two or three days out of the week, we also go grocery shopping or on Target runs, lunch dates, park runs, you name it. I honestly feel just as busy now as I was when I was working outside of the house, but I am enjoying it a lot more!

True stories from the front lines of parenting.

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