A Day In Our Life | July 2017

Today I’m tackling one of my most requested topics — a day in our life! I do really love these types of posts and I know I’ll enjoy looking back on them one day with rose colored glasses when we’re empty nested. You know, when dress up clothes strewn across the floor are replaced with vacuum lines, when our furniture doesn’t live under blankets in fear of ketchup hands, when 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep is our standard not a luxury, and when our favorite little people no longer need us to help them fill their sippy cup, wipe their bummy, buckle their seat belts, kiss away boo boos, bathe them and tuck them into bed. Ah, yes, I will miss these days — I’m sure of it. But until then, let’s take a peek into our daily chaos that most definitely includes lots of shared parenting duties, a flexible job, a rock star daycare and is fueled by coffee and wine.

Oh, and also, instead of taking pictures this time for my documentary, I decided to film a short iMovie of clips instead, which took me over a month to record + compile! So if you want to watch the three minute video of our day, I promise it’s way more fun and adorable than reading through the following timeline…

6:30 am: From the top of the stairs we can hear Caroline loudly and I mean loudly whispering “Mommy? Daddy? Are you awake?” which we will acknowledge by waving good morning and whisper back for her to go play for a bit. She runs off to play and Matt hops out of bed and into the shower. I scroll through Instagram, check emails and read a few blogs. 

6:45 am: I hop out of bed, pour us some coffee and start getting ready. In the bathroom, Matt and I compare our schedules for the day. Halfway into my makeup routine I can hear over the monitor that Caroline is up to no good. I check the monitor and sure enough she has pushed her art easel into Thomas’ room to use as a step stool to catapult herself into his crib to wake him up and play with him. And so we start getting ready faster. 

7 am: Thomas is starving (he wakes up ravenous) so one of us goes upstairs to get both kids out of his crib and change the little man’s diaper. Today it’s me, but usually it’s Matt so I can keep getting ready. Caroline requests that I check out her poopy in the potty from earlier that morning (can I get an amen on this stage?!) and on my way into the bathroom I almost break my neck on the bottle of soap she pumped out all over the floor which she claims was to “help clean” after washing her hands. 

7:15 am: Kids pile into our bed and watch an episode of Paw Patrol while we finish getting ready for work. 

7:30 am: Matt and I are dressed and ready…time to tackle the kids. We usually tag team getting the kids dressed, teeth brushed and lathered in sunscreen. 

7:55 am: If we’re in a hurry to get to the office we toss the kids straight into my car with an on-the-go breakfast (granola bar, banana, bagel, applesauce pouch, etc.). If we aren’t rushed I usually give them a quick breakfast while I finish my coffee and fry up a quick egg sandwich to take to the office. This morning I also throw dinner in the crock pot so it’s ready when we arrive home. 

8:10-8:15 am: Kisses and hugs for daddy and we are off to daycare! I take the kids to school most mornings since I can get a little bit of a later start than Matt. 

8:15 am: Arrive at daycare. The kids fight over who gets to beep us in with the key fob. Scrub in at the hand washing station. Race to class. Caroline likes to drop off Thomas first so she can give him a hug and kiss before running out the door to her class (this is one of my favorite moments of every day!!). Drop Caroline off in her class with lots of hugs and kisses. 

8:35 am: Stop at Brueggers to fill my mug with coconut coffee. 

8:40 am: Hit the road if I’m traveling or head to office. 

9 am – 4:45 pm: Typical work day for me: meetings, meetings, meetings, conference calls, run out for coffee refill, eat lunch at desk or out with a friend, emergency run to Target for more diapers for Thomas, emails, emails, emails. 

5:15 pm: I arrive home and whip up something for the kids to eat and begin prepping dinner for me and Matt as well. 

6:20 pm: Daddy has scooped the kids up and taken them to their school library to pick out books for bedtime tonight and return yesterday’s books. (He is way more fun at pickup than me). 

6:25 pm: Beg and plead with the kids to eat their dinner. It’s a 50/50 gamble whether they make a happy plate and receive a marshmallow. (NOT above bribery here!) We sit down with the kids while they eat but we don’t eat our dinner usually until after they go to bed. 

6:40 pm: Go for a walk, play in the driveway or inside for a little before its time for bath.

7:00 pm: Begin bath time routine. Both kids are bathed together. Teeth brushed. Dressed in jammies. I rock Thomas to sleep with lots of songs and Matt tucks Caroline in over many books, stories, songs, kisses, requests (water, potty, socks, retrieve missing stuffed animals, etc. etc. etc.) 

7:30 pm: While Matt finishes up the marathon bedtime routine for Caroline I finish preparing our dinner. 

7:45 pm: We eat together, clean up the kitchen, pack lunches, refill backpacks, prep coffee for next morning, etc. 

8:00 pm: Matt will usually jump into bed and fire up his laptop to tackle a little more work depending on how crazy his day was. I soak in the bath tub and scroll through ALL the social media and blogs I need to catch up on. 

8:30-9: Join Matt in bed. Knock out a blog post while watching an episode of whatever DVR’d show we can agree on. Tonight I win (actually, I usually win)…and it’s a two hour episode of Dateline — my favorite!

10-11 pm: I pass out and Matt stays up to finish watching whatever we started. He rewatches everything at least twice because I fall asleep so fast and have to constantly catch up!

And that’s the highlight reel of our typical day! Of course, I edited out all the tantrums and meltdowns so you didn’t have to suffer through them with us.

Previous Day In The Life Posts

A Day in the Working Mama Life | June 2016 (11 months & 2 yo)

A Day in the Life of Maternity Leave | June 2014 (7 wks & 14 mo)