A Day in the Life of a Working Mom

I've had a lot of conversations with my Mom friends lately about what it's been like to go back to work. I have friends that work full time, friends that take care of their kids full time and friends that do all different shades of whatever is in the middle of those two. At the end of the day we are all trying to to the best for our families and be the best moms we can be. Period! (i.e. I'm not getting into the politics!) That said, I wanted to share my take on life as a working mom and a peek into a normal day for us.

Is it hard? Yes. 

Do I question if I'm doing the right thing for my family? Every. Single. Day. 

Is this what I choose as our long term solution? I don't know but it's working for now! 

Do I miss my kids and feel like I'm missing out on their daily lives? Always.

If only we could have it all or at least more time in the day!

Sometimes my roles and my time all bleeds together. Yes, I have someone taking care of my kids during the day, but not all of my Mom duties stop just because I'm at work. I still am shuttling the boy to school, going to doctor's appointments and buying diapers. And let's not forget my favorite activity, pumping! Sometimes I do Mom stuff during the day and sometimes I do work things after I put the kids down. I am thankful to have a job where they let me figure out how to make it all work. (Although I'm sure I've pushed the boundaries a time or two!)

Here's a typical day for us:

Everyday I get up around 6am and sometime between then and 7:30am I get dressed and ready for work, get Cooper dressed and fed on school days and get Carrington changed and fed. This goes in no particular order, whoever cries the loudest usually gets my attention and that is usually the Cooper boy. Thank goodness for iPads and Henry Hugglemonster.

We are out the door by 7:30 (on a good day) which is when my nanny gets to the house to watch Carrington. I drop Cooper off at school by 8 and head into the office. I put on my investor hat for a few hours until it is time to get Cooper from school around lunch. I pick him up, drive him home, shove some food in my mouth and head back to work. In order to keep up with the breastfeeding regime, I have to pump three times during the work day, while reading equity reports of course! Otherwise I pretend to be a perfectly normal investment analyst.

I leave the office by 5 to get home in time to spend an hour and a half with my kids before they go to bed. If that means I have to work after they go down that's what I do, but I rarely sacrifice my family time if I can help it!

There is nothing better than a Cooper smile and a big hug at the end of a long day. There is nothing worse than him getting mad at me when I get home and telling me "I'm going to WORK Mom!" As if I'm doing it to punish him...ouch.

During the week, I try to stick with easy dinners. Simple proteins to grill or bake, steamed veggies, salads and crockpot recipes are my friends! I grocery shop on Sunday afternoons for food for the entire week. This usually works, unless we run out of milk, blueberries or Bunny Snacks!

We start the bath and bed process around 7:15 every night and usually have both kids settled by 7:45. After this we clean up dinner, wash what feels like one thousand pump parts and pack Cooper's lunch for school the next day.

After everything is done, I'm usually good for a big glass of wine and some QT with the hubs.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

My babies.