If there is anything I have learned in the past 19 months, it is that parenting is a constant juggling act. From meal times, to nap schedules, to personal commitments and work schedules, the juggling never ends.
Yes, my job is flexible...to a point. Yes, working from home is FANTASTIC. Yes, I spend more time with Ellie than the typical working mom does (and I am so thankful for that). However, there are times when my job is not so flexible and I have to travel 2 hours away for one appointment. Other times counselors may call last minute and ask me to speak at their evening parent program. This is where it gets tricky!
A "typical" day in our house is far from the normal 9-5 work day that most experience. Each day is busy and hectic and no two days are ever the same. After the past few weeks we have had, I decided I needed to document the craziness so that one day I could look back, be very proud of myself, and ask "how in the world did we do that"?
I chose to go with yesterday because it was one of our busier days.
5:15 am: Don's alarm goes off for the FIRST of at least 3-4 times. That boy likes to sleep:)
6:10 am: Don leaves for work
7:00 am: Ellie is up, so I am up! (Yes, she's still my alarm on mornings when I work later. I just can't get up before her unless I absolutely have to).
7:15: I change her diaper, fix her morning milk, turn on Barney, and get her breakfast together. This morning she had a cereal bar, yogurt and some strawberries.
7:30: While Ellie eats, I get ready. On mornings when I am working from home, you can pretty much guarantee that I am in jeans and a t-shirt. On work days, I get ready before school.
8:00: I check email, check my calendar and work phone, and gather up my work materials for my work day.
8:30: I get Ellie dressed for MDO. Today I squeezed her into a size 12 month romper she wore last winter. I am just dying to get one last wear out of all of these clothes! The pants were a little short but she still looked cute in my opinion:)
8:45: We leave for MDO. I pack her bag and lunch the night before so we just grab those on our way out the door and head to school.
9:10: I get home and get back to my computer. I correspond with a teacher and a counselor about a meeting next week and a problem they were having on our website. I also chat with Aunt Jenny over the phone while I email:)
9:50: I get dressed for work,
10:15: I heat up leftovers for Don's lunch. I am working at his school today so I told him I'd drop off his lunch on my way to the counselors office:)
10:30-12:30: I work in the computer lab with 3 school counselors.
12:40: As I am getting ready to leave the school, the counselor mentions parent/teacher conferences that night (which I already knew about, Don had to be there!) and asks if I could set up a table to speak with parents from 3-6:30 or however long I could be there. Of course I said sure, but in my head I am thinking about the logistics of picking Ellie up from MDO and finding someone to watch her while I am back at work.
12:45: I get on the phone. First, I call DeDe. She is my voice of reason and logistics guru:) She can't meet me because she volunteers in the church office which is TOTALLY fine. I don't expect her to always be available. She suggests I call Brittney, our babysitter that watches Ellie in the mornings when I work early. She sits with Ellie, feeds and dresses her, and drops her off at school a few times a month. She has been a huge help!
1:00: I call Brittney. She is available! She will meet us at home at 2:50.
in between this time, I eat lunch and breathe for a couple minutes before I leave to pick E up.
2:20: I leave to pick Ellie up from school. She had a great day! Took a 2 hour nap and ate all of her lunch. After chatting with the teachers and office ladies, we don't get home until 2:40ish
2:40: We get home and Brittney is there waiting! Lifesaver. We chat about getting Ellie a snack and I go through my calendar with her about a couple days next week I will need her help.
2:55 I leave to head back to work.
5:00 I am home! Brittney has night class so I left work in time for her to get to school.
5-7:30: I fix Ellie's dinner (mac-n-cheese, applesauce and grapes), our dinner (Italian Casserole) and then we play, take a bath and read books.
7:30: Don is home after parent/teacher conferences. He eats dinner and plays with Ellie.
8:30: Ellie is in BED and we are not far behind her! I do try to catch up on the DVR and watch Big Brother and Project Runway and Don watches a little bit of football.
Whew, I am tired again just reading through that. I am sure most of you have days like that every day or some that are even busier. I just found this day to be the best example of the juggling act I find myself constantly doing.
The cheesy term "it takes a village" is SO true when it comes to raising children. We get a lot of help from family (that don't even live in the same town) and we couldn't do it without them! Needless to say, we are ready for the weekend!
