My Daily Schedule as a Working Mom

I am a working mom. It is no joke people. It's hard.

I really love being a teacher and feel like it is something I am truly good at but any mother who has worked full-time knows the harsh reality of being torn between two things. It is hard to come home and want to get things done when you worked all day. Normally I want to just play with Nora instead of make dinner or do any type of domestic activity.

I don't know if I will always be a working mom. I have dreams of one day staying home with our kids, but only God knows what my future truly holds.

With all the craziness, The Hubs and I have created ourselves a nice little evening routine to help us stay on top of housework and working out, while also enjoying Nora and each other.

Either way this is a crazy and also amazing season of life and this blog is meant to help document where I am in life. So, here is a glimpse into my daily schedule as full-time working momma!

5:45 AM

Alarm goes off, I immediately get up. That isn't sarcasm. I am not a snooze hitter or slow to wake up. My alarm goes off, I'm up right away and headed to the shower. I take fast showers so I'm out by 6:00 AM.

6:00 AM

Time for make-up, hair, and getting dressed. I do minimal make-up ( foundation, powder, mascara, eyeliner, blush) and really only know 3 hair styles (down and straight, down and curled or ponytail). So this part does not take long at all. I usually pick my clothes out the night before to hopefully eliminate the trying-on-a-million-outfits-dilemma.

At this time The Hubs wakes up and takes both our dogs on a quick walk around our neighborhood.

6:30 AM

The Hubs is back and Nora is usually just waking up. If she isn't already up, we have to wake her up now to give her her morning bottle and get her dressed. The Hubs feeds Nora, changes her diaper and gets her dressed (#superdad) while I eat breakfast and get all of mine and Nora's things loaded in the car.

7:00 AM

Nora and I are out the door while The Hubs gets in the shower. We give kisses goodbye and are on our way to day care and school. Nora likes to make lots of noises the whole drive to day care, it's pretty stinkin' cute! I arrive at Nora's day care around 7:15 AM.

Don't worry, this is not how we drive to work. Just set her down one moring to get the umbrella ready to run into day care!

7:20 AM

I have dropped Nora off and am in my classroom by this time. I made the decision to go into work almost a half hour earlier than I need to be there because it means I can leave much earlier at the end of the day. In the mornings there isn't time for me to sit and play with Nora but there is in the evenings so I don't want to waste that evening time. I work on classroom things like passing out morning work, writing notes on the board and making sure all my ducks are in a row for the day.

7:45-3:00

I am now in full-on Mrs. Smith mode. I am answering questions, teaching things, getting on to kids, being accidentally called mom and saying "listen to me when I am talking" a million times. Like I said before, I really do love my job but it is exhausting. By 3:00 I am ready to be home!

3:30 PM

I wrap up for the day and try to do a few things to get ready for the next day. I head to get Nora at day care, getting there around 3:40 PM.

4:00 PM

Nora and I are home and playing, just waiting for The Hubs to get home! Occasionally Nora will fall asleep on the way home and stay asleep for about 45 miuntes but not always. Most days we fill this our with playing and momma giving her a thousand kisses!



5:15 PM

Daddy is home and takes over while I make dinner. He gets time to play with Nora and I can make dinner without her distracting me. Nora usually eats at around 5:30 so either The Hubs will feed her or I will feed her while we eat dinner.

6:00 PM

We are usually done eating at this time and we have another 30 minutes to play with Nora and clean up from dinner. Most evenings lately, we put Nora on the living room floor and watch in amazement as she attempts to crawl!

6:30 PM

Nora and I begin the bedtime routine. Bath (every other night), jammies, four books, 2 songs, 1 prayer and in her crib awake!

While I am putting Nora down, The Hubs is getting our "garage gym" ready! He takes his laptop out and cues up our Daily Burn video, turns on the fans and fills up our water bottles.

7:00 PM

By 7 Nora is usually asleep or at least drowsily talking in her crib (which leads to sleep about 5 minutes later). Some people have remarked that 7 is a really early bedtime and while it does make it difficult for us to go out and do things, most nights we are just home and it is so nice to have time for just The Hubs and I!

I get my shoes on and head to the garage to work out! We do a 30 minute workout video in the garage 5 nights a week ( Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday). We lock the doors in the house and have a monitor out with us in case Nora wakes up.

7:45 PM

We are done working out and head in the house. At this time we consult our weekly cleaning schedule and do whatever is on that! This is the best thing we ever did! It literally takes 20 minutes and helps keep the house clean throughout the week so we can keep our weekends free of big cleaning days.

8:30 PM

We are done with our chore for the evening so we shower and usually grab a snack. Right now we are watching Season 2 of Castle so we usually watch one episode before we go to bed.

9:30 PM

We are usually off to bed by this time. Of course sometimes it is later and sometimes a little earlier. I am not a night owl so sometimes I even crash curing Castle and The Hubs has to wake me up to go to bed. We go to sleep and get ready to start another day all over!

Photo Every Hour | Monday

I have seen these posts done before and I love to read them! The whole appeal of blogs is getting a glimpse into other people's lives and for a nosey person like me that is so entertaining! So here is a glimpse into my Monday!

* You'll notice an hour is missing. I may or may not have been taking a glorious one hour nap ;) No picture necessary.

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Summer Daily Schedule

It is highly possible that no one else in the world will be interested in this post, but I know for a fact I will look back one day and want to remember this or reference it with future little ones! So, for your reading pleasure (or not) here is a look at Nora and I's daily schedule. Nora is 19 weeks old.

5:30am Wake-Up/Bottle
Yes, you read that right. This is 15 minutes earlier than I get up during the school year but Nora has a very consistent internal clock and this is when she is up and ready to go every.single.morning. She is usually incredibly smiley when we go to get her but then she starts to fuss because she is hungry. She takes a 5oz bottle and usually CHUGS the whole thing!

6:00 Playtime!
Without a doubt morning time is Nora's happiest of the day! Normally she plays in her jumper while The Hubs and I get breakfast/coffee. She just jumps and squeals and smiles and watches the dogs wrestle on the floor.

7:30-8:30 Bye-Bye Daddy/Nap #1
The Hubs leaves for work and Nora is getting very sleepy! After Collin leaves I put Nora down for her first nap. This nap lasts anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. She just started sleeping on her belly and that has extended her naps a little!

8:30/9:00 Wake-Up, Bottle, Play

Nora gets up, gets her diaper changed and is usually happy for about a half hour before she is ready to eat. She takes another 5oz bottle like a champ and then we usually play together on the floor. She has just recently started to get really interested in toys so that brings a whole new level of fun to playtime! Her favorite game is when we run a blanket over her face... crazy child! 

11:30-1:30 Nap

Somewhere close to 11:30 Nora takes her long afternoon nap. She just started going through a nap transition and this nap became more regular and longer, sometimes even 3 hours. This is the time I SHOULD take a nap too, but usually I try to get things done or just relax on the couch. This particular day I was working on a few things for my TPT store. Basically I try to do whatever I want to do that I might not be able to do with a baby strapped to my hip! 

1:30 Wake-Up

Nora is up and usually ready to eat right away after this long nap. She gets another 5oz bottle and usually takes a long time to eat this one because she is still a little drowsy. Then we play or I put her in the swing while I do things around the house and she watches my every move! Some days she is not happy to be put down so I strap her in the baby pack and wear her around while I get a few things done. I like to get the house cleaned up a little before The Hubs comes home and sometimes I guess Nora just wants to help! 

4:00 Dinnertime! 

Occasionally Nora will take another short nap, about 30-40 minutes, during this time but not always. At 4:00 we sit down at the table and it's time for some solid foods! We just started solids and so far she is a pro! She has had rice cereal, bananas, squash, and avocado. So far she loves everything! She eats one container of whatever food (usually veggies) and then has a 4oz bottle. She loves to eat solids and it is so fun to watch her explore new things! 

4:30 Clean-Up/Play

So my child is not a clean eater at all, but she is just now doing this spoon-fed thing so I don't blame her. After she finishes eating I put her in her bouncer or jumper to play on her own while I clean up the big mess! Wipe down the highchair, wipe down the floor, clean bottle etc. Then after cleaning up I immediately take her to change her diaper. That solid food goes right through her if you know what I mean! At about 5:15 daddy comes home and he plays with Nora while I get supper ready! We LOVE when daddy comes home! Sometimes Nora will take a short nap at around 5:30, but this is becoming rare. 

6:00 Family Activity

Some nights after dinner we will do something fun like go on a walk or take Nora in her little pool. Many nights we just hang out in the living room and marvel at how precious our baby girl is! This is usually the time she starts to get a little fussy so going out and doing something can help or hurt the situation depending on the night. 

6:30 Bath/Bedtime Routine

We give Nora a bath every other night, so if it is bath night we start that at 6:30. If not, we just play a little while longer. After bath time, it's jammies on and she gets her last bottle of the day, another 5oz. Then, I take her in her room and we rock and I sing her two songs, say a prayer for her and lay her in bed. We recently began sleep training and she is now a rockstar at putting herself to sleep and with NO pacifier! 

7:00 Asleep

Nora is usually asleep by 7 on a good night but sometimes it doesn't happen until 7:30. Then The Hubs and I get some time alone! We usually watch a show or get things done around the house, nothing special, just good to have time for just the two of us! 

Disclaimer: I realized after adding this picture that it may imply something different than intended :o While we do like to have time like that together, in this picture we are just reading in bed :) #marriage