A Day in the Life of a Working Mom: Michelle

Good morning all! I’m happy to share what a typical day in my life is like although I admit that towards the end of the day, I was too tired to take lots of photos! So, I’ll have to walk you through it mostly with words πŸ™‚

Lills (my 9-month-old) gets up around 5:15 AM. Lately, my hubs and I have been sleeping in separate rooms because our mattress has been hurting his back (we are waiting for a new one to arrive). So, I usually am woken up by sweet little noises coming from the nursery. Today, as usual, those noises started at 5:15. I laid in bed a little while longer, wishing she’d sleep in a little bit, but she doesn’t so I get up to go get her. I walk into her room and she’s always super happy first thing in the morning, which is totally adorable!

I pick her up, we snuggle, then I change her overnight diaper and get her dressed for the day. The hubs alarm clock goes off at 5:45 and he usually strolls out 5 minutes after that. Our mornings are really crazy, as I’m sure yours are too! (Below is a photo of our neglected but totally loved cat.)

Because I have a ton to do before heading to work, we usually put her in her exersauser and/or her jumper. This morning she was happy in her jumper for about 5 minutes…

And then this happened:

I was making my breakfast at this point (eggs with avocado & ham) so she had to cry it out for a few minutes until I could pick her up. I quickly ate my food while checking out the web…

…and then it was TV time. I always said before I had kids I would never let them watch TV at such a young age but that went right out the window. Here she is watching one of her favorite shows while I get my lunch together and get dressed:

I should mention that my hubs does help in the morning but he just went back to school and is juggling full-time college with a part-time job. So, he showers, eats and is out of the house by 6:45.

I manage to get everything done that I need to do (sometimes I can’t fit in a shower, I’ll admit) and get her in her jacket by 7 am. Ok, that’s a lie. I wish I got out the door at 7 am but it’s more like 7:15. Then we head off to daycare. Here she is in the driveway of our daycare provider:

I take her out of the car, run in and drop her off. Drop off usually goes really well and then I race off to work. I’m usually at my desk by 7:30 (sometimes 7:45!). Usually by the time I sit down at work I’m already tired. Did I mention I gave up coffee a few months ago? Yeah. Smart idea.

Then I work until 4 pm. Here is a photo of the wall next to my desk:

During the day I have a LOT on my plate. I do my agency’s event planning, social media, website maintenance & design, research, and am a key part of our legislative work (and legislative session just started so it’s my really, REALLY busy time).

Another view from my desk

Here I am working at my desk, very tired:

I head out around 4 to pick the baby up at daycare. This particular day, I walked in to get her and she cried when my daycare provider gave her to me. Yep, that’s really fun. Ending my long day by picking up my baby that wants to stay with her daycare person. At this point I remind myself that I want my daughter to love her daycare provider and she obviously does, so I should let it go. We then head back to the car and make our way home. (by the time we get her in her car seat, she’s a happy camper again giving me lots of smiles)

Then my evening consists of playing with the baby, attempting to get her to nap around 5:30 (which always includes a lot of crying) and waiting for the hubs to get home so I can have some kind of a break. He gets home around 6:30 and helps out right away. She’s been teething so she’s quite grumpy at night and needs a lot of TLC.

The other day I managed to do two loads of laundry however I haven’t had time to put it away so it’s been sitting on the other side of the bed (remember my hubs is still sleeping in the guest room). I still didn’t have time this particular evening because of how fussy the baby was so the laundry stayed there.

Around 7 pm we start solids with the baby which is followed up with a bottle. My hubs and I tag team this – one of us eats dinner while the other either does the solids or the bottle. Then we anxiously await her bedtime so we can both have a break. She heads to bed at 8:15 and then we both relax a little.

By 9 – I know it’s early but hey I’m tired – I head to bed and pass out pretty quickly. Hubs snapped this photo of me:

Then I’m up the next morning, bright and early to do it all again.

14 thoughts on “A Day in the Life of a Working Mom: Michelle

  1. Just counted the baskets of clean and folded laundry sitting on my couch for 3 days (so far). There are 7 big ones. Because we do about 15-18 loads a week, I’m feeling pretty good about that number. (Haha, it’s cause we only own 7 baskets! Have to put it away before more can be brought up and folded). Fun post, Michelle!

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  2. Indeed a very nice post. I am also associated with closet company, storage organizer, custom shelving,garage closet organization,,. Thanks for writing such good posts and as I have subscribed to your blog, I do expect that you will be posting nice posts like this on a regular basis.

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  3. I thought I was the only one who procrastinated with putting laundry away. At least yours is folded and upstairs. I think I have clean unfolded clothes sitting on top of the dryer in the basement right now but I just don’t feel like going down there. Maybe tomorrow. Lills is adorable!

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  4. Thanks for sharing Michelle. I can totally relate to the crying baby who doesn’t want to leave their daycare provider…my oldest would sometimes run away screaming because she didn’t want to leave ‘school’ and other times she would simply ignore the fact that I walked into the room. I almost think no reaction is worse than the running away, screaming, or crying! Great pics, your daughter is too cute!

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  5. hahahahah as I read these I’m sitting on my bed doing some late-night last-minute homework, exhausted, and staring at a MASSIVE pile of laundry that looks like it could CONSUME me it’s so huge. Honestly. There are more clean clothes on my floor/chair/dresser/bed than in my closets and drawers. There. The secret is out. I am ashamed. haha…

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  6. 9:00 bedtime is early? Try 8:00 on some nights! (and thank goodness for DVR, for that matter!)

    Michelle- i love your post. And i too was such a Judgey McJudgerson about TV watching. Mike and I are guilty as charged- Look, if watching Sprout with a handful of Puffs in his jumperoo makes him happy and he’s totally content while i take a shower, get dressed, then that works for me! And can we please not talk about the loads of laundry that are hiding in my laundry closet? kthanks πŸ™‚

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  7. Great post Michelle! I have way more laundry than you piled on my dresser, i’m not sure I’m brave enough to take a oicture of it! Ha! And Lills looks so cute in her jumper, even with the tears!

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  8. OMG, 9pm is late at my house too, lol! And Michelle, I have to give some props at being up at 5:15am and then having a full day at work. I’m often up at that time too but soothe myself by saying that at least I don’t have to go anywhere. Lots of LOVE to you, you busy, busy Mama!

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  9. Thanks for sharing, Michelle! It sounds like you have quite a bit on your plate at work, it’s no wonder you’re tired! Having such a packed work day and then making the transition to parent at the end of the day can be exhausting. You’re doing great work in all aspects if your life though, and Lills is adorable!

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