A Day in the Life of a Work at Home Mom: Fantasy vs. Reality
Hello teacher friends and mommas! For many of us, it’s still GLORIOUS summer and we are taking a much needed break from the classroom. Suntans, daytime television, and umbrella drinks are at our everyday disposal! But at times, it definitely doesn’t FEEL like a break, right?! I think I’d be correct in assuming that many of you are caring for your own kiddos full time and/or working part time jobs, and at the same time, STILL planning and organizing for the upcoming school year. Many of my teacher friends have been very busy getting “professionally developed” by attending conferences and even weeklong workshops. The work of a teacher (and a momma) is NEVER complete!
During the regular school year, I teach in the classroom part time and stay home with my own tiny tots part time, but during the summer, I assume the role of a FULL time Work at Home Mom, or WAHM. When not chasing the little ones, my time at home is spent glued to my laptop as an author for Teachers Pay Teachers, as well as marketing and blogging. Some days are DEFINITELY more taxing than others, and this post in intended to add a little humor to the everyday chaos. Some days are way closer to “Reality” and others are closer to “Fantasy,” but most days are a beautiful mixture of both. Hope you enjoy!!
8:00am: Arise to the sounds of birds chirping and cheerful sunlight peeking through the windows. The house is quiet, as your children are still peacefully asleep in their beds. You are well-rested and energized after 9 interrupted hours of sleep, so decide to begin your day.
8:05: Pour yourself a hot cup of coffee that your husband thoughtfully brewed before he left for work.
8:06-9:00: Snuggle up on the couch and catch the second hour of the Today Show whilst enjoying your hot coffee and scrolling through social media feeds.
9:00: Baby begins to coo and laugh from his crib. You happily go get him, change his diaper, and snuggle him with a bottle.
9:10-9:30: Baby plays contentedly on his play mat with his toys while you fix yourself a loaded omelette and toast for breakfast.
9:30-9:45: Enjoy your omelette while baby continues amusing himself.
9:45-10:00: Enjoy a second hot cup of coffee, “just because.”
10:00: Four year old arises by skipping out of her room and leaping happily into your arms. “I love you, mommy!” she cries. “Today will be the best day ever, because you are the best MOM ever!!” You laugh and embrace.
10:15: You prepare and serve a healthy organic breakfast to both children, and they eat every bite. “You are the best cook EVER, Mom!” the four year old cheers. She then cleans up after both of them and puts their dishes in the dishwasher.
10:30-11:00: Children play together, sharing toys and blissfully entertaining one another, allowing you to go for a brisk 3 mile run on the treadmill.
11:00: Naptime for baby. You take a quick shower while the four year old watches a TV show (educational, of course).
11:30-12:30: Bring your laptop on the back porch for a full hour of work. You put your feet up in the cool shade while the four year old plays outside.
12:30: Baby arises and you prepare another delicious (organic) healthy meal for lunch.
12:30-1:30: Bring children to the park for a scheduled playdate.
1:30-2:30: Return home and continue working while the children play together. To your delight, your four year old cleans up after each activity before taking out a new one.
2:30-4:00: Second naptime for baby, and four year old takes a nap as well. Another quiet hour and a half of productivity for you!
4:00: Baby arises. More playtime as the four year old helps you fold the laundry and puts all of her clean clothes away.
4:45: Prepare a gourmet, 27 ingredient Pinterest meal that makes the entire house smell divine.
5:30: Your husband arrives home as dinner is finished cooking. The house is tidy and laundry is caught up. You eat dinner as a family, your husband does the dishes, and then you all go for a family walk.
7:00: Your husband notices that you are tired and tells you to go relax while he bathes both children. You watch two of your favorite episodes of Friends on Netflix.
7:45: Snuggle baby with a book and bottle, then put him to bed.
8:00: Snuggle four year old with 3 books, then put her to bed.
8:00-10:00: Enjoy a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream, while catching up on Big Brother episodes with your husband. You smile and sigh as you go to sleep, reminding yourself that being a WAHM is the best job in the world.
6:00am: Awake to baby’s cries on the monitor. It is still dark outside. You climb stealth-like over the four year old who crawled in your bed at 2am, trying not to wake her.
6:00-6:30: Get cranky baby from crib with soaked sheets. Change baby and sheets. Snuggle baby with a bottle, trying to hold your eyes open and counting the minutes until the Today Show starts.
6:30: Fix yourself a cup of coffee. Proceed to chase your “new crawler/climber” around the house, attempting to divert him from all electrical cords and prevent him from eating the dog food.
6:45: Four year old awakes and is STARVING. She requests her favorite strawberry waffles immediately. You open the freezer and realize that, alas, there are no strawberry waffles to be found. You coax her into eating a Nutrigrain bar that you found in the back of the pantry.
7:00: Fix breakfast for the baby, most of which ends up under the highchair. You let the dog in and encourage her to help you “clean up” the scraps.
7:00-9:00: You are a human ping pong ball, going back and forth between both children to meet a variety of demands. You continue to protect the baby from all things hazardous in your home, as he is attracted to all of them like a tiny magnet. The four year old takes two time outs and acquires six different bumps and bruises from running around the house like a wild animal. The baby almost eats seven different small objects and breaks the knobs off of two pieces of furniture.
9:00: You notice your, now cold, cup of coffee still sitting on the counter and pop it into the microwave.
9:15: Naptime for baby. You immediately kick it into overdrive, picking up the house, unloading and loading the dishwasher, rewashing the laundry that smells like mildew from being left in the washer too long, and most importantly, catching up on social media on your phone. The four year old watches three episodes of Curious George.
10:00: Debate whether or not to work out.
10:02: Decide that you’d rather die than work out.
10:03: Realize your cup of coffee is still in the microwave. Hit the button to heat it again.
10:05: Play “restaurant” and “doctor” with four year old.
10:30: Baby awakes. You consider what to make for dinner and throw together a go-to crock pot meal, only to realize you are missing one critical ingredient.
10:45: Put children in the car to go to Target and purchase said ingredient.
11:45: Emerge from Target with ingredient and $75 worth of other random “essentials” from the Dollar Spot and school supply section.
12:00: PB and J sandwiches for everyone! Hurray!
12:00-1:30: Assume your role as the human ping pong ball.
1:30-3:00: Second nap for baby. You spend 38 minutes attempting to make four year old nap before giving up. Four year old wants to have “art time” which requires an obscene amount of prep work and clean up.
3:00: Baby awakes. Pack approximately 43 items and take both children to go swimming. Assume role of human ping pong ball/lifeguard/supplier of endless snacks.
4:30: Return home.
4:32: Realize that you forgot to turn the crockpot on. Throw a minor tantrum. Throw out the crock pot ingredients and order pizza.
4:33-4:56: Get 23 minutes of actual “work” done on your laptop.
5:00-5:30: Try to recover the 23 minutes of “work” that the baby just deleted from your laptop.
5:30: Husband arrives home and everyone eats pizza (except you, because you are still trying to retrieve your lost file.) No one complains about pizza! VICTORY!
6:00-7:00: Husband receives an emergency call from work and retreats to the office while you throw a silent pity party. MORE PLAYTIME FOR YOU AND THE KIDS! You glance at the clock and silently begin counting the minutes until you can crawl in bed.
7:00: Give baby a bath. Work on your laptop on the floor of the bathroom while baby is in the bath. Bottles, snuggles, book, and bedtime.
7:30: Give four year old a bath. Teeth brushing, snuggles, 8 books, prayers, songs, milk, snuggles, and bedtime.
7:30-8:30: Four year old gets out of bed 13 times for an assortment of reasons. She must be coaxed or carried back to bed for “more snuggles” each time.
8:30: Eat 4 cold pieces of pizza. Realize your cold coffee is still in the microwave. Realize you haven’t showered in two days.
8:45: Scroll aimlessly through social media feeds on your phone.
9:07: Fall asleep on the couch. Wait…was there some sort of work you were supposed to do today??
Isn’t life beautiful, y’all? I wouldn’t do it any other way. J
