One of the things I struggle with as a mom is finding enough hours in the day to get everything done. From my work to household chores, I’m constantly trying to prioritize and juggle responsibilities. More often than not, it’s the cleaning, cooking, and laundry that get neglected because, frankly, writing and blogging are just more fun. (And slightly more profitable.)
Always curious about how other moms manage, I’m launching a new series today called AM/PM that will chronicle “a day in the life” of busy mothers, from stay-at-home moms to moms who work full time outside of the home. This column will hopefully provide insight into how all different types of moms balance their responsibilities, while offering reassurance to those of us who constantly feel like we’re dropping the ball (or multiple balls).
My first interview is with Lauren, a wife, mother, stylist, and blogger at The Little Things We Do living in Portland, Oregon. I’m not sure when I first stumbled upon Lauren’s blog, but one of the things I noticed was how much she does. The girl is always writing, as well as working on cool projects that take her to places like Disneyland and the Radio Disney Music Awards. She also has an adorable daughter whose style I envy. (Yes, I envy a toddler’s style.)
If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I don’t know how she does it” about another mom, read on!
Q. How old is your daughter and what is her name?
A. Fern – 15 months
Q. What’s your occupation? Do you have the same job that you did before becoming a mom?
A. I am a full-time mama + a blogger at Babble and Disney Baby + a freelance wardrobe/prop stylist. Before becoming a mom, I was a Preschool Teacher and blogged part-time.
Q. Walk us through a typical work day… What time do you and your daughter wake up?
A. I wake up at 5:45 and my daughter usually wakes up between 8:00 and 9:00 depending on the day.
Q. What does your morning look like?
A. I wake up with my husband before he leaves for work. I make him a lunch and he makes me a mocha. Then I settle in to write for an hour or two until Fern wakes up. It’s a great time for me to get things done. After Fern wakes up we snuggle in bed for a bit and then get up, get dressed and share breakfast (usually eggs + spinach or a smoothie). After breakfast we squeeze in our outings for the day. We usually have play dates with friends at least once a week and on the other days we’ll go to the park, grocery shopping, or to the gym where Fern hangs out in the childcare. Some days we just do more focused activities at home, but getting out of the house really helps to break up the day and makes me focus on Fern since when I’m out I don’t have the computer sitting there distracting me.
Q. What time do you eat lunch?
A. Around 12:30, though often it’s on the go since we spend our morning running around and don’t usually get back until right before nap time at 1:30.
Q. What does your afternoon look like?
A. After Fern goes down for her nap I blog some more. Sometimes I’ll sit and have my own lunch at this time – usually around 2:00 — if I didn’t have anything to eat with her earlier. But usually this is the time when I can get any extra things on my to-do or to-blog list done that I didn’t finish in the morning. Fern doesn’t usually wake up from her nap until around 4:00 or 4:30, so we don’t do a whole lot together in the afternoons. We kind of just lay low. Play in the yard or do some puzzles, fit in some after nap snuggles. My husband gets home from work around 5:00 so we hang out and catch up on our days before dinner and other odds and ends that need tying up.
Q. What time do you eat dinner?
A. Fern eats dinner around 6:00 most nights. Some nights if I was prepared enough to cook something in the crock pot or if I started a meal earlier, then we all eat together as a family (usually 3-4 times a week). On other nights, I sit with her while my husband is working on some project or another (most recently he was spending part of his evenings building a chicken coop, and tonight he is coding my blog…always a project going!) and then we eat dinner together after she goes to bed around 8:00.
Q. What does your evening look like?
A. Fern is usually asleep by 8:00, so we’ll have dinner after that if we didn’t earlier, or we’ll cuddle up on the couch and catch up on TV shows together. I try not to blog in the evenings.
Q. What time do you go to bed?
A. We usually go to bed between 10:00 and 10:30 and we always go at the same time. It’s our rule.
Q. What do you most look forward to doing on the weekends?
A. I look most forward to Saturday mornings, because we’re all together with nothing in particular to do. Our Saturdays are always pretty full, but the mornings are perfectly leisurely and we don’t generally do anything of substance before 10:00. We also instituted “French Toast Saturdays” which is one of my favorite things.
Q. How do you de-stress when you’re feeling overwhelmed?
A. I turn off my computer and read a magazine. It may seem counterintuitive since I’m still taking in media, but for me, there’s just something about feeling the pages and seeing the physical images that calms me down. Also, getting out of the house. When you work from home, your home becomes a little less relaxing than it once was…it’s just kind of the nature of the beast. Home is where you work, so it can be hard to separate. I like to get out and do things to help me disconnect from the digital world and really focus on my friends and family without feeling tied to technology.
Q. What is your dream job?
A. I am living my dream job right now. I never knew it was my dream until it was here sort of by happenstance, but it’s so perfect for me. It allows me to be creative and have variety in my day, but above all it allows me to be home with my daughter and I cherish that above all.
*****
Thanks, Lauren, for participating in my new series! Friends, be sure to visit Lauren’s blog, The Little Things We Do, and stay up-to-date with all of her projects by following along on Twitter.
OK. i feel like a total failure as a mom right now! this woman gets her daughter, who is a month older than my son.. to not only sleep for 12-13 hours.. but nap for 3.. AND eat eggs and spinach and anything she makes. My son hates napping, is a horrible sleeper, and eats like 4 things. Maybe it is b/c I work part time and his baby sitters do things different each day but we really screwed up I guess!
First, you are NOT A FAILURE. The whole point of this new series is to highlight the different ways that moms juggle their responsibilities and to illustrate that there is not ONE RIGHT WAY to be a mom. I hope that as I post more of these interviews you will see that you are not alone in your challenges.
But I will tell you that Levi’s diet consists of carbs, fruit, and dairy. Occasionally, he’ll eat a meatball, but he won’t even look at green food — nor any other type of vegetable. The kid hasn’t had any veggies since there were pureed in baby jars!
Adrienne,
You are SO not a failure! Totally ironic that this was published today, because I actually published a post around midnight last night talking about how everything felt like it was falling apart and like I had taken on too many things (see here: http://thelittlethingswedo.blogspot.com/2013/06/sometimes-you-just-feel-like-quitting.html).
Also…the only time I can actually get my daughter to eat greens is when I hide spinach (with a healthy dose of cheese) in her eggs or when I sneak them into smoothies. Otherwise, if it’s not a fruit, a carb or cheese she won’t eat it.
We all have our things that we’re really good at and areas where we struggle. This scenario is just a typical day, but I promise there are plenty of days when it all falls apart and there are meltdowns in the middle of grocery shopping…that just wasn’t one of the questions ;).
Also…if it makes you feel any better, this child didn’t take ANY naps of substance until she was almost 10 months old. She would nap for a half hour here or there, but nothing consistent and not unless I was laying in bed next to her. I couldn’t even get her to nap in the car! I like to think the fact that she sleeps well now is like my reward for not leaving her on the doorstep during the first 10 months of her life :).
Haha!
Well. It’s been 14 months (10 of which this child has hated sleeping at all) and I am tempted to sell him to the circus sometime 😉 haha. Maybe I’ll get a nice reward from him one day too!
Love this series look forward to reading more . As a sistermom of a teenager I’m just happy to work from home to be able to pick her up from school and hope she doesn’t have a additude.lol But kudos to you ladies keeping balance in the days seem to get harder and harder.
Lauren,
Very inspiring! Thanks for sharing, just curious, however did yiu get Fern to sleep those long naps. my Daughter takes 1 hour naps but ONLY in my bed if I am laying next to her. To make things worse, our bed is super tall and Not firm as you are supposed touse the mattress for babies. I cant tell you how many times I haave attempted to have her nap in her crib so I have given up. any recommendations?
I love this series! I’m interested to hear about how Mom’s do it all whether they are working outside the home or not. Our son is almost 4 months, so there’s no real routine yet. But it’s nice to read about the potential to be. I’m also curious about tricks to napping. I’m afraid we’ve hit the dreaded “4 month sleep regression”.
I think we started sleep training around 5 months, and that probably helped with napping.
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