Today you get a little look at a day in the life of Amber. She is a running machine, completing I think 5? half marathons and one full marathon in 2012. Way to go Amber! I hope you all enjoy a peek at her day!
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Hi my name is Amber and I've been blogging over at MotherhoodMightBeFatal for eight years now. My blog is small and relatively unknown but I always like to meet Mama's like me to compare notes. I hope you enjoy this look at my day!
5:30 AM: The alarm goes off. Depending on what's on my plate for the day the alarm is as early as 5:00 and depending on how I feel, I will get up. Some days I’m just too tired. But most days my brain has this internal conversation where I remind myself the children are not awake yet and I can actually get something done! Today I got up right with the alarm at 5:30.
5:45 AM: I’m up, with a cup of tea and making lunches. One for the Girl Child, the
Boy Child and the Husband. I take my vitamins and eat a banana and this morning I decide to be reallll adventurous and have a piece of toast too. I unload the dishwasher and switch the laundry. Typically I do whatever’s leftover from the night before so it’s not always the same. Today is heavy on the housework (hence why I went ahead and got up at 5:30).
6:00 AM: By this time I like to be in my office. Today the Hubby leaves for work around 6:15 (he always gets an early start because he commutes an hour to work). I keep my fingers
crossed the kids will stay asleep and I'll get a solid 90 minutes to
power through some work. And by “work”, I mean I'm a student in a marriage and family
therapy master's program.
Graduate school goes something like this:
Read.read.read.
Research.research.research.
Write/defend.
It’s a LOT of reading and re-reading and research and note
taking. Theory and history and research on treatment practices make up the bulk of the first two years
of study. The last year is all a big test with real live people as clients to
see if you retained all that information. So the first two years are really important.
Which is why I am up so early every day to get a head start on it!
7:35 AM: Today the kids woke up at a decent time (sometimes they like to mess with me and wake up randomly before Daddy goes to work. So I say a little word of thanks to the Universe I got this much time to work!)
7:45 AM: The girl child is already dressed, with her hair combed, her bed made, her lunch in her backpack and making breakfast. My son? Still sitting in his bed playing with Legos. Sigh.
8:15AM: By now I've cajoled the boy child into getting ready for school (and helped him tie his shoes, he's just learning)
The kids play nicely argue while I try to get dressed. I don't need a lot of time since most days I'm just getting into gym clothes but seriously - FIVE minutes of peace would be nice.
8:40AM: Drop Off at School (five minutes early as requested by the girl child so she has time to chat with her friends). Also I know my kids' school start late. But in our district elementary each school starts thirty minutes after the last grade level and high school starts at 730. Let me tell you, when you've been up since 5:30A taking them to school at quarter to nine feels like lunchtime. Boo :/
8:50A: Thankfully we live super close to the school so I'm back in our driveway and ready for my run in less than ten minutes. Today I have a long run on the books that I did not want to push off because I'm stubborn. So, I go ahead and run my five miles. I'm farther from home than I planned when I hit that 5 mile mark so I run past the house at 5.55 and decide to finish out a full six miles (because I'm OCD like that).
9:50A: Then to stretch post-run I do a quick 10 minutes of yoga. I do about 5 minutes stretch and 5 minutes core just to feel like I did something. I feel good as I jump into the shower.
11:00AM: I have always been super expedient at self-care because I grew up the eldest of five kids and live a busy life. I'm showered, dressed with make up on in twenty minutes. I don't remember what I did after that but it was probably answer emails. My phone always sidetracks me. I do know I spent a few minutes making a list of Internship sites to contact for my Internships next year. The end is so close in my Master's Program, it'll be here before I know it!
11:15AM I go down to have an early lunch and realize I did not bag and freeze the meals I made the day before. Oops.
11:45AM: While I eat I usually survey what reading I need to do for the next week. Yes I'm one of those annoying people that is always ahead but when you've got little ones being a student has to suddenly take a back seat anytime something with them comes up (which is always). If you're not ahead you're behind is what I always like to say. Here are the books I'm reading this term, plus one that was in my bag when I took this shot. Killmenow.
12:30PM: I've just gotten immersed in this when I have to take a call for CASA. That's what the sticky note is about - not calling a Doctor about a bowel movement, haha. It's just all confidential so I have to keep my notes in shorthand. I'm preparing to go to court and things always come up at the last minute.
1:15 PM: Thankfully I also live really close to the County Courthouse (we live in the city) so it doesn't take me long to drive down, park and get up to where my CASA case is being heard. A CASA is a Court Appointed Special Advocate for Children that does just what the name suggests. I volunteer my time to advocate for the best interests of children that are in the foster system in my county. It's sad and exhausting work but SO worth it. I spend the next hour in a quick court session that isn't as contentious as usual. YAY for the little things :)
2:00 PM: I had planned for my sister to pick up my kids but because court was nice and short and sweet, I don't have to have her do it after all. So I head over to pick up the girl first. She's in first grade and has full day class so I park the car and get back into my reading. When you go to Graduate School as a SAHMom, part time volunteer you need to be ready to work when you can. Reading in the car is just as quiet as the library, IMO.
3:15PM: She comes out all smiles as usual. I don't even have a picture because when I first hug her, she's offering me a full account of her entire day. I don't touch my phone until we get home and I've missed a call about CASA. I knew the ease in court was too good to be true :/
3:50PM: After my call I set out dinner to thaw (I precook and freeze almost all my meals). Then I check over the girl's homework, even though it's Wednesday she has done the homework for Thursday too (she's such a nerd like me). She gets dressed for swimming and we're out the door for the YMCA.
The boy goes to the Y after his half day kindergarten so he's playing nicely in his classroom. I used to go up and ask him to come down and hang out with me, but he told me he'd rather play with his friends :/ So I read some more (it's all I do, yes?)
4:15-5:00: The girl swims. She loves it and is really good at it. We hope she sticks with it through school - a scholarship for college doing something she loves wouldn't hurt :)
5:15PM: After she gets dressed and I pick up the boy from his classroom we're on our way home. In the winter it's always dark which is a bummer :/
5:30PM: Daddy comes home which seems like it's the highlight of the kids day, they are always SO happy to see them. We have dinner together as family every night.
6:00PM - 7:30 PM: After the dinner dishes are washed, the kids usually play together for an hour or so while Mommy - you guessed it - does schoolwork. Daddy relaxes after his long day (he's a Call of Duty lover). By 7ish it's time for showers, the kids are old enough now they shower themselves so they take turns argue over who has to go first.
7:45PM: We come back together for reading books before bed.
8:00-9:00 PM: Sometimes Hubby and I will watch a movie or some television. But my school load this term is so demanding that just wasn't happening tonight. I head back to the office to finish up some work that is due the next day before I do one last load of laundry.
9:30PM: I try to be in bed by 9 and tonight I don't make it. When I finally prioritize what I didn't get done for my To Do List tomorrow I put away my books and notes. I have a system and no one is EVER allowed to touch the stuff on my desk. OCD, remember? Anyway, it's finally time to go through my nightly routine. This is an old picture I used last year when I wrote a Day in the Life post but it'll work to give you an idea. I use an electric toothbrush now and I gave up on the Proactive gambit but even if the players have changed it's still the basics of how the nighttime routine is played.
10:00PM: I'm in bed. I realize I didn't return a phone call from my Mom and I have an email from my adviser I started to write but never finished. It's probably 10:10 by the time I shut off the lights. Hubby is downstairs watching TV and I have no idea what time he comes to bed. But it's safe to say I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow!
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-What is the most surprising thing to you about being a mom?
How all encompassing it is. I thought my kids were hard when they were little. It gets easier in some ways and harder in others. Now instead of diapers and spoon feeding it's homework and conquering hard conversations about things they hear from their friends and what they should be when they grow up.
-What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be mamas?
Oh geez. I hated advice when I was a new Mom. It never seemed to come from a kind place and wasn't always applicable for me. I did the SAHM thing but I'm now working too. I'd say to be kind with yourself in the beginning, don't set high expectations you can't meet and forgive yourself when you feel like you're doing it wrong. You care if you're doing it right or wrong and that puts your heart in the right place. That's all that matters :)
-What are your top three baby products?
Now you're really taking me back. With my daughter it was the pacifier, she had to have a certain kind. So have a variety on hand because they won't like them all. With my son it was cloth diapers because he had a reflux problem and it seemed we were always using those things. They are great for clean up, of any kind. The last thing would be a bouncy seat or a swing. I stuck both the kids in those when they were small so I could have a minute to myself (I even took them in the bathroom with me so I could shower!) When they would fuss, I would make funny faces and try to distract them. You need a device that keeps them safe while you take care of you :)
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Thank you for sharing your day with us Amber!
1 comment:
WOW! That is a busy day. I love reading about the days of moms with older kids. It gives me a little glimpse into what it will be like.
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