Most days this working mom goes from 5:00 AM to 8:30 PM with no breaks unless you count my commuting time. 5:00-6:00 AM is my time. Shower, breakfast, and lots and lots of coffee. I also try to squeeze in a load of laundry and empty the dishwasher.
When the kids are up before 6:00, they go see Daddy. Most days he gets at least one of them dressed. Then we get them fed, teeth brushed and a last 10 minutes to put on shoes and coats before we head out.
We drive half an hour to daycare then I drive another half an hour to work. I try to have good heart-to-heart chats with the kids during our car time because it’s important to me that those chats don’t get lost in the runaround. I do mental lesson planning and meal planning during the quiet half hour.
My work day is so fulfilling, but so physically and mentally exhausting. I get to teach children through musical play (the way its supposed to be done if you ask me). We sing, dance, play circle games, play instruments. I love it all, but I’m 41, and it takes a lot of energy to get through the day.
During the commute home, I reflect on my work day. What went well, what can I do better? I pick up the kids and we talk about their days. On the good days, they can make it halfway home before the tired, hungry monsters take over and they argue about everything from what actually happened at daycare to where the moon is tonight or whose turn it is to sing 5 Little Ducks.
When we get home I cook supper and try to pick up a bit and maybe get one more load of laundry done. We push through bath time, story time, and stagger the bedtimes. Any time left over I use to exercise and prep my lunch for the next day. I sit and relax for a few minutes with my husband and then go to sleep and repeat.
Making it a little easier
I have a few kitchen tools that help manage the craziness of my day. My slow cooker is my biggest kitchen helper. I made sure to get one with a timer so when I’m out for 10 hours, the food can sit on warm for the last two hours. It’s also great for cooking in big batches so I have leftovers for lunch or to put in the freezer for another day.
The second thing I use all the time is my hard boiled egg cooker. You don’t have to watch a pot waiting for it to boil so you can time the eggs. You just put them in with some water, push the button and it beeps when it’s done. I can prep breakfast ahead for a few days or make egg salad for a family lunch, all while finding something else that needs to be done. Yay, multi-tasking!
The last thing I’ll share are these cute little reusable containers. They are just 1/2 cup which is perfect for snacks. I use them for crackers, baked oatmeal servings, dressing for my salad, nuts. And I like to put those containers together on the weekend so I can just grab a few containers to put my lunch together every night. Such a cool size for a reusable container.
Being a working mom is hard. What secrets do you use to make the most of your mom time?
Photo by rankun76 
Great Christmas gift for the grandparents – and you can save 40% by using promo code November40AFF before November 4th at 11 pm at CanvasonDemand.com!