My Working Mommy Post

Today I am writing my "Working Mommy Post" to share with all of my readers and prepare you for the week long series that will begin on July 11th, 2011.  I am excited to share and read all the wonderful posts.

If you are writing a post for me don't forget to send it to me by July 10th, 2011 so I can get the posts scheduled for the week.  Also if you want to include pictures I will put them on the post too!  

 

I just have to state that if you are a stay-at-home mom that your job is work too, but the week long series is for working moms outside of the home.  I decided to do this series so we can all get some takeaways from working moms.  Maybe the stay-at-home moms will get some takeaways too.  

I plan to share a typical day for myself.  I also want to state that it took me awhile to get on a schedule and not FEEL overwhelmed by all the things to do in a day after having a baby.  If you just had a baby and have the overwhelming feeling of how to do it all...it is okay you will get in a routine in time.  Over the past several months I have felt that I am on a good routine that leaves me not feeling so overwhelmed when the weekend starts.  It was my GOAL that at the end of the week I accomplished as much as I could in the week so I could enjoy the weekend with my family.  I will also share with you that I am somewhat of a NEAT person and like everything in order.  I make our bed everyday, I dislike when my floors are dirty, and I am not a fan of having loads of laundry to do on the weekend.  You could say that I am a TYPE A personality.  I just wanted to get that out there before you continue to read. 

Lastly I will tell you the biggest things that help in our house are:

1.  We always put things in their place, for example the keys and our phones go in the same place every day.  I do this with several things in my house because I feel that it puts some order in my house and it leads to less clutter.  So if you are feeling like you have clutter or things every where in your kitchen or office you should give this a try.  It might make a difference. 

2.  We do laundry together...what I mean by this is Chad starts loads for me EARLY in the morning before he goes to work, I change it when I get up, and Grayson and I fold it together.  G likes to help unfold... it can make for a long time of folding, but at least we are spending time together when we are doing chores. 

3.  Chad unloads the dishwasher most mornings for me, but if he doesn't have time before work I usually unload the dishwasher when Grayson is eating breakfast. 

4.  Before Grayson goes to bed I always get his clothes ready for the next day that way we are ready to go in the morning.  Chad and I both do this too. 

5.  After Grayson finishes playing in his playroom we always pick it up and put all the toys in the proper bins.  I try to get Grayson to help, but it doesn't always work he is only 13 months old.

6.  Mail and Bills - I always go through the mail when we get it and I have a file in my work bag that I put all of our bills.  I organize them by due date.  I use to balance our checkbooks each week, but that has become tough to do.  I am hoping to get better at this.  I do pay all our bills at the beginning of the month.  This just works best for us. 

Okay now I will share a daily schedule for my family and I:

{sorry in advance for the LONG post}

Morning Routine~

I typically wake up at 6 or 7AM

I try to get up and shower or work out before Grayson gets up.  But sometimes sleeping until 7AM sounds so good.  When I get up at 7AM I usually work for about 30 minutes before Grayson wakes up.  Than between 7:30AM and 8:00AM Grayson wakes up.  WE always have a bottle in my bed and watch cartoons together.  I love this time with GRAYSON and cherish the moments we get to snuggle.

  After we finish up with the bottle Grayson plays in our room or watches cartoons and I make our bed and go to Grayson's room and clean it up.  I also change up the laundry too if needed.  Grayson is always following me around during this time.  Next we have breakfast together and while Grayson finishes up his breakfast I work or unload the dishwasher.  After he finishes up with breakfast I clean up the kitchen and Grayson goes and plays in his playroom.  Next I change Grayson into his clothes for the day and around this time it is either 8:30AM or 9:00AM.  We play together for about 30 minutes and Grayson typically goes down for a morning nap 2 hours after his wake time.  Honestly it amazes me that Grayson takes a morning nap after sleeping 12 hours, but I guess since he doesn't nap at school in the afternoon he needs the sleep.  When Grayson naps I get ready for the day and work.  Around 10:30 or 11AM I take Grayson to school for the day.  You are probably thinking WHY so late.  While for several reasons I work at home in the morning and in the afternoon I work at our local office.  The second reason is Grayson doesn't sleep at school and at least at home in the morning he gets a morning nap.  Trust me when I tell you we have tried several different things to get him to nap at school and he is not interested at all!

Afternoon Routine~

After I drop Grayson off at school I go to my office and work the rest of the day.  During the work hours I mainly work on what needs to be completed for work, but I also do phone calls and other typical things during the day that most of you probably do too because most offices close at 5PM and doing these things after work is not an option.  After work I pick up Grayson and we head home.  On the way home 98% of the time Grayson falls asleep in the car.  So when I pull in the garage I usually can transfer him to his crib without him waking.  Other times Grayson wakes up and doesn't go back to sleep.  On those days Grayson usually is in bed for the night around 6:30AM.  If he takes a late afternoon nap he usually sleeps for 2 hours, eats dinner, and goes back to bed 2 hours later.  So yes on those nights he doesn't go to bed until 9PM, but I have tried to wake him up after just an hour nap and he is so fussy and it is not worth it.  I would rather have a happy baby.  If Grayson is still asleep after we get home I workout, otherwise I end up working out each day after Grayson goes to bed for the night. 

Evening Routine~

I usually make Grayson dinner at a different time each day depending on if he naps etc.  However I don't typically make dinner for Chad and I until 6:30PM or 7PM.  Chad workouts twice a week after work so he doesn't get home until 7PM.  Some things I would love to be better at is preplanned meals.  I do well at this if I do all my grocery shopping on Sunday, but sometimes this doesn't happen.

After dinner Grayson gets his bath.  Chad does bath time every night.  After they finish up Chad plays with Grayson in his playroom or they play music and dance.  It is the cutest thing.  During bath time I clean up the kitchen and finish up things around the house, like laundry, and getting ready for the next day.  Some nights after bath time we take Grayson and Bella for a walk other nights we play outside in the backyard with both of them. 

We both REALLY TRY to spend as much time with GRAYSON when he is up and not sleeping.  We do this because we miss him so MUCH during the day.  The rest of the chores around the house can get completed after Grayson goes to bed.  Please note that now that Grayson is somewhat on a scheduled bedtime Chad and I have around 2 or 3 hours each night to spend together or doing other things.  Some nights I spend time blogging, editing pictures, working on picture books, or watching TV.  Watching TV this past year after having Grayson has been on the low list of things to do.  Which I am fine with..there is just not enough hours in the day. 
Chad and I end up going to bed around 10 or 11PM. 

Okay so I know that was LONG, but it is a full detail of our schedule in a day. It does vary some days and it may seem like I have it all together, but TRUST me I don't.  I try to make things simple each day so I can focus on enjoying my family each day!  This is what works for us and it might not work for you, but it gives you a few ideas or thoughts.   

The one thing that I didn't tell you is when do I make time to clean my house well every other week I have a cleaning lady and the weeks it does not get cleaned I usually spend one night mid week cleaning the house.  I will tell you that since I do try to keep up with things daily our house doesn't get extremely mess.  I think cleaning up the kitchen after each meal, making our bed each day, and keeping the toys and clutter picked up helps.

So if you feel as if life around you in your home is cluttered or chaotic maybe a few of the tips I mentioned throughout my post will help get you organized and on the right track.  That way you can spend time with your family or you can do something special for yourself like take a warm bath each night.

If you have any questions in regards to our schedule please feel free to email me.  

There are a few things that I really NEED to work on:

~ Devoting quality time in the Word of God - I have been working on this, but I need to work on getting better about spending each day in the word of God. 

~ I have several little things that are on my to do list, but they always seem to be put to the side because I run out of time to do so.  Some of these things are Grayson's baby book, cleaning out Grayson's closet with sizes that don't fit, organizing our bills and documents each month, and finishing up photo books in shutterfly and mixbook.  

  One final thing before I end this post how do I manage to take pictures of Grayson everyday?  Well the biggest answer is my iPhone and I use an app on my phone called instagram.  I love it! It takes great pictures. 

I hope that you enjoyed the day in the life of Melissa!

Don't forget to stop by on Monday July 11th, 2011 for another post!