a day in the Life Working Mommy Post - Brandy

Hi ALL!  Sorry I have been MIA for the past several days my family from Montana and South Dakota have been here visiting and I have stepped away from my computer and enjoying the moments and creating memories... 

Meet Brandy - she is a first time mama to her son Brant who is 5 month's old.  I loved reading her post because she shows what it is like to be a first time mama and working outside of the home... it is tough, but she is making it work.

Great to meet you Brandy!  

I am so excited to be guest posting for this working mom’s series!  I write a blog about our little family here.

  

I have loved reading how other’s make it work and seeing what a typical day is like for them.  It is interesting to see how the schedules change for each family with different ages and numbers of children.   Here is what a day looks like for us with a 5 month old baby boy! 

A Day In Our Life

5:00-5:30- Wake up

5:30-6:15- I am usually showering and getting ready during this time.  On my lucky days Brant will sleep during this time.  There are many days that he wakes up before or during this time.  If he does and Ike is already gone to work (he usually leaves the house by 6:30 at the latest) I will go in and change him, and he comes to sit in the bouncy seat in my room or plays on the floor while I finish getting ready.

6:15-6:45- I am feeding and dressing Brant.  I try to make the most of this precious time by singing and talking with him. 

6:45- Packing bags and loading the car. 

7:00- Drop Brant at school.  Ike asks me the other day why I call daycare “school”.  It’s just easier on me.  School doesn’t seem optional. 

7:30- Work…. While at work I pump at 9:30, 12, 4.

4:30- Leave work to get Brant

5:00- I usually go straight to get Brant, but if I have any errands or need to make a stop by the grocery store I do that before I pick him up.

5:30-6:00- Arrive at home. 

6:00-6:30-I play with Brant and start getting things together for supper.  I have also started trying to feed Brant some during this time.  Right now he usually just plays and is not very interested.

6:30-7:00- Bath for Brant

7:00-7:30- Feed Brant, read a book or two, and put him to bed.  He’s gotten really good at going straight to bed.

7:30- Ike is usually getting home around this time or just a little before.  We eat supper and maybe watch a show on DVR.

9:00- Do the dishes, wash and fix bottles for the next day, and usually make lunch for myself and Ike. 

10:00- Bedtime

How do household tasks get done (laundry, dishes, bills, errands, etc.)

We work together!  Supper is hard.  I try to whip something up most nights.  I load the dishwasher before I go to bed each night and get the bottles ready for the next day. Laundry and yard work is done on the weekends.  Usually I do laundry while Ike does the yard, but occasionally we work together on them. If we do not get the errands finished on the weekends they are done during lunch or right before I pick up Brant from school.  I have learned already that it takes half the time if I do it before I get him.  Ike takes care of ALL the bills which is so nice.  I have learned that doing as much as I possibly can the night before after Brant is in bed is the key to successful mornings.  I even set the coffee pot the night before because every second counts in the mornings. 

Spending quality time with Brant

This is something I constantly feel guilty over.  Mommy guilt is something serious!  We spend every second we can with him in afternoons, but he is only awake 2 hours at most when we get home so it is very limited.  We play and laugh as much as we can, and try our best to make up for it on the weekends.

Spending quality time with Ike

This is definitely a struggle for us.  I find myself thinking from time to time that I miss Ike although I see him every day.  Brant is asleep by 7:30 most nights so we watch something on DVR or talk then, but we need to work on planning time for a date night.  We both agree the best thing we can do for Brant next to telling him about the Lord is love each other.

Spending time with friends

Also, a hard one for us.  Ike and I both love to spend time with friends so I am praying that this will be something we work out.  I do get to have a girl’s night occasionally, which Brant usually tags along.  Ike unfortunately doesn’t get much friend time.  He works so much that all of his free time he spends with us.  A good majority of our friends don’t live here either which makes it hard.  I am hoping we can grow the few friendships we do have here, and continue to form new friends.  I want to make friends here that we can raise our kids together.  I think this is so important to us because Ike and I have so many friends we have known our whole lives, and I want that for Brant.

Finding balance with life

I’m certainly not the expert in this category.  Not yet.  We are working on it one day at a time.  There are days when the house is messy, days that we are out of clean white t-shirts for Ike, socks that match, and my hair may not get washed every day.  You just adjust and do the very best you can.  I’m working on not beating myself up over the little things.  The most important thing is that Ike and Brant feel loved by me every day.  We also bought a house closer to work and school so that we are not wasting as much time driving.  We just have to make the most of every minute.

This new phase of life is an adjustment for us.  We are tired, stressed, but most of all blessed beyond our wildest dreams with Brant.  The Lord has been good to us.  My best advice if I can offer any is the advice I need most…Accept the grace the Lord offers us.  I find that I am very very hard on myself, and I need to look to Him to lead me to be the best mother I can be.