I always love reading “day in the life” types of posts because it’s so interesting to see how other people spend their time, especially when it comes to parents of children Miss H’s age or a little bit older than her. In the past I’ve shared a day with Miss H as a newborn, a day with Miss H as an 11-week-old, and a day with Miss H as a 14-month-old. I’ve loved sharing these posts as much as I’ve loved looking back on them to see how life has changed!

But I’ve never shared what a day is like as a mom working outside of the home. While spending the weekend chasing Miss H around is filled with both fun and challenges, my weekdays are just as challenging (and way less fun!).

In her stroller and ready to start the day!

Here’s a typical Wednesday in the Hopscotch household from my perspective (although Mr. H has a huge role in many of these activities!):

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5:15am: alarm goes off for me to get up and get ready to go for a run (try to do this 2-3 days a week)
5:30-6:00am: quick run around the neighborhood
6:00am-7:00am: I eat breakfast, shower, get ready for work. Mr. H takes the dog out and gets himself ready for the day. We make lunches the night before to save us time in the morning.
7:00am: Wake Miss H up (often already awake but happily waiting in her crib). Get her dressed for the day.
7:10am: Give Miss H a sippy cup of milk.
7:15am: Everyone puts their shoes on and we’re out the door with Miss H’s stroller, diaper bag, backpack with lunch/breakfast, my big work purse and lunch.
7:15am-7:30am: Walk to our nanny share family’s house, as they host the nanny share.
7:30am: Chat quickly with our nanny and say our goodbyes to Miss H for the day. She loves her nanny so she’s always a happy camper when we drop her off!
7:40-8:15am: I ride the train downtown to work. This is my quiet downtime where I can read a book, check out social media, etc.
8:30am-4:30pm: My “official” work hours, where most days I split my time between working at a computer and running around to meetings. I either work through lunch or run errands as needed (i.e. usually walk to Target for house necesseties or Gap/Old Navy for clothes for Miss H.). The day usually flies by!
4:30pm-5:15pm: I ride the train back to the northside of the city and meet Mr. H at the nanny share house to pick up Miss H.
5:30-5:45pm: After catching up with our nanny and the other mom in our nanny share to see how the day went, we load Miss H in her stroller and walk home.
5:45p-7:00pm: This is the only “real” time I get with Miss H on weekdays where we get to interact and not rush around. But, I’m also very wiped from the day so it’s tough! During this time we make/feed Miss H her dinner, read a few books, give her a bath, read a few books before bed, and then she’s in her crib for the night.
7:00pm-10:00pm: The night is still young! I wash or fold diapers (depending on the night), fold any other  laundry, do the dishes, prepare food for Miss H, make lunches for the next day, etc. Mr. H and I try and eat together whenever we can and watch a show or two before bed.

And, like that, our day is done! It goes by fast and I feel like I’m constantly on the move.  But in the midst of it all, I love being able to acknowledge how seamlessly things seem to be working these days. Teamwork is key for us – Mr. H and I each know what needs to be done, and when we see the need we hop in and take care of things, and we’re fortunate that Mr. H’s work-from-home schedule allows for us to often be home together before and after my workday. Sharing in everything from laundry to food prep to owning a specific task so the other one can have some “me” time or extra work time helps so much. And whenever I do get a morning workout in, I’m amazed at my level of energy for the day. It’s terribly hard to get out of bed in the morning, but so worth it!

*Note: often Mr. H will be working in the early evening, so I will pick Miss H up from the nanny by myself and it will just be me making dinner, getting her ready for bed, etc. Other nights Mr. H will have meetings with clients in our home, so Mr. H will help with some things and then I do bath/bedtime. Other nights we’re all home together and we share in everything – dinner, bath, bedtime, folding laundry, etc. And if I wasn’t able to get a morning workout in, Mr. H will often put Miss H to bed so I can head to the gym. Every day is different!

If you work outside of the home, does you day feel fastpaced? What do you feel like helps you make your workdays manageable?