A Day in the Life of a Working Mom: Balancing Meetings, Meals, and Motherhood

I’m not huge on watching reality television and when I do it’s often unrelatable and seems scripted. But I do love getting a glimpse into real lives. Sometimes that happens when my friends and I text about our weeks ahead or busy upcoming weekends. We are all within similar seasons of life with our careers and families so the conversations are always relatable and a helpful reminder I am not in this alone.

I decided to put together a day in my life as a working mom of two middle school aged kids. While every day is a little different, I decided to just pick a day and go for it. I might also do one on a weekend because those are very different than a weekday, but often just as busy.

Here is a run-down of my day:

4:25am Wake up. Morning workouts guarantee I actually workout. After work is often too busy to make time so I commit to four early workouts/week. I have my workout clothes laid out in the bathroom and try to be as quiet as possible to not wake up the family.
I drink ½ my protein drink on the way to the gym and the other on my way home.

5am-5:55am Workout. I go to a gym called Orange Theory Fitness. I get in a mix of cardio and weights and have a friend community there to help hold me accountable to show up. I love it.

5:55am Race home to get ready. I take a quick shower, blow-dry the sweat from my hair, spray some dry shampoo, some quick makeup and I try to make it out the door as quickly as I can.

6:10am Wake up a kid. As I am getting ready, I make sure whichever kid has zero period that day is up and getting themselves ready. My husband will wake up the other one at about 6:45am.

Make the bed, every day! My husband or I (95% of the time my husband) makes the bed. Every. Single. Day.

Coffee! On my way out the door, I pour a cup of drip coffee with some creamer and grab my lunch that is ready to-go in the fridge. The kid’s lunches are always ready to-go in the fridge too or on some days they will buy lunch.

6:45am school drop off. I drop off one of my kids early (they rotate on who has 0 period) to jazz band and my husband then drops off the other at about 7:45am on his way into the office.

6:50-7:15ish Drive into work. Depending on the traffic, my commute is around 20-30 minutes each way.

Work all day. My job in human resources consists of a lot of meetings and trying to fit in desk time or time with my team. It’s fast paced so the days usually fly by which I love. I really enjoy it.

At some point, attempt to get some steps in. I don’t have the type of schedule allowing for a lunch break each day but I try my best to walk even for just 5-10 minutes inside my work building to get some steps in. When I have a few minutes in-between meetings, I try to get up just to get the blood flowing a bit. I eat lunch at my desk or in meetings.

4pmish Leave work. My end time varies each day depending on my meeting schedule.

Straight to mom mode. My kids walk home from school so I either go straight home from work to pick one of them up to get them to an extra curricular or might have a bit of time at home to get dinner going before starting my kid chauffeuring shift for the evening.
I always find time to change out of work clothes and into what I call my “after work uniform” which is usually joggers and a comfy shirt.

Early dinner. Most nights, we eat early before the hustle of the evening begins. That means I try to have a plan laid out of what is for dinner each night during the week. I don’t have time to make a plan when I get home, it has to be pre-planned. We rarely all sit down together during the week because of scheduling but try to eat in pairs. I try to have decently healthy snacks in the fridge/freezer for the kids to grab in the evenings after sports.

Walk the dogs. My son and husband are good about helping walk the dogs after school/work but I try to also get them outside when I can even if for just a quick walk.

4:30-8:30 Driving, waiting, tidying up and prepping for the following day:

Driving and waiting. Some days more than others. My husband and I do a lot of driving and a lot of sitting and waiting for kids. We only have two kids so we can divide and conquer which works really well for us. Between the both of them, they have basketball, swim team, dry-lands, hip hop, flag football, band and; at certain times of year; we also throw in soccer. They also each do a weekly tutoring session but that is luckily via Zoom so I don’t have to drive them anywhere!
I listen to a lot of podcasts and, when I can, I try to get steps in instead of just sitting waiting for my kids after sports. But sometimes it is nice to just sit in silence in my car or scroll mindlessly on Tik Tok.

Tidy up. In the 4:30-8:30 window, usually one of us will be home at some point in order to get the house in decent shape. My husband does most of the dinner clean up on a typical night. He also unloads the dishwasher every evening so we start each day with it empty. For someone like me whose love language is acts of service, this is incredibly appreciated.

Prep for the next day. Usually right after work while I am throwing dinner together but sometimes not until later in the evening, depending on the day; I prep for the next day each day. I prep my protein drink, my gym clothes, my work outfit and have lunches ready to roll in the fridge. I move so quickly in the mornings I have to have things ready to grab and go.

8:30 Wind down. With a 4:25am alarm, I try to wind it down by 8:30. My husband will take the late shift on parenting to support this. I wash my face, put on face oil or lotion and try to have a little time with either a kid or just to myself as I sip tea and wind down for the evening. I am to be lights out at 9:30pm.

There you have it, my typical day in the life as a full-time working mom of two kids in middle school!

Can you relate? Are you in a similar season of life?

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