When Trish recently posted a typical day for her, she did so in an effort to show that she is not perfect but does the best she can. She showed the good and the bad in her day and gave her audience an intimate glimpse into what a poses as a normal day for this young mother of two little girls. It was a beautiful post, and the response to it was overwhelmingly positive. In fact, when she posited on Twitter one day whether anyone else would be willing to do something similar, I was not alone in stating loudly that I would love to participate. Thankfully, she decided to make it an event, and the day is finally here.
To everyone who wonders how I “do it all”: here is a day in the life of Michelle.
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As you can see, I’m not a fan of the mornings. Jim, however, is already up and gone as he likes to go into the office early to get in his workout before the workday. I just roll over and sleep for another 45 minutes.
By 7 AM, the entire family is out the door. Connor catches the bus at 6:45 AM, while Holly has another hour to go before her bus comes. Thankfully, neither child requires me to help them with getting ready in the morning, and we have it all down to a science, including feeding the dogs and letting them run outside for a bit. I am so lucky that Holly’s best friend’s mother is willing to watch her in the morning. It makes the mornings fun for both girls, and it saves me money.
7:30 AM – Ah, home sweet home.
8 AM – My day does not really begin until that first cup of coffee and updating my planner with the day’s list of appointments and to-do list. Yes, I coordinate the pen I use each day with my outfit. A girl has to have fun at work, right?
12 PM – This was a good day, in which I was able to eat lunch AND read a bit. Lately, this type of day has been few and far between.
Throughout the day – I am an accountant. This is my life. For 8-12 hours a day. 5 days a week.
4 PM – I get to leave “early” today because I have to put on my chauffeur’s hat shortly. Now, the day really starts to get fun.
My commute each way is 26 miles and mostly looks like this. Exciting, eh? This is also about the only two times in the day I can listen to an audiobook. Yay!
5 PM – I’ve already been home (and by home, I mean I pulled into the driveway and honked the horn) and am now onto the first stop of the night – Holly’s dance classes.
5:30 PM – Time to pick up Connor from track practice! (I’ll spare you the rest but it involves errands and getting Holly from dance at 7 PM.)
7:30 PM – Home! And yes, that baby is quite literally the first thing I take off once I get home.
7:30 PM – I would like to say that I am so organized that I have dinner already prepared and ready to be rewarmed in the microwave every night and that we always eat as a family. However, this is pretty much the kids’ stations each evening. Both kids are multi-tasking by doing homework and eating. And yes, it is Culver’s. I don’t know if it would reflect better on me had I taken this picture on a sandwich/cereal night. (We really do eat together and I do cook whenever possible. I failed on this particular day.)
8 PM – A family of four always has a lot of laundry, but it seems particularly constant when said family of four is pretty much full-grown. I almost always do a load of laundry each evening, but each family member has to fold their own and put it away.
8:30 PM – The kids have their homework, and I have mine. Whether it is bills, email, posts to write, or actual work I brought home with me, I can spend anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour at my desk.
9:15 PM – My beautiful Gretchen. The first thing she does when I finally sit down for the evening is to come over for some loving. She has this thing with carrying something in her mouth. Tonight, it was a pair of Holly’s socks.
10 PM – By this time, my brain is toast, and I am in shut-down mode. This means I have moved on to my bed and finally opened my book again. After my shower and packing of lunch and laying out of my clothes for the next day. (My kids are responsible for packing their own lunches and getting ready for the next day as well.)
11:30 PM – My favorite part of the day, as long as I don’t think about that alarm and having to do it all again tomorrow!
