A Day in the Life of a Stay at Home Mom #1 (Luke 7 months)

When I was an accountant we had to account for all the time we were at work in the day.  Clients were generally billed on an hourly basis so on a normal day, I'd have to enter my 8 hours into our time management software so the partners would know how to bill.  We were allowed & expected to have some unbillable time every day, just answering e-mails or the phone, dealing with quick stops, etc.  It was sometimes a pain but also a good way to be able to tell how my day was spent.  A project night feel like it took 15 minutes but really took an hour.  I haven't though much about that since I've been home but for 7 1/2 years of my life, many of days could be measured in 15 minute increments.

Now that I am at home there are many evenings I am sitting around with Matt wondering what the heck I did all day, where the time all went.  So, I decided to keep track one day to see.  I thought it would be interesting, if not for anyone else, than at least for me to compare as life changes.  I hope/plan to do this every 6 months or so since I'm sure how Luke & I spend a day now if different than it will be then.  So.  Here's how we spent last Tuesday, November 12. (11/12/13)

6:15am Matt is up for work and as he's getting out of bed he tells me he's out of bread.  In my recent freezer cleanout I knew I saw more homemade buns so I get up to find them for him and also use the bathroom.  (He's on warmups this day which means he has to go in an hour early to "warm-up" the machines before treatments begin at 8.  He has to do this about once or twice a week.).  While we are digging around the deep freeze I also pull out sugar cookie dough to thaw and bake with my sister the next day.  I go back to bed before he leaves.

7:40am  I wake up when Luke wakes up.  This is our first full day home in about 10 days so I am in no hurry to do anything.  I make our bed before getting Luke up, change him, put away his laundry we folded the night before, then go downstairs.  I change into my workout clothes, put away dishes that had dried in the drainer overnight, and make his bottle.  I feed him on the couch while watching the Today show.  Once he's done eating we play a bit on the couch (no tummy time right after eating). 

8:40am  Luke is back down for nap #1.  I collect laundry, sort it, and start the first load.  I do my workout in the basement while watching Dirty Sexy Money.  To cool down I do some very slow miles on the exercise bike while doing my first e-mail/social networks check of the day.  I don't do that until after my workout.

9:40am I switch laundry before going upstairs.  Luke is awake but playing happily in his crib so I leave him there and eat breakfast (Aldi brand Cheerios with honey and bananas...Yum).  I read a chapter in my current book (The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks) before going to get him.

10:05am  I get Luke up and he plays on the floor while I read next to him.

10:30am  Diaper change and then Luke is ready for feeding #2.  I give him a bottle while catching up on some blogs I follow (I try to limit most of my phone time to when I am feeding him).  I usually save blogs to read during feedings.

11:10am  Luke is done eating and back on the floor playing.  I switch laundry.

11:25am  We've been trying to stretch out Luke's naps but he's getting pretty grouchy so I put him down for nap #2.  I take a tea & muffin "break" and finish my book.  Play on 5 Word with Friends games I currently have going.  I would rush more to shower but I am waiting for my pants to come out of the dryer (yes, they are sweats).

NOON  I shower and get around.  By the time I get out my pants are dry.

12:30pm  I switch laundry & get my pants.  As laundry comes out of the dryer I sort it - towels, rags, and socks go into one basket.  Our pants, sweatshirts, and underwear go in another.  On our folding table I start a pile for each of our shirts, laid out to prevent wrinkles.  After laundry switch I empty our mudroom compost bin (getting snow on the ends of my freshly laundered pants) and bring my flamingos onto the porch.

12:35pm  Luke is awake after a really nice 15 minute nap (he fussed quite awhile before falling asleep).  We start to read some books but that turns into him eating the books.  I read a little about baby sign language.  He plays with books and other toys.

1:15pm  I change his diaper and then do feeding #3.  We cuddle a bit afterwards while he plays with the bottle cap.  He only cuddles when he's really tired so I get in as much as I can then.

1:55pm  Luke is down for nap #3.  I switch the last load of laundry (#4) and make my lunch.

2:05pm  I eat lunch (peanut butter, raisin & banana sandwich, pineapple, milk) while watching the prior night's Hart of Dixie on the DVR.  During one commercial break I get the mail and take care of my dishes.  During another I take the last load of laundry out of the dryer.  I fold the socks, towels, and rags while I finish the show.  The rest of the commercial breaks I fast forward through.

3:00pm  I put away towels, rags, and socks before getting Luke up from his nap.  While we are upstairs I pull his next 2 clothes boxes out of the attic (9 months and 12 months) and add some recent gifts he received.

3:20pm  We are back downstairs.  I change his diaper.  I spend the next 30 minutes alternately playing with him and trying to get a package ready to mail.  I don't get too far on the package.  Give Luke a bottle to feed himself while I try to finish package.

3:50pm  Matt is home from work (he gets off early the days he's on warmups).  He feeds Luke a little while I finish the package.

4:15pm  We leave home stopping at the library (return 2 books), Post Office (mail package and buy Christmas card stamps), and Kohls (I return something we had bought for Luke; Matt looks to use his birthday gift card.  We end up just buying Luke a winter hat and a shirt for next winter with free $10 Kohls cash we had expiring this weekend and $1.17 on the merchandise card I just got.)

5:30pm  Home and immediately start warming up supper between unpacking diaper bag and taking care of that stuff.  We eat leftovers of Vegetarian Taco Salad from the day before.  It's a pretty quick supper because Luke is fussy and has little interest in the puffs and food we give him.

5:45pm  Matt feeds Luke a few ounces (since close to bedtime) while I clean-up the kitchen from supper.  Sweep the kitchen floor because Luke is kinda a messy eater.

5:55pm  We have family playtime between my organizing the gift stash.  Luke is in a pretty good mood, playing, climbing, and laughing.

6:30pm  I give Luke a bath and then take him upstairs to diaper, lotion, and put on pjs.  Matt joins me for this part with Luke's bedtime bottle.

6:50pm  I am back downstairs while Matt gives Luke his bedtime bottle.  We switch off every night on bath & bed duty.  I do some random house clean-up and then turn on my computer to take care of some e-mails and work on blog.

7:40pm  I check on Matt & Luke, to make sure the first is awake and the second isn't.  I watch the end of a syndicated episode of Big Bang Theory.

8:00pm  I am back on my computer to work on this blog post and another.  Matt is back downstairs not too long later.

At this point I stopped keeping track of my time.  We did fold our laundry (we each fold our own since we've never figured out how the other likes it) while watching a DVRed episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine.  And we eat ice cream.  In bed around 11 or so after we both put away our clothes. 

Looking back at the day I apparently watch a lot of tv and read a lot.  The reading is out of the ordinary since I was finishing up a book but I do try to read some every day, how much just depends on what else we have going on.  As for the tv, we have 3 shows we watch together and 2 I watch on my own.   I've been working through our tv shows on DVD while I work out since I need a distraction.  It really doesn't feel like we watch a lot but I guess some days we do.

So that's how our day went.  Some days are a lot busier with housework, errands, playdates, baking, etc.  It's nice to have variety in our days.  Luke certainly keeps things interesting!