A Day in the Life of Dr Mom by PlayDrMom
I have this thought that unless you know me pretty well you have a perception of who I am and how my life is. Maybe you think that I SURELY know how to organize my day and parent with ease because of my background and experience with kids. You may even see me and think, “Her kids are so well behaved.” Or as I have heard some say before, “You make it look easy.” But you don't see the whole picture. You don't see our dirty floors, our bedtime wars, and my continual doubts about myself as a woman, a mom, and a therapist. Yes, I am extremely fortunate. I have a supportive family and wonderful education. But I do not have all the answers. I hope my sharing my day with you will help you realize we all have our own normal.
8:10 … I realize both kids are sleeping next to me and that I forgot to set the alarm clock. My husband has already left for work. I also realize that the head cold I have been fighting off for the last couple of days did not magically disappear overnight. I contemplate going back to sleep … briefly … because now the kids are now up. I tell Henry to get ready for school and we are running late. He says, “And isn't that your fault?” Hooray for Mondays!
8:15 … I help Henry get dressed (to speed up the process) otherwise he will get distracted and play in his room for hours. During this time Honor is getting dressed in her first princess ensemble of the day.
8:30 … We all make it downstairs to get some breakfast. We are out of milk. (which means the usual breakfast staple of cereal is out). I make them some toast and pour some apple juice. Now we are out of juice.
8:45 … Henry has only managed to eat a couple of bites of his toast because his new Angry birds coloring book was more interesting. I instruct Henry to put on his shoes, coat, and backpack and take a couple bites of his toast.
8:50 … I send Henry off to the bus stop (in front of our house) with a hug and a kiss … but still feel guilty that I'm not going outside with him to wait (like the other moms are doing). I'm still in my pjs... they look great.
8:51 … as promised I turn on the TV for Honor (she has to wait until Henry goes to school). She chooses Strawberry Shortcake (thank goodness for AppleTV and Netflix). After emptying the dishwasher, I sit next to her and check my email and my blog.
About 10:30 … I go shower and get dressed. Finding an outfit to be comfortable in all day (doing stuff around the house, playing with Honor, and running errands) AND also appropriate for work. I find something that “will do”. I also find that Honor has changed into her 2nd ensemble … a cream tutu skirt (inside out), polka dot leggings, and a white long sleeved shirt. (it's not bad other than the skirt being inside out!)
11:00 … I start a load of laundry and get ready to go to the grocery store when Honor convinces me to let her watch one more episode of Strawberry Shortcake. She eats a peanut butter sandwich. I have a Coke Zero and check more email (and realize things that I've forgot to do for work!)
11:45 … I turn off the TV and go to the store. No, wait ...as I am walking out the door I realize that I should switch the laundry (washer to dryer, put another in the washer).
11:52 … Now off to the store.
About 1:00 … home from the store. Now we have milk and juice! (and a few other things!) I unpack the car, put away the groceries, and change the laundry. Honor plays inside the car (unbuckled … doors opened) while I'm doing this. I ask her if she wants to play in the backyard; she declines.
1:15 … Honor plays on the computer. I feel guilty about how much screen time she is having today. And put dinner (prepared ahead of time, frozen, and now defrosted) in the crockpot. I check my email again and help Honor on the computer (she's still learning).
1:35 … I turned off the screens and Honor and I did some spin-art together.
2:00 … Honor decided she wanted to paint with a brush. I cleaned up the spin art and I set her up at the easel and she got to work. I changed the laundry again.
2:10 … Honor and I worked on some puzzles together. Then I went upstairs to fold and put away the laundry. Honor decided to change shirts.
2:45 … My dad arrived to watch Honor as I'm still putting away laundry. Then I ran through what the plan is for dinner and what Henry needs to do when he gets home from school.
3:05 … I switch the laundry again. Take some cold medicine and grab a Coke Zero and leave for work. I put on my sister's boyfriend's talk radio show so that I can hear him on air for a few minutes while I drive.
3:40 … Arrive at work. First appointment already waiting. I have her sit in the waiting room so that I can prepare for her supervision session. (I supervise play therapists and master level psychologists, as well as see “patients/clients.”) I hope that the cold medicine kicks in soon.
5:05 … I wait for my 5:00 appointment to show. And realize I forgot my beloved diet beverage in the car. Check email. Check blog. Check blog stats. And I have the Strawberry Shortcake theme song running through my head.
5:20 … Contact my 5:00 client's parent. We reschedule. I chill out … eat an apple and a Cliff bar and peruse Pinterest. Think about writing a blog post … but I'm not inspired. Really wishing I didn't leave my Coke Zero in the car … I'd go get it, but it would be all warm and flat. Yuck.
5:57 … I hear my 6:00 client in the waiting room.
6:50 … Session with father and daughter complete. It went well, nothing fabulous, but they have made a lot of progress over the past few years. I finish up paper work for the night. Unusually short Monday at work …. not typically done until 9. But since I'm sick, I'm glad.
7:00 … Walk out to my car. Get a text from my husband, “Henry ate fine. Honor didn't. She said it looked like poo.” Nice. Once I get into the car I call my husband, as I usually do for the ride home. He is helping Henry with his homework on the computer. I listen to Henry read the stories over the phone and answer the comprehension homework.
7:30 I get home just as they are finishing the online assignment. I serve myself dinner from the crock pot. Beef fajitas … not great, but not poo.
7:45... I load up the dishwasher and start it running. I hand out the mail the kids received at my office (that's where I have all my blogger mail sent). We are doing a sticker exchange and received 6 letters … and lots of stickers.
8:00 … The kids are creating pictures and letters with the stickers. Henry decided to make a letter for (non-blogger) friends that live out of town. I inform them it's pj time.
8:30 … Each kiddo is ready for bed and has picked out 2 stories. We snuggle together, all 4 of us, in me & my husband's bed. Henry reads one that he picked out first, “Ten Timid Ghosts”. Then I read one of the books Honor picked out, “Tangled”, then Henry's 2nd book, “M is for Mitten”, and then Honor's 2nd book “Put me in the Zoo.” Since after that my voice is pretty much gone I tell the kids, “No lullabies tonight, but I'll put on some bedtime music.” My husband gets up to finish something for work downstairs, but the kiddos and I are asleep by 9:15.
11:30 … My husband comes back to bed and moves the kids to their rooms. I wake up just to be aware of what is happening and fall back to sleep.
Not really thrilling or exciting … but it is a typical day. Some days are a bit different … like on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I take Honor to preschool immediately after Henry gets on the bus. Some days I work longer hours … some days (Thursdays and Fridays) I don't go to my office at all. Some days we go on fun adventures, but lots of time we are just plodding through the day doing what we need to accomplish.
I'd like to thank Beth from Living Life Intentionally for inviting me to participate in this series. I highly encourage everyone out there to practice this exercise of writing down what you do for a complete day every few months. What an excellent way to introspect on how we are living our lives … and what we want/need to change! It is also wonderful to read what other mom bloggers do during their day … and realize how similar we all are (even if our day to day “appearance” on our blog is different)!
What is your day like?
Would you like to contribute to A Day in the Life of Another Mom? We’d love to read about your day! This series will be ongoing as long as there are people willing to give us all a glimpse into their lives. If you would like to share A Day in Your Life please email me your day to livinglifeintentionallyblog (at) gmail.com. Feel free to include picture (s). I will let you know promptly when it will be posted. (If you have a blog please let me know as I will include a link to your blog in the post.)
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