So today is my first day back at work and of course that means that I had the roughest sleep ever.
I had a small child who refused to go to bed and kept getting up every 10 minutes thinking it was party time followed by dragging him into bed with me (in an attempt to get him to go the hell to sleep) but that just resulted in him continually trying to talk to me like we were in fact having a pre-teen girls sleepover before FINALLY crashing out so I could move him back to his bed. A few couple of hours later I woke on the edge of the bed one roll from falling out to find not one but TWO little boys nestled in between my hubby and I. I moved them both back to their beds amid sleepy complaints and then of course the dog started scratching and wanted to go outside, the cat decided to jump on me and do that annoying itchy and scratchy thing on my leg that cats do (complete with claws and loud purring) and then the little one snuck back in and crawled back on top of me.
Then the alarm went off and it was time to get up. So yeah, not ideal!
I’m trying to be a bit more organised this year when it comes to balancing the work/life/children craziness. I’m a full time working mum so I need to be on top of my game or the whole thing just tumbles down and I end up a bundle of stress surviving on copious amounts of coffee.
This year I vow to make meal plans (or I just end up living on sausages in bread or sausage rolls because it’s easy!) which is something I am continually crap at but a leopard can change it’s spots right?! . Thankfully my boys are fed at their carers so they still have nutritious meals! It’s one of many areas that I need to hone to make things a little more manageable but where I fit it all in I’m not sure!
My typical day goes something like this:
MY TYPICAL WEEK DAY
4.45am: Alarm goes off. Hit snooze. Alarm goes off. Hit snooze.
5am: Get up. Discover one (or both) boys in my bed. Husband on the couch having been pushed out of bed to make room for the boys (one of which has really restless legs and loves to kick me).
6.15am: Leave the house to head down and drop the boys at my mother-in-laws (very lucky that they are looked after by Nana and Grandad while we are working)
6.30am: Commute to work
7am: Arrive at work. Turn on coffee machine. Turn on everything else (I work in a printing place – there is a lot to turn on but priorities!)
7.30am: Start work.
4.30pm: End of work day (work day includes 3 blissful coffees and a half hour lunch break plus a full day of listening to men acting like boys because I worked this out really well and managed to achieve birthing two boys and then working in a place with three male workmates. Oh and my cat and dog are also male. As is my husband. And the technicians who service our machines at work and probably 65% of our customers). Walk to the train station 20 minutes away.
5pm: Train 20 minutes home.
5.45pm: Pick up boys.
6pm: Walk in the door at home. Evening chaos ensues.
7.30pm: Boys bedtimes. Supposed to be. Cohen goes to bed. Finley gets out of bed. Finley thinks this means it’s party time.
8pm – 9pm: Dinner at last! Finely proceeds to steal food off our plates. Dinner consists of telling Finley that it is MY dinner and he needs to go to bed.
9.30pm: Still trying to get Finley to bed because he is a night owl and still wide awake.
10pm: Give up and drag him into bed with me.
*Repeat every day until the blessed weekend. By Monday it becomes the beginning of the blessed week after a weekend of being run riot by energetic hellions!
And somehow I fit blogging in, usually I draft it on the train and edit with Finn climbing all over me in the evening.
However, shit is about to get a whole lot harder. Why? Because soon I have to somehow juggle school drop offs into that and as of now, I have no idea how I am proposing to do that! Because I commute it is not a simple matter of leaving work briefly to drop him off and so we have some negotiating to do this year to try and work something out. Wish me luck!
What does your week look like? Are you back at work today or are you a SAHM?
Linking up with #IBOT @ Essentially Jess
What a busy day Haidee. Sleep – who really needs it anyway. This year I will have 4 kids in 4 different schools. What was I thinking? Coffee is the morning, wine at night and everything in between is a blur.
Natalie @ Our Parallel Connection recently posted…Achieving that Work Life balance
Haha, sleep? What’s that?! 4 schools! Oh my lordy! Why? Different ages or are some just going to different schools? Coffee is my saving grace! And wine. And beer. And wine.
Oh, that’s a tough one! I used to use a before school care service for the same reason, I had no other way to get my daughter to school!
Amy @ Handbagmafia recently posted…Swearing, Sarcasm & Smarts
It’s a tough act to balance and fit it all in aye Amy. How did that go for you?
Your typical week day looks very much like my typical week day used to look for many, many years. I used to have to drop off and pick up from three different schools and commute 30-40 mins to work on the train both ways. It is amazing what we can do when we have to. The best part was the time on the train. I got lots of reading done!! I’m out the other side now with all kids finished school. Those are busy days!! Hope you have a good first day back at work and that you get a better night’s sleep tonight! x
OMG you are a legend. Serious kudos to you for managing all that and still fitting time in to blog as well.
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I think i need to swear on my blog more to let out some pent up tension and stress! LOL
How do you do it?!!! Seriously, as a mum of six I don’t work this hard! I am impressed. Schools have before school care and I think it starts at 7am. School years really complicate things. I love the holidays so that we can all sleep to our own natural rhythms. For me, that’s bed at 11pm and rise at 10am! All the best.
Jody at Six Little Hearts recently posted…Spiced Fruit and Nut Loaf – Easy Bake Recipe
Yep, one of the schools out of area I have looked at has before school care from 7am so just for that i think he’ll go there (and the local ones I don’t like the look of). Juggle, juggle!
Oh Haidee that sounds absolutely nuts! You poor things! I take my hat off to you that you manage to find any time for blogging at all! Good luck with fitting in the school run 🙁 xx #TeamIBOT
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Thanks Rebecca! The train ride is a godsend or I don’t think i could fit it in!
You’re doing a fabulous job Haidee! Even though it seems like a bit of a juggling act at times, full time working Mums need to pat yourselves on the back more often. My kids are in high school now, so they are more independent, but I so remember those days of the juggle and struggle. I also admire the fact that you can find time to blog – you’re an inspiration! Happy 2016 to you 🙂
Thanks Lyndall! I think it’s important we find something that we also enjoy and slot it in there somewhere, for me it’s blogging and reading!
Far out! That does sound hard. Yeah, I have no idea how you’re going to fit school drop offs in there, unless you can find a before school care option.
EssentiallyJess recently posted…The Grinch Who Stole New Year’s #IBOT
Haha, I love the honesty ‘Yeah, no idea!’. LOL. I’ve found a school with before school care so that should work. Maybe.
Oh, the working-mum-juggle. I remember being extremely impressed when I could drop both of my kids off at the same place in the morning once they both went to school. Good on you for carving out a little bit of time to do something you enjoy. Good luck this year 🙂
I’m quite looking foward to that too, once they are both in school things might balance easier.
My day (at least three days a week) is very similar to that although the kids stay in their own beds thankfully. I hate eating dinner so late, but there’s just no other time. I have a little one starting school at the end of Jan. Life is sure to be crazy then 🙂
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My youngest has always come in but now the older one has started too! It makes my sleep so uncomfortable, I need to fix it ASAP! Let me know how you get on with school starting so i can prepare myself! Haha.
Haidee, how do you do it? You just do I guess. I used to feel sorry for the mamas I knew who were on that kind of day by day and weekly run too because they dont see their kids much but it’s the way of life these days with costs of housing and all. I do hope you can negotiate something relating to school pick up as when kids start school it’s great if one parent can be there. It’s also very, very tiring for little kids when they first start school so it’s a win if they get to go home with you. However, I am sure you will find a winning solution for yourselves and tell us about it here too! Denyse x
Yep, you’re right, I just do! The kids get to have a great close relationship with their grandparents and we work so it’s actually a good balance but with school starting shortly it’s gonna get crazy!
Thank goodness for coffee then! I’m officially back at work (my home office – no commuting for me – yay!) on Monday but have been doing a few bits and pieces this week.
I don’t think I would be motivated enough to work from home, kudos to you Janet!
I am so glad I don’t have to go to a full-time job anymore. Being at Tafe full-time last year was certainly a juggle but I was lucky that the daycare/preschool the girls attended was on campus which made the drop-off a bit easier. It was certainly an interesting experience having to get everyone ready and out the door on time though! This year I am back to being a SAHM and working part-time on my photography business so thing should be a little less hectic, although I am definitely going to miss spending time with adults talking about adult things and going to the toilet by myself! Now I just need to get the youngest booked in to a new daycare on the same day as the big one is at preschool and I’ll have one, maybe two days all to myself!
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