I'm used to having work-from-home days as part of my normal work routine. But these past two months of COVID-19 quarantine have been anything but normal.
If you're a working mom, how has staying at home affected you, your work, and your time? Pre-Coronavirus, I was able to do online work during nap time, leaving me with additional free time to get other things done if I finished work before my daughter woke up. But now, I've instead of three days in the office and two days at home, I'm five days at home doing my normal work-from-home work AND work that I'd usually get done at the office.
It's tough! I don't want to use the TV as a babysitter for my kid, but in order to get anything done, I can't wait for naptime. For the past several weeks, I've been writing out a schedule every day to help break up our days into chunks of pre-set time. Most days we stick to the schedule. I find that it helps my daughter to know that a book and activity always come after breakfast, for instance. It also helps me keep my sanity.
Some days we have to rearrange the schedule, like on Saturday mornings when we do our grocery store pick-up or when I have a work Zoom meeting during what it usually "free play" time. But no matter what, there is always scheduled playtime so I can make sure I'm giving my daughter the attention she needs and not burning myself out with work.
So here's how our schedule works, and let me say, this might not work for everyone. I only have one kid, she's not in school, and she's pretty easy. Like, she wakes up at 6:00 a.m. and plays by herself in her room until I come to get her.
Yes, I am very lucky.
But hopefully, you can take something from my schedule and make it work for your own daily schedule, no matter what you've got going on.
7:00 a.m. - Mommy works out
This is me waking up "early". (I used to get up at 5:00 a.m. just to get ready for work pre-COVID.) I take 30 minutes for myself (my daughter stays in her room) to do a cardio walk, yoga, or pilates. Usually those exercises last for 15-20 minutes, and then I'll sit and drink a glass of water while checking my phone or reading a book.
Do I get up and workout faithfully every morning? There will usually be one morning a week that I let myself sleep in. Like when my kid wakes me up at 3:45 a.m. to wipe her nose, and then keeps me up until 5:00 a.m. because I can hear her playing in her room through the baby monitor... Yeah, I'm gonna sleep in until 8:00 after that.
7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. - Breakfast
Breakfast is not anything special, unless it's the weekend and I'm feeling ambitious. My daughter eats Lucky Charms, and I eat oatmeal, homemade cold cereal, or overnight oats.
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - Book and Activity
I use the themed Kid School ideas posted in my Pinterest boards to guide what happens during this hour. This month the Kid School theme is Flowers, so we've been making paper plate and egg carton flowers, as well as some Mother's Day flower stuff. Not every activity is a winner, but I try.
As for books, I just look up books read aloud on YouTube since we can't get to the library right now.
9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - Mommy Works/TV Time/Mommy Showers
This two-hour block allows me to get some work done, usually checking my email, doing some online stuff, filming some toy b-roll, and recording voiceovers. Yes, I put my kid in front of the TV. My husband is also working from home at this time, so it's just easy to have our daughter watching a movie (thank goodness for Disney+) while we work. When I finish up my list of morning work, I take a shower and get myself ready.
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - Free Play
Whatever my kid wants to do, I'm all hers. If the weather is nice, we usually play outside.
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Lunch
Lunch is not a big to-do. Usually I just make her chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, or a Chef Boyardee. We sit at the dining room table together and eat. If there is time after lunch, we play.
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Naptime/Mommy Works
Yes, my child still takes naps. THANK GOD. Even if she didn't, I would still push for quiet play in her room so I could get things done uninterrupted. This is the time when I get the bulk of my work done, and if I finish up before she wakes up, I might even get to read a chapter of a book and enjoy a mug of tea.
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Activity
I'll usually have a second themed Kid School activity for the afternoon. Sometimes we do it, sometimes we don't. It depends on my daughter's mood. She used to push for an afternoon activity all the time, but recently, she's been taking longer naps, or we just go outside and play because the weather is warming up.
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Free Play
Unstructured time where I am free for whatever my kid wants to do.
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Make Dinner
This hour is Mommy's time. My daughter usually watches TV again while I make dinner in the kitchen.
Everything after this time is unscheduled: eat dinner, family walk (if the weather is nice), bathtime, extra playtime. By 8:00 p.m., my daughter is in bed, and I have two hours to do whatever I want for a change. (Of course, she doesn't always stay in bed...)
And that's a regular weekday! Does your schedule look anything like mine? What's the same? What's different? I'd love to hear how everybody else is coping with their new normal.
If you're a working mom, how has staying at home affected you, your work, and your time? Pre-Coronavirus, I was able to do online work during nap time, leaving me with additional free time to get other things done if I finished work before my daughter woke up. But now, I've instead of three days in the office and two days at home, I'm five days at home doing my normal work-from-home work AND work that I'd usually get done at the office.
It's tough! I don't want to use the TV as a babysitter for my kid, but in order to get anything done, I can't wait for naptime. For the past several weeks, I've been writing out a schedule every day to help break up our days into chunks of pre-set time. Most days we stick to the schedule. I find that it helps my daughter to know that a book and activity always come after breakfast, for instance. It also helps me keep my sanity.
Some days we have to rearrange the schedule, like on Saturday mornings when we do our grocery store pick-up or when I have a work Zoom meeting during what it usually "free play" time. But no matter what, there is always scheduled playtime so I can make sure I'm giving my daughter the attention she needs and not burning myself out with work.
So here's how our schedule works, and let me say, this might not work for everyone. I only have one kid, she's not in school, and she's pretty easy. Like, she wakes up at 6:00 a.m. and plays by herself in her room until I come to get her.
Yes, I am very lucky.
But hopefully, you can take something from my schedule and make it work for your own daily schedule, no matter what you've got going on.
7:00 a.m. - Mommy works out
This is me waking up "early". (I used to get up at 5:00 a.m. just to get ready for work pre-COVID.) I take 30 minutes for myself (my daughter stays in her room) to do a cardio walk, yoga, or pilates. Usually those exercises last for 15-20 minutes, and then I'll sit and drink a glass of water while checking my phone or reading a book.
Do I get up and workout faithfully every morning? There will usually be one morning a week that I let myself sleep in. Like when my kid wakes me up at 3:45 a.m. to wipe her nose, and then keeps me up until 5:00 a.m. because I can hear her playing in her room through the baby monitor... Yeah, I'm gonna sleep in until 8:00 after that.
7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. - Breakfast
Breakfast is not anything special, unless it's the weekend and I'm feeling ambitious. My daughter eats Lucky Charms, and I eat oatmeal, homemade cold cereal, or overnight oats.
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - Book and Activity
I use the themed Kid School ideas posted in my Pinterest boards to guide what happens during this hour. This month the Kid School theme is Flowers, so we've been making paper plate and egg carton flowers, as well as some Mother's Day flower stuff. Not every activity is a winner, but I try.
As for books, I just look up books read aloud on YouTube since we can't get to the library right now.
9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - Mommy Works/TV Time/Mommy Showers
This two-hour block allows me to get some work done, usually checking my email, doing some online stuff, filming some toy b-roll, and recording voiceovers. Yes, I put my kid in front of the TV. My husband is also working from home at this time, so it's just easy to have our daughter watching a movie (thank goodness for Disney+) while we work. When I finish up my list of morning work, I take a shower and get myself ready.
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - Free Play
Whatever my kid wants to do, I'm all hers. If the weather is nice, we usually play outside.
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Lunch
Lunch is not a big to-do. Usually I just make her chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, or a Chef Boyardee. We sit at the dining room table together and eat. If there is time after lunch, we play.
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Naptime/Mommy Works
Yes, my child still takes naps. THANK GOD. Even if she didn't, I would still push for quiet play in her room so I could get things done uninterrupted. This is the time when I get the bulk of my work done, and if I finish up before she wakes up, I might even get to read a chapter of a book and enjoy a mug of tea.
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Activity
I'll usually have a second themed Kid School activity for the afternoon. Sometimes we do it, sometimes we don't. It depends on my daughter's mood. She used to push for an afternoon activity all the time, but recently, she's been taking longer naps, or we just go outside and play because the weather is warming up.
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Free Play
Unstructured time where I am free for whatever my kid wants to do.
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Make Dinner
This hour is Mommy's time. My daughter usually watches TV again while I make dinner in the kitchen.
Everything after this time is unscheduled: eat dinner, family walk (if the weather is nice), bathtime, extra playtime. By 8:00 p.m., my daughter is in bed, and I have two hours to do whatever I want for a change. (Of course, she doesn't always stay in bed...)
And that's a regular weekday! Does your schedule look anything like mine? What's the same? What's different? I'd love to hear how everybody else is coping with their new normal.
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