A day in the life...
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Family
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5.50am – Wake up call provided courtesy of my oldest who strolls in, kisses me on the cheek and gets in at the foot end of the bed, firmly planting both two cold feet against my, previously cosy legs making it impossible to go back to sleep…which is neither here nor there really considering…
Shortly followed by
5.55am – my youngest wakes and lets me, and everyone else in the street know that he is ready for the day with a very authoritative “Hi Mama, Ready break now!”
6.15am – Having stalled as long as I can (despite lying precariously on the edge due to the now 4 other bodies in it) before getting out of my, arguably far too comfy bed, it’s downstairs for breakfast. Most mornings I make pancakes from scratch because it’s the only thing I can guarantee my 7 year old (whose interest in food is small at the best of times and who would quite happily forgo meals given the option of that or doing something ‘more exciting’ with his time), will eat, Ready break for Mr Authoritative and anything from Wheatabix to a bacon butty to boiled eggs and toast for my daughter who always likes to be different! I will defineitly run a B&B when I ‘retire’ one day!
By 7.45am, all three children are fed, washed and dressed and ready for their days’ ahead, and today, being a day when my husband left early for work, I am in the shower whilst CBeebies takes over parenting duties!
Quick swill and I successfully manage to get myself dressed ready to take my team to the end of the road for our friendly school bus driver to pick up my eldest and whisk him off for the day.
By 9am, I have one shipped off to school, two more playing happily (well, subject to the odd minor dispute about whose turn it is!) and the makings of a lasagne for tea well on the way on the back rings of the hob.
A couple of hours playing and juggling the odd email (athough I do my best to keep them to an absolute minimum when I am on mummy duty) and then its time for early lunch so we have time to get my daughter ready for her afternoon at pre-school.
At 11.20, my little team and I all head upstairs so I can get changed into, not the suit I was planning to wear but my pink suit dress (which my daughter insists is much prettier than the other option - she’s right of course!) and then it’s a case of just dodging the odd sticky hand before lots of kisses and cuddles and I hand over to my nanny before dashing out the house.
Then it’s off to the train station just in time to catch the 12.38 to London for a meeting.
I work on the train catching up with emails as best as I can given the somewhat intermittent Wi-Fi, and prep for the meeting ahead. I arrive in London early so camp out at Starbucks to take advantage of the Wi-Fi and do my very best to resist the muffins on offer, managing to work pretty effectively for 40 minutes before heading out into the rain to my appointment.
A couple of hours later and I am headed back onto the waiting rain. Having lived in London for some time, I briefly contemplate a quick wonder into Covent Garden, but quickly dismiss it in preference for the earlier train home to my waiting littlies. My brain flicks between mummy mode and business mode efficiently, and without even realising it I am popping in to M&S to purchase a small treat for each of my littlies whilst still reflecting on the outputs of the meeting and mentally preparing my to do list and priorities.
Intermittent Wi-Fi email catch up again on the train home results in me getting frustrated and therefore starting this blog post! One of my biggest downfalls since starting my own business, is that I find it almost impossible to just stop. I mean completely Stop. It actually stresses me out to stop being productive – regardless of what it is, the need to fill my time in one way or another means that I find it impossible to switch off completely and indulge in any proper ‘me time’. Even the rare movie watching at home with my hubby also needs to be coupled with painting my nails/ making a list/ prepping some party or event. And intermittent Wi-Fi is frustrating to the max for me!
Cuddles and mayhem follow my entrance home with 3 excited little people telling me about their day and showing me their drawings/ homework/ battle scars! Then it’s up to bath and bed for them followed by more work for me.
Just before midnight is my normal bed time, but despite the hectic day, tonight I work a little later to catch up on lost internet time. Then sleep, ready to do it all (or something similar!!) again tomorrow.
A day familiar to many I would imagine. Whether we go out to work or are stay at home parents, we constantly juggle a zillion things at once, brains multi-tasking whether the PE kits are clean for the next day, writing the grocery shopping list, mentally calculating whether you have exceeded business forecasts that month or simply just deciding what’s for tea. It’s just what us parents do. And of course we wouldn’t have it any other way. But wow, as I finish this post at 10.40pm, over 24 hours since I started it, I personally could most definitely use just a couple of hours rest bite. In fact, I’m going to pop that onto my to do list right now!
Shortly followed by
5.55am – my youngest wakes and lets me, and everyone else in the street know that he is ready for the day with a very authoritative “Hi Mama, Ready break now!”
6.15am – Having stalled as long as I can (despite lying precariously on the edge due to the now 4 other bodies in it) before getting out of my, arguably far too comfy bed, it’s downstairs for breakfast. Most mornings I make pancakes from scratch because it’s the only thing I can guarantee my 7 year old (whose interest in food is small at the best of times and who would quite happily forgo meals given the option of that or doing something ‘more exciting’ with his time), will eat, Ready break for Mr Authoritative and anything from Wheatabix to a bacon butty to boiled eggs and toast for my daughter who always likes to be different! I will defineitly run a B&B when I ‘retire’ one day!
By 7.45am, all three children are fed, washed and dressed and ready for their days’ ahead, and today, being a day when my husband left early for work, I am in the shower whilst CBeebies takes over parenting duties!
Quick swill and I successfully manage to get myself dressed ready to take my team to the end of the road for our friendly school bus driver to pick up my eldest and whisk him off for the day.
By 9am, I have one shipped off to school, two more playing happily (well, subject to the odd minor dispute about whose turn it is!) and the makings of a lasagne for tea well on the way on the back rings of the hob.
A couple of hours playing and juggling the odd email (athough I do my best to keep them to an absolute minimum when I am on mummy duty) and then its time for early lunch so we have time to get my daughter ready for her afternoon at pre-school.
At 11.20, my little team and I all head upstairs so I can get changed into, not the suit I was planning to wear but my pink suit dress (which my daughter insists is much prettier than the other option - she’s right of course!) and then it’s a case of just dodging the odd sticky hand before lots of kisses and cuddles and I hand over to my nanny before dashing out the house.
Then it’s off to the train station just in time to catch the 12.38 to London for a meeting.
I work on the train catching up with emails as best as I can given the somewhat intermittent Wi-Fi, and prep for the meeting ahead. I arrive in London early so camp out at Starbucks to take advantage of the Wi-Fi and do my very best to resist the muffins on offer, managing to work pretty effectively for 40 minutes before heading out into the rain to my appointment.
A couple of hours later and I am headed back onto the waiting rain. Having lived in London for some time, I briefly contemplate a quick wonder into Covent Garden, but quickly dismiss it in preference for the earlier train home to my waiting littlies. My brain flicks between mummy mode and business mode efficiently, and without even realising it I am popping in to M&S to purchase a small treat for each of my littlies whilst still reflecting on the outputs of the meeting and mentally preparing my to do list and priorities.
Intermittent Wi-Fi email catch up again on the train home results in me getting frustrated and therefore starting this blog post! One of my biggest downfalls since starting my own business, is that I find it almost impossible to just stop. I mean completely Stop. It actually stresses me out to stop being productive – regardless of what it is, the need to fill my time in one way or another means that I find it impossible to switch off completely and indulge in any proper ‘me time’. Even the rare movie watching at home with my hubby also needs to be coupled with painting my nails/ making a list/ prepping some party or event. And intermittent Wi-Fi is frustrating to the max for me!
Cuddles and mayhem follow my entrance home with 3 excited little people telling me about their day and showing me their drawings/ homework/ battle scars! Then it’s up to bath and bed for them followed by more work for me.
Just before midnight is my normal bed time, but despite the hectic day, tonight I work a little later to catch up on lost internet time. Then sleep, ready to do it all (or something similar!!) again tomorrow.
A day familiar to many I would imagine. Whether we go out to work or are stay at home parents, we constantly juggle a zillion things at once, brains multi-tasking whether the PE kits are clean for the next day, writing the grocery shopping list, mentally calculating whether you have exceeded business forecasts that month or simply just deciding what’s for tea. It’s just what us parents do. And of course we wouldn’t have it any other way. But wow, as I finish this post at 10.40pm, over 24 hours since I started it, I personally could most definitely use just a couple of hours rest bite. In fact, I’m going to pop that onto my to do list right now!
