A Day in the Life of a WAHM

A Day in the Life of A WAHM

Kids ages 3 and 7.5 months.

2 a.m. - Hear baby humming in her sleep. at 7.5 months, she still not sleeping through the night. The humming never amounts to anything and she goes back to sleep. So do I.

3:15. "Sleepy humming" starts again. Big sigh. It would b nice to get my remaining 15 minutes of sleep before my alarm goes off.

Get up. Change baby. Nurse. She goes off to blissful "La La" land. I go start my computer.

3:30 - Eat banana with peanut butter. Take vitamins. Drink water and clear some clutter off the kitchen counter.

3:40 - Read a chapter in "Power of a Praying Wife" and indulge for a few minutes in some of my favorite blogs.

3:45 - Internet goes down. Since I work from home, I'm my own IT person. One reset of the router, and I'm back up. Finish reading blogs, check email and start work. This includes adding to a press release, blogging for my clients, respond to emails, finish listening to an interview with a client that I recorded a few days prior.

6 a.m. - Wake up hubby. Chat for a few minutes before our day goes in separate ways. Go down stairs and make oatmeal with raisins and almonds. I also eat some chocolate covered raisins. I read somewhere that it's best to eat your junk food in the morning so that you burn off the calories. This makes me feel OK to eat chocolate at 6 in the morning.

6:38 - Baby is awake. Daddy brings her down stairs.

Say bye bye to Daddy.

Finish oatmeal while baby nurses and scan the health section of the paper. Baby is done nursing and starts clawing at the paper.

7 a.m. Put her down to play. Load some dishes and brew some tea. Finish scanning the paper.

Baby gives me some smiles. Makes it worth getting up at 3 in the morning so that I can be with her during the day.

7:10 - Baby wants to be held so we play. Baby seems to be fussy and has a bit of a runny nose. Catch the weather report while nursing. It's going to be really cold. I mentally adjust my schedule for the week and decide to go grocery shopping tomorrow before the cold sets in.

7:30 Sister awake. Sister picks out her ballet outfit for the day. I put her hair in a pony tail. She brings down a bag of books. She makes her breakfast TV time selection and has a hard time deciding between "Little Bear" or her Barbie movie of the day, "Rapunzel." I get her drink while she decides. Barbie wins.

I feed Kate her oatmeal myself. It's the easiest way for me to get whole grains and veggies into her.

8 a.m. Baby need to go down. Grab trash out of baby's room and send a quick email.
Back to feeding the 3 year old.

Take advantage of the TV and water the cat, take out the trash, get spinach out of the freezer for dinner, get shoes, pack a snack and get 3 year old warm clothes.

Baby is fighting her nap and today it's a good thing because we have ballet. I go and put her in the carrier.


I realize our library books may be due. A quick check on my receipt confirms. I make Kate clear out the books she's dropped behind her bed. Get her dressed.

Search for the keys. Warm up the car. Kate complaining that she wants to go to ballet. When it's time to go, she complains that she wants to read. Sigh. Life with a 3 year old.

9 a.m. Kate enjoys ballet class.

10 a.m. Talk Kate into getting her coat back on to head to the library.

10:20 - Pass the post office on the way to the library and realize I forgot a package I wanted to mail.

10:30 - Kate cuddles in my lap while we enjoy story time.

11 a.m. - Head for home. Lauren still hasn't taken her morning nap and she's desperate for one.

11:30 - Baby down. Make lunch for me and Kate. Kate said she wanted PB&J. I make grilled cheese for me. When it's time to eat, Kate insists that she wanted grilled cheese. We compromise by splitting our sandwiches.

I read Kate two books and start her new book on tape that she got at the library.
12 Noon - Back at my desk. Check email. Schedule a hair cut appointment.

1 p.m. Baby awake. But I'm in the middle of trying to work with the web designer to get photos for client's newsletter. Play with baby while I wait for web designer's email.

2 p.m. Kate awake. Feed her veggies while she watches TV.

2:30 Images arrive! Talk with client. Finalize newsletter and distribute. Get ready for a walk.

2:45 - Baby is tired and wants to go down again. Play with Kate.

3:15 - Share an apple with Kate. Put chicken in oven for dinner.

3:45 - Baby awake.

4 p.m. - Over to a neighbor's house; a sweet, sweet lady who loves my girls.
4:30 - Go home. Daddy is home! Make a deal with Kate that if she helps clean the living room, she can have chocolate milk.

4:45 - Daddy plays with girls while I work on dinner.

5:15 - Daddy goes to work out.

I wrestle baby into her pj's.

Girls play while I assemble the chicken lasagna. I'm out of mozzarella, cheddar will have to do. This seems to be how my grocery trips go. I always forget something.

5:30 Baby down. Share an orange with Kate. Look through a magazine together. I make up names of the models in the photos.

Brush Kate's teeth, wash her face and hands, give her a massage. She chooses a dress for her pj's.

6:20 - Daddy is home. He reads to Kate while I put the lasagna in the oven. I do some yoga stretches. We say prayers and Kate gets to read for a bit.

6:30 - I iron hubby's clothes while we catch up on our day. I then melt in a hot shower.
6:50 - Lights out for Kate. Head to the kitchen. Timer is dinging. Lasagna is ready.

7 - Eat dinner with hubby.

7:15 In bed. Ready to enjoy my sacred "me time" by reading.

8 p.m. Lights out for me.

9 p.m. Baby wakes up. I nurse her and go back to sleep.

More Reasons to Blog

Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email the handy cheat sheet "89 Reasons to Send a Press Release."


--A blog establishes your credibility and expertise.

--It's like a giant magnet that pulls in traffic.

--It can impress visitors and turn them into buyers.

--Many of your competitors are blogging.

--Unlike Twitter, you can use your blog to discuss topics in-depth.

--You can engage visitors and carry on a conversation with them in the comments section.

--A blog can give you a huge online presence, even if you can't afford a website.

--It can help you gain more traction than publicity in traditional media because, unlike most media people, bloggers love to link to each other. Get in front of just one influential blogger and you can be all over the Internet within minutes.

You know you're a WAHM

Marcie Carson, Principal and Creative Director, IE Design + Communications

Author of the blog, womoments.com.

Co-Author of a future book working motherhood (http://www.womobook.com/) These girls are right on when describing the "master multitaskers" that are working moms! I'm thinking of submitting my own "mom word" for their WoMo Glossary.

I'm sure most WAHMs work when the kiddos are asleep, but sometimes, when the inspiration hits, we just gotta get to that computer and quickly bust it out. It's not always that easy to do and Marcie shares this funny, "You Know You're A WAHM" story:

"It's usually much easier to write after the wee ones are in bed, but I'm
inspired and the kiddos appear to be entertaining themselves quite well.

So, I'm going to go for itŠ ooop, well, see here we go, hold on a sec.Š (5:10)

Didn't think that would happen so fast, but no worries, they needed help
with a pen cap. (5:12)

So, I was saying, inspired, yes! I went into Pete's this morning whoops, sorry, just a minute. There's screaming. (5:18)

Alright, I'm back. 3-year old was crumpling 7-year old's masterpiece. Boy,
is he pissed.

Anyway, I was getting a coffeeŠ ARGH! What now? (5:35) OK.

Nothing alarming, older one was sitting on younger one's face. It happens
all the time.

Soooo, I forgot where I was. Oh, yes, I'm walking into Starbucks, wait, no. It was Pete¹s. I was running into Pete's and this guyŠ.

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Back, forth, back aaaaaand forth. (6:04)

I'm back. Not a problem. I'm getting a little confused (and winded), but
they're fine.

Back to my story. Something about running late for coffee.

Can you hear that? Is that a soccer ball hitting?Š oh, uhoh, crying.

Sooooo sorry. One second. (6:30)

Yes, that was a tad longer than one second. I had to take the clothes out of the dryer.

So, as I was saying, I'm running with coffee and and there's this guy named PeteŠ oh, crapola, what time is it?

I need to go make dinner."

Thanks Marcie! I can definitely relate to this one!

Do you have a "You Know You're a Work at Home Mom" story? Email it to me for consideration! lori at lbpublicrelations dot com.