Just curious. I know my days are vastly different than most people. So what's a typical work day like for you? Here's mine:
- Awakened at 6:15 am by my daughter talking (best case) or screaming on the baby monitor.
- Wife hits the shower, I get up and grab my daughter. We go downstairs and I start setting up breakfast for the kids.
- 6:30 AM. My son wakes up and comes downstairs. I start coffee and feed the kids. Wife still upstairs getting ready for work.
- Wife comes downstairs. I get a brief respite to go to the bathroom and get dressed.
- 7:15 AM. I cajole my son to get dressed. At 7:20, I drive him to school. My daughter usually tags along.
- 7:50 AM. I arrive back home with my daughter. If my wife is still home, I get another chance to go to the bathroom. If not, I get to wait until my daughter's nap at 1:00 to take a shit. Fun!
- 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM. Play with my daughter, watch kids' TV shows, clean, do laundry, browse Chud/Twitter on my phone, run errands etc.
- Noon- 1:00. Lunch.
- At 1:00, put my daughter down for her nap. Nap can range anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours.
- 1:15 - 3:00 (average nap) first moments to myself all day. I should get stuff done, but usually end up screwing around on the internet (on my computer instead of my phone for the first time all day!) or eating lunch (sometimes feeding my daughter makes it too crazy for me to eat simultaneouy with her).
- 3:00. Daughter wakes up. Play more, run more errands, try to avoid more TV. Maybe prep dinner if wife isn't cooking. Sometimes wife is home by 3:00, and I get some more precious moments to myself.
-5:00. Pick up son from after-school care on Wednesdays and Fridays. On Mondays, then take to extra Kung Fu lessons.
-6:00 Pick up son from Kung Fu lessons at his after school care on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
-Dinner happens at either 5:30 or 6:30 depending on the day.
-Immediately after dinner, my wife and I split duties: one of us cleans up the horrific mess left by the kids and dinner prep, the other takes the kids and gives them a bath. Clean up and doing the dishes usually takes an hour at least. By then it's usually time to get the kids ready for bed. Sometimes they'll have a little time to play, but not much.
-8:00. It usually takes some wailing and gnashing of teeth, but we try to get the kids to bed at 8:00. Again, we split duties, with one of us taking each kid.
-8:15-9:00. Finish cleanup if unable to do so before kids' bedtime. This is when I usually take a daily shower. Let me just repeat that: I don't get a chance to take a friggin' shower til almost 9:00 PM.
-9:15-9:30 by this time my shower is finally done, and I actually begin to relax for the first time all day. If my wife hasn't already gotten in bed, we finally get some alone time. We finally get a chance to watch movies/read/talk/have sex/play videogames etc. When my mother-in-law is staying with us, my wife and I try to go jogging after we put the kids to bed. Usually we're both too tired to do very much of any of these activities.
-10:00-11:00. Usually go to sleep sometime in this window. Last night I was up past midnight, and I'm paying the price.
A few things:
I don't think I can really convey the utter chaos and stress of mornings and the dinner/bath/bed/cleanup express. It's so goddamn exhausting.
Still, I have no boss and no office politics to deal with, so I guess it balances somewhat. On the other hand, I can go days without talking to other adults other than my wife or mother-in-law, and it can start to feel like house arrest.
Your turn.
- Awakened at 6:15 am by my daughter talking (best case) or screaming on the baby monitor.
- Wife hits the shower, I get up and grab my daughter. We go downstairs and I start setting up breakfast for the kids.
- 6:30 AM. My son wakes up and comes downstairs. I start coffee and feed the kids. Wife still upstairs getting ready for work.
- Wife comes downstairs. I get a brief respite to go to the bathroom and get dressed.
- 7:15 AM. I cajole my son to get dressed. At 7:20, I drive him to school. My daughter usually tags along.
- 7:50 AM. I arrive back home with my daughter. If my wife is still home, I get another chance to go to the bathroom. If not, I get to wait until my daughter's nap at 1:00 to take a shit. Fun!
- 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM. Play with my daughter, watch kids' TV shows, clean, do laundry, browse Chud/Twitter on my phone, run errands etc.
- Noon- 1:00. Lunch.
- At 1:00, put my daughter down for her nap. Nap can range anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours.
- 1:15 - 3:00 (average nap) first moments to myself all day. I should get stuff done, but usually end up screwing around on the internet (on my computer instead of my phone for the first time all day!) or eating lunch (sometimes feeding my daughter makes it too crazy for me to eat simultaneouy with her).
- 3:00. Daughter wakes up. Play more, run more errands, try to avoid more TV. Maybe prep dinner if wife isn't cooking. Sometimes wife is home by 3:00, and I get some more precious moments to myself.
-5:00. Pick up son from after-school care on Wednesdays and Fridays. On Mondays, then take to extra Kung Fu lessons.
-6:00 Pick up son from Kung Fu lessons at his after school care on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
-Dinner happens at either 5:30 or 6:30 depending on the day.
-Immediately after dinner, my wife and I split duties: one of us cleans up the horrific mess left by the kids and dinner prep, the other takes the kids and gives them a bath. Clean up and doing the dishes usually takes an hour at least. By then it's usually time to get the kids ready for bed. Sometimes they'll have a little time to play, but not much.
-8:00. It usually takes some wailing and gnashing of teeth, but we try to get the kids to bed at 8:00. Again, we split duties, with one of us taking each kid.
-8:15-9:00. Finish cleanup if unable to do so before kids' bedtime. This is when I usually take a daily shower. Let me just repeat that: I don't get a chance to take a friggin' shower til almost 9:00 PM.
-9:15-9:30 by this time my shower is finally done, and I actually begin to relax for the first time all day. If my wife hasn't already gotten in bed, we finally get some alone time. We finally get a chance to watch movies/read/talk/have sex/play videogames etc. When my mother-in-law is staying with us, my wife and I try to go jogging after we put the kids to bed. Usually we're both too tired to do very much of any of these activities.
-10:00-11:00. Usually go to sleep sometime in this window. Last night I was up past midnight, and I'm paying the price.
A few things:
I don't think I can really convey the utter chaos and stress of mornings and the dinner/bath/bed/cleanup express. It's so goddamn exhausting.
Still, I have no boss and no office politics to deal with, so I guess it balances somewhat. On the other hand, I can go days without talking to other adults other than my wife or mother-in-law, and it can start to feel like house arrest.
Your turn.
