How we do, what we do

If you missed yesterday's post, I encourage you to scroll back and catch up, so you know my heart before you see my junk. (So to speak). And before I share my daily routine, let me just add this disclaimer: It’s impossible describe my day without Dustin’s because it would be impossible to do my life without his. We’re a team like that. And very, very quickly it will be clear to anyone reading that the secret to any of my success is Dustin. Seriously. If I had any advice to give, it wouldn’t be time saving tricks, or multi-tasking tips. It would be choose your mate wisely. I somehow stumbled into this gem of a man and locked him in. And I’ve been reaping the benefits ever since.

6:15- Dustin gets up and showers so he can be ready for Piper’s early morning wake up call. I sleep. (I’m just not an early riser. Never have been. Never will be. And I don’t know how I managed to birth a child that disagrees so strongly with my need to sleep in. Fortunately Dustin is able and willing to take one for the team.)
6:30- Piper wakes up. I haven’t used an alarm in over a year. No need. She’s like a Swiss rooster. Reliable and noisy. I pretend not to hear her so Dustin will grab her first. (I am fooling no one. But he allows it). He changes her, and sometimes dresses her (sometimes that’s left for me because I’m a little more particular about her outfits) and they head down for breakfast. He usually makes her a waffle, and packs lunches for the three of us while she’s noshing. I’m pretty sure he also does some general kitchen tidying etc. while I’m either snoozing some more, or easing out of my bed with the help of some early morning social media trolling. I check my work email and the weather to make sure there’s nothing crazy brewing on the horizon (literally or figuratively)
7:15- I absolutely have to be in the shower if I’m going to be done in time to take Piper so Dustin can leave for work on time. I try to plan my outfit while I shower so I’m ready to roll when I get out.
7:30- He hands Piper off and heads to work. Sometimes if things are especially crazy, or I’m especially late, Dustin will take her in and leave me in peace. But most times I have a side kick for the morning. So I try to get ready while also trying to keep Piper happy/safe. If I manage 50% effectiveness on all counts, I consider it a success. Truthfully this is one of the harder parts of the day, where I would probably greatly benefit from just getting up a half hour earlier. But somehow it still doesn’t seem like a reasonable option, so I continue to do the morning scramble instead. Piper sits on the bed playing with my phone (or screaming) for the 2.5 minutes it takes me to get dressed. I used to try on several options each morning depending on my mood or what combo seemed to be working out that day. Now I pretty much settle on whatever I grab first. If it looks especially crazy, I’ll change, but that’s becoming a luxury I can’t afford. Instead I’ve found it helpful to try new outfits on weekends, when I have more time- and an extra set of hands- and just reuse those looks, and other tried-and-true combos (i.e. Striped shirt + floral scarf) throughout the week. There’s no shame in my game when it comes to recycling Sunday’s outfit into Monday...those crowds don’t overlap, so unless I instagram it- nobody gots to know.
7:40- I try to do my hair, where again, I’m at the mercy of Piper’s mood. If she can be pacified with some bath toys and general safe-ish bathroom items, then I’m good to do my 15 minute routine. If not, I slap on a headband and some deodorant while she cries at my feet begging to be picked up.
7:55- We pack up- get lunches, my purse, my laptop, and whatever other random bags I have to schlep that given day (there always seems to be something)-  I have to load all my stuff into the car before getting her out the door because there’s just no way to carry everything. I do a quick pass through the kitchen to pick up a little so Dustin isn’t met with a crazy mess when he gets home. It seems to take a lot of toys/objects to keep Piper happy while I get anything done, so our floor is constantly covered with cars, “little people”, measuring cups, spoons etc. Then it’s shoes for me, coats for both of us, carseat time, and we’re out.
8:15- If I’m going to be at work by nine (which is the latest I like to arrive) we have to be pulling out of the driveway at 8:15 on the dot. I would prefer to get in at 8:30, but that’s not always an option, so I compromise and settle for the best I can do that particular day. (Often I have early meetings, and on those days Dustin will take her, or I’ll suck it up and get up at dawn to get us all out the door in time). I also don’t love dropping her off at daycare too early if I can avoid it. She’s already there for a long day, and I feel guilty about making it any longer.

8:17- arrive at daycare. We’re fortunate it’s so close. It takes almost no time to get there, but that is a trade-off in the evening, as it would be nice to be able to zip over from work quickly, rather than fighting traffic and hoping we get there before the 6pm cutoff. I unpack Piper’s things and hand her to one of the ladies while I say hi to all “my babies”.
8:25- Drive to work. And eat breakfast. And do my makeup. I know, I know. It’s bad. Probably as bad as texting, which is illegal. But it’s been my norm for 5+ years, and I’m just not sure I can change. I’d like to say I’ll try, and I can at least say that I don’t do it with Piper in the care, but that’s not really quality logic, so......
9:00- Worky-worky-work. Mix of meetings, emails, building store displays, more meetings, more emails etc. and so on. I rarely take a lunch, but manage to squeeze in some personal emailing, and some social media check-ins throughout the day.

5:00- My ideal quitting time. (Dustin leaves to go get Piper. He goes in earlier than me, and has a bit more of a set schedule, so he’s usually able to get out on time, whereas my days tend to go off the rails towards the end.)
5:30- My semi-realistic goal quitting time. (Dustin arrives at daycare)
6:00- Typical quitting time.
7:00- Occasionally necessary quitting time. (Which depending on the season isn’t so occasional....which wears on me, and Dustin, quickly.)
6:00-6:30ish- I arrive home. Piper is usually already eating, while Dustin makes our dinner. I jump in to help finish what I can, or sit and feed Piper and chat with them about our days. We try to eat all together, but it’s hard because Piper pretty much demands food the minute we get home, and by the time dinner is ready for all of us, her high-chair tolerance is expired. So we either eat casually in the kitchen one by one, wait until she goes to bed, or give her an extra piece of bread to gnaw on to buy us some more time.

6:30: After dinner we clean up and play. Mostly we clean up, and Piper plays. We’ll set her up with a bucket of toys (or kitchen tools) and she is usually pretty happy to toddle around while we put the house back in order. Then we'll hang out and play together for a bit.
6:50: Bathtime. Piper loves a bath. She'd happily splash in her little duck all night if we'd let her.

7:30: Bedtime. We get her jammie'd up, and do vitamins and teeth brushing. Then one of us rocks her for a few minutes, sings a song and it's off to bed.
7:40: Our time! We've been trying to get to sleep earlier, so we have a couple free hours before we tuck ourselves in. We typically watch some TV online, or work on the computer (and by "work", I mean Dustin checks the Eagles' site, and I blog.) This is when I get most of my writing and photo editing done, as well as any crafts or projects I'm working on at the time. We also get a few more chores done- like finishing the dishes, throwing in a load of laundry, or just general tidying. If we're really ambitious we'll prep lunches for the next day, but more often than not we cuddle up in front of a movie and let the work pile up. And I like it that way.
10:30- Bedtime for big kids. Sometimes it's earlier, sometimes it's later, but 10:30 seems to be a reasonable time where we feel we took advantage of our night, but won't regret staying up when the baby summons us again in the morning to do it all again.



So that's my detailed, flawed, mundane, and average day: a small slice of my detailed, flawed, but not so mundane, and thankfully much more than average life.