Some of you may know that before I had a baby, I was working as a self-employed social media manager. I worked from home and I was part-time at around 25 hours a week. Once I had Jack and my maternity leave ran out, I went back to work, again as part-time at around 15+ hours a week. As well as being a social media manager, I also create content for brands and post reviews via my blog.
I decided that being a stay at home/work from home mama would allow me to get the best of both worlds. At the start I was living rurally, where the nearest daycare was a 40 minute round trip. I also really wanted to be able to be a stay at home mum, and I knew I could manage my time to still take on some work, so decided being a work from home mama would definitely be the best way to go.
I’ll be honest trying to juggle everything can some times be a bit of a struggle, but it’s also really rewarding. I love being able to look after my baby full-time, while also continuing to do a job that I love, and I feel very fortunate to have a job that allows me to do so. Since I am self-employed I work all sorts of hours and days, so I often have random days and times to spend with Jack, so we often have outings on a Monday morning for example. When Jack isn’t with me, he’s either with his dad at his house, or he will be with my parents as they help out with babysitting.
So here’s what an average day looks like for me. I’ll be honest, things are different all days – sometimes I have heaps of work to do and Jack might end up watching some cartoons for a bit, other days I won’t have much to do so we hang out more. But here’s what an average day looks like for us with Jack at 19 months old.
6.12AM: I wake up to Jack chatting away over the monitor. I try and resettle him in the hope we might get an extra 30 minutes of sleep.
6.30AM: No such luck, Jack is up and rearing to go for the day. I make Jack some breakfast and grab a coffee. Jack eats his breakfast while I have my coffee and check emails.
6:50AM: I get Jack cleaned up and have another coffee. Jack plays while I reply to DM’s and comments on social media, check my emails and reply to anything urgent. We have a big morning cuddle and then he’s off playing again. He loves the mornings and enjoys playing with his cars and his sharks.
7:30AM: I do a few chores around the place while Jack plays, making the beds, tidying toys away, dishwasher on, dishes washed, etc.
8AM: I get ready for the day while Jack plays.
8:30AM: I get Jack dressed and changed and ready for the day. We play together for a bit and put some music on and dance.
9AM: Jack helps me round up the washing and put it on. I also wash the bath toys and we collect all the towels from the bathroom. We put this load of washing on too and go outside to hang the first load out.
9:30AM: I am starving so I make a smoothie while Jack plays. He spots the banana and wants his morning tea so he has a banana, some milk and some oats. He’s hungry this morning. Since he’s terrified of the Nutribullet, I’ll have to wait for my smoothie!
9:45AM: It’s so handy that Jack feeds himself now! I finish tidying up the kitchen while Jack eats.
10AM: I get Jack cleaned up and he goes off and plays while I make my smoothie. I also unload and load the dishwasher so the kitchen is tidy. Then we play cars together for a while.
10:45AM: Nappy change time! I then round up the toys and try to encourage Jack to help me to put the toys away but he would rather pull them out. I also get my coffee ready for when Jack goes to bed and hang out the next load of washing.
11AM: Jack is in bed! Time to work! Today I have a few social media posts to plan and schedule, website updates to make, and a blog post to promote as well as a tonne of emails.
12:15PM: Jack wakes up screaming. He won’t resettle so a short nap it is. I get him up and he watches Blippi for a bit while I finish the social media work I need to do.
12.40PM: I turn off the TV and get Jack some lunch and he sits down and eats while I sit with him and finish off my job
1.15PM: After Jack’s eaten and everything’s cleaned up, we head out for a walk
1.50PM: Home from our walk and it’s time for a drink and a cuddle in the bed in front of the fan. It’s so hot today!
2.15PM: I have some left over rice for lunch while Jack plays with his toys.
2.30PM: Jack and I sit down to do his alphabet puzzle together. I’m amazed at how many letters he can say and then put in the right spot! After a bit he gets bored and goes off to play with his cars so I jump on the computer to do a little bit of last of my work.
3.10PM: Time for Jack’s drink and afternoon tea. I sort and fold the washing while he eats. I get him cleaned up, clean down the table and highchair, put away the dishes and get a snack for myself. Jack goes off and plays in his room for a bit while I do emails on my phone. We also read some books and play with cars for a bit. This time of night I just let Jack do whatever he likes. He loves going off and playing in his room as it gets so hot in our living room in the summer
5PM: We are having dinner a bit earlier tonight. I usually eat at 6.30 once Jack is in bed but tonight I will eat with Jack at 5.30PM. We have some chilli already made so I’m making up a homemade salsa and wrap chips to go with dinner
5:30PM: We eat our dinner together, which sounds nice but usually ends up with Jack climbing all over me while I eat mine because he’s already scoffed his.
6PM: I run around and put the toys away, get his cot and pj’s ready, get the toothbrush and book ready and round up the washing, and then it’s bath time for Jack. I then get him dried, dressed, teeth brushed and book before it’s off to bed.
6.30PM: Jack is in bed so I’m going for a shower. Tonight I’m going to do a face mask and watch some TV. I also create some pins for my blog, browse through Instagram and upload a new post while having a cup of tea and watching Netflix.
9.30PM: Time for bed. I do my skincare routine and jump into bed. A quick check of social media before I put my phone on do not disturb and I’m off to sleep
