WAHM, SAHM, Thank You Ma'am

parenting | SAHM | WAHM | writing

Like many of the people here, I'm a work at home mum. My work week is Monday to Wednesday and the rest of the week I do kiddy activities with my three year old. Here's our schedule.

Monday to Wednesday

6.30-7.00am - daughter wakes up and either (a) makes clanking noises in her room as she rummages for toys or (b) comes bursting into our room to tell us something important. Either way, I'm awake and haven't had enough sleep
7.00-8.00am - My daughter and I talk, play and get dressed, then her dad takes her to nursery
8.00-1.00 - check email (since I'm in a different time zone, there's always something in my inbox from North America; check WritingUp and Blogger Party for recent posts and comments; write a blog post (or two); work on my house move ebook; check ezinearticles to see if anyone's picked up my articles; check google adsense; check my web stats; check my Ryze page for messages;
1.00-1.15pm - lunch
1.15 -5.15pm - more writing, noting down ideas; website management (what content am I going to add or what am I going to change this week so the search engines keep indexing my pages); if I can I draft a couple of blog posts I can use later in the week (you'll see why soon)
5.30 -7.15pm pick up daughter from nursery, followed by playtime, dinnertime and bedtime
7.15-8.00pm if my husband's on the bedtime shift, time for another quick email and writingup check; if not, it's the shower, story, bed routine.
8.00-10.30pm - grownup time: reading, talking, television

Thursday to Sunday
6.30-7.00am - daughter wakes up and either (a) makes clanking noises in her room as she rummages for toys or (b) comes bursting into our room to tell us something important. Either way, I'm awake and haven't had enough sleep
7.00-8.30am - My daughter and I talk, and play
8.30-9.30am - her dad gives her breakfast and plays for a while (he works from home too) while I do a lightning-quick email and blog check and post
9.30-1.30 - playgroups of various sorts (Thursday and Friday only); followed by lunch and a nap (for my daughter if I can persuade her.
1.30-2.30pm - catch up on email, writing or web management
2.30-7.15pm - playing, reading, singing, television, outing to the park, supermarket or wherever.
7.15-8.00pm if my husband's on the bedtime shift, time for another quick email and writingup check; if not, it's the shower, story, bed routine.
8.00-10.30pm - grownup time: reading, talking, television

As you can imagine, I'm always playing catchup on the domestic front. I spend a lot of time with my daughter, which I really enjoy. I never begrudge a second of it, because I'll never have that time again. And of course, I am ALWAYS tired. However, there'll be time enough for me to focus even more on writing when she goes to school. So, that's my story. If you're a WAHM/SAHM like me, what's your week like?

Just a note: If you do take the time to comment on this post, I may not be able to reply immediately, but I will eventually. Stretching myself thin as always.

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I know the feeling...

One of my most favorite poems tells how all the housework is so unimportant compared to being with your child. I think that goes for work-work, too! It's way too easy to work yourself silly so that your little one can have more things, then not give the child what is really needed-yourself. You sound like you've got a balance going, and that's so cool! You're right-these days are precious, and they never ever come back once they're gone. Treasure your time with your child.

Hey! Visit me and I'll swing by to visit you. And check out my other blog: Education Tips and Tidbits. I'll see you soon!

Poem?

Thanks for sharing, tutor1235. What's the poem?

Sharon's Writing Lab
Blog at WritingUp

kamirusma's picture

I hear ya!

I'm a WAHM/SAHM who also homeschools! Talk about a balancing act - I feel like one of those plate spinners with plates on sticks! It's all worth it though - I've just recently started working at home after years of just being a SAHM. I'm still trying to get the scheduling and juggling down! Encouragement is great - we all need to encourage each other. Thanks for the peak into your life!

juggling

That sounds like quite a lot of juggling, kamirusma. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Sharon's Writing Lab
Blog at WritingUp

Wow!

Sharon, I didn't realize that your daughter was nearly as young as my 2.5 year old son. I know how you feel!

For me I work outside my home on Mondays and Fridays teaching. I have gaps in my day during which I try to do some writing work. On the rest of the days of the week I usually let him watch some TV first thing in the morning while I catch up with email and read/write blog posts, then we go for a walk, and do some activity like playgroup, library storytime, go train my dog at a local agility field, go to the store, go out to lunch, etc. Naptime is at about 1:30 and lasts 1.5 hours and up, during which I do housework and/or writing work and/or nap. Every night after his alleged 8PM bedtime I work on articles, blogs and email at the computer. Usually once every few weeks my parents (who watch Hayden when I'm teaching) watch him for a few hours so that I can catch up on my writing. As I read this I'm trying to figure out how I get all the articles I do done every month. Hmmm.

Brenna
Blog at Writing UP!
Brenna Fender's Blog

mind the gap

Gaps are good, Brenna. I cram a bit of writing or blogging into every available moment, as well as all the other site maintenance tasks. I worked hard when I was employed full time, but I think I work harder now.

Sharon's Writing Lab
Blog at WritingUp

It is harder...

For me it's harder because I have no down time. Work is always right here, and I should always be doing it... Sigh.

Brenna
Blog at Writing UP!
Brenna Fender's Blog

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