A Slice of Life View of Working from Home with Two Elementary Kids

I didn’t get a chance to write yesterday, so I’m going to skip the money series post this week and pick it up next Wednesday instead. Today I wanted to share a glimpse of what it’s like to work from home with two young elementary kids in virtual school all day. Here’s a day in the life of this working mom:

• 1:30am – Woke up to my alarm to take Mr. 4 year old to the potty
• 6:15am – Woke up to Mr. 4 year old wanting snuggles
• 6:30am – Up with my alarm to start working after Mr. 4 year old fell back to sleep
• 7:30am – Get kids and myself fed and ready for the day
• 8:15am – Take the kids outside to walk and ride scooters
• 8:45am – Get the kids logged into school and clean up the kitchen
• 9:30am – Take a work call while sometimes answering kid questions and baking banana bread
• 10:15am – Eat said banana bread snack with kids during their school break
• 10:30am – Back to work
• 12pm – Make, eat, and clean up lunch
• 1pm – Bathe Mr. 4 year old who got covered in mud while playing outside in the rain and mud puddles
• 1:15pm – Kids log back into school, while I write a blog post and respond to personal emails
• 2pm – Back to work
• 4:15pm – Read with Mr. 4 year old
• 4:45pm – Make dinner and talk with husband
• 5:45pm – Eat then clean up
• 6:30pm – Scroll online
• 7:15pm – Kids and I read together
• 8pm – Kids to bed

From 8pm to my bedtime (which is anywhere from 9pm to 11pm) I don’t do anything I don’t want to do. I sometimes write, like tonight, but typically I watch a show or read a book. I’m spent and need to recharge.

Overall, this schedule is doable. We’re making it work with employers who are being flexible and two adults at home, and for that I’m extremely grateful.

In the past, I wrote about my experiment with time tracking. I don’t continue to track my time each week. However, in the future I’d like to take another week to track my time, then compare it to a pre-COVID week. I have a feeling that, although my days are more fragmented than ever before, the percentage of time I spent in each category (e.g., family, self-care, work, etc.) is likely the same. We shall see!

Photo: Today’s visitor while I was answering personal emails this afternoon.