What a typical weekday looks like for me right now

Hiya, friends! How are you? Did you have a nice weekend? Dave was out of town with some friends for a birthday celebration, so it was just Brady, Rudy and me for much of it. 

And for the topic of the day: One of the most frequent blog post requests that I get is to share a “day in the life” post. I haven’t done one in a long time, so I thought I’d go ahead and give you the tiny details on how the weekdays work in our little house lately with an almost 19-month-old toddler.

What a typical weekday looks like for me right now

Morning routine

7 a.m. — Wake up. I don’t set an alarm, because Dave gets up before me, and I always wake up on my own while he is getting ready. As of the last month, I’ve been getting up, going to the bathroom, scraping my tongue, chugging water and heading to the family room to sit on the couch and do a 10-minute meditation from Headspace to start the day (with Rudy in my lap). It’s hard to not think about all the things I need to do and get started on them right away, but I’m learning to be in the moment a bit more with every meditation that I do. I’ll share my thoughts once I have something valuable to say on the whole meditation thing, but right now, it’s not much. And by the way, part of me wants to get up a bit earlier to fit in a little work, but I need my sleep too much to make that change. One day.

7:30 a.m. — Brady’s up. Brady usually wakes up around 7 a.m. and then plays in his crib chatting with himself for about half an hour before we get him out. If Dave is home, he is always the one to go get Brady, change his diaper and take him out of his sleep suit. Then, Brady comes to find me with his crazy bed-head hair and is usually already asking for his “baba.”

7:45 a.m. — Bottle for Brady. Brady drinks a big “baba” of organic whole milk after he wakes up, and I usually give that to him on the couch, and we say goodbye to Dave as he heads off to work. Once Brady’s done with his bottle, I put him in a big pack n’ play in the family room, where he has a lot of toys and he hangs out in there for like 20 minutes. Sometimes he fusses a bit, but most of the time, he’s happy to play with his toys, especially if I read him one of his favorite books while he’s in there.

8 a.m. — Breakfast for me. I usually have my tea kettle brewing while I’m giving Brady the bottle. Then, I make my tea (green tea, coconut milk, cinnamon, collagen creamer, stevia and a drop of local honey) and prepare my breakfast, which is usually overnight oats already waiting for me in the fridge, or sometimes just a big banana covered in almond butter, chia seeds and pumpkin seeds. I eat breakfast on the floor in front of the coffee table, with Brady in his pack n’ play next to me playing — real ideal set-up. During breakfast, I open my computer and check my emails and notifications that came in overnight. And if I’ve written a new blog post that went live overnight, I’ll promote that post on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, answer comments and then close up the computer.

8:30 a.m. — Get ready. Brady is usually ready to hop out of the pack n’ play at this point, so I pull him out and let him run around while I clean up the dishes in the kitchen and get the gym bag packed. He touches basically everything in sight, so I can’t leave him unattended, but he’s good about following me into the rooms where I am doing stuff and playing in there. I get dressed in gym clothes, give him a banana to nibble on, change his diaper, get him dressed, and we’re on our way.

Gym and morning outing

9:30 a.m. — Gym time. Most days of the week, we’re heading to the gym around 9:30 a.m. or a bit earlier. I teach group fitness classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday later in the day, but we almost always go to the gym for a short workout session every morning to keep our routine consistent, other than Thursday (when I teach at noon and we wait to go until then). When we get to the gym, I drop Brady off in the gym daycare and get to work — on Mondays, I take BODYPUMP; on Tuesdays, I take CXWORX then go back in the afternoon to teach BODYATTACK; on Wednesdays I practice whatever I need to go over for my classes, then I go back in the afternoon to teach barre; on Thursdays, I teach barre at noon only; and on Fridays, I usually do a weights workout on my own and then practice BODYATTACK. It sounds like a lot, but my barre workouts and practice sessions are super gentle on the body, and I’m always sure to have a full rest day each week too, and sometimes we switch up the morning workout for a walk with friends. It works out well for us, because I get my workouts, practicing and teaching done while Brady plays in gym daycare, and he likes it there.

11 a.m. — Errands or play time. After I’ve finished my workout or classes, we usually try to fit in a morning errand or activity. We either swing through Sprouts or Whole Foods, drop by the post office to mail a package, or we head to story time at the library for a fun play session for Brady. Story time is my favorite mid-morning outing, because Brady is so darn snuggly and cute when we’re there, and he loves it.

Mid-day work blitz at home

12:30 p.m. — Home, snack and organize. I try to be home no later than 12:30 p.m. from the morning session of outings, so I can give Brady a little snack (I get a snack too — usually a Larabar or other small item), heat up his nap-time bottle and put away groceries or whatever else we collected on our outings. I almost always have laundry to transfer or fold during this time too (sooo much laundry ahhhhh). And sometimes, I’ll pop him in his high chair and bring him down to the bathroom so I can shower while he’s eating. But sometimes, the shower waits. 🙂 

1 p.m. — Nap time. Brady goes down for his nap at 1 p.m. every day of the week, except for Thursdays, when he starts his nap at 1:30 p.m., because we get home a bit later from my noon barre class. To get him ready for his nap, I change his diaper, give him a warm bottle of milk and then rock him a bit before dropping him in his crib. And crossing my fingers and knocking on wood here, but he almost ALWAYS sleeps at least 90 minutes, sometimes two-and-a-half hours, and I rely on this time so much.

1:15 p.m. — Work time. Once Brady is napping, I’ll quickly make my lunch. I’ve been on a bowl kick lately, so I’ll heat up brown rice, saute spinach, fry some eggs and mix it all together. Then, I sit down on the couch and eat lunch while checking my emails and figuring out what it is I need to get done during nap time. Although I’d love to eat my meals in silence staring out into nature, right now, I can’t waste any time, so I eat and get to work. During nap times, I either write blog posts for A Lady Goes West, write fitness articles for the monthly freelance client that I have, check in with Beautycounter clients or answer questions and plan for upcoming blog projects. The time goes by SO quickly when Brady is napping, and I always have a few things left that I wanted to do when he wakes up — so I get to those in the evening. On good days, I move to my home office to work at my desk after eating, but regretfully, I often stay on the couch — which isn’t the most ergonomic position, and I wouldn’t emulate that if I were you.

3:15 p.m. — Brady snack. Very rarely, I’ll have to go in and get Brady up from his nap on days we have class, but he usually wakes up on his own. I change his diaper, chat with him, sometimes read him a story, then take him out to the kitchen for a snack. He usually has a pouch and yogurt for a snack.

Afternoon outing, class or play time

4 p.m. — Outing or class time. We usually head out for one afternoon outing after Brady is up from his nap. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, our outing is the gym, because I teach classes. But on the other days, our outing is usually whatever errand we didn’t finish earlier. Sometimes we meet a friend for an afternoon walk, sometimes we go on a walk on our own. And sometimes, we just hang out at home playing in the playroom together. It really depends how we’re feeling.

Evening routine

6 p.m. — Everybody’s home (hopefully). We get home from the gym or outings around 6 p.m. most nights, and we’re lucky that Dave is able to make it home by 6 p.m. too, unless he’s traveling or there’s a home Warriors game (which is often with a long basketball season, unfortunately). Once Dave gets home, we go on a short family walk around the neighborhood with Rudy, or we all play together in the play room. Then it’s time to start the evening routine.

6:30 p.m. — Brady’s dinner and night-time routine. Brady gets dinner in his high chair starting at 6:30 p.m., and we sit with him in the kitchen while he eats. If Dave is home, he gives Brady dinner and does the entire night-time routine. But if Dave isn’t home, it’s all me. For dinner, Brady usually has sweet potatoes, veggie burgers, black beans, yogurt or other (very similar to what we eat for dinner too, you can see more about our food here). Once he’s done eating, he gets a bath, we put him in his jammies, read him a couple of stories, then give him his third and last “baba” of the day before he falls asleep. He’s usually asleep in his crib no later than 7:15 p.m. each night, looking as cute as can be with his knees tucked in and his butt in the air.

7:15 p.m. — Clean up and work time. After Brady is asleep, I clean up all his dinner stuff, shower, change into my pajamas, do a face mask or put on my overnight peel and usually spend at least another hour working on the computer to finish up projects from the day. I usually also hop onto Instagram to post and engage around this time too, which is not ideal. I’d like to get to it earlier in the day, but once again — I don’t do that right now. 

8:30 p.m. — Dinner and couch time. Dave and I keep saying we want to eat earlier, but by the time we finish all the things we have to do at the end of the day, we’re eating around 8:30 p.m. at the coffee table with the TV on #TRUTH. During this time, we catch up from our days, eat, clean up and then watch a show lying down on the couch with Rudy. Right now, we’re rewatching the “Mad Men” series, and it’s just as good the second time around. We also watch “The Voice” when we can too, but are a little behind on this season. This time is my favorite of the day, because I finally feel like I can chill. And during this time, I put my phone away and don’t go back to it until the morning. I used to put in airplane mode and need to get back to that practice. Anyone else?

10 p.m. — Bed time. Around 10 p.m., Dave, Rudy and I head to bed, and I usually read for about 15 minutes or so before putting on my slumber mask and turning off the light. I never have trouble falling asleep and am always ready for snooze-ville. I recently bought this silk pillow case, and boy does my head love to hit that pillow each night. Sleep is life.

So there you have it. And then, we do it all again the next day! 🙂 

To be honest, the days go by really quickly right now, even though I have Brady with me all day. With the day broken up into morning, mid-day and afternoon segments, it seems like we’re always quickly moving on from one thing to the next, with a little bit of play built in too. I can’t believe it’s been almost 19 months that I’ve been his full-time care-taker. Wow!

Speaking of Brady, I have him signed up for a very short tiny tot summer camp and am still on the waiting lists for a couple of preschools for the fall too, so I know that the routine will change in the coming months, but right now, it’s working well for us. Hope you enjoyed this peek into our daily lives!

A few more posts you may like …

• Five essential things that truly helped me as a new momma
• Mom life: What I’ve learned as a work-from-home mom
• This is my actual must-do healthy morning routine to start the day
• Brady’s 16-month update

Questions of the day

What’s a day in the life like for you?

What is your favorite part of each day?

Do you work out in the morning or afternoon?