Monday, May 13, 2013

Day in the Life: Working Mom Style

Finally.
A Day in the Life post.
I've seen this done on other blogs before.
And I thought it would be so fun to look back on one day.
I mean.
Because my life is obviously so incredibly interesting.

I've actually started posts like this multiple times.
But life always got in the way.
And the busy-monster took over.
*Surprise. Surprise.*

But now, the school year is starting to wind down.
Less meetings.
Less rigorous projects and assignments.
I've finished all my community service hours for JL.
State assessments are over.
And Lyla is in such a fun, easy stage (a.k.a. still not mobile).

So I finally did it!

I chose a fairly easy school day without any before or after school commitments.
A day where the calendar wasn't haunting me.
And a day where I wasn't feeling pulled in 12 different directions at once.

If you'd like the shortened version, here is a synopsis.
I work a lot.
My day revolves around teaching, pumping, and breastfeeding.
And I usually only see my Chunkin for a little over an hour each night.
{But you better believe I make every second of that hour count.}

So, here it goes.

A Day in My Life: 05-09-13 Lyla 8 1/2 Months Old

5:00 a.m. Gabe's alarm goes off. I'm pretty sure I whimper. Then growl. And instantly regret staying up until 1:30 a.m. chatting about nothing with Gabe last night.

5:40 Finally roll out of bed, stumble into the shower, unload the dryer, peek and see what my sweet hubby packed me for lunch, and get my pump ready.

6:00 Let the dogs out. Feed them. Sienna wasn't obnoxiously begging for her food today, so I decided to give her a little extra.



6:10 Take EmergenC - My lifeblood as a teacher. Gotta fight those nasty germies. 

6:15 Feel the morning butterflies - time to go wake up my Beansie! I love these precious morning greetings. Hehe. Looks like she got in a wrestling match with her stuffed animals. She reaches her little arms out. I happily oblige and scoop her up.



6:20 Nurse the babe, change her diaper, and stand in front of the closet with a blank stare on my face. Don't get me wrong. It's so fun to dress my girly girl. At least on the weekends. However, it's simply one more decision to make for the day. All I can think at the moment..."Why do you have so many clothes? Where the heck are the matches to all your socks? Do these stripes match those polka dots? FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, WHY HASN'T SOMEONE INVENTED BABY UNIFORMS?"



6:45 Pour my cereal with Lyla on my hip, head to the bedroom, put her on the floor to play with her toys. Crap. Where's her crinkle book? I'm already running a little late this morning. This ball and stuffed dolly will have to do.

6:50 Begin my first pumping session of the day while I eat  "organic" cinnamon toast crunch, brush my teeth, and put on my makeup. Ly sings and claps, and shakes her head to the beat of the pump.



7:15 Clean up. Pour milk. Mix milk. Freeze milk. Leave some milk in fridge. Sheesh. I practically need a third degree to figure out all this milk-mixing.

7:20 Put Ly on the bed. Start to get dressed in the outfit I laid out the night before. Ugh. I hate this outfit. I desperately need to go shopping. Why the heck is my entire closet stripes? Seriously. Everything I own...stripes.

So.
I settle for stripes.

7:30 Dogs start barking because GiGi's here to pick up Ly. I run around the house like a lunatic looking for my keys. *a regular occurrence*. Grab my teacher bag, lunch, pump, and water bottle. Throw some diapers in a bag to send to GiGi's, kiss my babe, double-check to make sure I have everything and head out the door.

7:38 Get a wave from Lyla. She loves "bye-bye". Mommy, however, does not.

7:53 I realize I'm going to be late for my 8:00 before-school meeting. Shoot.

8:01 Head down to the library for our staff meeting. Instead of a meeting, we just get instructions for how to pass/fail students in our electronic grade book system. Score! Check my mailbox. Make some copies. Say hi to my teammates.

8:23 My students will be here in 2 minutes. Why is it that every single morning I feel like I never have enough time to prepare for my day?

Savor the calm before the storm.



8:25 Bell rings. Greet my students. Pull one kiddo aside and remind him to never EVER get off the bus at a different bus stop without telling anyone. *He did this last night and it took us 40 minutes to find him.*
Greet some more kiddos. Explain morning work. Answer at least 6 dozen questions:
How many more points do I need to meet my AR goal? 
Did we have homework last night?
Where do I put *said* homework?(I want to answer, "The same spot we've put it the last 164 days this year").
When is the last day of school?
Why do you drink so much water?
Why did you put the wrong date on the board?

9:00 I love not having our tiered reading support this week. Things are much less rushed in the mornings...and one less thing to plan. Instead, I help kiddos on their area and perimeter problems and check to make sure they have sufficient supporting evidence explaining why an assigned force of nature is considered a "friend or foe".

**Sweet. I'm totally stoked that Gabe made iced coffee last night. I really need an extra pick-me-up this morning. Because of the aforementioned late night last night. Yikes.



9:25 Remind kiddos they need their recorders for music. Walk them down.

9:30 Plan time! Check my box. Go to the bathroom. Meet with my teammates for 10 minutes. Make a couple of copies.

9:45 I set up my pump and get to business. Stare at all the grading that needs to be done. I feel like it's taunting me. And the massive mounds of end-of-the-year paperwork on my desk aren't helping either. Oy. I have 35 minutes and must use this time wisely because it's all the time I'll have all day.



Should I plan for next week? Respond to e-mails? Grade papers? Input grades that are due next week? Order supplies for next year? Finish my inventory? Input my benchmark testing data?

Again. I don't do well with too many options.

So, I decide to gather my materials for our reading, math and science lessons for later this afternoon and respond to e-mails.



10:15 Clean up. Put milk in the fridge. How is my plan time over? Feel a sense of panic. Tell myself it will all get done eventually. Grab some more water. Pick up my kiddos.

10:20 I decide last-minute to do a mini Mother's Day writing assignment. After all, we have end-of-the-year reading benchmark testing today. So what the heck? Let's do something fun and easy for our mamas.
Besides.
I am one now.
And I want a sweet letter from Chunkin when she's in fourth grade.

11:00 Dibels Testing

11:50 Take kids to lunch. Go to the bathroom. Fill water bottle. Start pumping. Get a little caught up on grading.
Boo! I realize that some of my kids didn't do too hot on the probability portion of their math tests yesterday. Makes sense. I felt a little rushed in that lesson. Probably should have spent another day on it. Decide to give it back to my kiddos to correct.



12:12  Scarf down my lunch.



12:20 Pick kiddos up. Another score! It's computer lab day. So, I'm able to sit down and work on inventory and my purchase order for next year in between getting kids logged on. I decide on some storage and desk organization items. Mama is in some serious need of organization for next year's daunting transition to the common core standards.

1:00 Recess duty. Kids fight over who gets out in Four Square. Tell said kids that no one gets to play now.

1:20 Hand out a couple band-aids for a few cuts and bruises from recess.

Break out into Math Workshop. I'm still getting used to this method of teaching. Although it's fast-paced and a little overwhelming, I'm really liking it so far.
Today we're learning how to convert fractions into decimals and percents. I introduce the new math groups for this unit, explain today's math enrichment activity and game, then send the kiddos off to their stations. I meet with each group for 20 minutes.
Man. I could sure use more time with my first group. Fractions are tough! I make a mental note to use more hands-on manipulatives tomorrow.
Holy moly. Group 2 breezed through this lesson. I jot down to plan a more challenging project-type assignment for tomorrow.
*Differentiating lessons to meet the very diverse, individual needs of students is so necessary. And quite mentally and physically exhausting.*
I have to stop 2 or 3 times to remind a few students of "Math Workshop Rules".
Then, I punch a couple conduct cards for inappropriate behavior.

(Fourthgrade-itis is in full effect.
Come to think of it, so is teacher-itis.
Summer can't get here soon enough.)

2:40 Oopsie. Went over into science time. How is it already 2:40?

Review yesterday's lesson on how the earth moves on its axis...yada yada yada. Introduce today's mini-project: Constellation Finders. The kids are really excited to use these tonight - hopefully it's a clear sky.

3:20 Check planners. Pick up the room. Remind students of their homework for this evening.

3:25 Bell rings. Bus duty. Remind one of my students from last year to walk, not run.

3:45 Oh. There's my teammates. Finally some adult interaction. I didn't see them all day. Sad face. I blurt out, "Quick, make a fun face for the blog!"

And this pretty much sums up the response I get to most things I say and do (which often includes me randomly bursting into song and dance while we plan):




3:50 I remind myself that I have to pick up Lyla today. Must stay focused to get out of here early. Quickly organize the benchmark testing data. Input scores. Print charts. Eh. I'll deal with the rest of this tomorrow.

4:00  Prepare tomorrow's morning work, planner, math stations, and science investigation.

4:30 Force myself to leave early today. It's time to go see my babe!

5:15 Get to GiGi's. I'm greeted with that bottom-toothed grin, clapping, and bouncing so hard, she nearly falls over.



 5:20 Nurse the babe.


5:35 Load up Lyla and head home.

6:00 Get home. Lyla starts rubbing her eyes. Boo. I was hoping she'd stay awake a little later tonight since I've barely seen her. :(

6:05 Plop her on the bed to get a little laundry put away.



6:10 Bath time with Chunkin! Bath time is Daddy's job. But Daddy's working late tonight. So, I get to scrubbing the babe. How in the world does Gabe do this? She's so slippery. 




6:17 Throw some diapers in the washing machine.

6:20 Time for last feeding of the day. Eight and a half months, and Sienna still feels so displaced. We love you too, Burt. Promise!



6:40 Say goodnight prayers and smother with smooches. Put Ly down. She starts playing with her teddy bear, Brit.
*Dad will be excited to hear this. Brit was his stuffed bear brought to him from Britain when he was little. He kept sneaking it into Lyla's crib, and I would take it out. Nothing against Brit. He just doesn't match the decor. But he somehow kept mysteriously appearing in the crib. Now, he's just a permanent fixture.



 6:45 Dinner time. Scavenge around. I guess I'll have to settle for leftover veggies, blueberries, and a California Pizza Kitchen pizza. Mmm.


7:00 Clean up the kitchen, put more clothes away, put diapers in the dryer. Ask myself why we do cloth diapers again? Don't get me wrong. I LOVE cloth diapers. Except on laundry day. Which just so happens to be every other day.

7:15  My favorite part of the day: washing bottles and pump parts {insert sarcasm. a lot of it}.



7:30 My Love is home! Sit down for the first time all day. Chat. Catch up. Talk about how much we miss Chunkin and want to wake her up. Decide not to wake her up.

8:30 Respond to personal e-mails. Blog. Pin. Jot down a couple of lesson plan ideas.

9:15 I may have about 45 things on my to-do list. Screaming at me to get done tonight. But I head for bed instead. I've averaged about 4 hours of sleep all week. I'm in desperate need of a good night's rest.

9:30 As I start to drift off, I realize how much I miss Chunkin.

5:00 a.m. Gabe's alarm goes off. And we start the whole routine over again.



6 comments:

Carolyn said...

Oh. My. Goodness. I am winded from just reading this. Super mom!! :)

Vanessa said...

It's official…I'm obsessed with Lyla! Oh, and I have a day in the life blog started in my drafts, but it just looks pathetic compared to this! You go girl!

Krista said...

Wow, that was intense! I'm tired just from reading that. Seriously, how do you do cloth diapers? Super mom for sure! And you are definitely doing what you were made to do...plan!

Brittany said...

WOW!!! You are super mom!!!! I am SO impressed that you are doing cloth diapers and still able to keep up with pumping at school. way to go mama! And your babe is just the cutest ever.

This will be so great to look back at later in life. I need to do one of these too :)

Mallory said...

Angela, you are awesome. I am just loving reading your blog. As I read this particular post, I remembered my own almost-summer-school-days. I think you captured the life of a teacher (with a baby!)perfectly. :)

Ashlee said...

Veery creative post