One Day Closer to the Weekend

Ever curious as to what other moms do all day? Us too! That’s why we’re sharing what our day-to-day lives look like in this week long series, A Day In The Life. First up is Cassidy, working mom of a sweet toddler who lives in Garland…

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6:07 am:  My alarm goes off and I contemplate sleeping in and skipping my workout but I remember we are only five weeks away from my best friend’s wedding and I want to at least feel like I tried to look my best.  I crawl over Evelyn, my two year old daughter, who I still cosleep with and head to the bathroom to brush my teeth and put on my gym clothes.

6:15 am: I change my daughter’s diaper and put on her clothes for the day.  Not once while getting her ready does she wake, but as soon as I pick her up she immediately spits out her pacifier-she knows that her paci is for bedtime only.

6:20 am: We are in the car and headed to Evelyn’s daycare.  She is at a small home daycare just two miles from our house.  She started in June and drop offs were really rough for the first couple of months but now I am able to just hand her over to Ms. Janice.  It helps that she is half asleep still, she sleepily gives me a kiss and hug goodbye.

6:30 am: I live in Garland and work at Love Field and at this time of day my commute is about 30 minutes.  Sometimes I really question why we ever bought a house in Garland when both my husband and I work on this side of the metroplex but then I remember my mother lives two streets away from us and that is worth every minute of the commute we both make.

7:05 am: I pull into the gym and decide today is going to be cardio-I do a quick 30 minutes on the elliptical and catch up with the morning gossip while watching the Today Show.  Once I finish my workout, I take a shower and get ready for work.  I work at Southwest Airlines and our dress code is very casual, today I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

8:00 am: I work from 8:45-7:45 four days a week so that I get one day off during the week to spend with my daughter.  I always arrive to work at least half an hour early so that I can eat breakfast and get ready for my day.  Breakfast is almost always the same thing-Noosa, my latest obsession and an English muffin.

8:45 am: I start taking calls for the day.  I work in Customer Relations and like to say I am the person you call when you want to yell at someone or you need someone to save your day.  Hurricane Isaac closed our New Orleans airport for two days last week so I mentally prepare myself that it is going to be a yelling sort of day.

2:00 pm: The day has flown by and in a pleasant matter-while I have worked with a lot of displaced customers I haven’t really had anyone too upset.  I take my lunch and heat up a frozen meal that I keep stocked at the office.  I spend the next hour zoning out on the internet and shopping for Evelyn online.   I send a text to Ms. Janice to check in on Evelyn-she reports that it has been a good day but her usual two hour nap was only an hour long.  This is could be a wonderful or disastrous thing-either she is going to go down for bed easily or be so over tired she just can’t fall asleep.

7:15 pm:  My husband, Jackson, texts me to let me know that Evelyn fell asleep after he picked her up from daycare.  I immediately know what version of bedtime tonight will be.

8:15 pm: I get home to dinner prepared and a toddler pretending to be a cat and wrestling with our dog, Shrek.  We immediately sit down to dinner; Jackson made fish tacos and cut up some fruit.  Evelyn eats a little bit of fish and all of her fruit.  I call it a success; she has been in the picky toddler phase lately when it comes to food.

8:45 pm: I just finished up the dinner dishes while I have the kitty crawling through my legs asking to be played with.  I get down on the floor with Evelyn and pretend to be a cat.  We crawl to the living room where Evelyn has now decided she is going to do a performance for us, she sings and dances while I relax on the couch.

9:15 pm: I start our nighttime routine with Evelyn; she takes a bath and brushes her teeth.  I change into my pajamas and brush mine with her.  She starts her encore performance by singing into her toothbrush ending the show by bowing and saying, “Thank you! Thank you!” over and over again.

9:35 pm:  As a family we all crawl into bed.  Cosleeping isn’t something I ever intended for my family, in fact we didn’t start until she was 16 months old and I started my job at Southwest.  Sometimes I wish I had my bed to my husband and myself but when we get into bed and my girl asks me to “cuggle” (cuddle) it is worth it.

10:00 pm:  My goal is always to be asleep by ten but Jackson and I always stay up later talking and having tickle fights with Evelyn.  Shrek always gets in on the action too which riles Evelyn up and she starts jumping on the bed.

10:15 pm:  I call it a night and tell Evelyn that it is time to close our eyes and go to sleep.   Surprisingly, she didn’t fight me at all and just cuggles into me and falls asleep.  It takes me a few moments to calm my own thoughts.  I have to repeat the same thing all over again tomorrow but the next after it is my weekday off and that is what gets me through my hectic, busy days.