By S.Walker
6:30 am – Our four year old son comes into our bedroom to tell me he has to pee. “Go pee. Make sure to put the seat up and turn the light on.” Son, “I peed! I get a treat!” I, mom, stumble out of bed to the kitchen to start our day. (Try to convince a child that a mandarin orange is a special treat. Quite the trick that I have perfected!)
6:45 am – Turn the Television on in the living room and turn on the computer in the dining area (right next to the living room). Unfortunately, I am not one of those lucky people with an office secluded in some part of the house. During the course of a normal day, I constantly flip between web designer, copywriter, social media guru, search engine optimization expert, and mommy. Talk about Jekle and Mr. Hyde. One minute I have my sweet, loving voice explaining why there’s sunshine outside to strong willed and intelligent business woman explaining the merit of running a campaign for product launches.
7:00 am – Husband stirring and looking for coffee. I make a pot of coffee, throw a load of laundry in the washer and sit down to write an article for one of my blog sites.
7:40 am – It’s time to run downstairs and put another load of laundry in the washer, start the first load in the dryer. Oh, crap, forgot to print out that article to check for editing errors. Run back upstairs, click print. Our son is foraging and looking for a snack and a drink. Done. It’s time to find graphics, edit article and post on the blog.
8:00 am – Finished and I feel great. Switching Gears to social media and backlinking. Twitter, done. Redgage, done. Infobarrel, done. Follow up on forums and research new strategies.
8:45 am – Time to dress our son and get him to preschool. He doesn’t want to wear that shirt. He can’t remember how to change his pants or his boots. Finally, a tantrum. Time for parenting.
9:05 am – Arrive to preschool late, again. Apologize to the teacher. Teacher asks if I am able to stay and help with special projects. (Out of guilt of disrupting the class… “Yes, I can stay.”) By the way, I really love his teacher. One of the most patient, loving and intelligent people I know. I enjoy helping her. In the perfect world, I wouldn’t be thinking of my client’s project that’s due this afternoon the entire time I am helping.
11:30 am – Time to head home.
11:45 am – Make lunch for my son and myself. Start another pot of coffee. Eat lunch at my computer while checking / answering emails.
12:30 pm – Create an agenda for client meeting and email client the agenda. Run downstairs, throw dry clothes in a basket and swap wet and dirty clothes to keep the process moving.
1:00 pm Call client to discuss projects and deadlines.
1:30 pm Check on our son and start him with playdough at the kitchen table. Time to start client projects.
2:45 pm I wonder why the dog has playdough in his fur. Kitchen, dear lord. Ask son to clean up his mess. Turn on the television. Sweep up the rest of the mess.
3:00 pm Continue working on projects.
4:30 pm Finish projects. It’s time to start dinner, wash dishes, and teach son how to set the table.
5:30 pm Dinner time!
6:30 pm Clean up. Start a bath for son.
6:45 pm Check analytics on websites, check to see if anything needs attention in email. Start next client’s project.
7:00 pm PJ time for our son! He watches a bit of TV while I continue working on projects. Doh! Laundry! Run downstairs and swap laundry again…. The clean laundry is starting to pile up. It will definitely be wrinkled. Does it matter? I work from home. Meh, there’s always a wet washcloth in the dry to take out wrinkles.
8:30 pm Time to read books in bed with our son. I know you’re tired, mommy… You still need to show your enthuasiam – bring the books alive. “Growl said mamma bear, someone’s been sleeping in my bed…” Hugs and Pisses (He can’t get his K’s yet. I need to work on that one.)
9:00 pm Sit down at my computer again. I am exhausted. There’s still more to do. I can see the leftovers on the counter from where I am. Gah, those need to go in the fridge. Walk over and clean up the kitchen. Start a pot of tea.
9:30 pm Sit down at the computer with a cup of hot tea. Relax, while working at a leasurely pace on web work—mostly my projects at this point.
11:00 pm I really should go to bed. It’s late.
12:42 am I am so tired. I just want to finish this last little bit. It’s soooo quiet and peaceful.
1:15 am Ok, laundry is folded. I can’t keep my eyes open any longer. I can put the clothes away tomorrow and work on unfinished projects-they will be here tomorrow.
6:30 am “I need to pee, mommy.”
