Being a mom blogger and full-time volunteer is a beautiful, chaotic juggling act, and if you’ve ever wondered what a real day in the life of a busy mom looks like, you’re in the right place. I am absolutely, unashamedly glued to Instagram reels like ‘what I eat in a day’ and ‘what I do in a day’, mostly because I need to know the secret of these women who seemingly do it all while looking like they just stepped off a yacht. Spoiler: I have not cracked the code. BUT, if you’re curious what a day actually looks like for a mom, blogger, and self-appointed queen of school volunteering, grab a snack and buckle up!
My morning routine:
My alarm goes off everyday at 6:30 am so that I can wake up my seventh grade daughter. She is ADHD inattentive and takes Ritalin for it, so I like to make sure she’s taken it so it’s taken full effect before she heads to school. I carpool with one of my best friends, Jenny, and our neighbor, Heidi. If it’s my carpool week, I leave the house at 7 to collect the other kids, and off we go to their junior high! If it’s not my carpool week, I hop in the shower as soon as Lila is picked up by one of the other moms.
My getting ready routine is nothing groundbreaking, but here it is. Brush teeth, take vitamins, shower. If I have extra time on my hands, I might put on some face oil and use my guasha tool to depuff my face a bit. We live in Colorado, which means the air is dry as fuck and my skin is constantly trying to turn into a human crouton. So the second I step out of the shower, I moisturize from head to toe like it’s a part-time job. (I adore this basic bitch face moisturizer and use it daily.)
For my body, my mom got me turned onto anything by LaLicious. Then, I get dressed, slapping on sunscreen and a little makeup, and make the world’s most important decision of the morning. Do I actually dry and curl my hair today, or is this a hair clip and a prayer kind of day? Nine times out of ten, you already know the answer. Either way, none of that matters until I have my coffee, and that is non-negotiable.
Coffee or bust:
My little morning ritual of making either a latte with my espresso machine, or a French press coffee is one thing I truly look forward to each day. If it’s a French press day, I boil water in my favorite tea kettle. (I had to get this because it had seashells on it, and if you know me, you know I love my shells.) Then, I get a bougie ground coffee and put it in the bottom of the press. Cover it with the hot water and let it sit a few minutes before you use the plunger to separate the grounds from the coffee.
I am not hard-core like my husband who drinks a pot of black coffee a day. I love my cream. So I either do half and half or whatever fun, festive flavor is out by Chobani. (Right now, it’s their strawberry chocolate flavor which is so fucking delicious.) And of course, you need to drink it out of a fun coffee mug. I tend not to have breakfast unless I’m brunching with my bestie, so coffee is my “breakfast” most days.
The boring shit:
Next comes the morning chores bullshit we all have to do. I make the beds, toss in a load of laundry, and clean the cats litter boxes – truly living the dream. I like to have all the tedious crap out of the way in the morning so it isn’t hanging over my head all day like a cloud of existential dread. And yes, I realize how lucky I am that I’m home and actually have time to tend to this stuff in the morning, before I sit down and blog my life away.
Then there’s the deep clean, which only gets triggered by two things: an upcoming holiday, or the threat of actual humans entering my home. Think dusting, wiping down vents, scrubbing toilets, cleaning all the weird little things hanging on the walls that I apparently forgot existed. It takes me a few solid days to deep-clean the house, so I give myself permission to only do it every couple of months. Otherwise, I stay on top of clutter so that the house at least is always pretty picked up.
A day in the life of a blogger:
Then, it’s time I get on my laptop to start my work. I won’t lie to you guys – most of my revenue comes from my LTK platform. I am currently a top 3% creator which means I have to create 80 posts a month. So, if I’m wearing a cute outfit, I record it for LTK so I can link all the details. If I’m looking like a troll under the bridge and am not feeling being on camera, I switch gears. I’ll tend to lean on posting about seasonal things (like home decor, recipes, etc.) I also will reach out to brands to see if they want to partner with me for sponsored blogs. So far I’ve collaborated with Redfin, Jewlr, Vici, Pink Lily, Children’s Place, and Mrs. Meyers Clean Day.
My daily workouts as a busy mom:
I work out 4-5 times a week at home. We have a gym in our basement, so I have no excuse to bail on workouts. I have been following Rebecca Louise’s workouts on the Burn app since covid. I got it when she was charging $50 a YEAR and I am forever grandfathered into that wonderful price. When I’m not paying for a gym membership or classes, it’s hard to balk at fifty bucks a year.
I love her workouts because every month she picks a different theme. Sometimes it’s targeted around abs, sometimes it’s about leaning out. Everyday is different, and all you need is a yoga mat (I like this brand because it’s thicker) and free weights. Today I did a cardio workout with 3 pound weights in my hands. Yesterday I did a lower body workout using only heavy weights. It’s just an easy well-rounded workout to keep me from getting bored. Plus, her schtick is that her workouts are 28 minutes with a 2-3 minute warm-up and 2-3 minute cool-down.
After that, I have either a protein shake with my this protein. (I love it because it is one of the very few that doesn’t bloat me. Plus it has prebiotic fiber, probiotics, and 25 grams of protein per serving.) I also use this creatine. Creatine has SO many benefits for women! First, it helps with replenishing ATP (your muscles’ energy currency.) It also helps with bone health, brain health, and hormones. It’s particularly useful during your luteal phase (the second half of your cycle.) Women’s energy and strength tend to dip then. It’s also beneficial if you are perimenopausal because a loss of estrogen also means a loss in muscle.
When I’m not in the mood to chug an entire protein shake, I just put a scoop of creatine in a literal shot glass of water. I mix it with a spoon, and down that hatch it goes! Does it taste great? Meh, not really. But it does the trick and has become part of my daily routine.
Lunch with Vince:
My husband works from home, and one of my favorite things about that is that we get to have lunch together everyday. He’s usually going stir-crazy at his desk, so he’ll run out and grab it. Yes, we eat lunch from a quick/fast-food place everyday. But that doesn’t mean we are living on junk. We do a lot of salads from Mad Greens, grains and greens bowls from Cava, veggie sandwiches from Subway, you get the gist. We eat vegetarian but trust me, there are plenty of good vegetarian options that aren’t expensive!
After lunch, it’s back to the blogging grind. Content doesn’t create itself, unfortunately. Then comes the great afternoon fork in the road: carpool week, or no carpool week. If it IS my carpool week, I’m out the door by 2 pm to go sit in the middle school car line, which is exactly as thrilling as it sounds. It’s basically a parking lot full of moms stress-scrolling Instagram in silence. If it’s not my carpool week, suddenly I’m a woman with time, and I use it wisely. Grocery run, Target lap (always for one thing, never for just one thing), and the usual adulting errands.
When it’s nice out, I’ll also take our Boston Terrier on his three mile neighborhood loop, which honestly benefits us both. I spend a solid chunk of my day sitting on my butt blogging, so I have to get my steps in somewhere. And before you roll your eyes, I will stand on my soapbox and say it: 10,000 steps a day will do more for your body than any overhyped workout trend. Just trust me. After all of this, it’s time to get in the car line I DO have everyday, and that is for my fourth grade daughter. I’m in line by 3:25, get her at 4, and we are home by 4:10.
PTO/PTSO/SAC:
If it’s a day where I am volunteering on the PTO at one of my kids’ schools, then I head to meetings or whatever event we are running that day. Sometimes it’s something easy like meeting a caterer who is bringing our teachers lunches. Sometimes it’s more time and labor intensive like setting up for our yearly “Glow Dance.” (This is what I will be spending this afternoon doing actually!) I am also on the SAC (school accountability committee) for my middle schooler, and the SAC chair for my elementary schooler. SAC just involves quarterly meetings, always in the evening. PTO meetings are once a month at night.
I also volunteer at 11 am every Tuesday morning in Winnie’s fourth grade class to help her teacher out. I take out groups of 5-6 kids at a time and we work on vocab and writing. (Helloooo Bachelor’s Degree in English! I see you, and I’m using you!) And then the rest of my volunteering is at random times. Last week, I helped set up a “dirty soda” bar in the staff lounge at the middle school. Whatever it takes to show our teachers some appreciation, I’ll be there with bells on. Side note: If you need ideas on PTO fundraisers, check out my blog here.
Post-school shenanigans:
During volleyball season, I spend most days after school shuttling my oldest daughter to practice or games. Otherwise, it’s lot calmer besides getting the youngest to gymnastics, choir, and band. Thankfully, Vince always takes her to gymnastics because he likes to go running on the path near her gym. So I take her to choir and band (which are three days a week in total.) Once activities are over, it’s homework time for the kids, and dinner-making time for me.
Dinner:
I make dinner five nights a week and then have us order out food on Tuesdays when Winnie has gymnastics. Then the last night is either left-overs, or basic shit like breakfast for dinner. (And yes, sometimes even just cereal for dinner. Don’t judge.) I am more than happy to break down vegetarian dinners if that entices you. But if not, I’ll tell you the things we have on repeat over here. I make a lot of heavy soups, (think vegetarian chili, beer cheese soup, minestrone), tacos with beans instead of meat, pasta (Winnie’s favorite is Cacio E Pepe), homemade pizza, hearty salads, spring rolls, lots of veggie and tofu stir-fry, you get the gist.
Just like any busy mom, I spend precious time making dinner just for my family to inhale it. And then it’s time to clean up my mess. We do always eat dinner as a family at the table. I don’t let the kids watch tv or their i-pads, and we just bullshit about our day. And it’s one of my favorite parts of the entire day!
Once I clean up the dishes and food mess, I make my kids lunches. Yes, even the middle schooler’s! I used to make her pack it and then saw quickly how she’d pack total garbage. She is also vegetarian so her main course is usually a sandwich of some sort, a fruit, two veggies, cheese or protein balls (I buy these ones), and some type of junk like chips or cookies. We all need a little splurge, right?
Okay, random sidenote that nobody asked for but I’m giving you anyway. Our family ‘diet’ is not a diet. It’s more of a ‘eat mostly real food but also live your life’ philosophy. None of us are over-eaters, and I truly believe that’s because we don’t treat food like it’s a moral decision. If my kid wants a cookie, they get the cookie. Revolutionary, I know.
Here’s the thing. They eat the cookie, the craving is satisfied, and they move on with their lives. No obsessing, no sneaking, no eating an entire sleeve of Oreos in secret because mom said sugar is the devil. The more restrictive you are with food, the more you’re basically just scheduling a future binge. So in this house we eat mostly healthy, and if someone wants a Pop Tart for breakfast? Pop Tart it is. I am not going to stand at the toaster and gatekeep a frosted pastry. Life is genuinely too short to count every calorie. So stay active, eat the cookie, and let’s all just calm the fuck down.
Time to tuck the house in for bed:
I have this thing where I ‘tuck in’ the house at night, which my husband finds equally endearing and unhinged. But first, yes, we still tuck in our kids and tell them we love them, exactly like we did when they were toddlers, and I will be doing this until they leave for college and possibly beyond. No notes.
But once everyone is settled, it’s the house’s turn. I fold the blankets on the couch, straighten the throw pillows back to their rightful positions, and embark on the nightly treasure hunt of putting away the forty million toys our Boston Terrier has inevitably scattered across every square inch of the house like a tiny tornado with paws. Then, it’s wipe down the counters, check the doors are locked, because apparently I am also the family’s unpaid night security guard, and finally, FINALLY, I get myself ready for bed!
As you can see from the photos above, even when I have a shit-ton of holiday decor up, I still straighten everything out before heading to bed. I just like waking up without extra shit hanging over my head! If you spend 10 minutes a night putting shit away, it makes a HUGE difference in the overall organization of your house.
My nightly routine:
I am, without shame, a dentist’s pet. I floss every single night and I genuinely enjoy it, which I understand makes me a rare and possibly alarming breed of human. Blame my dad. I watched him floss religiously as a kid and apparently it just rewired my brain. Thanks, Dad. After the flossing Olympics, I brush my teeth and then move into my double cleanse situation, because my skincare routine is where I have chosen to be a little extra.
First cleanse is always with this cleanser, although lately I’ve been cheating on it with this dupe that costs a fraction of the price and works just as well. No loyalty in skincare, apparently. Then I follow up with my favorite brightening cleanser because I’d like to glow, even if just a little. And THEN comes my personal favorite part of the night: my red light therapy mask. It runs for exactly ten minutes, requires me to be physically plugged into it, and renders me completely useless for that time. And honestly, that feels like a gift. I just collapse on the bed like a beautiful, incapacitated cyborg and listen to a podcast or music until it’s done. Highly recommend!
Next up: skincare, the nightly ritual that has slowly taken over my entire countertop and a portion of my soul. What I use depends entirely on how aggressively Colorado has tried to turn me into beef jerky that day. On the dryer days, I go full collagen mask mode. The trick is to layer this serum underneath it and leave the mask on for a couple hours. Then follow with one more layer of serum once you take the mask off. Trust me on this. After that, it’s eye wrinkle cream, neck cream, and face cream, because I am middle aged, I am dry, and I have absolutely zero shame about the obscene number of creams currently in my skincare rotation. It’s a lot of creams. It’s the right amount of creams. We don’t apologize for the creams.
A couple of times a week I will skip the heavier creams and do retinol or some type of oil, depending on my mood. I also like to switch up between this face cream and this serum that also helps with hyperpigmentation.
After that, I’ll either read (usually a James Patterson book) or watch tv with my husband. If I’m really wound up, I’ll take L theanine to relax my mind and my muscles and then it’s off to la la land. That is a pretty typical day in the life of a busy mom/blogger/PTO enthusiast. Just like every woman out there, I have days where I feel like there aren’t nearly the amount of hours I need to get shit done. Life is a balance though. Some nights I may skip watching tv with Vince to clean out a closet or organize shit. But at the end of the day, the chaos, the content, and the cuddles all blur together into something I wouldn’t trade for anything. As always, thanks for taking the time to read this!
