Working Mommies - what's your morning routine?

shockandawe · #1 September 23rd, 2011, 04:46 AM

And how long does it take you to get out the door?

Today is DH's first day at the new job, and of course, because I'm once again for the morning stuff so DH can get used to his train schedule, Maggie woke up an hour earlier than normal, and that may be contributing to my feeling overwhelmed today. But, it took me almost 2 hours to get all three of us fed, dishwasher emptied, coffee made and showered/dressed before I could start working. I WFH, so in any other life, I start work when others would be starting their commute.

I know that coffee can be set to go off the night before and I have to start working that into the night time routine. I'm running my dishwasher while we sleep at night so that's about as efficient as I can make it. I just can't help but wonder if I'm missing something. Does 2 hours sound normal?

Ally-Mac · #2 September 23rd, 2011, 05:21 AM

I have things down to 1 hour -- give or take. Right now we are down to 1 car so I have to drop Sydney off at daycare, take DF to work and then drive myself to work. sydney's daycare is right near our house, DF works in one direction (about 20 mins from our house), I work in the opposite. So if I leave my house at 7am, I don't get to work until 8am after dropping both her and him off.

Lately I've been getting up at 5:50am. I have her daycare bag packed the night before and I have 1 or 2 outfits picked out for her the night before. sometimes I put coffee on the night before..sometimes I'll do it in the morning when I get up. I usually shower the night before as well. If I'm packing lunches for us, I'll try to do that the night before too. I can usually get everything done in an hour -- mind you it's rushed some days (depending upon if I have to make lunches in the morning -- sometimes I'm lazy the night before). You get better at it. It's nice b/c you work from home. I also have to figure out what i'm wearing, get myself dressed, etc.

Some days I want to get up at about 5:30am b/c I would like to have a nice 15-20min to relax and drink my coffee before the mad rush starts. The way it is now, I'll make myself a coffee but I actually rarely get to drink it all (I usually forget about it in the rush to get everyone ready and out the door).

shockandawe · #3 September 23rd, 2011, 05:29 AM

Wow - 1 hour is freakin awesome! Now I feel like a goober for feeling overwhelmed with what I've got happening, and taking 2 whole stinking hours to do it! lol...

Jule'sMomInOR · #4 September 23rd, 2011, 06:18 AM

I WFH and I cannot spare any sleep for my morning routine! I'm up at 6 am and start working at 6:30 am. Sometimes I hit the snooze but and don't get out of bed until 6:15, but then I end up starting the day in my PJs. I set up the coffee the night before and my breakfast is always a quick bowl of oatmeal. Coffee is consumed while working. I shower the night before, after my workout and/or bathing with Juliana.

Becky, you have a nanny - take advantage! Juliana is still in her pajamas when my nanny arrives and my nanny dresses her, brushes her teeth and hair, and feeds her breakfast. We just give Juliana a snack in the morning, like apple sauce or a banana. She also does the dishes for me, as well as our laundry, and the grocery shopping. She even knows what we eat and makes the list for me. She's amazing! She has the time and I honestly think she appreciates having something to do besides play baby games all.day.long, so why not? Every time I ask her to do an errand, she lights up like "yes, I'd love to get out of the house!" LOL. Maybe you can ask your nanny to set up the coffee pot for you!

shockandawe · #5 September 23rd, 2011, 06:24 AM

you're right. I'm sooo hands on.

sfarrow3 · #6 September 23rd, 2011, 06:34 AM

2 hours is not bad at all in my opinion. I wake up at 5:45 and have to be at work at 8am. I get up take a shower and get dressed by 6:15. I get Caden up then get him dressed and make his and London's breakfast all by 6:45. Then I get London up and get her dressed by 7:00am. I then pack up the car and leave my house no later than 7:15. I then drive drop off Caden by 7:30, drop off london at daycare about 7:45 and get into a parking spot at my job by 8-8:15am. I normally run about 15 minutes behind. I get the kids and my clothes ready the night before. DH irons our clothes. I pack my breakfast and lunch. I also have some idea what they are going to have for breakfast. DH helps with the night before stuff because he actually has to be at work by 6:30am. I eat breakfast when I get to work and have my coffee then. Our morning schedule is really tight and there is really no room for wierd crap to happen (i.e London poops, Caden spills something on shirt...etc) I really need to wake up a little earlier, but I refuse.

Yes, I agree with Mariah utilize your nanny girl!!!!

Ally-Mac · #7 September 23rd, 2011, 06:37 AM

good point about the breakfast -- I feed Sydney only a snack in the morning -- and usually it's something she can eat herself that way I don't have to feed her (a banana, graham crackers, toast ..something like that). She gets breakfast at daycare at around 8:30am so the food I give her at 6:30am is just to hold her over.

sfarrow3 · #8 September 23rd, 2011, 06:39 AM

Mariah!! Can I have your nanny? I'm falling in love with her just from your descriptions!! ha ha

Jule'sMomInOR · #9 September 23rd, 2011, 07:11 AM

My nanny is really great. Shantel - I know you have two kids in daycare, have you compared the cost with a nanny? In my case, daycare for Juliana would have been around $930/month. We pay the nanny around $1,700/month. Obviously it's a lot more expensive for one kid, but with two, we might even come out ahead with a nanny (I know it's a little cheaper for older kids in daycare so I'm not sure, plus the nanny would probably want more per hour). With three, there's no question. Part of the reason why it's so "cheap" to have the nanny is my hours are offset from DH's, plus I have no commute, so our nanny stays about 7 hours per day. If I were in the office for 9 hours plus commuting, I'd have to pay her for about 10 hours, and she'd be a lot less cost effective.

I don't know how anyone gets out the door quickly with a toddler. There are so many mornings when we have a poop incident, tantrum, sick baby, or something else that would slow us down. With the nanny, we don't have to be in a rush. I'm so spoiled. I know eventually the plan is to put Juliana in pre-school (around 2 or 2.5) but I'm not sure how I'll handle that.

sfarrow3 · #10 September 23rd, 2011, 07:18 AM

This sounds crazy, but I never looked into a nanny. Right now I pay around $1000/mo in daycare for the two. Caden goes part-time because he is in school from 7:30 until 12:00. He is at daycare with London from 12:00-5:15. I will look into it, but I really don't know how to go about it. I know you live in Oregon, but how did you find your nanny? Did you go through a nanny service? If so how much was it to use that service?

Ally-Mac · #11 September 23rd, 2011, 07:30 AM

We pay $250 per week for daycare for Syd. It'll drop to $200 per week when she hits 18 mos and then $170 per week when she's 2.5.

I really want another child (I never thought I did, but I realize now I'll be done with 2) but I don't think we can afford daycare for 2 kids. It's insane. I may have to wait until she is 3 or 4 so it'll offset a bit of the cost.

Becky - what do you pay for your nanny per week? How many hours is she there? The one thing I do like about daycare is I have noticed sydney is much better around kids now -- she knows how to play with them and interact with them. She is no longer really rough with kids and does thoroughly enjoy going to daycare. I think I'll miss that if we had a nanny.

shockandawe · #12 September 23rd, 2011, 07:35 AM

I did the whole cost balancing here too. My nanny is cheaper than Mariah's, but she is more like a babysitter, doesn't have ECE, and she was okay making cash under the table at minimum wage. Regardless of her not having her ECE, she loves Maggie almost as much as if she were her own, and she's great with her. Maggie loves her back ten fold. When you look at how the nanny does things, and how I do them, I'm lucky that she does almost everything the same way I do. I'm overly excited that she's agreed to commute to our new home half an hour away. She also pitches in and babysits for us on date nights when we need them. She's been a God Send!

Daycare was also going to cost us in the area of $900-$1K/month for Maggie too. When I balanced the cost of getting to have Maggie stay home, and having help with the housekeeping/meal prep, it was a hands down winner. Adding another kid to the mix (even accounting for giving the nanny an increase or bonuses etc), the whole thing just screamed to me to be more cost effective. I honestly don't have to do as much as I do, and shouldn't be, now that she's onboard full time again.

I found my nanny through nannyservices.ca. But I know there are others online that are states focused or offer international coverage. I haven't checked these out, but here are a couple that popped up on google. Nanny Agency Au Pair Work Child Care Jobs Babysitter Service, Top Rated Nanny Placement Agency; Leader in Nanny Placement Services Nationwide | The Nanny Authority, Nanny Placement & Nanny Jobs - America's Nannies - live-in and full-time nannies. You should check your local newspaper classified ads and maybe any local youth centred services too. They may have areas where people post babysitting services and you can use that as a jumping point.

Jule'sMomInOR · #13 September 23rd, 2011, 07:40 AM

I found our nanny through care.com.

I take Juliana to play dates on the weekends and our nanny also takes her to the indoor playground. She gets lots of interaction with other kids that way. Juliana seems to do just fine around other kids, other than being a bit timid.

shockandawe · #14 September 23rd, 2011, 07:43 AM

Ally,
One of the things I've been very clear with my nanny about is that I want her to get a balance of independent play, and interaction with other kids and a good deal of time outside in the fresh air. So for the last couple of months when we had her part time, she took her out of the house for 2 hours. Sometimes they walked to the mall so she could do some errands. They went to the park quite a bit. She took her to swimming lessons, and she has taken her to the early years centre where other kids are likely to be. She has a niece who is about 2.5 yrs old, and so she's taken her to her own house to play with her niece when they have been there visiting. She lives within walking distance, so Maggie gets to have fresh air and outdoor play along the way. I'll admit she's had some challenges finding places where there are other kids Maggie's age, but I think over time this will balance itself out. I also do play dates with her at least once per month.

I pay her under the table $400/week and I cover her lunch since she is here and making it for us. She puts in a full 40 hours each week.

Jule'sMomInOR · #15 September 23rd, 2011, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfarrow3

This sounds crazy, but I never looked into a nanny. Right now I pay around $1000/mo in daycare for the two. Caden goes part-time because he is in school from 7:30 until 12:00. He is at daycare with London from 12:00-5:15. I will look into it, but I really don't know how to go about it. I know you live in Oregon, but how did you find your nanny? Did you go through a nanny service? If so how much was it to use that service?

I just realized I didn't answer your question fully. Care.com costs around $30/month for a full membership, which allows you to contact prospective nannies directly. There are nanny services that are pricey, but I found lots of good options on care.com so I didn't bother.

$1,000/month for two kids is pretty cheap. I doubt you'll be able to find a nanny for that, but it might still be worth it for the other household help. In our case, I couldn't imagine fitting the other stuff in, so having the nanny is key to survival.

sfarrow3 · #16 September 23rd, 2011, 09:27 AM

$1000/mo is cheap, but we are also looking into a housekeeper to help. I just can't keep up with us both working full time, being involved at church and taking care of 2 kiddos. So, the nanny is definately something Im going to look into. I would love to have a nanny who helped with laundry. (if that's all she did aside from taking care of the kids I would be the happiest mommy and wife in the world!!)

shockandawe · #17 September 23rd, 2011, 09:35 AM

So - the nanny made us a fresh meal for lunch. just simple salad and tuna pitas. But with DH here the last 7 weeks, meals have been haphazard and hardly healthy, and I've made them in a scramble between meetings. I may actually start losing weight again! It was glorious...and I didn't have to touch a dish! Just this once, I feel like a "woohoo" girl!!! LOL

Jule'sMomInOR · #18 September 23rd, 2011, 12:13 PM

Let me mention another advantage of a nanny - most of them will still care for sick children. Juliana has been sick since Tuesday. If I had her in daycare, I'd probably have had to take off from work this whole week to stay home with her.

Daffodil · #19 September 23rd, 2011, 12:43 PM

Work for me has so far been super easy...since I work on Saturdays when hubby is home, so I just get up and go! Well, usually I change her diaper since hubby takes 20 minutes on the toilet.

But that is now changing, I'm going to start working all day Friday in addition to Saturday. We love the girl who cleans our house (her brother started helping her too) and she is going to watch her on Fridays. I'm so excited because they speak Spanish and I want Arie to learn Spanish too. Anyway, I'm going to have to get organized so she has direction, something I am pretty bad at doing.

Jule'sMomInOR · #20 September 23rd, 2011, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daffodil

Work for me has so far been super easy...since I work on Saturdays when hubby is home, so I just get up and go! Well, usually I change her diaper since hubby takes 20 minutes on the toilet.

But that is now changing, I'm going to start working all day Friday in addition to Saturday. We love the girl who cleans our house (her brother started helping her too) and she is going to watch her on Fridays. I'm so excited because they speak Spanish and I want Arie to learn Spanish too. Anyway, I'm going to have to get organized so she has direction, something I am pretty bad at doing.

Woo hoo! Good news. I still think you lazy SIL should be able to help watch Arie!