A Day in the Life of Hilary: A Work-At-Home Mom of 2

This month we’re sharing our usual Day in the Life series, where each of our writers let’s you have a peek into their everyday lives. I love these posts, because they help you get to know the team here at KOTH, and to peel back the curtain a bit on our lives, and hopefully show that bloggers are just regular women and moms, like you. 🙂

By Hilary Bernstein, Contributing Writer

I’ve been excited to chronicle another Day in the Life. Last year you followed my first day of homeschooling for the year. Ironically, not many other homeschooling days were structured like that during the rest of the school year!

We’re homeschooling again this school year, but for this year’s Day in the Life of Hilary, I thought I’d pick a random summer day. Sometimes Most times of the year I feel like I bite off a little more than I can chew, so my life typically can be summed up as a juggling act.

I believe that some seasons of life are naturally busier than others — and this happens to be one of my busy seasons.

Friday, July 24, was a day like many other days – I tried to cram in as much in as I could.

7:30 a.m.

My 7-year-old son wakes me up, announcing that there’s four hours left until we meet our friends for lunch. I fall back asleep.

8:45 a.m.

I wake up – again – to my 5-year-old daughter crawling in to my bed to snuggle with me. She’s a night owl and late riser like her mommy. She tells me my pillow smells like coffee from the beach (I have no idea why … we live in Ohio) and my husband’s pillow smells like a trash can filled with marshmallows.

Alrighty, then. It’s time to get up and start my day!

I’ve slept in so very, very late because I’m getting ready to transition from my old blog (Accidentally Green) and launch a brand new blog (HilaryBernstein.com). I’ve been staying up until 2 and 3 in the morning all week, trying to tie up loose ends. While I love staying up to get work done when the house is quiet, it’s exhausting. Especially in the morning. But I know I can return to earlier bedtimes and mornings next week.

9:02 a.m.

I brush my teeth and head downstairs to kiss my husband goodbye as he leaves for work. He’s a teacher and typically has most of the summer off, but he does have to work for most of the day today.

9:15 a.m.

I start frying eggs and pancakes for breakfast for myself and my kids. As we sit down for breakfast, we say grace and visit. Then I head upstairs for a lightning quick shower.

9:50 a.m.

I get up from the breakfast table and head to the basement to switch laundry from the washer to the dryer – the clean load that’s been in the washing machine since the night before.

9:55 a.m.

We’re meeting my best friend and her children for lunch today, and I realize my best friend’s daughter’s birthday is coming up. I find a birthday gift and gift bag for her in my stash.

10:02 a.m.

I help my daughter write her dictated message in our friend’s birthday card – “Who’s the birthday girl? You are!” I’m disappointed that my daughter spells everything correctly … from the right side of the card to the left. What kind of a homeschool teacher am I?

But a minute later, I’m amazed. I had started to write the girl’s name on the envelope and absentmindedly wrote an E instead of an A. I asked my daughter if she could fix my mistake with a picture, and she turned the E into a window in a house:

Way more creative than I could be. I remind myself to stop sweating our homeschooling progress.

10:15 a.m.

I start washing our breakfast dishes.

10:26 a.m.

My son’s in our backyard, tossing his football to himself, and my daughter’s riding her bicycle in our garage. She comes into the kitchen to ask, “Do you want to see me do a figure 8 in the garage?” Of course!

10:30 a.m.

I stop and put on an apron, then I start clearing our breakfast table, noticing that my son never touched his egg. Argh.

10:34 a.m.

Both kids come inside. They are silent, so I wonder what in the world is going on. It turns out they had grabbed their library books and decided to sit and read silently together. (Miracle of miracles!)

10:44 a.m.

I finish washing the dishes, glance at my to-do list, and know that I need to do a speedy 5-minute room rescue in our downstairs. In my cleaning frenzy I gather library books and videos that I need to return today. There’s a stack of papers I just haven’t had time to sort – so I add them to a whole laundry basket of papers I’ve been gathering all week long. Major housekeeping fail, but I just haven’t had any extra time.

10:54 a.m.

I braid my daughter’s hair. Not the neatest braids ever (it’s hard to quickly braid curly hair!!), but it will do.

11:04 a.m.

I remember something I need to ask my designer about my new blog, so I send a quick e-mail.

11:08 a.m.

I lock up our house and leave. I can hardly wait to see my best friend. This week was absolutely busy, but I desperately need to take a break for some much-needed friend time. We need a talk! Plus, it’s the one time this summer our families were able to get together.

On my drive to meet her, I realize that we’ve now known each other for 20 years. Together, we’ve experienced college, weekend getaways, Bible studies, boyfriends, engagements, marriages, miscarriages, motherhood, and moves. No wonder I feel like she knows me so well!

11:35 a.m.

My kids and I get to Sonic, our lunch spot. Seven of us enjoy slushes, sandwiches and tots. (I promise that we typically feed our children healthy food, but on some days you just need a special splurge!)

After our Sonic lunch and multiple bathroom breaks, we head to a big playground that’s new to all of us. The kids have fun playing, and Kristy and I enjoy catching up face to face.

2:04 p.m.

We leave the playground and I stop by my favorite Goodwill store. It truly is the best around, and since I’m driving right past it, I can’t resist.

2:42 p.m.

The three of us leave Goodwill – with 5 shirts, 2 pants, 2 dresses, and 1 like-new foosball table, all for a grand total of $54. There is no possible way I can fit the foosball table in the car with me and the kids today, especially since our trunk is filled with boxes of T-shirts for VBS. I now add the table pick-up to my growing weekend to-do list.

2:58 p.m.

We get to our church. Vacation Bible School starts bright and early on Monday morning, and I’ve been labeling T-shirts and cinch bags for the 200+ pre-registered elementary school students. I drop off the labeled shirts and bags and work on a few last minute details while my kids play with some of their friends.

3:53 p.m.

We’re back in our car and leaving the church. It’s time to head for home!

4:15 p.m.

I stop by the post office to mail this school year’s intent to homeschool to our local school district by registered mail.

4:29 p.m.

Finally we’re home, and as I’m unloading our car, I realize I forgot to stop at the library to drop off our books and DVDs. Crud.

The library forgetfulness may be disappointing, but it’s definitely nice to walk in to a clean house. I’m so glad I spent the 5 to 10 minutes picking things up this morning!

4:54 p.m.

I grab a cold glass of water and settle in for some time with God. My daughter randomly announced there are no creatures in heaven, but I said there are – so I grabbed my Bible and read Revelation 4, then explained it to her.

5:14 p.m.

Time to check e-mails and fit in a little bit of blogging for the day.

5:40 p.m.

Shoot. It’s late and I promised my parents’ we’d come over for dinner tonight. My mom called to see if we’re still at home – and now it’s time to run out the door. Again.

6:05 p.m.

We get to my parents’ house, my husband meets us there after his day of work, and we assemble our own pizzas to cook on my dad’s Big Green Egg.

8:20 p.m.

After a good dinner and visit, we leave. Once we get home, my kids jump out of the car and run around our yard, catching fireflies.

8:55 p.m.

It’s time to start our bedtime routine – rounding up the kids for pajamas, bathroom and brushing teeth.

My family sprawls across the bed in our master bedroom, and reads the Bible together (we’re in the book of Hebrews). After prayers, I read a chapter from Judy Blume’s “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.” My kiddos LOVE Fudge.

9:27 p.m.

I sit down on the couch and talk to my husband. We talk about our Friday and the upcoming weekend and Bible school week.

9:49 p.m.

My husband turns on House Hunters on HGTV, and I turn on my laptop to work on some editing for Keeper of the Home, more blog rebranding details, and schedule some Facebook posts.

11:42 p.m.

I turn off my computer, fold a load of clean clothes (I’m finally finishing that load!) and watch Jimmy Fallon’s monologue on The Tonight Show.

11:59 p.m.

After a long, full day, we’re off to bed!

How do you juggle your busy days? Are most of your days busy, laid back or a mix of both?

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