A full day, from start to finish

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Hi friends! I hope you’re having a wonderful morning! In my annual survey, I got so many requests to do another post like this. I usually love looking back on these types of posts, but listing out everything that happens in the day with the current schedule and situation gives me the sweats. It’s an “eat an elephant” type situation, and by taking it apart, bit by bit, it seems like a LOT, but when you’re in it, it’s really not that bad. In the end, I decided to go for it. Maybe one day I can look back on this particular post and hopefully laugh because we finally made it through this weird time. 

4:12am. I hear Caro tap dancing on the bathroom floor to be let out. I have no clue why, but over the past month, she’s been waking us up in the middle of the night or super early morning to take her out. I’ve tried SO many things (taking her on later walks, making her dinnertime earlier, doggie CBD, taking her out late at night and letting her take her sweet time) to no avail. When the Pilot is home, he lets her out, but he’s traveling, so she’s alllll mine.

I let her outside and curl up on the couch with a blanket and wait for her to bodyslam the door to let me know she’s done and ready to come back in. I lie there with my eyes closed for 20 minutes and no sound of Caro. I walk outside, in my pajama shorts in the freezing cold air, and no Caro.

“Caro! Caro, come inside!”

Nothing.

I get a flashlight and wander to the side of the house and there she is, chillin. I tell her to go inside and she skips back into the house to curl up in her dog bed.

I go back to bed… and am freezing cold and can’t go back to sleep. I finally crash back out by 6, P comes in at 6:30 to ask if she can watch a show while she gets dressed, and my alarm goes off at 7:30. I’m dragging but feel like it’s going to be one of those “fake it til ya make it” kind of days. I check my Oura ring stats (it basically yells DO NOTHING TODAY BECAUSE YOUR SLEEP SUCKED), emails, and IG before heading downstairs.

7:40 Make the girls breakfast and grab P’s lunch out of the fridge. They have egg and cheese sandwiches on challah buns with strawberries and raspberries. We’re all dressed and ready to head out the door by 8:15.

8:45 Back home from drop-off and Liv logs into her second remote learning class. (She missed the first one while we were taking P to school.) Since we’ve been doing this for almost an entire year (started last March and here we are, like so many of my friends out there reading this post), she’s really gotten the hang of it.

I write her schedule on a whiteboard so she knows what time to log into each class and am always nearby to help her with questions or supplies.

Quick breakfast:

an egg, two maple chicken sausages, spinach and my supplements

(adrenal support, vitamin C, liquid vitamin D, selenium) and also have collagen coffee and the girls leftover fruit from their breakfast drizzled with almond butter.

And a blitz around the house: put in a load of laundry, clean the kitchen, wipe down bathroom counters, make beds, feed Caro and the guinea pigs, and empty the dishwasher.

9:45: I park it at the dining room table with my little work buddy to finish an upcoming post, send a Beautycounter team email, and answer emails.

In between my own work, I print out the things she needs, make sure she has necessary supplies, help her deal with any tech issues, and replenish water and snacks.

11:10 Liv is on her lunch break, so she enjoys the lunch I made the night before and watches a TV show, while I hop into the garage to test out an upcoming Fit Team workout. It feels amazing and gives me a much-needed energy boost.

12:40 I heat up leftover Blue Apron (yay leftovers!!) sheet chicken and veggies and enjoy it at the table with Liv while she’s in her class.

Next, it’s time to onboard a new Beautycounter consultant and then switch out the laundry, take out all of the trash, and water the outside plants.

Liv gets out of class early, so we walk around the neighborhood together to get some fresh air for about 20 minutes.

1:30-2:15 I help Liv log into math for her test, finish a graphic for an upcoming blog post, record workout tutorials for a virtual personal training client, and we leave to pick up P.

2:45 We’re back home and I make a quick snack plate for the crew! Cheese, pepperoni, bars, cashews, pickles, apples, and blueberries. They eat on the patio and play on their little playset before it’s time to head to dance. 

I have a green tea, Go Macro bar, and an apple.

Check out this cute mug from my stepmom! It makes many appearances in this post because I was sipping on some type of tea throughout the entire day. 

4:15pm: P and I are back, so we take a neighborhood walk and play tag in the backyard before starting dinner.

P is often my sous chef while Livi is at dance or gymnastics, so she makes the salad while I work on Paleo chicken tenders and sweet potato fries. She uses greens from our little garden that I help her cut (Swiss chard, kale, and arugula), along with tomato and kalamata olives with salt and pepper.

(We dress the salads right before serving because we each have a fave salad dressing. P likes Primal Kitchen vegan ranch, Liv likes olive oil with salt and pepper, and I like Primal Kitchen Lemon Turmeric)

For the chicken tenders, I coat them in egg wash and dredge in almond meal seasoned well with salt, pepper, garlic, powder, smoked paprika, and oregano. They bake on parchment lined cookie sheets in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes, flipping halfway. It’s the same amount of time for the frozen Alexia sweet potato fries.

Everything is ready to go by the time we pick up Liv!

6:15pm: We have dinner together – the chicken tenders are a huge hit!- and the girls play while I get things ready for the next day. I clean the kitchen, make their lunches,

(even though Liv is remote, I still make her lunch in advance because it helps me get ahead on the day-long distance learning snack party)

write out Liv’s schedule for the following day,

(They’re SO LONG and many parents have begged for them to get rid of enrichment classes while we’re remote, and have been denied)

upload all finished assignments into Google classroom,

set out all of our clothes and water bottles for the next day, and fill the water glasses in their room. The whole time I’m cleaning and prepping, I listen to a podcast or an audiobook in one headphone.

7:00pm: We play a few hilarious rounds of Old Maid at the table before heading upstairs for baths. While they’re in the tub, I fold all of the laundry from the day and put it away.

8:30pm: The kiddos are bathed, teeth brushed, hair dried, and ready for bed! I read a couple of books to P while Liv reads in her bed, and then sit with Liv in her room for a while before it’s time for lights out.

9:15pm: The girls are crashed, so it’s back to work for meeeeee. I answer any important emails or DMs that arrived in the evening, finish up the next day’s blog post, make a graphic for a podcast, start working on a new PDF about meal planning, and schedule social media shout outs on Coschedule.

10:45pm: I enjoy an Organifi gold drink – it’s like a golden milk latte- with almond milk and extra cinnamon, and last about 30 minutes into Bridgerton before I’m ready for bed. I let Caro outside about 11:15 and head upstairs to get ready for bed and read for a little bit.

11:45pm: Lights out… and ready to do it all over again.

What I liked about this day:

Despite the craziness of the day, I feel like I got to spend excellent quality time with the kids. I had a blast playing Old Maid with them and tag with P, and really enjoy our neighborhood walks. We got plenty of fresh air outside, I was able to get in a workout (win!), and while it felt like I was scrambling most of the day, I didn’t feel too stressed. When the Pilot is home, he helps a lot with dinner prep, cleanup, and bedtime routine. (It’s also nice to have my friend here! We all miss him when he’s away.)

Eats-wise, I feel like it was a solid day. I didn’t skip any meals, got in a lot of fresh produce, protein, and healthy fats, and didn’t feel hangry. The only thing the day was missing was some kind of chocolate and wine. 😉  The only thing I didn’t love about my eats is that I had chicken twice in one day. I usually try to switch it up more, but it worked and the meals were all satisfying and good.

So, tell me friends: what’s the best thing you ate yesterday? What are some of the things you’re doing to simplify right now? Any mom hacks you’ve recently discovered?

xo

Gina

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