A day in the life

I love reading these types of posts on other blogs and haven't done one in a while so thought I'd capture a couple of days in the life of a working mama whilst Charlie is 2 yrs 11 months and my office has finally moved to Piccadilly.

Monday - Hubs and I alternate nursery drop offs and pick ups through the week and as I collect C on a Monday I have to be in work early so I can leave at 4pm.

The alarm goes off at 5.30am and I shower and dress quietly so I don't wake my boys. Packed lunch today is yesterday's leftover spaghetti so I chop a salad and am pleased I made a jar full of homemade Caesar dressing last week as there's plenty left. I'm already running late so no time to make coffee. As I leave T is just getting up and I can hear stirring in C's room. Some days he's wide awake by now and I get a toddler cuddle before I go, but not today.

As I walk past the bus stop on the way to the station a serendipitous bus pulls in so I jump on and make it in time for the 6.38 train, which is delayed and then cancelled. I read the BBC headlines on my phone as I wait get the next train instead. I read my book on the train, May We Be Forgiven, it's this week's choice for my work book club and I need to finish it in time for the meeting on Thursday.

At London Bridge I wait on a platform looking up at the Shard and then step aboard a train to Charing Cross. I go past the London Eye, the river and Big Ben, I love my new commute! I walk to Piccadilly through Trafalgar Square, it's early and quiet. As I failed to pack a coffee or breakfast I stop at Eat to pick up a latte and some bircher muesli.

At work I'm the first in and spend a quiet hour answering emails and updating copy for a competition page that needs prioritising. As my colleagues start arriving we chat about our weekends and log on to the MDS website to track a team member running in the Marathon des Sables (6 races in the desert in 7 days), he's doing well and is in the top 20%. My desk buddy and our team assistant has just got back from an American holiday, so the morning is filled with talk about San Francisco and New York, in my head I mentally work out when I would next be able to do this and reckon it would at least be another 8 years...

I have a couple of meetings to discuss some leaflet printing and the content for this month's newsletter, the rest of the day is spent writing copy and briefing web pages. The news of Margaret Thatcher's death and the subsequent books that will be published come in throughout the afternoon and we also discuss who we think will win this year's Women's Prize for Fiction.

At 4pm I leave the office and get the trains back home to collect C from nursery. He's had an accident, a bitten lip while being silly and running under a table. The lip is swollen into what looks like a blood blister, the nursery teacher says if it pops then there will be a lot of blood so to keep an eye on it. They'd already put an ice pack on it and there wasn't anything else we could do. I sign an accident form and help C into his coat. The lip doesn't seem to affect his mood and he happily says goodbye to all his friends.

We walk to the bus stop and he tells me about his day, they went in the garden but came back in for lunch, he painted and played with his best friend (he'll have done much more than this but that is all he'll tell me). On the bus we go upstairs and sit at the front, C loves shouting out everything he sees but hates it when I suggest he pretends to be the driver "the driver's downstairs mama and we're upstairs".

At home C takes off his coat and hangs it on his peg. I remind him to take off his shoes and he puts them away too. I make him a yogurt milkshake whilst he grabs a babybel from the fridge and is immensely proud that he can open it by himself. We snuggle on the sofa and watch some beebies, then I give him an early bath and get his jammies on.

I've got a Pilates class tonight, so when Daddy gets home he's the one who reads C his bedtime story (Thomas the Tank Engine's Murdoch) whilst I change into my gym gear. My friend picks me up and we drive to the dance studio. This is the first class of a 6 week course and it feels great to be out doing something on an evening. We have a great time and I get home by 9.30am. T and I then watch some Arrested Development and then it's time for bed and more reading of  May We Be Forgiven.

Tuesday - It's my day to take C to nursery so I get a bit of a lie in. T leaves at 6.15am and C wakes (and therefore I get up) at 6.30am. We have a morning hug and I fix him a milkshake. His lip is looking much better, though still a little swollen. He's really into singing at the moment, so after I explain that we shouldn't sing Jingle Bells in April, we decide to sing Hickory Dickory Dock, he gets really involved, giggling at the 2nd and 3rd verses and repeating it over and over.

Whilst sitting on the potty we sing Hot Cross Buns and whilst getting dressed it's Miss Polly. C then watches some Peppa Pig on the TV (he's learnt to pause, start and return to the menu on our DVD player) whilst I have a shower. As a treat I let him pick one of his Easter chocolates, he picks a rabbit and demolishes whilst I'm getting ready, I leave a wipe for him to clean his hands and mouth after he's finished and as he hate's having sticky fingers he uses it perfectly. I wear a new pink cardigan which is way more frilly then I remember it being in the shop and as I'm feeling full of energy from the Pilates I get some housework done, a quick tidy, washing up and laundry on.

It's drizzling today so we walk down to nursery in the rain. I let him pick which way we go and he waves good morning to the lady at the bus stop who always greets him. At nursery we hang his hat, gloves and coat on his peg and he gives me a big hug goodbye. I leave him deciding what he's going to have for breakfast and asking when his best friend will arrive.

I start writing this post on the train into work  and then walking through Trafalgar Square I see Dr Who's Tardis suspended from a crane with a woman inside. At first I think it's something for the tourists, but then realise that they actually are filming Dr Who! Jumping up and down beneath the Tardis is Matt Smith and it's Jenna-Louise Coleman hanging out of the Tardis' door. I stop and take photos and a film which includes a Japanese tourist asking me what's going on. Then a squad of actors dressed in U.N.I.T uniforms march in and I phone T who is madly jealous!

At work it's little quiet as two of our team are out today. I have a weekly catch up meeting with web designer and a publisher meeting, then spend the rest of the day pretty much the same as yesterday getting assets and pages ready for our monthly newsletter. I get two signed off nice and early which is good.

At lunch time a friend from work and I go back to Trafalgar Square to see if they're still filming and amazingly they are! The crowd around the Tardis is now massive, and randomly we get asked by people from Capital FM if we would like record sound bites for their breakfast show, we decline.

After work all public transport works perfectly for me and I'm home in time to spend time with C before bed. He gives me a huge hug when I get in and then proceeds to show me a catalogue of Thomas the Tank toys he wants for his birthday. Daddy helps him clean his teeth and then I read him a story in bed.

I make a quick dinner, stuffed mushroom, garlic bread and broccoli and then T and I watch some more Arrested Development as I write this post.