The After Work Hours of a Full-Time Working Mum (FTWM)

According to my company, you've got to work a minimum of 42 hours every week to be considered full-time. Plus 1 hour lunch time and 2 hours bus journey to and from work, that's 57 hours away from my babies!

That's why every minute of a FTWM's after work hours count. A lot.

I know I once shared a typical day in my life as a psychologist. That was 2 years ago. Here's how my typical day looks like now:

7am      | Awaken by baby (best alarm clock). Nurse baby. Bathe and get ready for work.

7.30am | Force my girl to wake up (if she has not). Resort to caressing my ice pack on her cheeks if she continues to refuse. Tie my girl's hair. Pack my breast pump and ice pack into my backpack. Hand baby to Mum-in-law.

8am      | Leave the house. Hubby and I send my girl to school. I take bus to work.

9am      | Work

6.30pm | Wash my cups/breast pump if I don't have time to wash after last pump. Leave office.

Pack all my stuff into this large backpack, which I lug to work everyday =S

7pm      | Board the bus. Check Facebook. Blog (like what I'm doing now). Reply emails.

7.45pm | Arrive home. Kiss and hug my girl. Kiss (and sometimes bite) my baby. Feed baby.

Seeing these two is the best part of my day!

8pm      | Eat dinner prepared by the Mum-in-law (thank God for her or else we'll all eat outside food everyday). Read newspaper or check Facebook.

Simple home-cooked dishes

8.30pm | Relax on the bed. Watch some TV. Ask the hubby / girl / mum-in-law how their day went.

9pm      | Start my girl's bedtime routine (read, milk, brush teeth, sleep). Ok I confess, sometimes when I'm really tired, I start this only at 10.30pm, after I've rested for a while. Whatever..

10-11pm | Baby cries. Feed baby. Blog if feeling inspired or have post due. Watch TV and relax if not (sometimes I'll sleep if I'm too exhausted).

12-1am   | Baby cries. Rock baby to sleep (thank God for the rocker!). After the girl and the baby sleeps, I sleep.

Sleeping soundly in his favourite rocker

And that's my typical day nowadays. I know I'm supposed to coach my girl or spend more time with my baby but after a long day of work, I'm just too exhausted for any of it. With two kids, it is even more difficult! Thankfully I have chosen to spread out my maternity leave such that I only work 3 days a week or it'll be even worse!

Don't ask me for any tips on how to manage as I don't have any. I can only say, thank God for the support of my family otherwise I would never be able to survive. When you are a parent, you can only take one day at a time, do the best that you can and pray that God will do the rest.

What's your after hours like?
I hope it's better than mine! *laughs*

The next mummy in the series is Shermeen from Meeningfully.

Mum to a boisterous 2 year old boy, she spends her day marketing and promoting the accounting profession. When evening comes, she turns into house keeper, baby sitter, playmate, poop cleaner, chit chatter and whatever it takes to ensure everyone at home is looked after. The journey to motherhood was not an easy one for Shermeen, so she relishes every moment she has with her son, even when things get a little rough.

This post is part of a Blog Train hosted by Christy at Kids 'R' Simple.

Head on over to read the after work stories of other full-time working mums!