Week in the Life of a Working Mom: Nurse Practitioner in New York

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For this week’s installment of our Week in the Life of a Working Mom series, I’m happy to introduce CorporetteMoms reader M, who lives in New York state with her husband and two sons and works as a nurse practitioner. Our usual caveat applies: Please remember that this is is a real person who has feelings and isn’t gaining anything from this, unlike your usual friendly (soul-deadened, thick-skinned, cold-hearted, money-grubbing) blogger — so please be kind with any comments. Thank you! — Kat

If you’d like to be featured (anonymously or otherwise), please fill out this form! You can see all posts in this series here.

First, Some Basics About This Working Mom…

Name: M 
Location: Medium-sized city in New York 
Job: Nurse practitioner 
Age: 39
Home Situation: Live in 4-bedroom home in suburbs with husband (39, finance in major company) and two boys, P (6.5) and J (4.5), and dog. Husband travels 70% of the time.
Childcare Situation: P attends before- and after-care at school, J attends preschool daycare; $2,500. 

A Week in My Life

Sunday

5:55 a.m. Wake up, think P is crying, husband not in bed so he must be comforting him. Realize there is no crying child… Husband is up and on way to play golf with friends. I can’t fall asleep, so I read until 7:45 when P gets up to use bathroom and goes back into his room. 
8:00 a.m. P comes into my room to “wake me up.” He then wakes brother.
8:10 a.m. We go downstairs to have muffins, and boys watch cartoons while I take dog out.
9:00 a.m. Real breakfast — boys have pancakes or waffles (leggo kind, not homemade) and I have a protein shake while making grocery list and planning for meals for the week.
9:30 a.m. To kill some time, take boys to raspberry picking.
10:00 a.m. Husband texts me; he’s done with golf and will meet me at grocery store.
10:30 a.m. All of us do weekly grocery shopping. 
11:30 a.m. Back at home, we put away groceries, then we play outside. 
12:30 p.m. Eat lunch — boys got subs at store, I bought salad. 
1:00–5:00 p.m. Boys in and outside playing, husband watches football, I do laundry and in and out with boys.
5:00 p.m. Make pasta for dinner and eat as a family.
6:00 p.m. Boys are practicing bike riding without training wheels. Take long walk as a family with one training wheel each. Falling ensues. No real injuries.
7:00 p.m. Husband and I help boys have quick showers, brush teeth, get PJs on, pick out clothes for tomorrow, read a book, have P read to us, goodnight kisses. 
7:20–9:30 p.m. Adults are back downstairs, I make P’s lunch and get boys’ backpacks ready, and my lunch for tomorrow. Husband gets his work stuff together for the week. Watch DVR’d John Oliver together, and I go to bed because I am tired. Husband watches TV until about 10:30. 

Monday

5:30 a.m. Alarm goes off, hit snooze. 
5:39–6:20 a.m. Wake up, shower, get dressed.
6:30 a.m. Husband gets up and showers, I get kids up — dressed, brush teeth.
6:45 a.m. Husband goes downstairs to feed dog and take her out. Boys and I come down, I make protein shake, boys get shoes on and backpacks on.
6:55 a.m. Boys are in my car, husband is working from home today.
7:05 a.m. Drop off P at school.
7:15 a.m. Drop off J at school. 
7:35 a.m. Arrive at my office.
8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. See patients all day, eat lunch, put out fires, see more patients. 
12:30–2:00 p.m. See more patients. 
2:30 p.m. Staff meeting. We get together quarterly to review financials, goals, expectations. I lead most of meeting and present our strategic plan.
4:00 p.m. Haul across city to pick up J — he cries because he is supposed to be going outside with his class now and I am taking this away from him.
4:30 p.m. Pick up P. 
4:45 a.m. Arrive home. The reason I am hauling is because I have to pick up kids and take husband to pick up rental car and be home before 5:30 when a cleaning person is coming for a walk-through to give us a quote. Husband is on conference call until 5:00. 
5:05 p.m. Drive to drop off husband to pick up rental car.
5:20 p.m. Boys and I arrive back home.
5:30 p.m. Husband arrives. 
5:35 p.m. Cleaner comes. Children act like they have never seen another person before and suddenly come up with a laundry list of things they need to tell/ask ME.
5:45 p.m. Housecleaner leaves, Husband and I start dinner — leftover pasta from night before, husband feeds dog. Every one eats pasta, husband and I also have salad, boys have cut-up veggies, then they require more fruit and yogurt. 
6:00 p.m. Boys and husband play outside, I make P’s and my lunch for tomorrow, I take dog for short walk down street and back. Check work emails.
6:45 p.m. Boys don’t need shower tonight. Husband and I get the PJs on, teeth, read book, goodnight kisses.
7:30 p.m. Husband packs for travel for the week, I go downstairs and pick up kitchen and dog toys.
8:00 p.m. We watch TV, chat about what we have going on this week.
9:30 p.m. I head to bed, husband stays up til about 10:30/11:00. 

M is the first nurse practitioner we’ve featured (we’ve also heard from a mom who’s a doctor), so we asked her about the typical work/life balance: 

I’m very lucky that my practice is very family-friendly and values my time and my home life. I work in a setting that has hours that work for me. I could be in a more competitive setting with better pay — but those hours are not as flexible and family-friendly. I chose and stayed with this job because it works best for my family. Nursing is great because there are so many different opportunities that you can make work for you — school nurse, hospital-based, research, etc. 

Tuesday

5:30–6:20 a.m. Wake up, shower, get dressed. Husband also needs to be at HQ (about 90 minutes away) today early, so he is up and showering in guest bathroom.
6:30 a.m. I get kids up — dressed, brush teeth.
6:45 a.m. Husband goes downstairs to feed dog and take her out. Boys and I come down, I make protein shake, boys get shoes on and backpacks on. All three of them take out garbage and recycling.
6:50 a.m. Husband takes P to school, J is upset because he wants to ride in Daddy’s “race car” rental car. I tell him he can ride in it when Daddy comes home and tell him we can go the “special way” to preschool. Kiss goodbye to husband and older son, husband drops off son and heads to HQ until Thursday. 
7:00 a.m. Drop off son at school.
7:30 a.m. Arrive at work, catch up on emails, Facebook, news of the day. Follow up with my office manager and director about meeting yesterday.
8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. See patients.
12:00 p.m. Eat lunch quickly in office while reading emails, Facebook, etc. Text sister and mom to see how they are doing.
12:15 p.m. Receive calendar alert that this afternoon’s meeting cancelled! Yes! The gift of time!
12:30–3:30 p.m. See patients. In between, I text a mom friend to determine a day for playdate. Mid-October is first available day. Also try to determine if our children can do swimming lessons together… maybe after holidays.
3:45 p.m. Leave office early, decide webinar I signed up for wasn’t that exciting, and will go for run instead.
4:15 p.m. Arrive home, take dog out. Change into running clothes. Check work emails and follow up on some patient labs that came late.
4:15–5:15 p.m. Run 4.5 miles (training for half marathon). Think about work, look at houses and curb appeal, think about boys’ activities they are signing up for and how we can fit them in the schedule.
5:30–6:00 p.m. Pick up P, pick up J, head home.
6:15 p.m. Start dinner — rotisserie chicken from grocery store, veggie, rice, fruit.
6:30–7:00 p.m. Husband FaceTimes to see how day was. I make lunches for next day with leftovers. J asks about race car that Daddy drove to work. 
7:00 p.m. Quick rinse for boys, bedtime routine.
7:30 p.m. I get involved in some old Law & Order episodes while texting BFF.
9:30 p.m. Bedtime.

Here’s what M had to say about her husband’s work travel: 

My husband’s job has always included some travel, so it’s our normal. The hardest thing is coordinating pickups/driving around/activities. Since the boys are at two different locations (until next year when J goes to kindergarten), the after-school pickups/driving to activity/dinner/homework/bedtime is usually the most draining on me, especially if I have a late meeting or patient. So we pick and choose what activity we can do (they were able to be in the same soccer team) so it made it easier. The boys miss their dad but we FaceTime when he’s not here so they at least get to see him before bed. And we send a good morning picture, usually a silly one. 

There is some flexibility if my husband is working at HQ and can drive back for the evening and return early the next day. I’m sure it’s hard on him that he misses things like school concerts or a soccer game. But he is very hands-on when he’s here. He’s coaching P’s lacrosse team this season. 

Wednesday

5:45 a.m. Wake up, shower and get dressed.
6:15 a.m. Boys wake up. P complains he is so tired. I wish I didn’t have to take them to school so early. (His start time is 9:00 a.m., so he does before-care for close to two hours.) But, my office starts seeing patients early and dad is OOT, so that’s the way it is right now.
6:15–6:55 a.m. Boys get dressed, one of them feeds the dog, we take the dog out, get in the car, and drive to school. J asks about riding in Daddy’s race car and when he is coming back.
7:10 a.m. Drop off P.
7:20 a.m. Drop off C.
7:45 a.m. I arrive to work.
8:00–2:00 p.m. See patients… busy today. Put out more small (but to other people, big) fires. Have brief meeting with other team lead about office stuff and personnel.
2:30–4:00 p.m. NP meeting. We meet 2x/month regarding patient care, financials, venting, goals.
4:30 p.m. Go to pick up kids. Once again, I pick them up “too early” and they miss outside-time. Guess what, you can play outside at our house! Get. In. The. Car.
5:00 p.m. Start making dinner — pork chops, asparagus, applesauce, fruit. Check work emails, office manager emails me we hired a new person that will start orientation next month.
5:30 p.m. Another cleaner comes to walk through our house for a quote. Once again, the boys act like it’s OK to bother Mom while talking to another adult. I’m gritting my teeth. They eat dinner while I show the cleaner around. Please, cleaner — tell me you aren’t too expensive and you can start ASAP!
6:00 p.m. Cleaner leaves as husband calls to FaceTime — kids act like I NEED to pick up Daddy’s call or the house will explode.
6:00–6:15 p.m. I tell husband, “I told you the cleaner was coming at this time, and he just left and I need to eat (hangry) and your FaceTime call comes at a busy time,” so he talks to kids and I eat.
6:15–6:45 p.m. Boys play outside, I take dog for little walk and text husband that I love him and tell him about my day.
7:00 p.m. Boys go inside, and upstairs for bedtime routine. P has new book from the library, so we read it together. Then I make him read to us.
7:30 p.m. I go downstairs to make lunches, get backpacks ready, pick up dog toys and kid toys.
7:45 p.m. FaceTime my mom quick — it’s her birthday.
8:30–9:00 p.m. Semi-watch TV, mostly scroll on my phone, until I go to bed.

Thursday

5:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Same routine — I get up, kids get up, drop kids off at school, I get to work, see patients, lots of illnesses today.
5:00 p.m. Pick up J, pick up P. J very excited to tell me about his new computer class at preschool.
5:15–5:30 p.m. Boys have snack and watch show. I get soccer stuff ready.
5:35 p.m. Put on soccer gear and drive to park for soccer. We could actually walk to practice, but it’s so hot out, and we need to return the rental car tonight.
6:00–7:00 p.m. Boys’ soccer practice. Know lots of parents on the team, so we catch up. Husband arrives halfway through — boys run to give him hugs during water break. Talk to mom friend about running this weekend together.
7:05 p.m. After practice, coach gives kids a Popsicle.
7:15 p.m. J FINALLY gets to ride in the rental “race car.” P and I meet them at rental place.
7:30 a.m. Arrive home. We have PB&J for dinner.
7:55 p.m. Boys say it’s not fair they have to go to bed. Wash their faces and hands and knees, usual bedtime routine. Husband does secret handshake with each boy and says extra long goodnights to them.
8:15–9:30 p.m. Husband and I talk about the past few days, scroll on our phones until I go to bed and he eventually does. I make my lunch for tomorrow; on Fridays, P buys lunch. Get backpacks ready for tomorrow.

Friday

Usual routine for when we are both home:
5:30 a.m. Alarm goes off, hit snooze. 
5:39–6:20 a.m. Wake up, shower, get dressed.
6:30 a.m. Husband gets up, I get kids up — dressed, brush teeth.
6:45 a.m. Husband goes downstairs to feed dog and take her out. Boys and I come down, I make protein shake, boys get shoes on and backpacks on.
6:55 a.m. Boys are in my car, husband is working from home today.
7:05 a.m. Drop off P at school.
7:15 a.m. Drop off J at school.
7:35 a.m. Arrive at my office.
8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. See patients all day, eat lunch, put out fires, see more patients.
12:30–4:00 p.m. See more patients, follow up on all the illnesses from earlier in the week.
4:15 p.m. Leave work, decide to run again.
4:30 p.m. Quick change at home.
4:35 p.m. Run 3.5 miles. Think that I might not make it to 13.1 in a few weeks. While I am running, husband picks up kids.
5:15 p.m. I arrive home and quickly change clothes and apply more deodorant.
5:30 p.m. Kids and husband arrive home.
5:45 p.m. We go out to dinner as a family. We do this most Friday nights. Pick local restaurant, kids very well behaved today. They eat everything on their plates — they usually do.
6:45 p.m. Leave to go to playground. Killing time before we drop husband off for his newly joined bowling league.
7:15 p.m. We drop husband off. He will Uber home with his friend.
7:30 p.m. Boys and I get ice cream, not because they deserved it, but I really wanted some.
8:15 p.m. Arrive home. kids and I do bedtime routine minus the shower and book tonight.
8:30–9:30 p.m. I go downstairs to wash soccer stuff and get bag ready for game tomorrow. Watch Bravo, husband texts me how bowling is going. I go to bed.
11:00 p.m. Husband comes home… I’m snoring.

Saturday

7:30 p.m. Everyone wakes up.
7:45 p.m. We go downstairs for breakfast — kids eat muffins, I have protein shake, husband has cereal, dog has dog food. Kids watch cartoons while husband and I read news and talk about what is happening next week. He only has to travel one day to HQ, so it will be a day trip, P is starting religious education, husband is going to football game all day next Saturday, and my dad is coming up next Saturday. We also talk about what we need to do this weekend and what we need at the store. I throw a load of laundry in washer.
9:30 a.m. Kids get ready for soccer game. I check labs and work emails to see if anything happened from the end of the week I need to follow up on.
10:00–11:00 a.m. Soccer game for kids. Another hot day, so we drive to game. Chat with parents, cheer on kids, running mom friend and I say we will run tomorrow. Kids’ team loses, but there are Popsicles after the game so they are happy about that.
11:30 a.m. Game over, we drive to store for groceries.
12:30 p.m. Head home, put away groceries, and eat lunch from grocery store.
1:00–3:00 p.m. Kids play inside and outside. Husband does yard stuff, I do laundry and play with kids.
3:30 p.m. Text BFF to see if she wants to come over for pizza tonight. She does! Yeah!
3:30–5:00 p.m. Do stuff around the house, play with kids, let kids “swim” in hot tub that is not very hot. BFF arrives and we catch up.
5:30 p.m. Pizza here. Kids eat and play until bedtime. One last “swim” in not-hot tub. Watch TV, chat with BFF. Remember to put laundry in dryer. Find clothes in dryer from the other day.
8:00 p.m. Get kids ready for bed, BFF leaves.
8:30–10:30 p.m. Husband and I watch a movie. Running mom friend texts and we agree to run 6 miles at 7:30 tomorrow.
10:30 p.m. Bed. Husband comes up shortly after because he is tired too.

We asked M about her half marathon training and how she fits it into her schedule:

Making time for yourself for anything is hard as a mom! I don’t consider myself a “hard-core” runner, so getting out after work for 3–5 miles maybe once or twice a week is sometimes the best I can do time wise. I completed my half marathon in October and was pleased with my time and how I felt out there. I usually sign up for spring and fall half marathons to keep me motivated. I sign up for 5Ks or other running events every month so I keep training. I like to run year round and do most of my long runs on Saturdays with a a mom friend (the one from soccer!). It keeps us in shape, [gives us] a break from momlife, and the boys know it’s what I like to do. Running mom friend and I throw around the idea of running a full marathon — but I don’t think I could make that time commitment with younger children and a traveling spouse. But maybe someday?

Thanks so much to M for sharing a bit of her life as a working mom! Readers, what’s your biggest takeaway from her week of work as a nurse practitioner as well as her general work/life balance?

Stock photo via Deposit Photos / minervastock.