Week in the Life of a Working Mom: An Analytical Finance Specialist in NYC

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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 Z, who lives in Manhattan with her two kids and works in quantitative finance. 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: Z
Location: Manhattan 
Job: Work in quantitative finance at a medium private equity firm 
Age: 44
Home Situation: I live in a 3-bedroom apartment in Manhattan with my two kids, ages 7 and 11, and a dog. I am divorced. Ex-husband does not work. He visits the kids once a week and the kids stay with him every other weekend. I am the breadwinner, keeper of schedules, and boo-boo fixer.

Childcare Situation: A wonderful au pair cares for the children. She works about 35–40 hours a week. A dog walker walks the dog twice a day during the week. Private schools, tutors, extracurricular activities, sleepaway camps, and childcare costs average $10,000 a month. 

How is the work-life balance in your industry in general? What are common ways of juggling responsibilities that you see your colleagues and coworkers doing?
In private equity, it takes hard work and dedication. During my 20s and early 30s, I worked 70+ hours a week. For women who want to reach management level, my advice is to never turn down an opportunity (as hard as it may seem initially) and never stop learning.

{related: working moms’ tips on how to manage au pairs}

A Week in My Life

Sunday

8:00 a.m. Walk dog and have breakfast.
9:00 a.m. Help middle schooler concentrate on finishing math homework before her playdate.
10:30 a.m. Drive older child to her playdate in Brooklyn. Host forgot to tell his parents that he is having friends over for a playdate. Everything is quickly resolved. Host parents are super nice and welcoming.
12:00 p.m. Have lunch at home with the younger child, then walk dog in the rain.
1:30 p.m. Take a nap while the younger child reads. I need to rest before driving in city traffic again.
2:30 p.m. Clean up mess and put away toys from the past week.
3:30 p.m. Younger child practices violin.
4:00 p.m. Drive to Brooklyn to pick up older child from playdate. Kids enjoy their playdate — pizza for lunch, hang out, and a visit to the ice cream parlor.
5:30 p.m. Dinner, then walk dog.
7:00 p.m. Get older child to settle down and concentrate on homework – six pages of Q&A on a book they are reading in English and four pages of Q&A on biology.
8:30 p.m. Storytime and bedtime for the younger child.
10:00 p.m. Older child finally finishes homework and heads to bed! Bedtime for mom too.

Monday

7:00 a.m. Younger child wakes up and gets ready for school. Kids attend different schools.
7:20 a.m. Older child could not get up in time to catch the school bus. We dash to the parking garage to retrieve car. I give the parking attendant a $20 tip as I do not have change.
8:10 a.m. Drop off car at parking garage, then walk dog.
8:10 a.m. Au pair takes younger child to school. Missing the school bus delays my morning routine.
8:30 a.m. Some snacks and water for the dog, then head to the office.
9:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Work nonstop.
4:30 p.m. Kids are home from school. Older child has a friend over to have dinner and do homework together. Turns out she is doing the wrong math homework and has to start over! She ends up doing just the English and history homework that are due the next day.
6:30 p.m. Head home from work. Feed the dog. Dinner for me is the weekend leftovers in the fridge. Kids have dinner earlier at 5:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m. Older child continues to do homework after her classmate leaves.
8:30 p.m. Storytime and bedtime for the younger child.
9:30 p.m. Older child finishes homework and heads to bed. She is excited about next day’s school field trip.

Tuesday

7:00 a.m. Younger child wakes up and gets ready for school.
7:20 a.m. Older child made it to the bus stop, yay! Walk dog.
8:10 a.m. Some snacks and water for the dog, then ride the subway to younger child’s lovely school. Afterwards I head to the office.
9:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Work nonstop.
4:00 p.m. Younger child has a violin lesson.
5:50 p.m. Older child gets home from afterschool activities. Au pair picks her up at school bus stop.
6:30 p.m. Head home from work. Meet trainer in the building gym for a workout. Salad for dinner. Catch up with kids. Feed the dog.
8:00 p.m. Older child has only math homework, but she cannot concentrate.
8:30 p.m. Storytime and bedtime for the younger child.
10:00 p.m. Older child finishes homework and heads to bed. Mom’s bedtime too.

Wednesday

Similar routine. Except dinner with boyfriend at 6:30 p.m. The restaurant is packed and we have a great time. Arrive home at 8:00 p.m. to enjoy the evening with kids.

Thursday

Similar routine. Except younger child has a playdate after school.

Friday

Similar routine. Drop off older child at bus stop, walk the dog, drop off younger child at school, then head to the office to work nonstop. Head home at 6:30 p.m. to enjoy the evening with kids. Friday nights are more relaxing for the family.

Saturday

8:00 a.m. Walk dog and have breakfast.
8:30 a.m. Housekeeper arrives.
8:45 a.m. Take younger child to a weekend math program. I feel she does not do enough math at school.
9:00 a.m. Science and math tutor for older child to keep up with demanding middle school load.
11:00 a.m. Pick up younger child from class.
12:00 p.m. Lunch with kids at a restaurant.
2:00 p.m. Drop off kids at their dad’s apartment. Run errands, organize my life, then watch Netflix to unwind.
6:30 p.m. Walk and feed dog, then date night with boyfriend.

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

Stock photo via Stencil.