A Day in the Life of Two Working Parents During COVID

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Mr. FAF and I sometimes wonder how other parents are handling work, housework, kids, and school all at once. In this post, I will share with you our schedules as two working parents during the pandemic.

A little bit about us. Mr. FAF and I both work full-time as software engineers. Mr. FAF works on EST time since his office is based in the DC area. I work on PST time since my office is located in Washington state.

We have two young kids. Our son is five years old and are now enrolled in kindergarten. Our daughter is two years old and just started pre-K a month ago.

Morning

6 AM

I usually get up any time from 5:30 AM to 6:30 AM depending on how tired I was the previous day. 7 AM is the latest I will get up on weekdays since I need to get our daughter ready for school.

I change from my pajamas (aka old yet comfy clothes) to another outfit. I put my hair back in a pony tail with a black hairband I got in bulk online. I usually use only one hairband until it breaks. I usually wash my face with just water in the morning so that my skin won’t get too dry and dry it with a soft towel.

I start my laptop, check email, check the news and social media for about 10 minutes. I then continue working on the tasks I have for my job.

7 AM

I get our daughter up, change her clothes and diaper, wash her face, and go check on Mr. FAF and our son.

We all go downstairs to eat breakfast.

I am on a diet, so I just have half a cup of whole milk with two tablespoons of unsweetended cheerios for breakfast. Mr. FAF usually has instant noodles, whole wheat bread, Chinese buns or wontons for breakfast. Our son loves milk and unsweetended cheerios for breakfast.

8 AM

We are done with breakfast. Mr. FAF takes our daughter to school. I take our son to his room. We usually read two books these days.

Mr. FAF and I do buy new books our for our son, but Mr. FAF got most of books from the local library.

When our son starts a new book, I will read to him a couple of times while pointing to each word. After about five times or so, I will have him point to the words and read the book himself. He is currently loving “Jake Starts School” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Car.”

After reading, he will work on with vocab and math exercises. He’s currently working through “ABC.” During this time, I sit next to him to answer his questions and do my own work. I also blog a bit during this time as a step in my pursuit of minimalism. It helps me clear my head and stay connected with you all.

9:20 – 11:35 AM

Our son has online classes during this time slot. I sit next to him to make sure he pays attention.

In the beginning, I would be involved to the point of rephrasing the teacher’s questions and suggesting answers. But the teacher said that we should try to let our son become more independent and figure things out by himself.

This past week, I take a more hands-off role in sitting next to him. During this time, I continue to do my work.

11:35 AM – 12 PM

It’s lunch time. We started packing our lunch into small containers a couple of weeks ago to reduce the time it takes to prepare lunch and clean up. We usually have leftovers from dinner the previous day for lunch.

We’ve been loving the Lock & Lock glass containers since they are durable and reasonably priced.

Afternoon

12 PM

I go upstairs to start my work day. I’ve been working since early morning, but my official work hours are from 12 PM to 8 PM. Mr. FAF comes to the kitchen to watch our son.

12:50 – 2:30 PM

It’s Mr. FAF’s turn to sit next to our son when he’s taking online classes. I wil be working during this time.

2:30 – 4:30 PM

Mr. FAF does his work. Our son will watch his favorite cartoon “Garfield” on Amazon Prime for a break and then do some homework Mr. FAF assigned in the afternoon.

3 PM

I take a break to get some snacks. I know I should be eating fruit or something healthy. But I’ve been snacking on goldfish crackers a lot lately.

4:40 PM

Mr. FAF and our son go to pick up our daughter.

5 PM

Mr. FAF comes home. He either continues working while monitoring our kids playing with each other until 6 or 6:30 PM or cooks if we run out of food.

Evening

6:30 PM

Dinner time for Mr. FAF and our two kids. I continue working until 8 PM.

8 PM

My official work hours are over for the day. I give our daugher a bath and tucks her in for the night.

I then go eat breakfast, do the dishes, and clean up the kitchen. I finish my nightime routine with a shower. I apply jojoba oil to my face and St. Ives lotion to my body as moisturizers as a final touch.

10:15 PM

I’m finally done with my nighttime routine. I usually finish up some of my work, check out some YouTube videos for 5-10 minutes, and then go to bed.

10:45 PM

Bed time for me. If I have a lot of work to do or if I feel energized enough, I will continue to work until 11:30 PM.

Conclusion

There might be some differences from day to day. But our workdays look pretty much like what I describe above.

On the weekends, Mr. FAF and I take turns watch our kids so that the other person can take a break or do catch up on work due to the interruptions on weekdays.

We also go out to the parks or just go for a car ride on the weekends. I also take care of housework and help Mr. FAF cook on the weekends.

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