Can anyone who is a parent and works at a law firm provide a detailed schedule of their average day? I’m trying to get the sense of what having a kid and juggling working full time would really look like in practice. Thank you in advance!

I’m on 80% so this is a reduced schedule day and i mostly wfh. Wake up at 7, take baby (14 mos.) downstairs, let dogs out, give baby a water and breakfast, feed dogs, make coffee, nibble something or drink a protein shake, head back upstairs to get us all ready, put on some kid music. nanny comes 8:30. I head to my upstairs office or drive to the office. work until 5:30 if home, 5 if in the office. nanny leaves at 5:30 or when my husband is off (whichever is earlier). hangout with family, dinner, play until 7 then wind down and bedtime 7:30-8. when i was at 100% i would log back on to work 8-10,11,12. now, i only log back on for time sensitive things…probably 1-2 days a week. leaving for in-house soon and anticipate my schedule will look the same but less likely to have to log on at night at all.

6am wake up if I'm squeezing in a work out, otherwise up around 6:45am get dressed etc.
7:10 downstairs to prep breakfast.
7:30 back upstairs to get kids ready
7:40-8am breakfast
8am kids out the door with dad for daycare drop off
8am-4pm work furiously, sometimes work out gets squeezed in here
4pm-4:40pm throw together dinner
5pm pick up kid
5:30-8pm dinner, kid time, evening family walk, packing lunches for next day, baths, bed etc. Sometimes squeeze in another 30mins-1hr of work after baby goes down at 7pm
8-9:30pm TV with husband
Reading and bed by 10:30pm
Rinse repeat for eternity

Tread lightly down this path. Average days can look very different depending on resources (e.g. partner, childcare, house help, income) and location, areas of practice, cost of living, age of kids, etc.

Get up and work, get kid ready and out the door, work, work, work, pick up kid, feed and bathe kid and put kid to bed, back to work, go to bed then repeat. Schedule in the gym or exercise where you can, and make sure to also eat (which you will do at your desk).

Wake up between 630 and 7. Quick shower, dress, makeup. Hair usually in a ponytail. Grab my protein shake and lunch I packed the night before. Out the door 20-30 minutes after I get up and sitting at my desk 15 minutes later.

Husband and kids sleep a little later. He gets the kids up and ready and to daycare between 830 and 9 then goes to the gym and/or work (he works part-time and has a flexible schedule).

I work until around 5 or 530. Lunch at my desk. Pick up kids from daycare and we're all home around 545 or 6. Husband or I cook a simple dinner, or eat something premade if we don't feel like cooking. I make a few large quantity meals over the weekend that give us our lunches and stretch for a couple dinners.

After dinner we hang out outside if it's good weather (take walks, play in the backyard, maybe go to a park), or play inside and/or watch a show. Bedtime for kids is 9-10pm ish and then I workout (home gym) and am in bed by 11.

I will say that when I had a tiny baby it looked different. I would get up early to nurse and get her stuff ready for a babysitter (I dropped her off for mornings with a sitter). I came home to nurse again at lunch and then hung out with her all evening while my husband was at work, and it was a lot more intense and involved than it is now. I did all of our cooking on the weekends.

No interest in working full time but-

6-9 AM: Getting kids ready, breakfast, packing lunches, tidy up so the house is fresh, Dad does drop off for the littlest

9 AM-2:30 PM: Work straight through without interruption, sometimes take a break for a walk with a neighbor

2:30 PM - 8 PM: School pickup, homework, dinner, playdates

Dad takes the kids to tennis, soccer, music etc around 5:30 PM most days so I work from like 5:15 PM-6:45 PM

8 PMish - 10 PM: Any additional time-sensitive work, as needed. If work is light I skip the late shift.

This enables me to easily bill 6-7 hours a day, or as many as 10 hours is stuff is nuts and I work late.

Lots of days are different. I volunteer for everything at school, so in the last week I’ve done a field trip, field day, and volunteered in the classroom for an hour.

My husband quit his job to be a stay at home dad, so my experience/schedule may be different than others. With that said:

7:00am - baby wakes up

7:00-8:30am - I spend time with her while my husband takes care of the dog. Then he feeds our daughter while I get ready

9:00am - 6:00pm - in the office

6:00-7:30/8:00pm - spend time with her and handle putting her to bed

8:00pm-10:00/11:00pm - relax or log back on depending on the day

I go to the gym for about an hour 2-3 days a week but the days and times vary based on what work looks like that day.

I usually work anywhere between 2-4 hours during the weekend while baby is sleeping so I can get back more time during the week. Even if it’s not a lot, anything helps.

Mine have always included a lot of lists. Sometimes to the point of including how long I'm going to spend on each thing to be as productive as possible. I would start with a list of everything needed to get out the door in the morning (bottles, crib sheets for daycare, lunch, computer, etc.) and I would do a quick check mark as I had it all together and left. Then I wasn't relying on my rushed morning brain to remember everything.

At work, I would make lists of what needed to be done that day, and the week (obviously subject to change!) and try to knock as much stuff out right away to leave room for the unexpected.

In the evening, I would go pick the kids up, make dinner, and after bedtime do all the cleanup and prepping things for the next day.

This was the main schedule when they were little and in daycare. It has changed over the years as their activities have changed (they are 10 and 6 now), and afternoons tend to be less about work and more about sports so I've just adjusted my schedule accordingly.

I have a 7 month old.

Wake up at 5:45am and start getting ready. Baby and husband sleep until 6am. Husband quickly gets ready (like 5 mins) and takes baby to get her fed and dressed for daycare.

Around 6:15am I go downstairs and help feed the baby if she is being fussy and wants mommy. Get baby packed and out the door with husband at 6:35ish for daycare drop off - husband goes to work. If I go to the office I am usually online around 7:15am. If I stay home to work, I will spend 30-45 mins or so doing chores around the house until I log on around 7:15 or 7:30am.

Work all day. If working at the office, I leave between 4pm and 4:30pm to do daycare pickup. If working from home, I leave the house at 4:45pm to do daycare pickup. Go home and play with baby.

Dinner time starts around 6:30pm - bath starts around 7:00pm - baby in bed and asleep around 7:30pm. Husband gets home from work (he has 10 hour shifts) around 6:45pm and helps finish dinner and dinner cleanup, helps with bath, does bedtime.

After baby bath while husband puts baby to bed, I shower. Husband and I and eat dinner, put together and label bottles for daycare, throw a load of laundry in, load up dishwasher, etc.

Around 8:30pm I log back on to work until 10:30 or 11pm.

Go downstairs and do any last little cleaning like unloading the dishwasher, restock baby supplies in the diaper change area, etc.

Go to bed around 11:30pm.

Rinse and repeat.

Realizing how much my life is gonna suck with an 1+ commute each way

I get up around 5:30, feed my pets, 2yo gets up around 6, my husband and I feed her and eat breakfast. Husband leaves for work around 6:30, I usually hang out with the kiddo and exercise, then get ready and go to work. I’m super lucky that my parents take care of my kiddo full-time. I get home around 5:30-6:00,
play with my toddler while husband cooks dinner, then we eat, play a little more, and start bedtime routine around 7:30 and finish around 8:30. After little one is asleep, we watch some TV and I’m usually asleep by 10.

We have a housekeeper come every other week so I don’t spend all weekend cleaning and can really maximize my family time. I also take a yoga class on the weekends for some me time. Hope that helps!

Wake up between 5:30 and 6. Get ready and leave by 6/6:30ish before anyone in the house is awake (husband leaves for work later after the nanny arrives). Get to the office by 7/7:30. Leave at 4pm to relieve the nanny. Make dinner. Eat with the family. Juggle bedtime for the two kids with husband depending on what work each of us still has left. Back online around 8pm. Do 1-2 more hours of work then pack breakfast, set the coffee maker and go to bed!

Wake up between 5:30-6:30 (whenever my 13 month old wakes up) and hang with her until nanny arrives at 7 AM. Then get ready for about an hour (how do I get ready faster!?), switch off with husband walking dog, so either drive to work for about 45 minutes or WFH and walk dog and then log on by 9 AM.

Leave office at 2 PM to beat traffic and continue working from home until 4:55 PM, discuss how the day went with nanny for 5 minutes before she leaves at 5. Then hang with baby until she’s asleep around 7:30-8 PM, log back on and work until around 9 or 10 PM.

Following.

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Wake up at 5:45. Work out. Make breakfast/lunch for kids and get them ready. Pack lunches. Kids leave around 7:45 am. Go to work, work from 8:30 am to 4:30 PM/5. We pick up the kids. 3 and 7. I do bathtime, dinnertime, HW/playtime. Around 7:15 PM I Iet them watch TV while I clean up and bedtime at 8:15. I used to stay up and work but now I just go to sleep early and wake up early.

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