Our Weekday Default
The other week, I mentioned that having a “default” routine helps me avoid burnout. We often have to make small tweaks to that routine - and sometimes, like next week when Jon will be out of town and I’ll have to stay in the office late at least a few nights, big ones - but it means we’re not starting from scratch with the logistics every time we plan our steps for the day ahead.
So let’s look at the morning and evening defaults through the week:
On days when I go into the office but Jon works from home, I walk the kids the .6 miles to school and then the few blocks over to the bus, which I take into work. Jon then walks down to pick up the kids at the end of the day. If I’m able to leave at 5 and the timing works with the buses, I meet them at school and we all walk home together; otherwise, I just meet them at home around 6pm.
On days when Jon goes into the office but I work from home - which are rare - he walks the kids to school and then takes the bus to work. I walk down to pick them up and he meets us at home around 6pm.
On days we both have to go into the office, we drive in together. We drop the kids off at school first and then I let Jon off at the bus stop right outside my office, and he takes public transport the rest of the way. His office is a further downtown than mine, though we can take the same bus line to get to each of our workplaces, so on these days I leave work between 5-5:30 to pick up the kids in the car and he aims to get home around 6 on the bus.
And the Charlie element of the default:
Charlie gets walked 7:30-8am, before the school run. This is a big change from the last six years, when he’d come with us to drop Robbie and then Claire off at daycare and bring them home again, but school is .3 miles farther than daycare and Charlie is too old for a 1.2 mile roundtrip walk now.
We just started using a great walker for the days that both of us are in the office for Charlie’s midday walks - we haven’t had one since pre-COVID, but I’m in the office much more with my new job than I was with my old one. Let me know if you’re in DC and need a referral!
I make dinner as soon as I get home and Jon takes Charlie for a walk while I’m cooking.
Here’s an example of how we deviate from the default:
Robbie is enrolled in ice skating lessons in Montgomery County on Thursday evenings. Jon usually works from home on Thursdays, so on those days he’ll leave the house right after 5pm to pick Robbie up in the car and they’ll head straight to the rink. (Jon packs snacks for Robbie to have in the car on the way there and they stop at McDonald’s for dinner on the way back.) I leave my office around 5pm and take the bus to pick up Claire, and we walk home and have dinner together as just the two of us. Once Jon and Robbie get home, I take Charlie for a walk before we do the kids’ bedtimes.
Hm, what else am I missing? Baths and laundry are done on an as-needed basis, so they’re not part of any day’s template, and we try to tidy at least a little bit every day. Let me know in the comments if I’m forgetting anything logistical - at this point, the default is second nature to me!
