I don’t add up my categories regularly anymore, but since last week was the official 2023 Time Tracking Challenge I went ahead and pulled some totals and observations from my previous 168 hours.

I worked 37.5 hours. This is reasonably typical. Monday was the longest (8.5) but many other days wind up being more in the 6-7 hour range. I generally work while my 8- and 3-year-old are out of the house (8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.) and if I break for lunch or exercise, that gives me about 6 hours, or a base of roughly 30 hours during a 5-day week (also not a given). It’s hard to guarantee any particular hours outside of that, so I generally don’t schedule calls/meetings outside that window, but I often do some work at night or the weekends (I almost always do at least some work on each weekend day — I don’t mind it at all. This week was a little heavier on that front just because I was posting time logs for this challenge!)

I slept 52.75 hours. This comes out to just a wee bit north of 7.5 hours a day. I didn’t subtract middle-of-the-night bathroom trips, but if you figure those in, you’d get somewhere around 7.4 hours/day, which is my long-term average. Notably, my sleep is a lot more orderly than it has been on past logs! I went to bed around 11 p.m. on the four weeknights, and woke up with my alarm at 6:30 a.m. on those mornings. On weekends I shifted by less than an hour, and generally woke up at or by 7:30 a.m. This is 100 percent a function of no longer having a baby who wakes up in the middle of the night or ridiculously early. I love it! Looking at those orderly open spaces (I don’t write “sleep” in every sleep cell) makes me incredibly happy.

I exercised five times. I ran on four days (around 3 miles each time) and then went to the gym once on Saturday morning for weight lifting + elliptical. I probably could do more on the exercise front but…it’s cold and windy out. And that was about as much as I could prioritize this week. I practiced the piano three times, and sang on those three occasions as well. I then sang at choir practice Thursday night and for the church service Sunday morning, so that’s five times. (In the singing-adjacent category: going to my daughter’s choir concert and signing my 15-year-old up for voice lessons.)

I’m trying to build more couple time into my schedule. My husband and I ate lunch together on Monday and Tuesday when we were both working from home. We also had a date night on Sunday, going to the Matisse exhibit at the art museum, and out for dinner afterwards. I will admit that I arranged this partly because I knew I’d be posting my logs and I wanted to have something fun planned into my weekend!

I read approximately 70 pages of Jane Austen’s juvenalia (part of my year-long reading project) and I wrote a sonnet — some musings on the effort that goes into creating music that sounds ethereal. Sometimes my Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday self is not kind to my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday self (who has to match the rhyming scheme). I wrote “Do angel choirs start by singing scales?” and then had to deal with that mess. I read to a child (usually the 3-year-old, but sometimes the 8-year-old) all seven nights. I read my Otherlands book five of seven nights before bed. We are now back in the Carboniferous times. I count 2.5 hours of Legos with the kids, and a whopping 4.75 hours on my puzzle. So that is a reasonable amount of effortful fun, though I’m sure my screen totals are not small either (it winds up interspersed with everything else to a degree.)

We didn’t have any huge adventures this week, though the family trip to the arcade was at least reasonably adventurous (and perhaps Matisse could be my little adventure). There were four Starbucks trips, one Wawa trip, and one McDonalds trip. We are three family meals (Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday lunch).

I hope your week went well! Let me know what you discovered. For those who participated in the Challenge, your last email has a link to a survey you could fill out if you’d like. The information will help me with my time use research. It is completely anonymous. Thank you!

If you enjoyed this challenge, you might consider signing up for the Tranquility by Tuesday Challenge, which starts this Friday. We’ll work through the nine TBT rules, one at a time, for nine weeks. You’ll get two emails each week with planning and reflection questions. Here’s the link to sign up. Thanks for considering it!

After posting last night, I did another 30 minutes on my puzzle (10-10:30 p.m.). I went up to see if kids were moving toward bed (the big ones; it’s a weekend). I read in bed for a bit and then went to sleep at 11:20 p.m. I woke up at 6 a.m. and thought I might be up for the day, but I managed to go back to sleep until my alarm went off at 7:30 a.m.

I showered and thought the house sounded delightfully quiet. I made my coffee, settled in to read a little Jane…and heard the 3-year-old screaming for me. Sigh. The next 40 minutes featured getting him and the 8-year-old (!) breakfast. I finished doing my hair and make-up, and then the 8-year-old and my husband took off for climbing class, and I took the 3-year-old to church (the big kids stayed home. Sometimes I come back to get them in between rehearsal and church, and just make it in time for the service, but since the 3-year-old came with me I couldn’t leave him at the church nursery without me there). He zipped into the nursery and then off to the 9 a.m. art class with nary a look at me. I went to the choir loft and rehearsed with my choir for 30 minutes. After, my choir director mentioned that one of the church members’ whose art was being showcased in the church gallery had passed away on Friday night, apparently after a long time of various illnesses. It was interesting to hear about how she had managed life, and so I went to go study her collages and her full-canvas marker pieces — just bubbles of energy (which was in the name of one of the works). It was fascinating and poignant at the same time.

We sang in the service, and then I collected the 3-year-old from his Sunday School class. They had learned about Anna and Simeon and waiting, and when he was asked what he found it hard to wait for, he said “for my hair to grow.”

We came home (11:20 a.m.) and I did a little more Jane reading while my husband showed the 3-year-old Darth Vader in the first scenes of Star Wars (I guess he’d asked). Then we cooked a brunch of sorts and had family lunch. So we hit three family meals for the week! Pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Then we lit a candle and sang happy birthday to the 8-year-old since we realized we had forgotten the night before (how was this possible? He doesn’t like cake, so we didn’t have a cake, and we were going to have cookies, but everyone slipped off, including him and…)

Starting around 12:45 p.m., I played with the 8-year-old and the 3-year-old outside for a while. The 8-year-old got some rocket launchers for his birthday. My husband took the 15-year-old to Starbucks (yes) to meet a friend there, and then he went to the gym (it was his turn). Around 1:30, the two little guys and I came back inside and I read the 3-year-old a story, he had some milk, and he fell asleep on my lap.

I decided not to try to transfer him to the crib, so there I sat. I re-read This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch, since we’re reading that for the BOBW Patreon book club. He started stirring around 2:45 p.m., and my husband got home but needed to shower before our date night, so I called the 11-year-old in to watch the toddler while I went to go get the 15-year-old, but then our weekend babysitter was already in the driveway, so it was a short lived babysitting gig.

(I realize I haven’t mentioned the 13-year-old much in this day. I think he was on the computer playing games 90% of the time…)

I got home at 3:10 p.m. and my husband drove us downtown to the art museum, where we had tickets for the Matisse in the 1930s exhibit. So, apparently, did everyone else in the city of Philadelphia, because we waited in a 30-minute line to get in the exhibit! I read more Benedict Cumberbatch…(trying to do effortful before effortless!). We were finally in the gallery around 4:15, and looked at Matisse’s work until 4:50 or so. Many “odalisques.” Matisse was asked why he liked to paint those and he gave the obvious answer that he liked painting female nudes. Yes, one imagines.

We got back in the car and went to Talula’s Garden for dinner (5:15 reservation). We may have eaten more vegetables there than we had all week. We had a side of Brussels sprouts and my salmon had kale and beets. Maybe that makes up for everything else… We were home by 7 p.m., at which point I let the 3-year-old watch something on YouTube Kids while I did my puzzle for an hour. I’m almost done!

Then I took him and the 8-year-old up around 8:10 p.m. and gave them a bath. I mostly scrolled while they entertained each other for 40 minutes or so with the occasional need for intervention. I guess I’d had enough reading on the Kindle for the day. Now my husband is reading to the 3-year-old and hopefully putting him to bed and I am posting this. I didn’t read my full 10 pages of Jane, so I probably should get back to that…

Anyway, we’ve been celebrating the soon-to-be 8-year-old this weekend. After I hit post, I hung out with the 3-year-old for another hour or so. My husband mysteriously disappeared after returning with the 11-year-old and 7-year-old from ice skating and then I realized he’d gone to take a nap. This didn’t put me in a great mood, especially since I’d spent an hour of my life trying unsuccessfully to get the 3-year-old to nap. I responded by refusing to round people up for our family trip to this arcade/go-kart/laser tag place. I sat on a chair and figured we’d go when we’d go. We did eventually get out the door, so maybe I will do that more often.

We left around 2:50 p.m. and arrived 3:20 p.m. The place was packed, but the birthday boy got to do the things he wanted to do: A round of laser tag, a stint on the tree course, riding in a double go-kart with Daddy. He also played some arcade games. I held everyone off from trying to eat at the arcade (the offerings weren’t great) and instead — after leaving around 5:15 — we stopped at WaWa and got various pretzels and icees and other such things.

We arrived home shortly before 6, and my husband and I commenced cooking dinner (fondue — I didn’t eat it). We ate family dinner around 6:30 — so at least that’s two family meals this week between that and yesterday. We finished around 7, did some clean up, and then we opened presents for the almost 8-year-old.

While he and my husband were writing thank you notes, I worked on my puzzle while the 3-year-old watched some random pedantic cartoon on YouTube. At 8:35 p.m. I took him up to read stories and have his “baba milk.” I got him into bed, at which point my husband took over sitting in the room with him. I went and did Legos with the birthday boy (starting around 9:05). We finished the set!

Now I am posting this. Only one more day to go in the 2023 Time Tracking Challenge! Since a few folks asked what these days look like in excel form, here’s an approximation:

7:30   7:45 up, H up, snuggle
8:00   H (+ scroll)
8:30   coffee, eat, ready
9:00   drive to Y, lift weights
9:30   lift weights, elliptical
10:00  elliptical (1.3), drive home
10:30  work/rituals, shower
11:00 Legos w/A, H home
11:30  kids, lunches, etc.
12:00 skate ready, H, phone
12:30 basement, stories
1:00 H, clean up,
1:30  work (in H room),
2:00 H, etc. play
2:30  ready (sit), in car, M drives
3:00  M drives, Arnolds
3:30  Arnolds (for A)
4:00  Arnolds (for A)
4:30  Arnolds (for A)
5:00  Arnolds, to WaWa
5:30  WaWa, M drives
6:00 cook dinner
6:30 eat family dinner
7:00 clean up, A presents
7:30 A presents, H diaper
8:00 puzzle (H computer)
8:30 puzzle, H up, story, feed
9:00 feed, Legos w/A (finish)

But I do think it’s worth figuring out where weekend time goes. This is because there are a lot of hours on weekends, and these hours are real time. It really exists and it really counts, and you can do a lot of awesome things with it — including chilling out completely if that’s what you arrange. But good to know that you had that chill out time so you can appreciate it!

After I posted yesterday I relented and took the 15-year-old to Starbucks. We got back at 3:30, and I did one last hour of work (3:30-4:30) before going for a 30-minute head-clearing walk outside. Then I let our nanny go for the day and played with the 3-year-old (with some help from the 11-year-old) from 5:00 to about 6:10 (my husband was running an errand during the last part of this…he had just gotten home from a multi-day trip so I admit I was not thrilled about this). Anyway, he took over around 6:15 and I helped the kids do make-your-own-pizza, which went in the oven and cooked until 6:50 or so. Then we had family dinner for the next 20 minutes.

I cleaned up and made a grocery list and then my husband took the 3-year-old and 11-year-old to both Costco and Wegmans. Much better! At 7:25 I commenced doing Legos for 30 minutes with the 7-year-old. Then at 7:55 I thought I’d like to take a relaxing bath as a nice Friday night, toddler-free activity. So I attempted to do that, but something was wrong with the plug and I couldn’t keep much water in the tub. So I had to keep running the water…which kind of did away with the relaxing bath idea. I gave up around 8:15 and did my puzzle for the next 45 minutes. Or maybe an hour or so. I know the crew was back by 9:30 and I put the 3-year-old to bed, with him down by 10.

I then helped put away the last of the groceries. I hung out with the 7-year-old reading Dog Man again until 10:35. Then I turned his lights out, saw the 13-year-old already had his lights out, and said good night to the others. Then I read from 10:45 to 11:30, at which point I heard the dog howling. I went and found my husband and suggested he take him out. Then I went to sleep, falling asleep around 11:45 (if I don’t have to get up, I can move my bedtime by up to an hour on weekends).

I woke up on what I thought was my own at 7:45 a.m., but as soon as I opened the bedroom door I heard the 3-year-old, so who knows if that is what woke me. I hung out with him until 8:30, at which point others were stirring. I made my coffee and a Pop-tart, got ready, and was in the car to the gym around 9.

Our YMCA is, alas, almost 20 minutes away (15 if zero traffic) so it isn’t terribly convenient. But it is a great gym. I listened to Taylor Swift on the way. I arrived 9:20 and lifted weights for 35 minutes. Then I did 15 minutes on the elliptical (the weight lifting was really the main reason I went). I was back home at 10:30 a.m.

My husband had taken the 3-year-old to the hardware store, so I wrote my last two lines in this week’s sonnet, read my Jane Austen, and then took a shower (ending around 11). I did a few more Legos with the 7-year-old, but then the toddler was back, and the next 45 minutes featured him, getting people lunches, getting the 7-year-old in his ice skating gear, etc.

My husband took the 11-year-old and 7-year-old to ice skating at 12:05, I cleaned up, and played with the 3-year-old again. At some point in here my husband called me because the skating place was saying I hadn’t signed the kids up for the right level and…I’m not sure how that got worked out. Anyway, at 12:45 I tried to put the 3-year-old down for nap/quiet time, but it didn’t really work. He was in his crib for 20 minutes, but now I am writing this sitting in his room while he plays around me.

I’ll try to check in later, but this is just a note of encouragement to try to keep going! You’re pretty close to a full 168 record. Just another day or so to go…

This Friday sort of featured those things, sort of…After I posted yesterday, I left at 3:50 p.m. to go get my 13-year-old from an after school activity. He was not out until about 4:25 (I got there 4:05), but if my 3-year-old sees me, getting out the door takes a lot longer, and involves a lot of drama. Since he + nanny + 7-year-old return from the elementary school run around 3:50, if I’m going to need to leave in the near future, I try to slip out by then. I drove to the middle school for the third time of the day, parked, and walked around outside for 20 minutes since it was a reasonably balmy January day. He got in the car at 4:25 and we drove to a nearby McDonalds to grab him an early dinner — two cheeseburgers for him and I will admit that I ate the fries. Then it was over to fencing, where we arrived at 4:50 and sat in the car until it opened at 5. Then I drove home, arriving around 5:20.

I went to find the 7-year-old, given that he had seemed to want some more mommy time earlier. We hung out for about 15 minutes chatting, and then I went to go chat with the 3-year-old. I put in two puzzle pieces and we ate dinner (tacos – nanny cooked dinner) at 5:50. We were done by 6:10, at which point I signed on to an online teacher conference (6:15-6:30). Then I changed a diaper, got ready, and drove to choir practice. (Nanny + 3-year-old went to pick up the 13-year-old at fencing at 7).

This is my weekly “night for me” — I have choir practice every Thursday night. We rehearsed our songs from 7-9 p.m. Then it was home to deal with the bedtime routine. The 3-year-old was theoretically asleep, so I went to read with the 7-year-old again, but we only made it 10 minutes before the 3-year-old was screaming for me. So I went in, settled him down, printed something for the 15-year-old, resumed reading (Dog Man again…), learned I had printed the thing wrong, then turned out everyone’s lights at 10. I shut down the house and did a few more pieces in my puzzle from 10:15-10:45. It took me slightly longer than usual to wind down but I did turn out my light at 11:10 p.m.

I was up with the alarm at 6:30. I got the boys up, showered, and was out the door at 7 to drop the 15-year-old off at school (7:14…there was more traffic) and the 13-year-old at jazz band (7:22 alas – we were late). I drove home, read to the 3-year-old, then drove the 11-year-old to school (raining, with the trumpet). When I returned home at 8:20 I grabbed some cereal, and sat down to work.

I again thought I might go to the gym at some point in the day, but I knew I was waiting for a fridge repair person to come. I thought he was coming in the morning, but then I got a text saying it was afternoon…so I decided to go for a morning neighborhood run instead. I worked from 8:20-10:20 on various things, including my weekly planning. Then I ran outside for 3.6 miles. I came back, made myself presentable and then the workmen showed up before noon anyway. I talked with them, left to get the 15-year-old at 11:45 (it was a half day) and we were home 12:05 or so. I grabbed lunch and ate it at my computer while working.

At 1:00 I had a call with my new VA, then I did an email triage until 1:55, at which point I drove my daughter to a nearby playdate. My 13-year-old came along because he announced that he needed super glue to finish his project for a competition he’s in…with the picture needing to be submitted by 3 p.m. He couldn’t find the super glue in the house, so we stopped by the local hardware store after we dropped my daughter off and he ran in to get some. We were home at 2:15. Now I’m writing this and hoping to get through a few more things. I know there will be another Starbucks trip this afternoon. There’s just no point in fighting it anymore…

After posting last night, I gave the 3-year-old a bath and made sure others were taking showers. I read the 3-year-old a story, and put him to bed (he was pretty tired again). I was done with that by 9:30 p.m., at which point I read to the 7-year-old, who I think really wanted some more mommy time. He had come in earlier to listen to the story with the 3-year-old too…sometimes this is the challenge of many kids. Anyway, I read a Dog Man graphic novel out loud for a bit. Then I finished the Lego Friends Art School with my daughter, and turned the kids’ lights out at 10.

At this point I started the dishwasher and then got to enjoy 30 minutes of free time, during which I did my puzzle. The Shakespearean insults puzzle is coming along, though each piece is something of a battle. Since it’s all text I can’t just say oh, all these red pieces go here and sort that way. I puzzled through the puzzle until 10:45, then went up, got ready for bed, and turned the lights out at 11. (I vaguely remember a bathroom visit at 5 a.m.).

At 6:30, the alarm went off, as it does. I got the boys up — checking to be sure they were up! — then took my shower. I was on driving duty this morning, and dropped the 15-year-old at school (7:10) and the 13-year-old at jazz band (7:20). I came back (7:30), helped with the 3-year-old, and then drove the 11-year-old to school at 7:50, retracing the route I had driven 30 minutes earlier. The 3-year-old asked to come along so he joined me for the route. Anyway, after coming home at 8:20 a.m., I was able to eat some cereal, and then get started on work.

I worked pretty much straight from 8:20 a.m. – 11:40 a.m. I turned in my essay, and recorded ads and Before Breakfast episodes (I’m now an extra week ahead!), and then was interviewed by a reporter for a piece on layoff anxiety. At 11:40 I went up to do my hair (to look pretty for Zoom…) but was interrupted by the door bell – a utility person was here to inspect the gas meter, and he couldn’t find it. This not really being my area of expertise, I had to confess that I didn’t know where it was either. So I gave him some ideas, he came back 5 minutes later to tell me had found it, and then I raced to get ready for the 12:00 Best of Both Worlds Patreon meet-up.

This was fun– an hour discussing healthy habits, and where we succeed and go awry. If you’d like to watch the recording and participate in our discussions, come join us! At 1:00 p.m. I answered some emails, then had lunch (eggs + spinach), and then played the piano for 20 minutes and worked through my songs for choir. At 2:00 I then did another hour of work, answering emails and sending in my sound files for various ads and episodes. Right before 3:00 I realized I was not going to make it to the gym, as I had vaguely intended, but I needed to “move by 3 p.m.” So I walked outside and fetched the trash cans from the bottom of the driveway, then walked around the street for a bit (until 3:20). While doing so, I bumped into the 15-year-old who must have taken the regular bus home.

Now I am writing this before heading off for another round of kid shuttling (Thursday is a pretty full day for that). Then there is choir — the way I mark the beginning of the second half of the week! I hope your first half of the week has gone well.

Anyway, here in the first half of the week things are chugging along. Last night after I posted here I took the 3-year-old up, read him stories, gave him his “baba milk” and waited while he fell asleep. This took longer than I would have liked as another child decided to start singing outside the door. The singing was perfectly lovely…but not when I’m trying to get a kid to sleep. As a result I got sucked into some Twitter arguments. Ah…

Anyway, he was down at 9:30 p.m. and I did Legos with my daughter, and then read to the 7-year-old. I turned everyone’s lights out and answered emails until 10:30. At that point I went upstairs to read but could not focus and wound up scrolling more (see the Twitter argument before…). A little voice in my head tried to convince me I could stay up later (somebody is wrong on Twitter! How could I go to bed?), but I told it to be quiet and I turned off my light by 11 p.m.

This morning I got up at 6:30 a.m. as usual, made sure the 15-year-old was up, showered, and was attempting to put my contacts in when the 3-year-old started screaming for me. Naturally, it then took twice as long to get my contacts in, and I was getting flustered. The upside is that the 3-year-old then came with me to bring the 15-year-old to school (I woke the middle school kids up before heading out the door). We came home, I confirmed that the 13-year-old and 11-year-old were mostly ready, and they got out the door for the bus. Our nanny came at 8 again, and I got some things done (10 pages of Jane, 2 lines of the sonnet, a blog post that I then forgot to hit publish on) before I needed to leave at 9 a.m. for a doctor’s appointment.

Theoretically this was only 12 minutes away, but I left 25 minutes early and it was good I did because there was so much construction on the way, plus a 10-car line-up trying to get in the parking garage, and I walked in the waiting room right at 9:30. Fortunately, getting there took longer than the appointment. I was back in my car at 10 and home 10:20. At this point, as I sat down at my desk, I noticed a gentleman waving at me through the window. It was the furniture delivery people, who I guess had knocked but not rang the doorbell (our nanny was waiting for the delivery while I was gone but no one could hear the knock). Anyway, they delivered the end tables, and I sat back down at my desk and noticed my husband had called so I called him back and was glad to learn his crew of folks hadn’t been affected by the two hour ground stop of all domestic air travel. Oh my goodness, I can’t even imagine the havoc that wreaked on people today. If your time log has that I am so so sorry.

Anyway, I finally got to work after that and did about 90 minutes of editing and such until 12:15 when I ate a quick lunch. I then played the piano and sang for 20 minutes, then had a 45 minute call to help onboard my new virtual assistant! (1-1:45). This is very exciting — she and I met with the team that’s been helping me on newsletters and such for many years (but are transitioning to other things).

After, I put on my running clothes and ran for 32 minutes, covering 2.7 miles according to my phone step counter (I feel like it was a little more but who knows, because that seems pretty slow). I then did more work, including an email triage for 2 hours from 2:45-4:45 p.m.

At that point, the 3-year-old was yelling for me, so I came out of my office to talk with him. He decided to come with me to go pick the 15-year-old up at school (5:00 pick up). I had said no Starbucks today, but as soon as the 15-year-old got in the van, the 3-year-old started asking “Starbucks? Starbucks?” My eldest noted that he’d be totally fine with that, and the 3-year-old kept asking (he likes cake pops) until I agreed. So we were back there again for more strawberry acai lemonades (an update on that — I drank half mine at home, the 3-year-old demanded it, so I gave it to him and he promptly spilled it all over the floor).

Upon returning home at 5:20 p.m. I worked for another 25 minutes until the 13-year-old needed a device for his virtual alto sax lesson. I set him up in my office, grabbed my other computer, and headed over to the garage to chat with a group in Connecticut about Tranquility by Tuesday (6-7 p.m.). Why the garage? Because the sound of the alto sax was noticeably loud in the house proper…

I came back at 7 p.m., nanny left, I ate dinner (eggs and bacon leftover from what the kids had already eaten). I hung out with the 3-year-old doing Play-doh until he started throwing it, at which point I put it up on a shelf and we shall see if it ever comes out again. I hate Play-doh, but Santa brought it so what can I do.

At 7:25 p.m. my daughter took over babysitting duties and the 13-year-old, 7-year-old and I took the trash and recycling out. This is cardboard night, and since we missed cardboard night over Christmas there is A LOT of cardboard. We took some. (The 15-year-old had math tutoring). It was a cold and crisp night, so not terrible, but I always feel on these trash nights like my driveway is really long.

Anyway, now I am posting this. I’ll bring the 3-year-old up shortly for a bath. He’s been on the computer watching Octonauts (and working on a diaper…) while I write this…

After, I came home and worked on various things until 12:30 p.m., when my husband and I ate lunch together (leftovers for me, sandwich for him again). I did a podcast-related call at 1 p.m., did various random things (it was that kind of day) then got in my running clothes for another 3 mile run (1:35-2:10 or so). Not far, not fast, but it wasn’t that cold, so it was fine.

I then proceeded to not work for much of the rest of the afternoon. My husband left for the rest of the day, so I had the house to myself, so I decided to play the piano for a bit (I wouldn’t do this while he was working from home and on calls…). Then I practiced some vocal exercises, then decided to sing through the Agnus Dei from Bach’s B-Minor Mass (also not good as an accompaniment to someone else’s Zooms). It’s a goal to practice singing more (three times a week is a habit!) so I’m glad I did that, but then I found it hard to get focused again. It’s unclear what I did with this time. Work/admin/etc. I know I did my puzzle for a few minutes, then kids started coming home, and I chatted with my daughter for a bit. I did manage to get back to my desk from 4:15-4:45 p.m. or so, at which point I fetched my 13-year-old from the bottom of the hill where the activity bus had dropped him, then went to get the 15-year-old from school.

He really wanted Starbucks, and it probably won’t happen later this week, so I took him. It’s one way to get a teenager to talk to you…The Starbucks parking lot is much easier to navigate if you have two people — one to go in, one to stay with the car (there are places you can idle but can’t park…). He got our strawberry acai lemonade refreshers, and then we drove home. Our nanny and the two little ones got home from karate shortly thereafter so we threw together dinner (tomato soup + grilled cheese mostly), and ate (5:50-6:10) and then I got ready to drive my daughter to her choir concert.

I had wanted some of the older boys to go but…they didn’t want to, and I didn’t feel like a fight, so I went by myself. She had to be dropped off 6:30 p.m., but it didn’t start until 7 p.m., so I read an interesting article in the Princeton Alumni Weekly about the conservative movement at Princeton. Then the kids sang. They were great! The songs were upbeat, and everyone was cheerful and the program was also short. We were out by 7:45, and home by 8 p.m.

Now I am writing this while the 3-year-old watches some Cookie Monster video on YouTube Kids. Everyone needs to be in their rooms by 9, and lights out by 10 and then everything starts over again!

I hope your second day of tracking went well. Let me know if you’re observing anything interesting!

After hitting publish last night I attempted to go do Legos with my daughter. But then the 3-year-old decided he wanted to see me to get his diaper changed (he was watching a movie with Daddy). Despite the late nap, he was definitely getting sleepy, so I got him in his PJs, we got his “baba milk,” read a few stories (Little Blue Truck Leads the Way and Little Blue Truck’s Christmas, among others) and then I put him in his crib. I sat in the rocking chair scrolling while he fell asleep, and I was out of the room by 9 p.m.

At that point I went to resume my daughter’s Lego project (we’re building the Art School from Lego Friends). We finished a bag and then I went to my 7-year-old’s room to work on his Minecraft Lego set. He’s not normally been as in to Legos, but he got two sets for Christmas, and he seems to have developed the patience to actually follow the instructions. I played with him until 9:40 p.m., at which point I felt like I really needed to get my contacts out. As I left, my 7-year-old asked if he could keep working on the Legos. Sure, go for it kid! After removing my contacts, I went downstairs to do my puzzle (of Shakespearean insults) for 20 minutes. When I came up to turn everyone’s lights out at 10, the 7-year-old had finished his set!

With all the kids down for the night, I attempted to watch the college football national championship game with my husband for a few minutes, but I wasn’t that into it (also, he’d taped it and was just fast forwarding to the major plays). I went upstairs and read Otherlands (I’m in the Jurassic Europe section…). My husband came up around 10:40 and we hung out for a while and I went to sleep right around my 11 p.m. bedtime. Success!

With getting into bed on time I was definitely drifting awake between 6-6:30 a.m.; I remember being conscious of sleep. My alarm went off 6:30 a.m. and I got up to go make sure the boys were up. The next 30 minutes did not go particularly well. My husband’s alarm went off but he did not seem to be getting up. He needs to be out the door with them at 7 a.m. on jazz band mornings to get the 15-year-old to high school and the 13-year-old to practice at the middle school at 7:20 a.m. He finally was in the bathroom at 6:49 at which point I suggested that he did not have time to shower during this window, and he was not particularly happy with me. I went downstairs to make my coffee but then got a vague sense that all the lights were still off and normally the 13-year-old has been down getting breakfast by that point. I went back upstairs and sure enough, he’d turned over and gone back to sleep. So he was roused a second time, and I threw together something for the boys to eat, and tracked down the 15-year-old who told me he still needed to wet down his hair…and everyone was mad at me which just made me even more incensed. I could have slept later if I wasn’t trying to keep the trains running. Anyway, they left at 7, as I was upstairs waking the 11-year-old.

I made her eggs and made the 7-year-old’s lunch. My husband returned at 7:30, at which point I drove my daughter down to the bus stop. When I returned, I could hear the 3-year-old yelling for me from his crib (I assume my husband was taking his delayed shower and didn’t hear him). The little guy was feeling much, much better (no coughing!) but he was also in a bit of a mood and just wanted to snuggle. So we proceeded to spend much of the next 20 minutes sitting on the floor together. Our nanny came at 8, but I was helping with the kids so I didn’t get to my office until 8:40 when she, the 7-year-old, and the 3-year-old all left.

At this point, having been up for 2+ intense hours, I breathed a sigh of relief, turned on my gas fireplace, and started reading Jane Austen. I wrote my 2 lines in my sonnet, then worked on various projects (interspersed with various logistical matters/texts involving our generator and trying to get Eagles tickets). It is now 10:40 and I will likely to continue to work on the various projects until lunch in an hour. I’ll aim to check back in later tonight with my log from the rest of the day. Hope your morning went well!

From 12-1 p.m. I edited Before Breakfast scripts and practiced reading them. I checked email again, and then realized that the house was quiet enough — I think the 3-year-old was watching a movie upstairs with our nanny — that I could record. This is always a gamble, because it’s annoying to stop in the middle, but I decided to go for broke.

So from 1:15-1:50 p.m. or so, I recorded five episodes of Before Breakfast back to back.* The first four were good on the first take (no sound edits). That’s why I practice!** The fifth I had to repeat phrases twice, so I made a note of that.

After finishing, I went upstairs and changed into my running clothes. I was out on the driveway when I bumped into the arborist who monitors our trees (our historic house turns out to have some very old trees that we hope don’t fall on us…). Turns out she was in London after Christmas too so we chatted about that and I didn’t start running until about 2:20. Then I ran 3 miles and was home 2:55 or so. I sent in my Before Breakfast sound files (listening to the one with the edits to catch when they were so I could note them for the producer). I got a snack and spent a while texting with various people (including setting up some math tutoring).

Then I worked on various random stuff as kids started coming home. I never assume I will get time to work after 4:00 p.m. though I often do. I left at 4:20 to pick up the 15-year-old from an after school activity. Right around when I got home my 11-year-old had a trumpet lesson, which she tends to use my office for. So I did some idea generation at the kitchen table before leaving at 5:10 with the 7-year-old to go to his Ninja Warrior class. We chatted in the car there, arriving right as class started at 5:30. I checked in with the front desk about his upcoming birthday party, then worked at a table in the gym area for the hour-long class. I wrote much of this post and then worked on future Before Breakfast episodes (I try to be a few weeks ahead but I lost much of my buffer over the holidays. So I need to make up some time.).

At 6:30 p.m. I went into the class where my kid was climbing up slides and dangling on rings and otherwise didn’t want to leave. But they cleared them out by 6:40 (and I said hello to another parent I know) and then we drove home.

Everyone else had already eaten when we got there at 7 so I put together a plate of things he’d eat,*** and then I had the pasta everyone else had. I scrolled while eating, then the dog was whining so I took him out. It was very dark and cold out! I’m glad this is normally my husband’s job.

Now it is 7:30 and I am posting this. I’ll likely go find the toddler soon (he’s with my husband) but I know he took a late nap so who knows when he’ll go to bed. Well, I guess we’ll all know tomorrow when I post my time log!

I hope your first day of time-tracking has gone well!

*For any new folks joining us, Before Breakfast is a very short podcast — about 5 minutes per episode. Each episode features a tip designed to take your day from great to awesome!

** I don’t know why I care so much about this, but I don’t like doing multiple repeat takes if I can avoid it. When I recorded the audio book for Tranquility by Tuesday the producer called me “One Take Vanderkam” — not because I would naturally read things right the first time but because I’d read the book aloud as I’d written it, so nothing was new.

***You tell me — how can a child have the personality to take massive physical risks, darting up to the top of the climbing walls, throwing himself through an obstacle course, but not want to eat unfamiliar foods?