A Day with Heather: Come Spend a Day in My Chaotic Little World

Have you ever wondered what a typical day looks like around my house?

Well, today I’m taking you along for the ride.

I’m warning you now: it’s not glamorous.

There won’t be a 5 a.m. workout, a perfectly made breakfast, or a house that stays clean for more than approximately twelve minutes.

There will be laundry.

There will be a toddler.

There will be cleaning.

There will probably be something on the floor that I have no idea how it got there.

And there will definitely be at least one phone call to my sister.

Welcome to a day with Heather.

8:00 A.M.  And We’re Off

My day starts around 8:00 a.m.

Once I’m up and moving, the day starts moving pretty quickly.

There isn’t much time for me to sit around and stare at the wall contemplating my life.

There’s a house to take care of, a toddler to keep alive, laundry that somehow reproduces when I’m not looking, and a blog that I’m trying to build.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I try to remember to take care of myself too.

Some days I’m really good at that.

Other days…

Well, we’re just going to keep moving.

 Breakfast

Breakfast around here isn’t exactly a fancy affair.

Sophia gets to pick between a few things: cereal and fruit, eggs, pancakes, etc.

In reality, no matter what she picks, approximately half of it will end up on the floor.

And then I clean up whatever didn’t make it into her mouth and move on.

Learning Time with Sophia

About three days a week, Sophia and I have her learning time.

It’s only about an hour, and honestly, it’s one of my favorite parts of the week.

We’re learning colors, songs, shapes, books, little activities, and whatever else I decide we’re going to work on that day.

But it’s not really about sitting down and trying to turn my toddler into a college professor.

It’s about having an hour where I can sit with her.

We get to slow down.

I get to teach her something.

And we spend time together.

That’s the part I really love.

Because she’s only little once.

And yes, I want her to learn.

But I also want her to remember that Mommy sat on the floor and played with her.

The One-Hour Dash

Now, let me introduce you to one of my favorite things:

The One-Hour Dash.

My daughter Stephanie and I actually do this together.

We set a timer for one hour and pick about three or four spaces to clean.

Maybe it’s the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom.

Maybe it’s something different.

Then we go.

No spending six hours cleaning.

No getting distracted by every little thing.

No deciding that while we’re cleaning the bathroom we should also reorganize the linen closet, deep clean the baseboards and alphabetize the spice cabinet.

The timer is running.

We have one hour.

And when that timer goes off?

We’re done.

Is the house absolutely perfect?

Probably not.

But is it clean enough that if someone called and said they were coming over, I wouldn’t have to start throwing everything into a closet?

Yes.

And that’s good enough for me.

Because I don’t want to spend my entire day cleaning.

I want to have time for other projects.

I want to work on my blog.

I want to spend time with Sophia.

I want to sit down.

I want to live in my house instead of constantly working on my house.

And honestly, the One-Hour Dash works.

It gives us permission to say, “That’s good enough,” and move on.

We can spend the rest of the day working on other projects or, better yet, spending time with our babies without feeling guilty about what our house looks like.

This doesn't mean I don't deep clean. I absolutely do, but this keeps me from stress- cleaning every day. 

Laundry. Laundry. Laundry.

Let’s talk about laundry.

Actually, let’s not.

It makes me tired just thinking about it.

There are three people living in my house.

Three.

And yet the amount of laundry we produce has me wondering if there are people secretly living here that I’ve never met.

I strive to have a laundry day.

Once a week, I try to wash everything.

All of it.

I wash it.

I dry it.

I fold it.

I put it away.

And I feel like I have conquered laundry.

I have won.

I am victorious.

Then I wake up the next morning.

And there it is.

Laundry.

Staring at me.

Like it never happened.

And can somebody please explain something to me?

Why is it that every time I need a piece of clothing, I suddenly can’t find it?

I know I washed it.

I know I folded it.

I know I put it away.

And somehow…

it’s back in the laundry basket.

I don’t understand the laws of laundry.

I have accepted that I probably never will.

Heather Cleans. Sophia Destroys.

This is basically the theme of my life.

I clean a room.

Sophia destroys a room.

I clean that room again.

Sophia has moved on to another room.

I clean that one.

She goes back to the first room.

It’s an endless cycle, really.

At this point, I’m pretty sure Sophia isn’t actually making a mess.

She’s just redistributing the mess.

And honestly, she is very efficient at it.

One minute the living room is picked up.

The next minute there are toys everywhere.

I pick them up.

Then I walk into her room.

What happened in there?

I wasn’t gone that long.

Apparently, she has been busy.

And Don’t Get Me Started on Sweeping

Where does the dirt come from?

Seriously.

Where?

I sweep.

I look at the floor.

Clean.

I walk away.

Ten minutes later…

Dirt.

I sweep again.

More dirt.

I sweep the next day.

Dirt.

I sweep every single day, and somehow the floor continues to produce dirt.

I don’t know how outside gets inside as much as it does.

We have doors.

We have walls.

There are supposed to be barriers between the outdoors and my clean floor.

And yet somehow, I find grass, dirt, crumbs, leaves, and things I don’t even recognize on the floor.

I’m beginning to think there's a secret portal that just blows the outdoors onto my nice floors.

Lunch

Around noon, it’s time for lunch.

And let me just say…

It’s not TikTok-worthy

It’s lunch.

We’re going to try to eat something healthy and not the piece of candy she found underneath the couch.

Although I can’t promise there won’t be a debate about it.

Lunch happens, we enjoy each other, we talk, somebody (Sophia) spills something, I clean it, and we move on.

Somewhere in All of This, I Call My Sister

Calling my sister is a must.

She’s always busy.

But I’m a priority.

Obviously. 

At least that’s what I tell myself.

We have to talk.

Sometimes it’s a quick call.

Sometimes it turns into a much longer conversation.

Sometimes I call her to tell her about a funny video I've seen.

But somehow, no matter how busy the day gets, talking to my sister is one of those things that makes the day feel a little more normal.

And honestly, every woman needs somebody she can call and talk about absolutely nothing and everything all at the same time.

She’s one of those people for me.

And Then There’s My Grown Children

Somewhere during the day, I’ll usually talk to at least one of my grown children too.

It might be a phone call.

It might be a text.

It might be checking in to see how they’re doing.

Life changes so much as your children get older.

When they’re little, you’re constantly taking care of everything for them.

Then suddenly they’re grown and living their own lives.

You don’t stop being their mom.

You just become the mom who checks in and tries not to ask too many questions.

Okay…

Maybe I still ask too many questions.

But that’s what moms do.

Anytime I get to talk to my children makes my day better.

 Nap Time

Around 2:00, it’s nap time.

And let me tell you, Sophia loves her sleep.

She will actually let me know when she’s ready.

She’ll look at me and say,

“I’m sleeeeepy. I take a nap!”

And honestly, I respect the self-awareness.

If only adults could announce when they’re ready for a nap and have somebody actually put them to bed.

She goes down for her nap, and I get a little bit of quiet time.

That's usually when I work on my blog. I write, come up with ideas, promote, and sometimes work on upcoming books (hopefully coming soon!)

Every Day Is Different

The funny thing about my days is that even though I have a general routine, no two days are exactly alike.

Some days I’m productive.

Some days I feel like I accomplished absolutely nothing.

Some days the house stays pretty clean.

Other days I swear I clean the same room three times.

Some days Sophia and I have a wonderful learning time.

Other days she decides she doesn't want to do it.

And that’s okay.

Because this is real life.

It’s not always going to run like a well-oiled machine.

 Dinner Time

Eventually, it’s time to figure out dinner.

This has been a daunting chore since the beginning of time. 

Some days I have dinner planned out, a crock pot meal from a recipe I found on Pinterest, and other days I stare into the abyss we call the freezer until I pull out a frozen pizza and say, "good enough."

 My Husband's Home

Then Mike comes home.

And then there is another adult in the house.

We can have real adult conversations, instead of just "What's in your mouth?" or "Did you poop?"

It’s wonderful.

I tell him about my day.

He listens.

I tell him something ridiculous Sophia did.

He laughs.

And somewhere in there, I realize that even though the day felt chaotic, it was still a pretty good one.

Sophia’s Bath Time

After dinner comes bath time for Sophia.

And this has become one of those little routines that feels like such a normal part of our evenings that I sometimes forget how quickly these years are going.

Bath.

Pajamas.

Get her ready for bed.

And then comes one of my favorite parts.

Putting Sophia to Bed

Mike and I love putting Sophia to bed together.

It’s a little routine we’ve always done with her.

There’s just something about ending the day together that we really value.

We laugh.

We play.

We get her settled.

We tuck her in bed, and then eventually, she’s asleep.

The house gets quiet.

And Mike and I finally get some quality time together.

Sometimes we’ll watch a show.

Sometimes we’ll just sit and talk about our day.

Sometimes we’re both tired and don’t do much of anything at all.

But honestly, it’s one of the things we value the most.

After a whole day of everything and everybody needing something from us, we finally get to just be together.

 I’m Done

This is when I try to stop doing chores.

The key word is try.

Because there is always something else I could clean.

There’s always another load of laundry.

Another toy.

Another dish.

Another surface that could probably use a wipe.

But I did a lot.

I took care of my family.

I took care of my home.

I spent time with my little girl.

I worked on my blog.

I laughed.

I probably cleaned up something I had already cleaned up earlier.

And somehow, the day went by.

Lights Out

Between 10:30 and 12:00 am

 I’m finally ready for bed.

Of course, this is also the exact moment my brain decides to clock in for the night shift.

We need milk.

Did you pay that bill?

Oh, remember that thing that happened 15 years ago?

Apparently, this is also the time to replay an old conversation in my head, except this time, I have all the perfect comebacks I wish I had thought of back then.

Before finally passing out from exhaustion.

So, there you have it, a day in my life.

It’s not glamorous.

It’s not perfectly organized.

It’s definitely not quiet.

But it’s mine.

It’s the life I’ve built, the people I love, and all the little everyday moments that happen in between.

And tomorrow?

I’ll do it all again.

I want to take a minute and thank you all for being here and for the support you have shown me. It truly means more to me than you know. 

Comment down below and let me know what are some little things that make your day feel extra special.