A Week in the Life of Gamer Mom: Toddler Edition
Being a parent is great, but it’s also nonstop. Before having a kid, it was easy to balance a full-time job and a gaming hobby. My free time was spent jumping into TVs in Persona 4, exploring Tamriel in Skyrim, unlocking every achievement in Hexic, solving puzzles in Portal 2, and watching Zelda Randomizer on Twitch.
Then, along came baby and free time was spent making bottles, packing lunches, doing extra laundry, and most importantly spending time with my daughter. Because she’s still just under 2, we limit her screen time, so I can’t get away with mommy-daughter bonding over video games (yet).
Having a kid has changed my priorities and how I manage my time, but it hasn’t changed who I am. I loved gaming before, and I still love it now. So, I spend my energy achieving maximum efficiency in order to get it all done. The ultimate work-life balance. And guess what?
I have it all!
Ah ha ha ha ha ha HAHA. Ahem, excuse me.
Okay, we all know the myth of “having it all” is ridiculous. The pressure on parents (especially women) to achieve some sort of impossible status of balancing everything and doing it with grace and style is just dumb.
But actually, I do feel like I have it all.
I have an amazing, supportive husband who I love and who I have snippy, stupid arguments with when we’re both exhausted. I have a great house in a safe neighborhood. I have a sink full of dishes. I have a living room full of toys for my daughter (that are usually all over the floor) and video games for me. I have a dryer full of clothes that I tumble for 10 minutes at a time over and over before pulling out my outfit for the day. I have the smartest, sweetest toddler, and I have the most stubborn and draining toddler.
I do my best, but I’m certain there are better or faster ways to get things done. I’m always curious about other moms’ schedules and how they make it all fit in 24 hours. I have had lunch with all of my friends where I make them uncomfortable by asking how they spend every second of every day. I don’t want broad strokes. I want details, people! I want to know what happens in the 45 minutes between getting home and eating dinner. I want to know what time people go to bed and what time they wake up. After two years of talking to friends, and learning so much from them, I have implemented almost none of those lessons and instead spend my days scrambling to get things done. In the interest of sharing, as my friends have done for me, I present to you a week in my gamer mom life: toddler edition.
Basic stats:
Working mom
(Almost) 2-year-old daughter in daycare, cloth diapers and home lunches
Married
Monday
| 5:30 am | Alarm buzzes |
| 5:50 am | Groggily get out of bed and frantically get ready. Put on clothes I laid out the night before. Brush my teeth. Hair in a ponytail. No make-up |
| 6:08 am | Race to catch my ride to work. Husband and daughter are still asleep |
| 6:15 am | Commute begins |
| 7:00 am | Work. I usually toast a bagel or eat a breakfast cookie at my desk. I also put on mascara if I look really tired |
| 3:30 pm | Commute home. Another (~40min) for gaming |
| 4:15 pm | Pick up daughter from daycare and head home |
| 4:45 pm | Snack (cheese and crackers) and bubbles outside |
| 5:45 pm | Cook dinner while daughter plays in living room |
| 6:30 pm | Family dinner |
| 7:00 pm | Wheel of Fortune and more playtime |
| 7:30 pm | Bedtime routine (sippy cup, brush teeth, story time) |
| 8:30 pm | Chore Power Hour! Wash dinner pots/pans, sweep dining room floor (she’s outgrown the throwing food stage so it’s not as bad as it used to be), load and run dishwasher, pack toddler’s breakfast and lunch for daycare, feed and water cats, water plants |
| 9:30 pm | Watch TV with the husband while he stuffs the cloth diapers and I fold laundry |
| 10:00 pm | Blogging. Either I’m writing the next post (like this one!) or using Adobe Spark to create a meme for Instagram |
| 11:15 pm | Shower |
| 11:30 pm | Bedtime, much later than I would have liked |
Tuesday
| 6:30 am | Sweet, sweet telework day. Alarm buzzes an hour later than usual (and yet I still snooze for 20 min) |
| 7:00 am | Head downstairs to log on to work. Husband and daughter wake-up. I help her get ready. |
| 4:30 pm | Gaming! No Time to Relax on Steam. Sometimes I use this hour to finish up my blog post. I try to post every Tuesday |
| 5:30 pm | Husband and daughter get home |
| 5:45 pm | Cook dinner while daughter plays in living room |
| 6:30 pm | Family dinner |
| 7:00 pm | Wheel of Fortune and more playtime |
| 7:30 pm | Bedtime routine (bath, sippy cup, brush teeth, story time) |
| 8:30 pm | Chore Power Hour, again! Wash dinner pots/pans, sweep dining room floor (she’s outgrown the throwing food stage so it’s not as bad as it used to be), load and run dishwasher, pack toddler’s breakfast and lunch for daycare, feed and water cats, water plants |
| 10:00 pm | Gaming! Tetris 99, Baba is You, Golf Peaks on Switch |
| 11:15 pm | Shower |
| 11:30 pm | Bedtime, much later than I would have liked |
Wednesday
| 5:30 am | Alarm buzzes |
| 5:50 am | Once again, groggily get out of bed and frantically get ready. Put on clothes I laid out the night before. Brush my teeth. Hair in a ponytail. No make-up |
| 6:15 am | Commute to work |
| 7:00 am | Work |
| 3:30 pm | Commute home |
| 4:30 pm | Daycare pick-up |
| 5:00 pm | Grocery store and grab dinner at a poke place |
| 6:00 pm | Eat at home |
| 6:45 pm | Clean up dinner and play |
| 7:00 pm | Wheel of Fortune and keep playing |
| 7:30 pm | Bedtime routine (sippy cup, brush teeth, story time) |
| 8:30 pm | Still sitting in the chair in the toddler’s room |
| 9:00 pm | Husband gets home and we swap |
| 9:30 pm | Packing lunches, putting out clothes for tomorrow, scooping cat litter, feeding and watering cats, shower |
| 11:00 pm | Bedtime |
Thursday
| 5:30 am | Alarm buzzes |
| 5:50 am | Wish I could say I got up on time at least once. But I didn’t. Once again, I groggily get out of bed and frantically get ready. Didn’t lay out clothes the night before so have to dig through closet and dryer to piece together an outfit. Brush my teeth. Hair in a ponytail. No make-up. |
| 6:20 am | Drive to work because I missed the bus |
| 7:00 am | Pile on a pound of mascara when I get to work because I look VERY tired. |
| 3:30 pm | Drive home |
| 5:00 pm | Pick up daughter |
| 5:30 pm | Make dinner while husband plays with daughter |
| 6:30 pm | Family dinner |
| 7:00 pm | Wheel of Fortune |
| 7:30pm | Bedtime routine (bath, sippy cup, brush teeth, story time) |
| 8:30 pm | Chore Power Hour! You know the drill. Wash dinner pots/pans, sweep dining room floor, load and run dishwasher, pack toddler’s breakfast and lunch for daycare, feed and water cats, water plants |
| 9:30 pm | Gaming! Don’t Starve on PS4 (I’m trying to unlock Wes and Maxwell but stink at Adventure Mode) |
| 10:30 pm | Shower and bedtime |
Friday
| 6:30 am | Another sweet, sweet telework day. Alarm buzzes an hour later than usual. |
| 7:00 am | Head downstairs to log on to work. Husband and daughter wake-up. I help her get ready. |
| 4:00 pm | Stop working. |
| 4:10 pm | Put something on TV so I have background noise but don’t actually need to pay close attention (i.e., Gilmore Girls, The Bachelorette, someone’s fun Twitch stream). Work on the blog and think about how happy I am not to have to make dinner or pack for daycare tomorrow |
| 5:00 pm | Pick up daughter from daycare and head to my parents for Friday night dinner (which I wish was a Gilmore Girls-inspired relationship but is instead a product of my being too exhausted to cook and my husband going to play Friday night Magic the Gathering) |
| 5:30 pm | Playtime and dinner at the ‘rents |
| 7:30 pm | Start heading home but end up watching Jeopardy all the way to the end |
| 8:00 pm | Extremely rushed bedtime routine (definitely no bath, might skip brushing teeth if she falls asleep while having her milk) |
| 9:00 pm | Clean up a bit, but then remembering my husband is playing MTG so why should I be doing chores? so I play Subnautica |
| 10:30 pm | Shower and bedtime |
Saturday
| 7:30 am | Wake up. Husband’s day to sleep in (we alternate) |
| 8:00 am | Breakfast and play time (reading books, stacking blocks, coloring) |
| 9:30 am | Wake husband up |
| 10:30 am | Trip to the park, then the grocery store |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch |
| 12:30 pm | Nap time |
| 1:30 pm | Wake the toddler up from nap (we NEVER do this but today was a special occasion) |
| 2:30 pm | Attend my cousin’s high school graduation party |
| 5:00 pm | Drive home |
| 6:00 pm | Dinner. The toddler snacked a bunch at the party so she barely eats |
| 9:00 pm | Crappy TV and dinner with husband. We’re worn out from the day so we ordered delivery |
| 9:45 pm | Gaming! Don’t Starve on PS4 |
| 11:00 pm | Blogging and watched Edge of Seventeen |
| 12:30 am | Stayed up wait to late! |
Sunday
| 6:30 am | Daughter wakes up. My day to sleep in! |
| 7:00 am | I can’t sleep because I hear them playing downstairs (loudly) and wonder if she needs a diaper change and if my husband has had time to make coffee for himself. I force myself to stay in bed and browse social media |
| 8:00 am | I head downstairs to join them and am greeted with screams of joy (from both of them) |
| 8:30 am | Breakfast and playtime |
| 10:30 am | Run errands (mall) |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch |
| 12:30 pm | Naptime for daughter (long one because she got up early) and gaming for me (Subnautica) |
| 3:00 pm | Snack time and start getting ready to go to the pool |
| 4:00 pm | Finally go to the pool |
| 5:30 pm | Back home for dinner |
| 6:00 pm | Family dinner. I made enough to pack her lunch for daycare tomorrow too. Way to go, me! |
| 7:30 pm | Bedtime routine (bath, sippy cup, brush teeth, store time, in the crib) |
| 8:00 pm | Stuff cloth diapers and fold laundry while watching TV (Hi Score Girl on Netflix) |
| 9:30 pm | Crash in bed! Good night |
Things I’ve learned from this weekly summary
I need to spend more time:
- Interacting with my husband, not just doing chores next to him
- Exercising. I didn’t list it above but my job has a walking desk that I usually sign up for a few times a week. But I need to do more
- Cleaning
I need to spend less time:
- Watching Wheel of Fortune – I’m still confused about how this has become such a part of our routine. Although my daughter loves yelling letters at the TV: Eeee Oooooo RRRRRRRRRR!
I also realized that there was a big missed opportunity for gaming: my commute! After putting this all together, I started taking the Switch with me. I’m currently playing Final Fantasy VII while other people drive me to and from work. Commute alternatives for the win!
Well, I certainly learned a few things from putting this all together, and I hope you’ve found it interesting. Do you have any tips or tricks that help you get through your days? Share them if you’ve got them!
My Collection: Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)
Review: Subnautica
Top Ten Mobile Games to Play while Breastfeeding
About The Author
Beth G
Beth lives in Georgia with her husband, toddler daughter, infant son, two cats, and basement full of video games. She has a full-time job and a crazy commute. Beth describes her parenting style as “instant oats mama.” She’s a crunchy mama who also appreciates modern conveniences. In her spare time, you’ll catch her playing exploration, simulation, survival, or puzzle games.