I owe everyone an explanation on how I ended up here. A mom of 4, commuting to work Monday through Friday, and still managing to keep my sanity.

For starters, let me explain. I started a full time job in Dallas in October 2024. I was previously working from home for my parents freight company. When I “quit” that job, they asked if I could continue to do a few things for them until they made other arrangements. The extra money has been sweet, but it has required me to work a lot of early mornings, late evenings, and weekends. Some weeks, I am not sure I will get through.

How I operate with a full time and part time job:

My full time job is perfect. I am a personal assistant for a family in Dallas. I work in their home and assist the family in just about anything. No day is the same, they are a down to earth lovely family, and I truly enjoy it. The benefits cannot be matched. Most days I pinch myself. We will get into this later, but I am 100% convinced God had full control over this.

My part time job varies by week. I process payroll which is on a set schedule and I process payables three times a month. So some weeks, like this past one were lighter because I did not have payroll, but next week will be hell because I will be working every morning and evening. The extra money is serving us so well right now. Our oldest is in college. Four kids cost 1 million dollars a day. I like nice things.

So what does a typical day look like during a busy week? Normally, I get up between 430am-500am. I will drink a cup of coffee while sitting at my desk working. I have learned over the last 15 months that even a 15 minute pocket of time is golden. I shower etc around 6am, ready to make Joe’s eggs and the kids breakfast around 620am.

Now let’s be real. If I had toddlers there is absolutely no way I could do this. No way. Impossible without a nanny or a stay at home dad. So if you are reading this and you have little ones, just stop. Well don’t stop, you may get something out of it for the future or you may be able to take bits and pieces. Our youngest is 10. He dresses himself, makes his lunch, could make his breakfast if needed…this is all a game changer and one of the only reasons our current lifestyle works. Oh, and most mornings I throw in a load of laundry before we head out the door.

Ok so back to my day. I take the youngest to school and head into Dallas to work. Most days it’s an hour commute. I know. Woah. But, hear me out. I am a podcast junkie and no, I do not listen to crime podcasts. I love a good self improvement or business/entrepreneurial podcast. So that is why my hour is doable. I set my mind up to make it doable. I make the most of it. I embrace it vs fight it. (side note: some days its hard and some days I complain, but most days I just do)

I get to work and hit the ground running. Again, I throughly enjoy what I do and most days can’t believe I do what I do.

Drive home, same thing. Podcasts. (If you have any that you recommend, please share…I am always looking to add more). I need to find a few good audio books as well.

Joe and Jackson (17) take care of school pick ups. That’s a whole other caveat that I can explore. It’s just us. Or the school bus. Lol! So, when I arrive back home all the kids are there. Most days, we have some idea of what we will have for dinner. Kate, 14, is our dinner cook. When I first started working outside the home, it was an adjustment. My mindset. The guilt. But now, it’s like heck yeah…our 14 year old cooks dinner and cleans the kitchen! Life skills x 100. Kids these days do not get that.

If it’s an evening where I need to work on payroll or payables, I head straight to my office and get to work. The kids have all adjusted to this and if they need me, I am right there.

Now, for the kicker, Joe works a standard 12 hour day Monday through Friday. When he finally gets home in the evenings, we grab what little family time we can. We just make it work. I can go off on a whole tangent with this…but I’ll save it. Why does Joe work a normal 12 hours every day?… well we thought things would be different.

Ok, back to the point. Our Monday through Friday is insane. Right now the kids have no sports going on, but we will start practices etc again soon. Typing this, I am like how are we still here? How have we not crashed? How is our marriage still thriving? How has our relationship with our kids improved, not suffered? Well, that is now my point, my friend.

If you find yourself in a similar season, working mom, balancing all the things, trying to figure out how to get out of survival mode and into a thriving mindset…you’ve come to the right place.