When I started my Instagram account, back in March, I had no idea what an amazing, kind and caring community of mothers (and fathers) was out there. I have met so many sweet and inspiring moms over the past couple of months. They live all over the world, either working moms like myself or stay at home moms. Seasoned moms with multiple kids or new time mamas. They are all so different and yet we also share a lot of things in common. For starters, we are all sleep deprived and trying to balance being a mom with everything else in life. But the most important thing we all share is the love we feel for our children. Today on World Mama I would like you to meet Shannon. She is a working mom from Atlanta, Georgia. Shannon is married to Todd and together they have two girls. She is one busy mama and if you want to know what a day in the life of Shannon looks like, keep on reading!

I often get asked, “How do you do it all?” or something similar, and I also often hear that I appear to have such balance. Well, I must make it look really easy because 1. I don’t do it all and 2. I have zero balance. Some one actually used the word “glamour” recently and, as sweet as the comment was, I laughed out loud. That said, I thought it might be a good idea to share what a typical workday looks like for me lately. Todd and I take turns with morning kid-duty but here’s an example of what my day looks like when it’s my turn to drop the girls off.

5:40 am: Alarm starts to sound. I hit snooze.
5:49 am: Snooze again.
5:58 am: Snooze once more.
6:07 am: Check my phone. Respond to messages and comments. Block 20-30 creepy men who followed me over night. Post my daily photo.
6:30 am: Get in the shower (20 minutes later than I should have)
6:45 am: Start getting  ready for work
7:30 am: Go upstairs to get A ready for school (20 minutes later than I should have) and pray that she’s in a good mood and is cooperative.
7:32 am: Rush her to move faster even though it’s my fault we have to rush. Defiance, frustration, and tears ensue.
7:50 am: Go downstairs, pop 2 waffles in the toaster for A and give her a yogurt squeeze pouch because there’s no way she’s getting to school before 8:00 when breakfast ends.
7:51 am: Load my stuff in the car. Chances are I didn’t pack lunch the night before and I don’t have time to make one so I go to work sans lunch.
7:52 am: Wake up E, change her diaper, and put her glasses on.
7:55 am: Load kids in the car.
8:05 am: Drop A off at school (5 min past the end of breakfast), waffles and yogurt pouch in hand.
8:15 am: Drop E off at my mom’s house.
8:20 am: Head to work (20 minutes later than I should have). Check and answer emails and comments at stop lights (shhh… I know).
9:20 am: Get to work (20 minutes later than I should have – if I’m lucky and there’s no accident on the way there, of course)
9:30 am: Put the yogurt that was supposed to be my breakfast in the office fridge and go straight into meetings.
12:00 pm: Think about how hungry I am but get so engrossed in emails, messages, comments, and work that I lose track of time.
12:50 pm: “Oh crap, I have a 1:00 meeting. I should eat something”
12:55 pm: Eat my breakfast for lunch.
1:00 pm: Meetings start again.
2:00 pm: Starving. Must find food. Eat junk.
5:00 pm: Meetings end. Actual work begins.
6:30-7:00 pm: Leave my office.
8:00pm: Get home.
8:15 pm: Start putting E to bed while Todd puts A to bed. Before I got home, he picked them up, cooked and fed them dinner, and gave them baths. He does it all. He’s amazing.
9:15 pm: Leave E’s room after rocking her and singing songs.
9:15 pm: Pick up toys. Clean up any messes laying around.
9:20 pm: Eat dinner.
10:00 pm: Blog. Prep my social media posts for the next day. Answer emails, messages, and comments.
12:00-1:00 am: Go to bed after falling asleep at my laptop.

#LatherRinseRepeat

If you’re reading this and thinking that I’m doing life wrong, you’re probably right. Actually you are right. It used to not be this way but little by little, I have ended up working later and later every night. My commute doesn’t help, either.

Get to know more Wold Mamas!

Despite my fear of being judged as a terrible mom (because I feel like one a lot), I thought it was important to write this because social media has a way of making things look easy, perfect, and effortless. But knowing this fact, I would be neglecting my purpose as a blogger if I didn’t show you the reality of my life, despite the appearance thereof. It’s hard and exhausting and I miss my family during the week. Motherhood in and of itself is hard and exhausting, regardless of whether you work away from home, at home, or are a SAHM, am I right?! It’s crazy and chaotic but it’s a blessing for which I’m grateful.

So no, I don’t do it all; I barely do any of “it” and I don’t balance well at all. But, I’m working on it and hope to see some improvement soon. I know you’re probably thinking I should just ditch the blog but I can’t. I won’t. This is the thing I do for me.

So, there’s my day in the life. Share yours with me!

Shannon writes about her life as a working mom on her blog momwithoutlabels.com. She is one of my favorite bloggers, because she is honest and smart and caring. So be sure to check her out!