To ask what your life looks like at the moment?

Work out of the house 7.45-5.30pm. Not paid enough to get off UC! (Thanks 25 year teaching career...!)

3 children eldest 14

Sole parent

5.30am walk dog/ prep any lunch bits which couldn't be done last night.
Usually get a load of washing out, esp in this weather.
Drop 1 at breakfast club
Older two walk

Work

Pick up youngest 5-5.30pm

Feed 1st round (big snacks)

Love summer as less sports clubs so we are on 12 clubs per week at the moment. Take any children to clubs which are too far to walk.

Feed proper dinner all

Youngest to bed with guidance while 'encouraging' older two to wash/ tidy/ homework etc.

All in rooms and 2 asleep by 9ish.

Washing cleaning (minimal I just can't face anything much post bedtimes)

I'm exhausted all the time.

DH and I, retired, adult son doesn't live at home. Up at 8, read papers over breakfast then exercise. I then go to Zumba class twice a week and coffee with the girls after.
If we're in the UK and the weather is dry we'll walk into town, visit the coast, an NT property or just go walking. DH teaching himself guitar. Plus gardening, household jobs/projects, shopping. Go abroad to various short-haul destinations for about 4/5 months a year in total between mid September and mid June.
Dinner at 7.30ish, TV. Bed at about 11 and read. Fortunate to have no stress, very happy.

My life has just turned a corner for the better. I have 2 sons with ADHD, one is 24 now and has just sorted his life out. He’s quit cannabis, got a job, got engaged and will soon be moving out (I’m gutted for me because I’ll miss him terribly but happy he’s turned a corner) 17 year old is an awesome young man but his ADHD makes him quite volatile. He suffered with MH issues for a couple of years and would abscond in the middle of the night so sleep was a rarity. He’s in a much better frame of mind now.
Im up at 7 in the week, start work at 9 and home by 6:15 most nights.
Saturdays are spent with DM since DF passed away 3 years ago. Sundays are spent trying to get on top of the housework, washing and ironing etc.

Married with two primary age children. I work 35hrs a week, as does husband.

Husband and I get up at 7, leave for work at 8. Nanny takes children to school and is there during the day to do housework and laundry. She picks them up from school.

Husband and I are home by 6-6:30. Kids have had dinner. They are asleep by 8:30. We then have dinner. Watch TV. I have a second ‘hobby’ job, so often work in the evenings too. Bed at 11ish.

We both WFH on Monday and Friday so both do the school runs those days.

Weekends we go out as a family, do chores and gardening, visit family or friends. I also do a bit of the hobby job work too. We are also renovating our house ourselves, so lots of DIY.

Once a month or so I see friends for drinks, dinner or theatre trip.

I wouldn’t say we are run ragged but we do work an awful lot.

What time do you get up?
6.30am

What responsibilities do you have?
I have to get my children to school and back, clean the house once a week. Do any life admin

How long do you work for?
I don’t work, I am studying though, teaching myself new things

What do you do after work?
As I don’t work, I’ll say that I exercise, read books, work on projects that interest me, go to coffee shops, spend time going to interesting places, meet friend's.

School holidays I look after the children as my first priority.

What time do you go to bed?
11pm

What do you do with time when you're not at work?

As above.

52, DH and son 9. Live in rural village. Work for myself from home. DH similar.
Today I:
Got up at 6.45
Coffee and newspaper before making breakfast for son and walking him to school for 9. Also tidied house etc.
Picked raspberries and had them for breakfast with yoghurt and muesli. Also picked tomatoes.
At desk working and a bit of faffing 9.30 to 4.30.
Walked back to school.
Spent 30 mins in greenhouse. Now cooking dinner with glass of wine.
We will watch telly with DS and then more telly later (not shite telly)
DH has wash on (his second of day). He has also been in home gym.
Son has football twice a week - DH takes
I do shopping, house admin and finances, planting and weeding. DH does power tool gardening and dirty jobs. Cleaner every two weeks.
i go out to boxing and yoga weekly. Am in London quite regularly for work and socialising while DH holds the fort.

I'm sorry for all of you who are having a tough time.

Our lives are pretty simple I think. There's me, DH and DS (nearly 5, just finishing Reception).

DH and I both work full time (which for both of us equates to c.60 hours a week). Both of us tend to be in the office 3 days a week and WFH on the other two. We both travel a bit for work but normally only short trips.

We get up between 7-7.30 when DS gets up. The school is at the end of our road so not a long school run. We work it out on a day by day basis depending on work schedules.

If I'm WFH, I'm at my desk by 8.45; about 9.15 in the office.

Mon - Weds, DS is in afterschool care. It's been a nanny this year but we're going to use school facilities next year. One of us has to be home by 6.

6 - 7.30 tends to be homework/tea/bath for DS. He goes to bed then and we eat later at about 8. We will watch TV or read for a bit and then normally both go back to work until 11pm/midnight.

Having a cleaner makes it easier. We both have senior jobs where you can dip out to do some exercise in the middle of the day when you're at home. We have enough disposable income to make our lives easier (eg Deliveroo a supermarket shop if we've run out of something we need). The thing that makes it easiest is probably only having one child who is generally pretty easy going. The one child partners by choice, the easy going part is just luck!

Okay . Very outing but my DH works away abroad most of the year. We also have two children.
I have severe mental health conditions.
My beautiful Dad was diagnosed with cancer yesterday.

It’s a bit shit right now.

Oh darling.
I wish I could give you a hug in real life.
Sending you strength and healing during such a difficult time

Get up at 5am, 6am or 7am depending on what bus I'm getting, grab a shower and some kind of breakfast I can eat on the go. Get into work at 6.30am, 8am or 8.20am as none of the flexibility I was banking on in this job has materialised since new boss arrived although of course they swan off whenever they feel like it. Senior senior management are utterly incompetent, over promoted and under experienced, classic battlefield appointments (or in this case post COVID as everyone my sort of age burned out and left and has sometimes returned in a lower banded job).

My little team is lovely but most of my time goes on attending drivelly meetings with drama llamas and attention vampires. Rarely able to have a lunch break, if I'm lucky I manage to get out of work at 4.30 and get home at 5.45pm. Check on disabled partner, feed cats, prepare tea, throw a load of washing in, and then start on second job on computer. Almost always utterly exhausted by 9.30pm at the latest, make lunches, make sure disabled partner has food for the morning, make sure disabled partner aids are in kitchen, bathroom etc ready for the morning, check any appointments or follow ups, and sleep fitfully until alarm.

Weekends are a bit better but I am so exhausted I often end up sleeping the afternoons away. I feel there is no joy in life any more and until I can find another job that will let me work flexibly again trying to fit in appointments, groceries, haircuts and general life admin is wearing me out. I am counting down the days until I can at least part retire.

I don't know how those of you with young kids manage.

Kind of stressful right now.

Just started a new job in a new direction and it's... a lot to learn, quite daunting. I'm going to be much busier than I ever have been in my career to date - historically, if I'm honest, I could take some time of WFH days to do domestic stuff, help the kids, give lifts etc - but not anymore for the foreseeable.

Husband is stressed as he's trying to launch a product he's spent two years developing, and 2-3 months ago he started looking for a short-term contract to raise funds for final push/marketing - only to find the market seems to have totally died and he can't even get an interview when previously he would have a few every week and find a contract within a few weeks.

And I think this is playing in to him having real difficulty with DS, who has ADHD and didn't do very well in end of year tests so DH is getting very angry with him and threatening dire consequences over summer holidays, which I'm trying to channel into something more productive for DS about doing some practice and maybe summer schools, rather than some kind of punishment.

Oh, and it's DS's bar mitzvah in September - it's a fairly straightforward affair and DS seems on track to do what he needs to, but I'm still rather stressed about organising it.

Parklife!

I have a husband, we have two children, a 9 year old and a 2.5 year old, I only work three days a week (as does he).

Work day
5:30am wake up
5:40 run with the dog or go to the gym
6:40 shower, dress, breakfast
7:00 if they’re not already awake wake both the kids up, brush the little ones teeth and supervise the older one doing his
7:15 make them both breakfast, dress the little one
7:40ish set something up for the toddler to play with so I can help our son double check he has everything for school
8:00 wake up husband with a coffee and a biscuit
8:20 walk to work
4:00 finish work and walk home
4:40 get home see how both the kids are, that our sons had a good day at school etc
5:15ish start cooking tea with an aim of eating at 6pm
6:30pm bath time/bedtime routine for our daughter
7:00 bedtime routine for our daughter
Do what I like until bed at 11:30-12ish

None work day
6:00am wake up
6:15 go for a run, gym and do some hyrox specific bits
8:00 get home and take over the children so my husband can go to work
8:10 see if son wants me to walk him to school or not
The day then varies depending if I’ve planned anything specific, or if its a library day etc, if it’s nice we’ll go on a dog walk around the park and see what animals we can spot.
3:15 our son gets home from school so see if he has any homework etc
4:30 husband gets home from work
5:15 start tea and then the same as the above.

Some evenings our son might have rugby or dance, I might have rugby, my husband might have walking football etc. Things like cleaning etc we just do a little at a time to keep on top of it. Me and my husband have fridays off together, so often we’ll use nursery that day and have a day to ourselves.

Overwhelming.

cant work due to my autism and I feel so frustrated . Cant really do much at all due to it and I feel like it’s really ruined my life

Me, DH and 2.5yo DS, plus two dogs and some horses. We own our own business in agriculture which keeps him busy much of the time, I’m not expecting him home before 10pm tonight anyway. I work one day a week when my DS goes to his GM for the day, my office is on the farm. Otherwise I’m a SAHM. We get up around 7, we normally do a class or activity (swimming, music, etc) in the mornings, then the afternoons are our own. We go to the beach, ride our horses, walk the dogs on the farm or in the woods, play in the garden, go to the park, all those fun things. He’s in bed asleep by 7, I go up at about 10/10:30.
I feel incredibly lucky, I love my life. I would rather like to see my husband more but you can’t have it all I suppose, and of course with the hours he works, he doesn’t do anything around the house so that’s all on me.

Work full time.
Also training and studying alongside work.
Gym and classes 4 times a week.
Walk dog every day.
2 teenagers who need driving around as live rural and no buses.
No cleaner.
Husband works full time.

I'm tired.

Alarm at 6.15am, will be up between 6.30 and 6.45 depending on what time I start work.

Generally start work between 7.30 and 8.30am and do 10hr shifts over 4 days a week.

Have weds off where I catch up with household chores, shopping and open uni coursework.

Evenings - home by 6.30pm or just after. Dinner and other chores. Bed by 10/11pm.

Weekends- open uni work, household chores and shopping. Sometimes a day trip on one of the days.

I'm single with a 15yr, 18yr and 23yr at home plus two dogs and a kitten. It can be a bit hectic as older ones are in and out at odd times and the 15yr wants me to take her places as we are rural with poor bus services.

Up at 6am and leave house at 07.15 for commute to work.

Leave work at 21:30 ish and get home 23:00ish. 20 mins for a cup of tea and then bed.

Repeat x5 days a week.

Me, DD, H and a cat. Currently on maternity leave from 4 months in NICU. Sleep when the baby sleeps, pump/feed/burp/clean up on repeat. Occasionally squeeze in a shower, some housework, a bite to eat, cuddle with the cat or, if I'm really lucky, an episode of Big Bang. Last week I even managed a few walks (baby is still on oxygen, so getting out of the house is a military operation). Hoping to repeat that with the nice weather, if I get a day with only one health care professional coming in.

My life feels a little bit mad to be honest, but I suspect compared to others it's fairly sedate.

I'm up by 7am, showered etc.
3 teens/tweens get themselves up and ready for school.
At work by 8.30am, home by 5.30am
(DH works shifts, a mix of earlies, lated and nights)

2 evenings a week I teach at a sports club, and 1 weekend morning.

1 evening DS has swimming

Mostly spend my free evenings watching TV or reading, cleaning the house etc. Occasionally go out for meals.

House never feels clean enough. I always feel like I'm losing track of something and I don't sleep enough but hey ho.

Following

DH and I, hopefully only around 6/7 years to retirement. 3 DC in their 20’s, eldest has moved back home to try and save for a house deposit. It’s great having him back, but he is very messy.

I work 3 days a week, alarm goes off at 6.am and I’m out of house 7 am to 5.30pm. DH self employed mainly wfh. Even on non working days and weekends alarm set for 6am and dog gets taken for walk by 7am.

DH has a few sporty hobbies.I don’t have hobbies as such but always seem so busy. On my non working days and weekends I see friends a a lot for walks or coffee or lunch. Do gardening (but dislike it). Housework. I like pottering although that is such an old fashioned word.

We are probably out 3 evenings a week seeing friends, going to theatre, going to concerts, quiz nights etc. So much to fit in. At the moment we are manic.

If we are out I can stay up to the early hours. If we are in I’m in bed between 9 and 10, promising myself I’ll read but the reality is I’m dropping off not long after I get in to bed. I’m averaging 7 hours sleep a night at the moment which is fabulous. The menopause messed it up, but now if I don’t drink too much , sleep these days is sorted.

We are fairly new vegetarians , and I will never go back to eating meat.

We’d like to retire soon but simply can’t afford to, still have a mortgage and we like the good things in life. I wish I could go back 20 years and be far better at managing our money then so we’d be in a better financial now. I feel sorry for the younger generation and realise it is much harder for them.

This time last year I was working full time plus extra hours, felt like I never had time for anything or anyone, I was a stone overweight and I was fed up. I decided something had to give so I quit my job and got a local part-time role on much less pay with much less stress and responsibility. I think some of my friends thought I’d gone mad to be honest, especially the ones I met through my old career.

So my life now: I have two DC aged 5 and 8, and I work 2.5 days a week (usually two days in the office and one from home).

On a work day I’m usually up at 6.30am ish, take kids to school at 8am, go to work and then either DH or I will pick them up from school / after school club. In the evening I catch up on chores / cook dinner, I’m also out quite a lot as am very involved in a couple of local groups. Sometimes go to the gym if I can be bothered!

I have two days a week where I don’t work and the kids are at school and on those days I do most of the errands and housework so we don’t have to worry too much about it at weekends.

Basically my life is pretty straightforward and not that stressful! It’s nice whilst the kids are small and I don’t plan any major changes for at least the next 2-3 years. Weird though to think how different my life could be if I hadn’t quit my old career and I do feel I’ve let the side down a bit by giving it all up.

Blimmin heck 😅