A Week in the Life: Crindy, an accountant and adoptive mom of 3.
In this week’s feature, we’re sharing a different story. Crindy is an experienced accountant, who took a work break when she and her husband adopted twins in 2021.
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Have thoughts on returning to work after a career break? Share them in the comments below.
What’s your kid/family situation?
My husband and I have three adopted boys ages 6, 2 and 2 (twins). They're not biological brothers (except the twins, obviously). DH owns his own business and often works late nights, but it's also flexible so we see each other during the day sometimes - go for a walk or get lunch. We have one set of local grandparents: my mom works FT and cares for my disabled dad. Husband's mom and step-dad lives a couple hundred miles away in our hometown - we try to see them once a quarter.
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What is your job situation? (Job, hours, WFH vs butts in seat)
I have 12 years' experience as an accountant. I'm not working currently: I'm hoping to take a temporary contract job soon. When we took placement of the twins in 2021, my contract with my current company was ending, so I didn't take another. I thought it would be a six month break - it's been two years now.
What's your childcare situation? (daycare, wraparound care, nanny, magical grandparents)
6-year-old attends public kindergarten 8AM-3:10PM. Twins attend day care 9AM-2:45PM.
A Week in the Life
Monday
It's President's Day so oldest (Mo) is out of school. SIL was here over the weekend visiting: she will pack up and head home today. I take twins (Larry and Curly) to day care, then Mo and I make King Cake. We like to bake together but we usually do quick breads. Mo notes that this recipe is taking all day. It's a lot of fun though. Since SIL's dogs are with her, I don't bother cleaning up much but try to get started on laundry. SIL heads back home and I pick up twins around 2:45, take everyone to the park for an hour then my mom comes and I take Mo to MMA. I think we had chicken for dinner, which I prepped before leaving for MMA.
Tuesday
Up at 6:30, chat with Husband, have coffee, finish prepping lunches (make sandwiches), everything else is packed the night before. Mo has been going to bed late so I usually have to get him up around 7:20 so he can eat breakfast and not be late for school. Larry and Curly get up at 7 - they're usually awake at 6, but I make them stay in cribs until 7. Everyone's morning goes better if I give them time to wake up and chat with each other. Husband makes eggs, everyone eats, then I dispense allergy meds and vitamins. Mo and I leave the house at 7:45 to walk to school - it's .3 miles and a big reason we bought this house. I return home by 8, get twins dressed and ready for day care and we leave at 8:45. Return home, clean the house. At some point I stop for lunch (thai takeout leftovers from the weekend) and then go get the twins at 2:45, we drive to the park behind school and pick up Mo. Today is swim day, so I put everyone in the car and rush across town for 4PM swim lesson - only Mo is in lessons atm. Twins are on the wait list. Even though it's only 15 minutes, the twins behave TERRIBLY at swim lessons - I decide I need some activities for them to do while waiting for Mo. We head home, kids play while I make dinner (and have a beer). Then I do twin bath/bedtime routine, Mo and Husband watch a Simpsons episode. Twins go down around 7. Normal twin bedtimes is: bath, pjs, brush teeth, read book, give one asthma meds then lights out. Sometimes they cry but they're getting better about just going to sleep. I prep lunches for tomorrow and Husband gets Mo ready for bed. We usually switch off Mo's bedtime routine. I doomscroll for a few minutes then head to bed around 9.
Wednesday
Similar morning routine, instead of cleaning I work out in our garage, then meet a friend for lunch at a Thai place (I'm into Thai lately, apparently). She has older kids: elementary and middle school. We talk about older kid problems. I probably meet a mom for lunch once every 2-3 months. My bff lives in another city so we mostly text each other. After lunch I head home to prep dinner, then pick up the twins and Mo. We missed a swim lesson so we need to make one up today. Mom is supposed to watch the twins today but she's sick. Husband says he can be home by 4 to watch the twins. I've tried taking them to MMA but they aren't allowed on the mats (for good reason) and there isn't really space for them to play. In the future I may try to ply them with screen time, but my mom says she enjoys watching them and honestly I appreciate a night off of bedtime chaos. We just make it to swim by 4:30 for our make up lesson, then MMA. I thought Mo would be tired but he is revved up. He gets a stripe at MMA and he's so proud. I love MMA for the discipline. We have meat loaf for dinner, which I've prepped and sent Husband instructions for cooking. All my kids love meatloaf, which Husband and I find weird, but it's easy. I return home to find the twins bathed but the meat loaf isn't finished cooking. I try to be chill about this. We all eat dinner together, which is unusual, but we have a really nice time. I do twin bedtime routine then it's my turn to shower Mo and put him to bed. He takes HGH so after shower and pjs I give him his shot. He takes these like a trooper. We're also working on reading, so we do a reading lesson together. Then we read a chapter of Dog Man, which I don't love but he does so I keep reading them. Then it's lights out. I prep lunches for the next day and go straight to bed.
Thursday
Same morning routine, but I go grocery shopping. One nice thing about not working right now is I can decide the morning of what we're eating for dinner, then get the ingredients and prep it during the day. I'm really holding out for a remote job. One of the twins, Curly, has a ton of doctor appointments. He has trouble sleeping/breathing and we're trying to figure out what it is, since his symptoms are not well managed on typical asthma medication. I really enjoy having free time to cook and clean, but I'm bored. I will probably hire the cooking and cleaning if I get a remote job, but I'll still have to do the kitchen cleanup myself daily. Anyway, today we have swim again after school and this time I take some brio trains (without the track) for Larry and Curly to play with. They're a big hit. My recipe made two meat loaves, so I pop another one in the oven when we get home (instead of freezing it), make some frozen veggies then play with the kids for an hour before dinner. I very rarely play with them actually. After dinner I do twins' bedtime routine then it's Husband's turn with Mo. While they're doing bedtime routine I prep lunches then turn on a movie that's been billed as a comedy. Husband and I watch a full hour and a half of it before realizing there's 20 more excruciatingly unfunny minutes of it and turning it off and going to bed at 10:30.
Friday
Same morning routine. This weekend is Mo's birthday! I skip working out to go to the grocery store for birthday cake supplies. I pick up the twins, and Mo and two of his friends. Husband is taking them all bowling for Mo's birthday. The twins are tired and whiny from a full week at day care, so I take them to the park. We order pizza for dinner. Husband returns with Mo and the friends around 6 and I take them home (Husband doesn't know where either of them live). I return home to finish early bedtime for Larry and Curly. They go to bed without a peep. Then we settle in for our pizza/movie Friday tradition. Normally the twins get to watch with us but they were too tired today. I had told Mo we could watch Jurassic Park while it's free but it's back behind a paywall so we settle for an old favorite - Nacho Libre. I let Mo stay up til 8:30 then do bedtime routine. Since we were burned by the un comedy, Husband and I just talk about weekend plans and then go to bed.
The Weekend
This weekend is a little unusual in that we have activities all weekend. Saturday morning we "sleep in" til 7 then we eat breakfast and I get all three boys ready for Touch a Truck at 10. My mom comes over to go with us. Husband stays home to run and then pack for camping - he's taking Mo camping for his birthday. We come home to leftover pizza lunch then Mo and Husband leave for camping and the twins take a nap. I ask my mom to come back over at 3 to help me give the twins haircuts. She kind of takes over haircutting duty, which is fine by me, then we all go to the park. I make frozen taquitos for dinner and Mom helps me put the twins to bed. I settle in for a night to myself with my favorite candy and a movie. I go to bed way too late and the twins are up at 6 Sunday morning. We goof around, eat breakfast and I try to have them watch tv while I shower for church. Tv is not very successful but they enjoy playing with my hair dryer so whatever. If I'm being honest the family probably makes it to church once a month, but it's important to us so we do try. After church the twins are hangry so I feed them sandwiches and put them down for nap. Then I prep balloons and birthday decor and a cake for Mo. Mo and Husband get back from camping around 2 and clean all the camping gear. Then my mom and dad come over for Mo's family birthday celebration and we all play in the back yard, then eat dinner and sing happy birthday to Mo. I can't believe he's 6. Mom helps me with twins' bedtime routine, I put Mo to bed, then prep lunches and exhausted Husband and I are in bed by 8:30.
Reflections
What was your biggest success this week?
I was patient with my twins' meltdowns.
What was your biggest obstacle?
I'm honestly pretty bored at home all day. My days are busy with cooking and cleaning but it doesn't feel very fulfilling.
How are you making it work?
Me not working right now gives us a lot of flexibility. I really want to start working again, but on days where I'm running from appointments to groceries to "oh we forgot kindergarten has a half day today", sometimes I wonder if I can add work back in right now.