The 24-Hour Diaries: Matcha, Motherhood, and the Mental Load

A little about me: My name is Safiya! I’m a first-time mom to a 16 month old, and I live by the ocean with my son and husband in Manhattan Beach, CA. I work in marketing alongside writing my substack Daughter of the Desert, and supporting mothers as a breathwork facilitator.

I love to spend my time hosting gatherings for mothers, studying infant neurobiology, and going on long beach walks with my toddler since he loves to be outdoors. I’m in a season of motherhood where I feel pulled in a lot of directions - I love spending most of my time at home with my son, but I’m also working remotely for a non-profit, hosting mom walks in my community, and facilitating breathwork sessions. I’ve been reevaluating how I’m spending my energy and how things can be more cyclical, so that I have breaks where I’m focusing on less.

6:05 AM: My son wakes up, I feel him start to move around as me and my husband co-sleep with him in our king sized bed. I never thought I would co-sleep, but it’s worked out wonderfully for us and I love getting to wake up to my son’s sweet face right by mine. He asks me to nurse (by signing for “milk”) and adds a sweet “please.” I nurse him in bed, and then we cuddle with Dada. I love slow mornings in bed together.

6:35 AM: My husband takes our son downstairs after a quick diaper change, and starts to make him breakfast and read to him while I get a little more rest. I’m grateful that at 16 months postpartum, my husband is still happy to take our son every morning so that I can sleep in a bit more.

6:40 AM: I go back to sleep and I rest in bed for 30 more minutes and feel ready to start the day. I take a quick shower, do a 15 minute breathwork and meditation, and then get dressed for the day.

7:50 AM: I come downstairs to my husband feeding our son breakfast. My husband (bless him) has my iced matcha latte and my breakfast all prepped for me. I eat breakfast while playing with our son, and hand him off to my husband to read a few books to him so that I can eat without balancing him on my knee.

8:32 AM: My husband heads out to work. He works in-office four days a week and works long days, so he tries to spend mornings with us when he can. I pop onto the couch with my son, and ask him what books he wants to read. He loves books, and usually wants me to re-read his favorites a few times.

8:50 AM: I turn on some chill music, and scoop him up in my arms so we can ‘dance’ and bop around together.

9:00 AM: My sister arrives, ready to watch my son so I can get to work and get some time to myself. We count ourselves so lucky that we have a family member who is willing to step in and nanny our son part time so that he can be at home while I work from home. My sister and I catch up as I nurse my son, and then I hand him off to her for the next five hours. It’s so hard not to spend more time chatting with her - but I know there’s lots to be done!

9:20 AM: I prep the crockpot, it’s become a go-to for dinners. I’m making shredded chicken for taco bowls for dinner tonight, which only takes a few minutes to throw together.

9:30 AM: I head to my desk and start to catch up on some work emails and schedule content.

9:50 AM: I head to the gym, a quick 10 minute drive from my house.

10:01 AM: I start a new book I got on my kindle (“Our Perfect Storm” by Carley Fortune) as I warm up on the treadmill. After I hop off the treadmill, I head to the machines to follow a guided workout plan as I lift weights - today is leg day! I put in a quick pickup order for my favorite matcha drink so it’s ready to go after my workout.

10:50 AM: I decided to cut today’s workout short so I can squeeze in a Target pickup order before going to PT, and grab a snack at home. I grab my iced strawberry matcha latte (my current addiction) from my favorite spot next door to my gym. I live a couple minutes away from Target, so I’m there multiple times a week - it’s super convenient!

11:03 AM: I pull up to the “drive up” area and target and have them throw my order in the trunk.

11:10 AM: I pull up to my home, throw the groceries in the fridge, and grab a Perfect bar to snack on on my way to PT. I’m feeling extra productive today with this time tracking exercise, I normally am not this productive in between meetings and tasks!

11:30 AM: I arrive at physical therapy. I see a physical therapist that specializes in postpartum and pelvic floor therapy since my body is still feeling wonky since giving birth. I find out that my diastis recti gap is healing well (hooray!) and my physical therapist sends me off with some new exercises.

12:30 PM: I zip back home from PT, thankfully it’s only a 10 minute drive.

12:40 PM: I start to make lunch before I have a work meeting via zoom at 1.Today I make a bowl with ground beef, rice, cucumbers, and cilantro. I top it with lemon juice, olive oil, herbs and some cholula. I take a few bites, then hop on zoom.

1:15 PM: My zoom meeting was short, yay! I finish eating lunch at my desk and respond to some more emails.

1:45 PM: I take a quick shower and start to get dressed to meet up with some friends. I usually just hang with my son at home or go to the park, or beach, in the afternoons, but today we’re meeting up with some mom friends who have babies around the same age as my son.

2:15 PM: My son wakes up from his nap, my sister gets him dressed then clocks off for the day. I throw some snacks, a diaper, and toys in my purse/diaper bag (I’m obsessed with this bag from Mina Bae since it’s not your typical diaper bag).

2:30 PM: I get my son into the car seat, thankfully he didn’t put up a fight this time. I head to our local shopping center with green space for the kids to run around, it’s a perfect spot to catch up with friends as our toddlers run around.

2:45 PM: I arrive at the cafe we’re meeting up at to grab a matcha and catchup, and I grab an empanada for my son to snack on.

3:30 PM: After the kiddos run around and chase each other, we decide to pack it up and go home.

4:15 PM: I get a message about a social post that needs to go up for work, so while my son is busy playing with his trucks I take a few minutes to create a quick post. I try my best to stay off my laptop and phone when I’m with him, but it also comes with the territory of working remotely.

4:30 PM: I realize that I forgot to include whole milk in our Target pickup order! I pop my son in the stroller after giving him a snack to keep him happy, and we do the quick 10 minute walk to Target (we really go there way too many times a week lol).

5:20 PM: We get home, and after I unload the groceries it’s time for me and my son to relax. I read a large pile of books to him, and chase him around as he plays peek-a-boo with me while hanging onto the back of my pants.

5:55 PM: I start to throw together dinner for my son, but he shakes his head no - he isn’t hungry. I’m still nursing him on demand, so I’m not surprised that he isn’t hungry for dinner.

6:20 PM: While my son is playing with his (mostly uneaten) food and toys in his highchair, I take the opportunity to sit down and eat dinner. Most days I end up eating dinner before my husband gets home, since breastfeeding makes me hungry 24/7.

6:40 PM: Dada is home! My son runs over to greet my husband, and take him upstairs for bathtime. I use that time to finish eating dinner and relax, knowing that my husband will put away the leftovers after he eats and will make sure everything is cleaned and reset before he comes up to bed.

7 PM: I join my husband and son in the nursery, where we have the red light on for bedtime. I take over the bedtime routine, which I love to do. I cuddle up with my son in the nursery chair and read him a few of his favorites (Goodnight Little Blue Truck , Peekaboo Farm, and Boo, Ma, La La La). After I finish a book, he hops off my lap and picks up the next one. Whether he wants me to read him two books or eight, I’m along for the ride.

7:32 PM: When he seems sleepy, I nurse and rock him to sleep while singing to him.

7:40 PM: Once he’s out, I put him down in our bed and turn the Nanit app on my phone so that I can brush my teeth, do my skincare, and get ready for bed as my husband cleans downstairs.

7:55 PM: I curl up beside my sleeping toddler in bed with my kindle and phone. I try to keep my phone use in bed limited, and my phone is BRICK’ed at 8:45PM so that I’m locked out of social media apps. I respond to a few texts, then put my kindle on dark mode and read with a red light on in the bedroom.

8:30 PM: I catch up with my husband as we chat about our day, and then go back to reading my kindle. Some days we’ll try to watch a TV show in bed with AirPods, but today I’m eager to dive back into the new book I started.

9:28 PM: I put my Kindle and phone away, and go to bed. I try to get to bed between 9:30/10PM, so that despite nursing at night and early wake times with my son, I’m still getting 8-9 hours of cumulative sleep.

What was a hard moment?

Feeling a little exhausted in the evening, knowing that I definitely over-packed my day! It can be hard to “balance” all the things - but I’m trying my best to build in more down time and moments to pause between getting all the things checked off my to-do list.

What was a good moment?

It felt really good to start the day with a meditation and getting to the gym, I can tell that when I pour into my own cup I’m a more energized, present, and joyful mom!

What’s something you’re loving right now?

I love having my phone on DND (do not disturb) all day! I have certain people like my husband and sister who’s text/call notifications still pop up since they’re time sensitive, but I love that my phone is relatively quiet all day since I don’t get any notifications from social media or random apps.

If you’re a mom and want to be featured in The 24-Hour Diaries, I’d love to hear from you!