A Day of the Weary Chef Blogger Life

26 Comments
7 minutes
August 5, 2022
Andi Gleeson

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be someone else for a day, specifically what it would be like to be a food blogger? Or a mom (if you aren’t already one)? Well pull up a chair and find out what goes into making this here blog, and I bet by the end you’ll understand why I’m called The Weary Chef!

What the Weary Chef Blogger Does First Thing in the Morning

I’ve told you lots of times that my boys wake up ridiculously early. On this particular day, I was up well before dawn at 5:33 am. We have special clocks and posted rules to try to keep the kids in bed longer. They don’t work.

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

I dragged myself up to get breakfast for the boys and, more importantly, coffee started. I couldn’t manage to get a picture of the arguing and screaming and crying that took place in that first hour of the day, so you’ll just have to use your imagination. I have usually broken up about five arguments and shushed them approximately 25 times by 7 am, around the time Matt usually gets up.

The Weary Chef Blogger’s Social Duties

Once another adult is around to make sure they don’t hurt themselves, each other, or our home, I try to sneak away to check my email and schedule social media stuff. If you haven’t heard, blogging is about 25% creating content and 75% promoting it. That means A LOT of time working on social media. Not only do I need to promote my own content, but I also want to share posts from other fabulous bloggers. I want to give my followers a good variety of recipes and also support my talented blogging friends.

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

After about a half-hour of trying to work while the kids constantly ask me to help put on clothes, wipe bottoms, sign homework, untie and tie shoes, and lots of other glamorous requests, I realize it’s crunch time. We need to leave in about a half-hour, and I am wearing pajamas and have two lunches to pack. Why I didn’t pack those lunches during the wee hours of the morning is a question I ask myself every day. Maybe tomorrow I will! It’s not my favorite job, so I guess I just put it off until the last minute.

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

Preparing Lunch Boxes for My Kids

OK, lunches are packed. Kids are dressed and actually have said lunches. Even I’m dressed in something besides PJs (though I didn’t really have time to look in the mirror), and it’s time to go! I’m very lucky that I’m able to walk both boys to school, so we head out on foot, checking out some Halloween decorations on the way. I drop them both off and usually make it back by 9:00 as long as I don’t need to do any PTA business at school. Fortunately, this morning I didn’t have any PTA stuff to do at school, so I’ll leave that part out (because it’s super boring).

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

Ordinarily, I would get right to work when I get home, either in the kitchen cooking, at the table taking photos, or on my computer writing, editing photos, responding to comments, answering emails, or scheduling social shares. Since my husband hurt himself, I have been dividing my time between work, the kids, and taking him to doctor’s appointments. This morning I needed to take him in for an MRI of his hand, so work will have to wait while I spend some quality time in the waiting room. On the way home, I stop at the grocery store for a few missing ingredients for today’s recipes.

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

The Weary Chef Blogger in the Kitchen

And, I’m back! It’s now after 11 am, and I have to pick up my youngest by 1 pm. I don’t actually have a recipe ready for today. Like, I haven’t even made it yet except the thought of the idea and purchased the ingredients. That gives me under two hours to cook, photograph, and write a post. Not likely to happen, but I’ll get as much as I can do.

First, I get busy in the kitchen, starting the Kale Artichoke Dip to post today and also some lentils and kale in the slow cooker for dinner. (I’m not actually a kale fanatic, but I wanted to use the whole bag.) I illegibly scrawl the recipes in my trusty notebook as I go. While the dip cooks, I browse my meager collection of linens for photos and get set up. Please note the mess behind the picture area.

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

Once I see that the photos look OK, I can sit down to start editing my favorites and write the post while eating the dip for lunch!

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

Picking My Kids Up from School

It’s 1:00, and I just picked up this cutie. To be honest, I’m torn between thinking about being happy to see him and thinking about all the work I haven’t finished yet. I’ve got an hour and a half before I pick up his big brother, and I really need that time. After I get this guy home and settled, I let him play iPad next to me while I get my post published, send it out to my subscribers, and post it on social media.

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

Now it’s 2:40, and I have collected cutie #2. I’m pretty much caught up on work at this point, so I can try to focus on my boys. Because I can’t get enough doctor’s appointments, we have one in the afternoon for my oldest. I’m not sure if I ever told you that he has ADHD, so we go in pretty regularly for checkups related to that. The appointments are totally fine, but it’s one more thing to do!

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

Preparing Dinner like a Weary Chef Pro!

We’re home again at almost 5:30 pm, and it’s time to think about dinner for these boys. They get to watch a TV show while I get something ready for them. Tonight it’s very glamorous quesadillas with broccoli. Now I will tell my kids a couple of dozen times to sit down and eat, use their napkins, and stop smacking. We have rules for this too. They don’t work much better than the morning rules.

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

Final Mom Duties

Now onto bath time, books, and bedtime! Little brother is in bed before 7 pm, and big brother is tucked in by 7:30. Ordinarily, it would be time to cook dinner for Matt and me at this point, but I’m happy that I have dinner ready to go in the slow cooker this time! Three things typically happen when dinner is ready. I hurry to take photos before we eat, dig in if there will be leftovers to photograph later or forget the photos altogether because the recipe flops or isn’t blogworthy. In this case, there is a TON of lentil soup, so I sit down to dinner without having to worry about photos. I didn’t even remember to take a photo for this post (sorry)!

Now it’s time to sit in my favorite chair and work, in this case, write this super long post! I have stayed up too late working on it because it’s almost 11 pm. I didn’t leave out the part of my day where I showered, which means I still need to do that now. (I didn’t skip the part where I relax either because that doesn’t usually happen!)  I’ll hit the sack by 11:15 or so and then be ready to do it all again tomorrow!

Day in the Life of The Weary Chef

Final Thoughts

I hope you had fun following me along in my day today. If you want to see more behind-the-scenes photos of my life, you should follow me on Instagram. That’s where I share the most candid photos and lots of funny stuff I see along the way.

Do you want to see how some of my blogging friends live? Check out their Day-in-the-Life posts too! (They are almost certainly more interesting than mine.)

Andi Gleeson

26 comments

Kate
9 years ago

Bwahahaha, I love this! I’ve read some recent “day in the life” where their day is…not so much like mine. Like, they sit and eat dinner as a perfect family, and at no point does anyone stare in horror/fascination when the toddler takes his shirt on and off repeatedly because he’s done eating. I feel like this may happen to you…and I like you more for it!

Andi
9 years ago

I’m a little confused. You mean your toddler starts out wearing a shirt to dinner? Both of my kids are likely to be in their underwear by that point in the day ;) Reading most other “day in the life” posts makes me feel like I’m doing something seriously wrong, so I’m glad to hear you can relate to the chaos! Thanks, Kate!

kentuckylady717
9 years ago

Don’t envy you at all :) been there,done that, and in the long run it pays off…..don’t know how I ever did it and I did it alone and worked full time too….I have 2 married children that I am so proud of and grown grandkids & 2 great grandkids and now I do what I want to do :) but I so admire you for what you do….you sure have your hands full right now…..but you will be fine…it all will work out….it did for me when I didn’t think it would…..thank God I made it…..and I’m still thanking God every day…..so just keep up the good work you’re doing and your day will come too :) Have a good one Weary Chef and I love your recipes…….keep up the good work, and your kids are beautiful……

Andi
9 years ago

Thank you so much for your support! Raising young boys really is hard work, but I wouldn’t want to imagine my life without them. xo

Gina
9 years ago

Love hearing about your day!!!!!! It’s certainly never boring is it??!! :) Hugs!

Andi
9 years ago

I would love to see a day in your life, Gina! Don’t you homeschool? You must be so busy!

Gina
9 years ago

Yes I do Andi – but my kids make it easy on me. I feel fortunate for that. I will find a spot on the editorial calendar for a similar post soon – thanks for the inspiration.

Andi
9 years ago

You are lucky! I don’t think my kids have ever taken it easy on me even for a day ;)

Maegan @thebakermama
9 years ago

Loved this, Andi! So neat to get a glimpse into your day. Your boys are adorable! I’m so copying your sign for the mornings, especially as mine get older. They’re already starting to wake up earlier and earlier and the wrestling and fighting over toys starts as soon as they put their feet on the floor. Fun times! ;) I can’t wait to make your Kale Artichoke Dip! We LOVE kale and this would make for such a great game day dip! Thanks for sharing your day! xoxo

Andi
9 years ago

Thanks so much, Maegan! You look like you handle the fighting and wrestling better than I do. I’m trying to get better about that! Thank you about the dip. I bet you’ll love it :)

Ashlyn @ Belle of the Kitchen
9 years ago

Totally enjoyed reading and seeing a day in your life Andi! You are so busy, but you manage it all so well, and your boys are so cute! I laughed when I read about your wake-up sign for your boys and how it doesn’t work; we have one for our son and it doesn’t work either! Though I need to try out the one for dinner table rules. My son is actually running circles around the table as I type this (dinner unfinished). Ugh! Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us, Andi! :)

Andi
9 years ago

At least I can see that my older son, who would NEVER stay at the table, does a lot better now. I think it will be smooth(er) sailing in a year or two. Thanks so much for reading and for your sweet comment, Ashlyn! <3

Ginny McMeans
9 years ago

What a fun and awesome post. Thanks for putting in so much time so that we could get a peek. Your rules are perfect and so is your mothering. I think not being able to yell at the dinner table is a good idea. :)

Andi
9 years ago

Thank you, Ginny! I don’t usually feel like the best mother, so I appreciate that! I’m a little high strung ;) In fact, the “No Yelling” rule is mostly for me! I have been known to blow my top after the 15th time of telling someone to sit down and eat… As someone whose favorite thing to do is eat, I can’t understand why I have to beg my kids to do it!

Serena @ Simple Holistic Girl
9 years ago

I can totally relate to being up so early, breaking up arguments, and shushing 25 times…all before 7am. Sometimes you think you’re the only one that thinks so and then you read something like this!

Andi
9 years ago

You know, that’s what is so good about talking to people about what’s going on in your life (online or off). There are a lot of things I have felt alone on, and then I’m surprised when I talk to someone else who is going through the same thing! I’m glad we can be “morning mayhem” buddies, Serena :)

marcie@flavorthemoments
9 years ago

I’m sorry to hear about your husband getting hurt, and hope he gets better soon! I’m glad to see that I’m not the only blogger who kinda flies by the seat of one’s pants, so to speak. :) I try to be organized and not have to be under the gun to make something, shoot it, edit, and post in 1-2 days but it happens. It’s actually happening tomorrow! You are a superwoman, Andi, balancing all that with PTA, etc. Thanks for the peek!

Andi
9 years ago

Thank you, Marcie. Before he got hurt, I was just starting to get more organized. I was working a day or two ahead, which is pretty unheard of for me, and actually taking most evenings off. Now I’m behind again and working whenever I get the chance! I hope to get caught up again in a couple (dozen) weeks ;)

Nicole @ Or Whatever You Do
9 years ago

Your linen collection is awesome! And I just realized I also have that bowl that the kale dip is in. So darling. I love your styling, and those photos turned out amazing! Such a busy day, and adorable boys. Thanks for sharing, Andi! <3

Andi
9 years ago

You are sweet, but I so desperately need some new linens and dishes! I keep my pics really simple, so it’s kinda noticeable that I use the same five towels, napkins, and plates over and over ;) My mom gave me that bowl. Isn’t it so cute? Thank you so much for putting this Day in the Life idea together. It was really fun!

Jen @ Yummy Healthy Easy
9 years ago

I just love you and those darling boys, Andi!!! What a crazy busy life you have!! You’re such a great mom! Love all those little rule sheets hanging up around the house! xo!

Andi
9 years ago

Thank you, Jen! xo

Jamie | Jamie's Recipes
9 years ago

I love these day in the life posts. How similar our days are, except right now I have a four-month-old that is constantly attached to my bosom. :)

Andi
9 years ago

Oh that’s a lot of work, Jamie! Did you see the one by Diary of a Recipe Collector? She has four kids including a young baby. I’m sure you could relate to her too! Thanks so much for reading my story :)

Jaren (Diary of a Recipe Collector)
9 years ago

Loved getting to see a day in your life Andi! Such cute little guys and I’m digging the rules and the clocks!! We need some of those!

Andi
9 years ago

Yes the rules are great except they don’t work! ;) That clock turns green at 5:45, which is the latest I can realistically ask my little one to stay in bed. He actually does it maybe 25% of the time. As for the dinner rules, my little one hardly eats dinner anyway, so he gets to five warnings about leaving the table and has his plate taken away quite often ;) He’s 3 1/2 and I think still lacking in the impulse control department. I’m sure it will get better!

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