Kim Copley is a single mom living in Denton with her two boys: Jaxsyn, 9, and Preston, 3. She works full time as a dispatch supervisor for the Denton Independent School District Transportation Department and has a side business making cakes of all kinds—wedding, birthday, even a divorce cake once.
3:25AM My first alarm goes off. I hit snooze till 3:30am.
3:30AM My second alarm goes off, and I crawl out of bed and start the coffee maker before I jump in the shower.
3:45AM I get dried off, straighten my hair, “put my eyes on” as I like to tell the boys and try and decide what I’m wearing to work.
4:40AM My amazing babysitter arrives and goes back to sleep in the extra bed in Preston’s room. Caroline started babysitting for me last summer when I had to make an emergency trip to New York to help move my grandmother into a nursing home. She has become part of our family—the boys love her. Preston talks about her all the time, especially when they go days without seeing her. When I was her age, I babysat for several families on a regular basis, and the parents would say, “The kids want you more than us!” I know how they feel now!
4:45AM With my second cup of coffee, a Nutri-Grain bar to eat in the car and my “Pig Pen” Yeti cup full of ice water, I’m ready to head out the door. (“Pig Pen” is a nickname my dad gave me as a teen. He thought it was so funny to put it on my Yeti cup as a Christmas gift a few years ago.)
4:55AM Arrive at work and start the day, praying that we don’t have too many drivers call in that they can’t make it. I get all the school bus routes covered and make sure the drivers get out on their routes on time.
6AM I spend a few hours fielding parent and school phone calls. I enjoy my job (and the schedule—I’m able to have the school holidays off with my boys), but it is especially stressful at the beginning of the school year trying to coordinate routing assignments and talking to all the parents and administrators that call us. I was previously a 911 dispatcher, which gave me great resources for this job. I know the area and which police department to call in the event of an emergency on a bus.
9:30AM Staff meeting.
11AM On my lunch break, I run to the grocery store. I feel like I’m on the show Supermarket Sweep—rushing through the store, grabbing items we need that we have run out of for the week and can’t wait till the weekend to get.
12PM I work at my desk covering afternoon routes while eating a quick lunch.
1PM The afternoon drivers come in, and I field questions and concerns from the drivers. They ask how to reroute with all the construction going on in Denton, and I have Google Maps pulled up on my computer to assist. Then I catch up on emails before leaving for the day.
2:30PM My day is done! Off to pick up Jaxsyn from school and then to pick up Preston from school too. This year, Jaxsyn’s class is concentrating on multiplication facts, and he has quizzes several times a week. As we’re talking on the way home, I randomly throw out multiplication problems for him to answer.
3:30PM We arrive home and eat a snack, and then they go jump on the trampoline. While they are playing, I mix up a cake for an order for Saturday: a two-layer chocolate birthday cake. While the cake is in the oven, I go out and jump on the trampoline with the boys.
4:15PM The cake is done—into the fridge it goes so I can decorate it tomorrow. Dinner is in the oven, and it’s time to help Jaxsyn with his homework.
5PM Dinner is ready. Time for the boys to eat! We go around the table and talk about our day. They tell me their “flower” (the good part of their day), “flower bud” (something they are looking forward to) and “thorn” (something not so great that happened today).
5:30PM Time to clean up. Jaxsyn reluctantly does the dishes and helps clean up.
5:50PM We all head to my Camp Gladiator workout. My goal is to attend three days a week. I love the relationships and accountability that I have formed by going to these workouts. The boys bring bouncy balls to play with, and they also get to play on the playground while I work out. There have been times I have planked with Preston on my back!
7PM Whew! What a hard workout! But I remind myself that I want to set a good, healthy example for the boys.
7:10PM We arrive home. It’s bathtime for Preston, and then Jaxsyn jumps in the shower.
7:40PM Now that everyone is all clean, we relax and watch a show.
8PM Time for Preston to go to bed. We read a book and say bedtime prayers before he goes to sleep.
8:30PM While I was reading to Preston, Jaxsyn was in his own room reading. Now it’s his turn to go to bed. I go in to say goodnight and say bedtime prayers with him.
8:40PM I take a quick shower and then sit down to watch a show.
9:30PM I can’t keep my eyes open any longer! Time for bed so I can get up and do it all over again tomorrow.
Diaries are penned by moms (and dads) in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The authors volunteer to share a day of their choosing and are not paid or endorsed by DFWChild. Send your diary to editorial@dfwchild.com. All submissions are subject to editing and may be cut for space.
