Diary of a Working Mom – Q&A with Aartee Badiani

It’s FriYAY, and I’m back with another Diary of a Working Mom Q&A!

Today, Aartee Badiani is sharing a bit more about her life and how she juggles being a working mama to not one, not two, but THREE boys!

Aartee and I ‘met’ on Instagram a while back (story of my life it seems!), and we instantly hit it off. Her page is full of the awesome books she reads to her boys every night, and I get so much inspiration from it all. Makes me want to buy all of B&N for K! 🙂

More than anything, I love how Aartee keeps it real and doesn’t sugarcoat motherhood. She’s my kind of people!

1. Tell me a little more about your family – number of kids, names, ages.
We have 3 boys! Neel is almost 7, Nish is 5, and Nirav will be 2 in July. Funnily I always wanted 3 kids even when I was little! 

2. Tell me more about your line of work, role, responsibilities, etc.
I work in customer information. I essentially review account data, set up new accounts, make changes to existing accounts, etc.

3. Walk me through a day in your life.
My alarm goes off at 5:10 am, and I generally snooze it at least once! I take a quick shower and then get ready for work. If needed, I finish up anything I didn’t get to the night before – so lunch boxes, the kids clothes, setting out backpacks, etc. Then I head to work where my day runs from 7:00 to 3:45.

After work it’s off to the races! I pick up Nish and then Neel. Sometimes I’ll do a quick grocery run with them, but I try to get that done on the weekends. We get home, and I give the boys about 15-20 minutes time to unwind while I empty lunch boxes, go through backpacks, and give Nirav some attention.

My in laws live with us and my MIL will cook a few nights of the week. If I am making dinner, I get that started while the boys are doing homework. If I am not making dinner, I stick Nirav in his high chair with some crayons and paper while I help the other two with their homework. I probably also throw in a load of laundry at this point as well. After homework, I just keep them at the table and serve dinner. Post dinner is bath time and then they are allowed to watch TV or play if they have any time left. They usually don’t to be honest, so it’s story time (our favorite), prayers, and bed! I try to tie up all the stuff for the morning the night before, but if I’m being honest, there are days I fall asleep with the kids! 

4. How has becoming a mom influenced your role at work?
It’s made me value my time more! You don’t realize how much you can actually get done in a short amount of time until it becomes a lifestyle! 🤣

5. What is your favorite tip on how to integrate work and life?
Cut yourself some slack! Laundry is never ending in my house, and I struggle to find a way to manage it. That being said, I do the best I can and I have to be ok with not getting to everything! 

6. How do you handle mom guilt?
I struggle with this daily! Lol. If you have tips I need them! 

7. What is the most surprising part of being a working mom?  And the most rewarding?
The most surprising is know your kids are ok without you! Which sucks to know, but they benefit from everyone in their lives in some way! The most rewarding has been knowing that I will figure it out and balancing the two worlds! 

8. How do you carve out ‘me’ time?  What does ‘me’ time look like for you?  On that same note, what’s your guilty pleasure?
Right now I’m bad about me time because at the end of the day I just fall asleep…. My guilty pleasure is definitely bad reality TV though…when I get the opportunity! 

9. What’s your mama mantra?
Prioritize what’s the most important and focus on that! You’ll figure the rest out.

10. What’s the best piece of advice you received when returning back to work after having your baby?
Funnily your mantra! Take things one day at a time!

11. What advice would you give to mamas-to-be about returning back to work?
Don’t worry about everyone else! Figure out what works best for your family and stick with that.

Thanks for stopping by, Aartee! Your boys are so lucky to have a mama like you!