Parenting During the Work Week
By Every Working Parent Ever
I get home from work at about 5:30 PM. Mike, having just put Libby down for a short late-afternoon nap, is taking his first deep breath since picking the baby up on his way home from work, letting the dogs out, and feeding them dinner while entertaining an infant.
There is so much I can do with this moment of peace. Go for a run! Take a nap! Make dinner! But instead, I turn to the bane of my existence – the bottles lined up on the kitchen counter. To my dismay, the collection of dirty bottles grows before it shrinks, as I empty the milk I pumped at work today into bottles to send with Libby tomorrow. 6-8 bottles later (or 10 or 14, if I happened to skip a day) I refill my pump bag with supplies for tomorrow, put ice packs into the freezer, and collapse onto the couch.
Like clockwork, Libby is awake by 6:15. And she’s hungry. By the time she’s done eating, we have about an hour and a half to enjoy each other’s company before she’s ready for bed. At about 7:45, we begin the bedtime routine. Diaper change, pajamas, story, pacifier, noise machine, good night sweet Elizabeth.
And then she’s asleep. And it’s dark. And going to the gym this late sounds like a terrible idea. Oh, and I’m also starving. So instead of doing anything productive, I find something to eat and then proceed to do nothing.
End scene.
We might be in for a long winter…
Still A Runner 
Think of it this way… you are not lazy, you are being sacrificial! You putting your family’s needs above your own and you need to rest and keep your sanity. Aren’t we supposed to hibernate when it is dark anyway?
Unfortunately, you are your Mother’s daughter. You must have learned those lazy traits from her.