A Day in the Life of a Wharton Partner: Mother of 3 Rambunctious Boys

By: Kristy Nuttal (Partner of James Nuttal, WG'10) Contributing Writer

Posted: 4/20/09

Being a full time mom is a very demanding job-physically and emotionally, especially if your husband is a student at Wharton! For those of you who wonder how a mother of three lives in Philly, here's a taste.

Monday, April 6, 2009

6:30am: Isaac (4 years) runs into the room to leave a "secret message" on my pillow. I read the message and tell him he must go on a secret mission to play computer games so I can sleep a bit longer-today that happens to work!

8:00 Levi (2 years) insists on dressing like Superman as we get ready to go to his friend's house, and Isaac manages to put his pants on backwards.

9:00 We walk out into a rainy Philly morning and I get some interesting looks as usual with 3 boys in tow. Some scowl like I'm overpopulating the earth, others look sympathetic like I'm an overworked nanny. Isaac leads the way with his umbrella, Levi is stuck in the stroller so that he doesn't run away, and Tyler (2 months) is strapped in the baby carrier.

10:00 We go to my friend's house and Levi shouts with glee when he sees her 2 year old son. The boys run around playing pirates, superheroes, hockey, and trains. Jessica and I chat about what's going on in our lives and how to get our kids to eat better. When you're a mom-you have to talk to other moms a lot just to keep your sanity and if possible, do a lot of babysitting swaps.

2:00 After lunch and watching an episode of "Charlie and Lola," Isaac announces the he wants to knock out all of his teeth so that the tooth fairy will come right away and leave him lots of treats. I suspect that he just watched something on the DVD about tooth fairies, and I convince him to write the tooth fairy a letter instead of knocking out his teeth.

5:00 We head over to the Penn campus in the car. James takes the boys for twenty minutes and lets them go wild jumping in all of the mud puddles on campus with their rain boots.

6:00 I give the boys a bath to warm them up and we have some hot cocoa. Levi decides he is now done being Superman for the day and is ready to be Buzz Lightyear. He impresses me by saying quoting Buzz in Spanish "Al infinito y mas allá-to infinity and beyond!"

8:00 Teeth brushed and in bed by eight: A major accomplishment.

Being a full time mom is a full time adventure- it is work and fun punctuated with moments of chaos and panic. In a typical day, I know that I'm going to hear my four year old say something hilarious, see my two year old do something very dangerous, and smell something funny in the newborn's diaper. When I feel overwhelmed I just try to have a sense of humor and focus on the moments that make it all worth it. For example, last week Isaac came out of his room after I put him to bed, and before I could get annoyed with him he said, "Mom there's something I forgot to tell you…I love you mom, you're the best mom in the whole world!" Well, at least he thinks so and that's all that really matters.