Dominiqué Paul, Ellisville: Two working parents and two kids
The 6 a.m. alarm is a safeguard, not a necessity. Usually, Dominique, the appraiser and director of the Rockwood Board of Education, is up at 5:30 a.m., willing herself to get more rest.
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In the kitchen, she cuts fresh veggies for the kids’ lunches, sets out vitamins, and makes poached eggs for breakfast. Isaac, 7, comes downstairs first. Olivia, 6, follows shortly after.
They each know the drill—it’s neatly articulated on their morning routine chart. Wake up, open the curtains, make the bed. Brush teeth, wash face. Eat breakfast. Do some exercise to get the blood flowing. Dominique is relaxed when she needs to be—if Olivia comes downstairs wearing kitty ears, so be it—but she runs a tight ship.
“I have to be the firmer parent and make sure we get things done and get them to school on time,” she says. Her husband, Adam Paul, the mayor of Ellisville, may swing through the kitchen with some silly antics, but Dominique runs the show.
If time permits, the kids watch a quick science video or documentary. Dominique squeezes in calls to her mom and sister, both in Colorado. They talk every day—no exceptions. “I don’t feel right if I don’t do it,” she says.
School beckons. En route in the car, Dominique talks with Isaac and Olivia about the kind of day they’re going to have. Is it going to be a good day or a bad day? What do they expect, and how will they approach it? Then the kids are off and running. Another day—with any luck, a good one—is underway.
Christina Lane, Kirkwood: Working from home with an infant
At 7 a.m. every day on the dot, Christina, cookbook author and blogger (dessertfortwo.com), wakes up with daughter Camille, age 9 months, for a quick morning nursing session.
Along with Christina’s husband, they’re dressed and downstairs by 8 a.m. (She showers the night before to save time in the morning.) Christina has a cup of hot lemon water to get her energy going.
Her kitchen is spotless, showing no hint of dinner from the night before. “It makes my day go so much faster to wake up and have a blank slate,” she says. While her husband plays on the floor with their daughter, Christina whips up oatmeal for two—Camille takes hers topped with homemade fruit purée; Christina’s comes with fresh fruit chunks.
Her husband, a self-sufficient health nut, grabs a green smoothie from the fridge on his way out the door.
After a story, Camille goes down for a nap. Christina washes her face and puts in her contacts.
It’s 9:30 a.m.; time for the kitchen to become un-spotless. She tunes in to a podcast and begins meal prep and recipe testing. It’s kitchen creativity with a dose of organizational discipline.
A cooking empire can’t hold up without advance planning. Her to-do list, meticulously planned on Sunday, contains only two “must-do” things each day. “They’re the most important things,” she says. “I just have to get those things done first.”
At 11 a.m., Camille’s up. “For now she’s content to watch me work,” Christina says, “but I know once she’s on the move that will change drastically.”
Jessica Ambuehl, Collinsville, Illinois: Two working parents, two kids, and two grandparents under one roof
The iPhone alarm goes off at 7 a.m. Jessica, a photographer and designer at Under The Tree Designs, scans her emails quickly before waking up her sons, ages 12 and 6. Her husband has already left for work.
With less than one hour for the boys to get ready and out the door for school at 8:10 a.m., breakfast is usually a quick bowl of cereal.
Towels are hung. Beds made. Lunches packed.
“We have a rule that they need to be ready by 8 a.m. so the last 10 minutes are not as crazy,” Jessica says. “As long as we stick to that, we are OK.”
There are six people in the house, including Jessica’s parents (who live in the basement), all sharing one shower. It can feel crowded. But her mantra—in both her photography business and in life—is to be content with any situation that comes her way.
“Sometimes it’s hard to find joy in the morning, especially those mornings when it’s hectic trying to manage clients and your family,” she says. “You just have to take those steps back and say, ‘OK, I need to be happy with those blessings in front of me.’”
After the boys are dropped off and after she’s worked out at the YMCA, Jessica is back at the house. At her desk, she edits photos to capture the stories of other people’s lives, searching for beauty within the chaos. “What I’ve seen is that there is such joy no matter where you live,” she says, “and you make the best of what you have.”
