A Day in the Life: Merin Guthrie

My name is... Merin

My current season in life is... toddler chaos. 

I am...   34, the Founder & CEO of Kit, perpetually behind on all to dos, wife to Will, mother to Isla, adopted mother to Franklin & Roosevelt. Probably running late.

 

The craziest day of my week is always...   Monday.

I start my day at...  6am. 

I have to _________ before I can do anything else.

Give Isla her bottle, walk with her to our coffee shop, get my absolutely necessary latte. I cannot think before those first drops of caffeine hit.

 

My best 'getting ready for the day' hack is:   I have all of my daughter's food for the next day ready before I go to bed.

 

I drink _______ cups of ________ a day.

1 latte a day, and it took me lots of discipline to get down to one.

 

Breakfast is typically....

Insufficient. Usually half a bowl of cereal eaten while feeding my daughter breakfast. Hopefully at least a banana. 

 

And then I'm off to...  Drop Isla off a daycare and then to the office or scooting to my first meeting of the day.

 

In my ideal world I would spend my morning _______ but in reality it looks more like ______.

Thinking about long term strategy, learning how to be a marketer, and working on special projects; but in reality it's usually me trying to troubleshoot anything that came in over the weekend, tweaking the week's production queue to reflect last minute requests, and dragging my feet on setting up the week's Instagram posts.

 

If I'm lucky I get to eat lunch at _______ and it is _______.

12:30; something reasonably fresh and healthy.

 

But, let's be honest, it's usually ________ at _______.

2; leftovers of questionable vintage.

 

And then on to the afternoon, when I'm tackling...

Patternmaking and production. I always try to sneak in a couple of new draft patterns, usually for custom projects, amid the non-stop grind of our ongoing garment production.

 

Right now I'm grappling with...

Life/work balance. I'm not good at balance in general, but I've really struggled to get on top of having a child and trying to not fall too behind on everything else.

 

My evening and dinner routine is...

We try to eat dinner as a family before our daughter goes to bed at 7, so it's a mad dash to pick her up, get home and cook something. We're eating a lot of easy, boring healthy meals that I've been making for years, but it's worth it for our fifteen minutes of family dinnertime. Then bedtime for Isla and wine for me!

 

I aim to get in bed by ______ but it's usually more like ______.

9, 9:30. We have gotten really, really set with our bedtime. Both my husband and I are terrible on little sleep and so we're pretty protective of our bedtime. Lights out at 10. 10:15 if I'm reading a really good book. 

 

It's been a good day if...

I've been able to positively impact someone else, whether through a networking intro or a special dress that fits them perfectly.

 

I couldn't get through the day without _______ and I totally rely on ________.

CHILDCARE, CHILDCARE, CHILDCARE. Oh - and all of our friends, family, and neighbors who have provided last minute emergency childcare. Including two of our neighbors.

 

Right now I'm feeling ______ about life.

Cautiously optimistic.

 

I wish I had more _______ and less _______.

More zen and fewer frenetic, anxiety-prone thoughts.

 

The best part of my day is....

Getting to sit with my husband for an hour or two once we've gotten our daughter to bed.

 

The one thing I try to do every day is _______.

Get outside. I can have bad anxiety, and I've found that taking a daily walk is really crucial to managing it. 

 

The very last three things I do every day are...

Lock our cats in the family room so they won't wake us up in the middle of the night, read for half an hour, say 'I love you' to my husband.

 

 

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