2024 snapshots
A day in the life plus what's in my camera roll
"I knew I was getting somewhere when I began losing interest in the beginnings and the ends of things."
—Sarah Manguso
Last year, I shared a heady end of year note.
I have nothing profound to say this year.
This quote has been living in my head, because that’s where I am right now—no longer captivated by grand beginnings or dramatic endings. Just—in the middle.
If last year was about big ideas and narratives, this year was about buckling down and consistently doing the boring, mundane things. Getting good at boring.
So for the last post of the year, I'm sharing a day in my life, written in my Apple Notes a few months ago, when nothing particularly special happened. Plus, I’ll share a random assortment of photos from my 2024 camera roll.
Because that’s the gift of photographs — they capture not just life as it felt in the moment, but as we choose to remember it: kinder than it ever was.
A day in the life of a founder + mom of three
(Assume a good day—e.g. no one is ill or it isn't a school holiday or any other OR)
6-730am
Wake up the two older boys. 7 year old runs down. 9 year old refuses to wake up. classic. i try 5 more times, fifth time's a charm. feed them breakfast (nutella pancakes have become routine here, how did I let that happen). pack snacks, older ones are off to carpool. one to go.
8am
2 year old wakes up. quick breakfast, gets dressed (refuses to wear the new nike sneakers, he wants the white Amazon ones that are too small on him - r u kidding me?), run to daycare drop-off so I can make it to 9am meeting. every traffic light is red, wtf. teacher at daycare tells me he needs to practice holding the pencil, which reminds me I never sit down to draw with him. am I a terrible mom? spiral a little bit.
9am
daily meeting with engineers. grappling with the right approach for modeling privacy settings and permissions
10am
five hour meeting with design to reconsider the placement of a button in the main nav. order Instacart in a rush mid-meeting because I realize we are out of fruit. accidentally order 12 packs of mandarins instead of 12 mandarins. (ugh, are you serious?)
4pm
agonizing over microcopy tweaks like save versus add (rash decision affected by the fact that we've had only 2 new paying customers today)
430pm
debugging yet another effing bug regarding Kindle imports
5pm
making screen recordings for a product update email, a helpful way to spot small bits of janky UI and temper my expectations of how soon we can move to the shiny stuff. UGHHHHHH.
530pm
new lifetime member pays $500 usd for Sublime, another two pay $100 for an annual membership. Thank God.
6pm
Nanny leaves. Kids shower but only after telling them 10 times. Salmon for dinner, but one of them doesn't want salmon. I don't want to pick a fight so I throw some chicken nuggets in the toaster oven.
7pm
Husband reads Harry Potter to the older ones. I'm in charge of bedtime for the little one. I end up on the floor singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
Startups and mom life are humbling.
2024 from my camera roll
And the best for last!!! When I was pregnant, I’d sing Don’t Stop Believing to my son all the time. When he was born, this song became part of his experience of growing and part of my experience of growing him. And now he’s playing it, you guys!! A dream come true. (song starts at 0:27)
That’s that, friends. Wishing you magic this holiday. I’ll be back in your inbox in 2025.
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"Salmon for dinner, but one of them doesn't want salmon. I don't want to pick a fight so I throw some chicken nuggets in the toaster oven." is the most relatable line I've ever read
"accidentally order 12 packs of mandarins instead of 12 mandarins. (ugh, are you serious?)" I laughed out loud reading this, happened to me so many times 😅
also, i love that both you and your two-year-old have the same uninspired facial expression on that couch watching TV. looks like you both had a rough day :)