A Day in the Life of a Mom in Shanghai, China

a lot  more time talking about toddlers.  And yes, she brought her knitting with her. She's always loved knitting. And recently, she started getting quite serious about turning it into a business. She's been looking into  suppliers, working out the costs, and figuring out what it would actually  take to open a small yarn shop. And I guess I'm trying to  build my own business, too. I'm working on another YouTube video exploring some of the more interesting  cafes around Shanghai. Shanghai has a huge cafe scene.

So, I'm looking for places that have something a little different, whether it's the space, the concept, or just a really good neighborhood atmosphere. And of course, no matter what we are working on, somehow the conversation always comes back to the kids. They are both in daycare today. We both get help from grandparents, too, just in different ways. My daughter's grandparents usually  help us from Monday to Thursday, while her son's grandparents usually take care of him on the weekends. That's also why my daughter 

wasn't home this morning. She was with her grandparents. I feel really lucky to have a friend who's  going through such a similar stage of life. We can talk about parenting, taking the kids out together, share our hobbies, and also help each other figure out  these new things we are trying to build. Before heading home, I need  to pick up a few groceries. I actually don't cook that often, but my daughter will be home later, so I'm getting a few things she likes. My daughter hasn't been very  interested in milk lately,

so I've been trying to find different workounds. Let's try this berry yogurt. Hopefully, she will like it. And this is for my daughter. She's  obsessed with mushrooms right now. One thing you might notice about grocery shopping  here is how much people care about freshness. This section is called daily fresh. These products are stocked for  the day and only sold on that day. And yes, you can still buy live fish  and seafood in supermarkets like this. Although personally, I still go to  a wet market for fish and seafood. The

prices here are a little too high for me. And if you are wondering what's going on above  my head, those are online grocery orders. A lot of supermarkets here also deliver straight  to your home, often in around 30 minutes. I'm home. And apparently, some of my shopping beat me here. Lunch today is going to be very simple. Basically, instant noodles just with a lot  more vegetables and a little meat added in. I made some cold brew tea earlier. So that's lunch. I shop online a lot because  delivery is fast and inexpensive. I don't have

a car, so I don't want  to carry everything home myself. Let's see what actually arrived. Mostly very exciting adult purchases. Baby wipes, shampoo, lip balm, and thankfully some snacks,  coffee, and tea for me. Okay, now I can finally sit  down and get some work done. I used to work in corporate, but these days I'm trying to build this  YouTube channel into my own business. Making a video takes a lot more  time than the actual filming. There's research, writing, editing. Right now, I'm organizing footage  for the Shanghai

Cafe video. And this one is really cool. You get this amazing view of the  Bund right in front of the cafe. Pretty much everything I'm doing now is completely  different from what I used to do in corporate. I'm still learning as I go, but honestly, that's part of  what makes it so exciting. I love the creative side of it, and I love learning all these new  skills along the way, at the age of 36. This is my mommy bag. I take it pretty much everywhere  when I'm out with my daughter because it fits basically everything. Diapers,

wipes, water, some of the nuts I got earlier, snacks, and the berry yogurt from the supermarket. Let's see if she actually likes it. Now I'm going to pick up my  daughter from the daycare. Pickup is at 4:00, and I'm  a little bit early today. So I'm just waiting outside  with the other parents. There she is. If the weather's nice, I usually let  her spend a little more time outside after daycare instead of going straight home. I love bringing her for walks by the  river because there were no cars here. So she can just run around,

climb the stairs, and of course, look at all  the dogs people are walking. When she doesn't want to walk anymore, sometimes I have to turn it into a game. Walking along the edge or chasing each other   is apparently much more fun  than just walking normally. My husband just finished work and came to join us. And now that we are all  together, it's time for dinner. We are having dinner at a  community dining hall tonight. It's actually part of a larger  community center by the river, with a library, children's

spaces,  and lots of other public facilities. This is what we got for the three of us. Chicken, shrimp, two vegetables, soup, and rice. And everything together was  ¥49 RMB, which is about $7. And somehow our community dining  hall also comes with this view. We are not going home just yet. After dinner, we usually spend a little  more time in the community center. My daughter is fascinated by this chess robot. She's obviously way too young  to understand the rules, so daddy is technically the one playing, but she still really

wants to help. Before becoming a mom, I probably won't have  paid much attention to places like this. But now, there are the kind  of places we use all the time. We're home. My daughter loves doing her  bedtime routine with her dad. I usually take care of the morning routine  while he does bath time and bedtime with her. While he gets her to sleep, I usually use  this time to reset the house a little. And she's finally asleep. We finally get a little time to ourselves. But my day isn't quite over yet. I usually get a little

more  work done after my daughter   goes to bed when the house is finally quiet. Watching this day back, I  actually realized how lucky   I am to have this much time and space  for myself even after becoming a mom. And honestly, I couldn't do that on my own. My daughter has daycare. Her grandparents help us a lot. And my husband and I share the  parenting when we are together. But I think I've also learned  to ask for help when I need it and to accept that I don't  have to do everything myself. Having

that support gives  me the space to be a mom, but also to have my work, my friends,  and things that are just for me. Okay, I think I'm done for today. Good night.