A Day in the Life Of... Jessica Roden

Jessica Roden is a journalist for 1NEWS, based in Nelson. Last year, she and partner Sean moved here from Wellington to be closer to family ahead of the birth of their first child. In August she returned to work after the birth of baby Penelope who is now six months old.

7am Wake up to phone vibrating. Not breaking news, I hope. Nope, just a reminder to back up my photos. Get up and make a bottle just in time for Penelope (or P as we call her) to let me know she’s awake too.

8am Coffee with P and Sean at Raglan Roast in Tahuna. Barista Toni comments no less than four times about 8am how cute my baby is. Great service.

9am After dropping P at daycare I sit in the carpark for the 1NEWS morning meeting where we plan out our coverage for the day. I’ve had a massive week so far and am happy to fly under the radar today

9.25am Quick catchup with my boss Laura, who is based in Wellington, about stories I have coming up

9.30am Coffee catchup with Tasman Mayor Tim King. Actually, green tea. I can’t handle too much caffeine.

11am Back home, which is also my work. Put pulled pork in the slow cooker. Spend the next few hours clearing emails, setting up stories for next week. It’s my first week back since maternity leave so lots of admin to catch up on.

1pm Make chicken salad for lunch and watch the Olympics.

1.30pm Back at my desk and calling everyone who has been avoiding my emails. Try to sort out a technical issue with my computer. I hate technological issues. The service centre must roll their eyes every time I call.

2.30pm Transcribe an interview I filmed yesterday and start scripting story for tomorrow. Still waiting on people to call me back.

4pm Film an interview for one of our Auckland reporters who is working on a story for the weekend. As well as doing the reporting, I shoot and edit stories too, which many people don’t know. Sean picks P up from daycare.

6pm Watch the news while playing with P. The nightly tag team begins where one of us baths her and the other sorts out dinner.

6.30pm P is done for the day and clearly wants to go to sleep. You know she’s tired when she goes down without a word and sucks her fingers (no, not her thumb) to sleep

7pm Excellent, my favourite part of the night. Pulled pork nachos and Love Island. It is tragic how much we are enjoying this show.

8pm An extensive discussion in our mums’ Facebook group chat about babies starting solids.

9pm Sean and I fall into bed and watch The Office (the American version, obviously) while scrolling on our phones for a bit.

10.30pm Timer set on the TV to turn off in 30mins and we drift off to sleep.