Over the next two months Brittany and I are doing a mini series of a Day in the Life from various perspectives. This month I'll be talking about my daily (and a peek into my weekly) schedule as a SAHM/WAHM. Then next month, Brittany will close out our series with her take on life as a working mom.
I'm going to start this off by saying if you're a SAHM/WAHM and your daily schedules are the same from day to day, EMAIL ME because I need to know your secrets! Life with my littles is so much fun (and also a TON of work, as you probably know) but it is never the same from day to day. So today I'm going to take you into a rough outline of our weekday schedule and a few things we try to strive for each week.
7:00 am - Kiddos wake up. Typically my two year old, Jamie, first because he is my 7 to 7 sleeper. Addie, our 4 month old, bounces between sleeping through the night and feeding 3 times a night, but regardless I'm usually feeding her either just before or just after Jamie wakes up.
7:15 am - Breakfast. Jamie feeds the dog (quite possibly my favorite thing of the day because it is just SOOOO cute and he is so proud of himself), while I make myself a cup of tea, hand Jamie a banana, pop some frozen waffles into the toaster for him, empty the dishwasher, and start on my breakfast.
8:00 - 11:30 am - This is where things get crazy. We go to meetings, grocery pick up, the park (and Starbucks), mommy and me gymnastics, the mall, friend's houses, golfing in the front yard, doctor's appointments, or hang out at home. On the days we are home we try to spend the morning reading books, playing with toys, and generally keeping the tv off. This is a HUGE struggle for us right now as Jamie has become a "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" addict. Due to this addiction, we try to spend most mornings out of the house. Plus it is good for my sanity too.
11:30 am - Lunch. I wish I could say I'm the kind of mom who makes these delicious lunches from scratch but usually it is some form of fruit, a sandwich or rice cakes, about a third of whatever I've made for myself (and all the moms said AMEN), and a package of fruit snacks.
12:00 - 2:00 pm - Kiddos nap. Jamie typically naps 12-2 and Addie will more often than not nap at least 12-1, maybe longer. On the days she doesn't nap all or most of his naptime, we do tummy time and play on the floor since it is rare she has time without him. I live for naptime! That may make me sound like I don't love my kids and let me assure you, I do! They are my world. But, they are also the reason I don't get anything done. Naptime is the time for me to do what I need to do. Some days that is working out other days it is working on things for Spouse SERVE, editing photos for my photography clients, reading my Bible, cleaning up the house, listening to podcasts, meal planning, reading a book, or just plain watching some tv for people over the age of 5. It is my time and I love it.
2:00 - 4:30 pm - Post nap we typically stay home because there just isn't enough time to change diapers, grab a snack, feed the baby, load everyone in the car, go somewhere, do an activity, get home, and prep dinner. Or maybe there is enough time, and I'm just too spent from our morning. The world may never know. Typically we spend our afternoons in the bonus room upstairs so Jamie is less tempted by the tv and it is an easy transition from his room to the bonus room. Plus, when he plays in the bonus room it allows me to sneak in a few more minutes of work while he crawls through tunnels, "reads" books, builds lego towers, and enjoys his ball pit. Eventually he gets tired of being upstairs and makes his way downstairs and demands "Mickey". I usually give in and use the opportunity to start dinner prep (pending no one is melting down - which is about 50% of the time).
4:30 - 6:00 pm - Assuming its a night we are staying home (more details on this in a minute), I prep dinner and try to keep everyone as happy as possible until reinforcements arrive in the form of my sweet husband. As a military spouse, we know that there is no "normal" end to a work day and it's not unusual for my husband to not be home for nights on end so we really do welcome the days he gets off early or just any day he is coming home for dinner at all.
6:00 pm - Dinner. We try to eat as a family on nights that we are all home. However, I am not going to sugar coat it. On nights that A is going to miss dinner for Army reasons, Jamie gets an easy to throw together dinner and I typically eat cereal or leftovers or basically anything I don't have to cook from scratch. I'm telling y'all all my secrets so we are basically best friends now.
6:45 pm - Start bedtime routine. Jamie picks out a book from his shelf to "read" while A or I read him and Addie a story from the Bible, then we pray as a family. After prayers we typically divide and conquer on nights we are both home. One of us takes Jamie upstairs for bath (2-3 nights/week), brushing teeth, diaper changes, and kisses while the other gets Addie ready for bed. Typically A takes Jamie since I nurse Addie and she falls asleep. We have a goal on normal nights at home to have the kids in their cribs by 7 pm so the rest of the evening is ours.
7:00 - 10:00 pm - This is our time! A does the dishes from dinner, packs away the leftovers for his lunch the next day, and loads our dishwasher (marry a man who does this, it's the gift that keeps on giving) and we pick out something to watch on tv. We make herbal tea and snuggle up on the couch. Some nights I work if I didn't get much done during naptime, other nights I take some time to myself and go read in our bed before he joins me, and some nights we play a game of Scrabble while we talk about our day/week/however long it's been since we talked. We head to bed sometime between 8:30 and 10 depending on the night and how crazy our week has been.
That's our daily "schedule". However, I have to say that with a grain of salt because our weeknights can be all over the place. On Tuesday nights the kids and I pack up dinner and go to A's office to teach Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course on post until 7 or 8 pm. One Wednesday night per month we have a meeting for his work at 5 pm meaning dinner and bedtime is rushed once we get home around 6:30. Every Thursday night we have our small group with our church where we do family dinner and bible study or serve in the community. Plus other SFRG events and meetings, volunteer opportunities, birthday parties, community events, and date nights mixed into the other nights. This life may not be the most exciting or fast paced but there certainly is never a dull moment. I'm only halfway through the month and I've already double booked myself 5 times (something I almost NEVER do) because when it rains, it pours with activities.
What do you do to keep your schedule as a SAHM/WAHM?
JULIA