Day in the Life: My SAHM toddler schedule.
Schedules help keep everyone organized. Research suggests that children thrive off of routine because they always know what to expect and are ready for it. When I first became a stay at home mom I looked at more sample shedules than I care to admit in an effort to provide "structure" for myself and my little one. My husband would make fun of my google calendar because it was filled with colorful time blocks. I scheduled breakfast time, playtime, booktime, tv time, nap time, outside time, chore time, quiet time, dinnertime, etc.
Then I came across some other research that suggests children do better with less structure because it fosters creativity and helps to hone coping skills for when the unexpected hits us. Because, you know, life. So I completely stopped following my schedule. I didn't delete it though because it took me forever to create it and it was fun to look at.
Like most things in life, finding the balance is the key. So I fired up the old schedule again, took some time to make adjustments, and now live loosely to the schedule I have documented.
Here is how most days go over for me and my toddler:
6am is my time to wake up. Well, the alarm goes off but I usually hit snooze until 6:40am or so. Then I get up, drink my 32 oz of warm water and start prepping breakfast.
Between 7am and 7:15am is time for the baby to wake up. She gets up, goes potty, and then trades me her binky for some warm milk.
On some days I have to work at 8am and others 9am. The days I work at 8am means we leave at 7:30am so breakfast is usually toast or a cereal bars in the car. Those days when 9am is my start time we eat at home.
While at work we make sure to go potty every hour and then she helps me clean up and we are done by 11am.
On the way home from work we will stop at the grocery store if necessary and/or complete any errands we need to before we get home.
Between 11:30 and 12 we arrive at home and I immediately start making lunch while little one works on hanging up her purse and coat on her hooks in the entry way and taking off her own shoes and putting them away in the closet.
Our lunch is usually something easy like leftovers, plain pasta, PBJ or fruit that we eat on the couch while watching whatever DVD was left in the machine from the night before. Complete truth here, it's usually some season of the Big Bang Theory. I love that show and she is still too young to understand. Yay for me... for now.
12:30pm we have finished lunch and it is time to go potty, get the binky and the blanky and her two snuggle buddies and go lay down for a nap. We both lay on her toddler bed and sometimes I will put on a YouTube video of other SAHM vlogs which are fun for me but boring for her so within 15 minutes she is sleeping. I use this time to complete my daily chore (cleaning schedule coming soon), empty the dishwasher, prep dinner, work on blog posts, and have some quiet time to myself.
2:30pm Little one wakes up from her nap and we snuggle for a few minutes before she goes potty. Then she has a snack and will look at her library books.
I try to go to a class at the gym at least 3 times per week. If it is a gym day then I will make sure as much of dinner is already made before we leave so that when we get back home we can quickly eat before bed time.
If it is not a gym day then we will read books, color, or play together until I have to start making dinner. I have been meal planning for a few months now and using little ones nap time to do all the prepping so that when cook time comes all I have to do is turn on the stove and throw the food on the pan.
5pm is dinner time. Little one helps set the table and she goes potty before we sit down to eat.
After dinner she will play with her toys or look at her books while I clean up.
8:30pm is her bedtime so right around 8pm or so we will get her into a bath (sometimes) and start our bedtime routine. Depending on how long our bedtime routine takes, we will either snuggle on the couch with all her previously mentioned "sleep stuff" or we will go right to her bed for sleep.
When all goes well with bedtime she is usually asleep by 9:15pm and I will finish the final touches on cleaning the kitchen and putting together lunches for my husband. Then I will sit on the couch and watch some TV or scroll through my phone or read while waiting for hubby to get home from work. He usually comes walking in the door between 9:30 and 9:45pm. We will hang out for a bit on the couch (sometimes he eats dinner and sometimes not) and by 10:30pm we are ready to get into bed.
Before I get into bed for the night I will start the dishwasher with the day's dishes. Then after scrolling through my phone for a bit, the little will sometimes stir and wake up so I will take her potty one last time and then I will go to sleep between 11pm and midnight.
Again this is loosely followed +/- 30 minutes to an hour. Just like what happens with toddler's around sometimes we don't do any of it. Sometimes I sleep through her entire nap. Sometimes she doesn't nap at all. Sometimes we spend extra time running errands and have to eat our snacks for lunch. We go with the flow and learn from each other.
What schedules do you follow with your children?
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Stay tuned for my weekly home cleaning/chore schedule. Coming up as soon as I can motivate myself to write one.
