I find myself SO interested in the daily lives of other moms lately. I am always looking for ways to streamline and make things easier, to make more time for the things we really love to do or fun new projects. We get along pretty well but it’s difficult to imagine adding more kids (which I would love) without turning our lives upside down–so organizing and simplifying are the priorities for this year.
Here is roughly what today looked like for us, for example. Every day is a bit different as we have OT for one child which varies by the week, and preschool for the oldest is only twice a week, plus other commitments to family and friends.
6:30am: Woke up and nursed Baby K
7am: Everyone ate breakfast, which today was homemade granola from the weekend with yogurt and sliced banana. I finish getting ready for the day after eating. Usually I will also throw on a load of laundry but last night I got a head start and the load was already in the dryer.
7:30am: Eric started work in his downstairs office and I grabbed a cup of coffee while the kids played a bit
8am: Got the toddlers dressed, packed the backpack and got little E ready to leave for preschool (Eric drops him off). Then I nursed the baby again and we had some relaxed playtime in the nursery. Baby K is working on crawling right now so I’m trying to have him in a safe open place to practice as much as possible.
9am: Baby went down for a nap. Little A and I folded laundry, I sent some messages and then the toddler colored on the back sliding door with window paints while I planned our garden for this summer. I researched exactly what we needed for each plant type and wrote a shopping list for the garden center this weekend.
9:30am: Little A and I had a snack–homemade chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and I had my magnesium drink. Afterwards I tidied their bedroom, unloaded the dishwasher, and ordered a bread tin.
10:30am: Baby got up and nursed again. I read little A some books and then started on lunch.
~11:30am: When little E got back from preschool, we ate lunch together which takes forever 😛 Everyone is always so hungry and always wants more of this or that. Today we had open-faced sandwiches with turkey, raw cheese and avocado, clementines on the side and maybe another cookie or two…
12:15pm: I fed the baby again and then everyone was done with lunch. We tidied up toys and books, read a story and little A went down for his nap. e, K and I hung out in the nursery for a bit after this and then the baby went down for his nap too.
1pm: I reloaded the dishwasher, did the hand washing, cleaned the counters and sat down to read my own book while little e read his books and played.
2:15pm: We got little A up from his nap and the boys went to play Duplo in the basement. Then I got the baby up and fed him again, then fed us (yogurt with applesauce and cinnamon) for a snack.
3:15pm: We got dressed up for the weather and left to go play at the park a few blocks away! We try to get outside time in every day it’s nice enough (i.e. not dangerous to be outside–the standards are low here haha).
4pm: We got back and the boys wanted me to color on the window with them. Eric finished work at 4:15 and fed the baby his bottle while we chatted about the evening. He offered to make dinner tonight 🙂 so I am currently wearing my noise canceling headphones in the nursery, writing this post.
This evening I’ll probably get a headstart on the vacuuming for tomorrow, do a load of laundry, and rotate the kids’ toys since it’s been a week with the current selection. But mostly after the kids’ bedtime, Eric and I plan the next day and then relax together–or do “parallel play” reading our books. Occasionally we call a friend or have somebody over, but usually we reserve weekday evenings for ourselves!
I am SO excited for summer when we eat simpler food (because it’s actually good and not imported from a thousand+ miles away), spend more time outside and more time with family. I’m excited to garden, to get a little above-ground pool for our backyard so the boys can get more comfortable in the water and also maaaybe to go on vacation in summer/fall 🙂 We have crummy winters but summer can be truly blissful here.
xx Claire