Stay at home mom schedule

When I asked one of my friends how she managed the children at home, she remarked that you need to find your routine and stick to it. That line turned the light bulbs on my brain. Became my mojo. They are the same people who said “consistency is the key in disciplining, when it comes to parenting”. Some of the best fundamental advices I ever received. At the beginning of this journey, the blogosphere offered a ton of support with “how to go about doing this thing?” I could not have come through without the ideas from moms around the world.

While this is nothing near perfection, it works for our family and keeps us sane. We run on a late schedule, maybe due to dad’s work hours. If we are out and about or the children are sick, it is way off. This reflects a good day for the most part. I often wonder if I under-feed the kids, considering they are both little peanuts. Is genetics to blame or my inability to stuff them? My mother can answer that better, in sometime. With a heavy heart I admit this schedule is going to get uprooted, when we go to Chennai. Thanks to the 20 hour journey and 11.5 hours time lag. K never handled jet lag well, ever.

6:30 Little man, our alarm clock is up. Dad gets him, changes diaper and they hang out in the living room. Dad also unloads the dishwasher at this time.

7:00 Mom drags herself to the kitchen to get coffee/milk going for all. Does the beds.

7:30 K is up and heads out after a little waking up drama. Dad gets her brushed.

8:00 All are fed coffee/milk and getting ready for breakfast. We usually go through idli, dosa, oatmeal, cereal, bread. Occasionally, depending on my mood and time we get poha or upma.

8:30 Breakfast for K and dad are done. K gets a change of clothes and is ready for school. She leaves by 8:45 latest. Most days dad drops her and leaves for work. If P is on a work call, then I take her. Little man stays home watching TV or walking around by us, playing by self.

9:30 Mom and little man get their breakfast. I feed him. Yes. He will learn to self feed in his time, am not too pressurized by that yet. We sing songs or go through books or do cards, try to talk at that time.

10:30 He usually sleeps after getting a short feed. I clean up after breakfast. Load the dishes and think about lunch. Lunch is usually leftovers from previous day dinner. We typically stock 2 or 3 dishes in the fridge and keep rotating them for meals through the day. During his nap, I catch up on reading (spiritual and otherwise), make any phone calls/messages, chat with parents on skype etc.

11:30 Time to bundle up and leave to pick up K from school.

12:10 Back home and settled in for the afternoon.

12:30 Kids eat a snack and K relaxes around with TV or play together in their room, while I get lunch going and do sundry kitchen tasks. Few days a week kids chat with my parents over skype.

1:30 Lunch routine, it takes an hour to get them both to finish their lunch. We just talk over lunch or read a book when she eats.

3:00 K winds down for her afternoon nap and sleeps by about 3:30. I take little man for his bath and feed to get him to sleep. His nap starts about 3:45 after which I catch 2 episodes on Food Network – Ina Garten’s and Pioneer woman usually. I finish my bath, laundry, post lunch clean up, housekeeping, prep for dinner. At times K plays with the kids next door – depending on her and their mood.

5:30 All are awake for the evening and have their milk/snack. We chat about the day, hang around in the living room and then get K’s bath done.

7:00 Dad is home and kids are excited. So is mom, to get time for herself. The ‘me time’ is usually invested in getting through cooking dinner or baking. K climbs on the step stool and watches me work in the kitchen and wants to help out.

7:30 Finish little man’s dinner and step out for grocery or quick shopping trips or dinner once a weeknight – things like a Buy Buy baby/Target run or Kohls visit or the mall. We all actually go together, so everyone gets a time out from their schedule. If we stay home, kids play or do activities with dad and I get a shower.

9:00 Back home, little man is asleep. K and rest of us eat dinner after which we read or write or watch TV to unwind.

10:00 K goes to bed. Mom cleans up after dinner. Dad gets into night offshore calls and mom browses, reads or makes lists.

11:00 Mom to bed, dad sleeps after his calls are done depending on the day.

1:00 Little man whines and cries in the crib, mom picks him up, calms him down and gets him into her bed.

6:30 It’s a new day!

In summer when there wasn’t school, the routine was slightly different. Morning when he napped, I was able to get activities done with K like cards, books or coloring. Or we would plan visits to library for craft/story times or park district classes or the grocery or mall/play area together, more outdoorsy things – maybe just an evening in the park. With school in place and cold weather setting in most of those had to be cut down. My late night power sprint walks went off the window too. Really miss that quiet time and fresh air. 

Writing this down helps me look at areas where I can do better to keep the children engaged. Given their age and my exhaustion, I have been unable to enroll them for other activities. P helps out a good amount, necessary for him to stay involved with the kids. Well, it’s alright to cut ourselves some slack....As with any job I am going through my learning curve and it is getting better. While fears and doubts still remain, my hope is built on nothing less than Almighty who is my anchor through this phase in life.