How I Manage Our Weekdays
As anyone with a baby knows, every day is different, but there are some things that I try to keep consistent throughout the week, especially since I need to dedicate time to working on top of momming. Here's a general snapshot of a regular day for us:
- 7 a.m.: ODP is up, daddy gets him to have breakfast
- 7:15 a.m.: Mom gets up and meets the boys in the kitchen for coffee and food
- 8:30 a.m.: Daddy leaves for work and mommy and ODP play or read or put away laundry or do chores
- 9 a.m. (ish): ODP naps/mom works
- Noon(ish): ODP gets up and has lunch
- Mid-afternoon: Mommy and ODP get out of the house for an adventure!
- 2-4 p.m.: ODP goes to bed for his second nap/mom works
- 5 p.m.: Dinner
- 6-7 p.m.: Family playtime
- 7 p.m. (ish): ODP bedtime
We spend a lot of time together, the kid and me, and if we don't get out of the house most days, mommy gets a little nutty. So! We've had to get creative and find some fun things to do on our adventures that are 1. Quick(ish) and 2. Often inexpensive or free. We live right down the street from a mall and lots of shopping, so it's really easy to take walks to places where we'll end up cruising around for things we don't need. Finding alternatives has been VERY helpful for our family's wallet :). We like to go to parks, hit trails, do laps around the library, and spend time around plants whenever we can. The UW cherry blossoms provided the PERFECT adventure for us this week, and it was clear other moms had the same idea because the UW quad was full of babies and strollers. There were lots of fluffy flowers for ODP to look at and other kids running and playing for him to watch. He loved every second.
If you're like us, your baby can handle one major outing a day. Or, I guess, you can because just getting them in and out of their car seat multiple times can be a little bit of a chore. However, I've made a sanity pledge to get out and we're doing a pretty good job of it so far. I also like to keep in mind finding activities that are loosely "educational" or stimulating for Oliver, which is why the library is always a good choice for us, aside from my book ADHD.
I've also been focusing on bucketing my work day around naps and bedtime so that I can be fully present for Oliver and for my clients. I am lucky that I can do quite a bit from my phone if I need to, but I reserve doing that for absolute necessity. It's not fair to either to be half in.
I'd love to hear from other moms in all walks what works well for managing your typical day. Please never hesitate to reach out!
