7:00am - Tyler wakes up. Turns off his lamp, I change him, dress him, make him a bottle, and prepare him some breakfast and sit him up to eat it.
7:30am - Maya wakes up. She too gets changed, dressed, and has a bottle.
8:00am - Both kids dressed and happy - Tyler chills playing or watches some morning TV whilst Maya plays on the baby play mat. I take this opportunity to shower, dress, dry my hair (rarely do I also put on make up, but sometimes)
9:00am - Both kids tend to need to be changed again by this time. So we undress, change, redress.
9:30am - Pack the kids into the pram. Run around looking for everything we need to go out the house (takes longer than you'd expect)...
10:00am - We're out the house and on our way to the Post Office to check the mail, followed by the grocery store (Tyler has his morning yoghurt, I have a low-fat Iced Coffee or Chocolate Milk, Maya crashes out in the pram). Sometimes I'll also do my billpaying, banking, or peruse the local op-shops.
11:00am - We head back home. Tyler has some fruit and we play indoors until his lunchtime.
12:00pm - Tyler has lunch, Maya wakes up for a feed / change. Tyler has his nappy change and proceeds to play and then lays on the couch whilst I play with Maya before it's time for his nap. Maya has a play with me for an hour.
1:00pm - Tyler goes down for his nap. Maya goes down for her nap. I have time to myself........ but not for long! I run around picking up toys, the clothes from the day/night before, do a load of dishes... Or if I'm feeling "selfish" - I might do a painting. Or sew something. Or even have a nap myself!
2:00pm - Tyler wakes up from his nap (normally when I'm maybe 1/2 way through the dishes). He gets up, the TV is off, we go outside for a play (weather permitting).
2:30pm - Maya wakes up. She wants another feed / change, Tyler has a snack, change... We all play until it's Maya's nap time again.
4:00pm - Maya's nap time. Tyler and I do something together like read books, build blocks, something relatively constructive yet not grandiose and loud. I also start making Tyler's tea.
5:30pm - Tyler's tea time... The telly is allowed back on at this stage. He sits up to eat his tea, and normally Maya wakes up for a feed about this time also.
6:00pm - Bath time. Both kids (and sometimes me, also) have a bath together. Occasionally I'll do Tyler on his own, followed by Maya soon afterwards. Though generally it's easier just to wash them both at the same time.
6:30pm - Nappies/pyjamas on the kids, evening television ("bedtime" shows) go on. Tyler watches "In the Night Garden".
7:00pm - Kids shows are over. Tyler sings the theme song to "Spicks & Specks" (Mummy's show!) then proceeds to turn on his lamp, and climb into bed. He takes a bottle and 2 dummies with him, and is asleep within 15-30 minutes. Once he is in bed, I feed Maya her last bottle for the night whilst attempting to watch my favourite show... She generally then has a bit of a babble and a cuddle with mummy, then too goes to bed about 8pm.
8:00pm - My turn to eat... talk to my friends / my mum / family etc... check my Facebook / Emails etc. Do another run around the house and "tidy"... put a load of washing on if I'm lucky (or at the very least, chuck them into a pile!) Do the remaining dishes from the day.
10:00pm - Go to bed (normally watching a TV show or DVD until about 11:00pm)
11:00pm - 7:00am - EVERYBODY (normally) SLEEPS!
That's it. Then repeat Mon-Fri. Saturdays and Sundays are a little bit different, as the shops aren't open or we catch up with friends, Tyler tends to go to his grandparents' on a Friday night leaving just me and Maya at home on the Saturday (and sometimes also the Sunday).
What adjectives does this routine tend to conjure up in your minds? Boring? Mundane? Organised? Structured? Chaotic?
I think the main things I can say about our days are:
- The fact the kids like routine is good. It makes them "predictable".
- On the contrary, the fact that they are so routine also means they are not FLEXIBLE...
- My day seldom leaves room for much adult human contact / social interaction (I tend to get the majority of such through the phone, Facebook, parenting forums, etc.) There are only so many times you can talk "poo poo" and "Upsy-Daisy" and read the same story about the little lost puppy in a day before you start to feel "itchy".
- The amount of time it takes to create the mess is not equal to the time it takes to deal with the mess created. (A friend stayed at our house recently, and decided to have a mid-afternoon kip on the couch. When he closed his eyes, the floor was spotless. When he opened them not too long afterwards, he exclaimed in disbelief of what had become of his surrounding "WHAT HAPPENED?!?"... Tyler had happened. In a matter of 20 minutes the house was torn apart by the "toddler tornado"!)
- Stay At Home parenting is, to some extent, nothing more than the movie "Groundhog Day"... just with children and lots of mess thrown in..!
Regardless, though, of how repetitive and child-oriented my days are, we do ok... It works for us "for now"... Whilst I struggle to keep on top of all the housework, etc. my kids are always getting everything they need - they are fed well, dressed well, have ample appropriate stimulation and play/learning time with their mother, they get to go on an outing every day, and they receive a tonne of hugs in the little gaps throughout... At the end of the day, they won't stay this young for long. Hopefully by the time they've grown to kindy/school age I'll have finally managed to learn how to well and truly get my shit together!
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