One of the most frequent questions I get when I say I stay home with my kids is, “What do you do all day?” (Which… kinda rude) My favorite question is, “Don’t you get bored?” Well, this post is all about that. Trust me, I’d love to have time to be bored! Between running the house, caring, nurturing and providing activities for my kids, our days are very full over here!
We all love an insight to other people’s lives whether we’re looking for ideas or simply satisfying curiosity. I hope this gives you some inspiration if you’re struggling to fill your days. Remember, not every second needs to be filled with “doing,” sometimes it’s okay to be “bored,” if you can find the time 😉
5:30 AM – 6:45 AM
This is my “me” time. I typically work out first thing to ensure I get it done. My current workout has been an incline walk on my walking pad for about 25 minutes. I’ll occasionally add in 3-5 lb. dumbbells for some extra arm focus. I watch a show or listen to a podcast during this time. Right now I can’t get enough of Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. After I workout, I do a quick body shower and head to the kitchen to eat breakfast with my husband, while the coffee is brewing. Breakfast is typically scrambled eggs and some sort of carb – bagel or toast! If I have time before my kids wake up, I empty the dishwasher.
6:45 AM – 10:30 AM
The kids wake up between 6:45-7 AM and once they’re up, it’s off to the races! I feed them breakfast ASAP to fill those hungry tummies. Right now they’re loving yogurt and toast. After breakfast, I try to send them off to play while I clean up the kitchen. I usually get about 5 minutes to clean before I’m summoned in to join. I’ll grab my coffee and sit in the playroom with them – I intentionally chose this room as a playroom because it gets the best morning sunlight. To get out of the house, we’ve been going to the library for story time once or twice a week or we’ll plan a playdate! Once it gets warmer, I plan to be outside much more! By 10:30 AM, I’ll turn on a TV show for them to watch for about 45 minutes until it’s time for nap.
11:15 PM – 2 PM
We made it to nap time! I put my youngest down first since she sleeps anywhere from 2-3 hours still. Noah has needed less sleep recently and we think it’s best for him to get his good sleep overnight, therefore we’ve been cutting his naps to about 1-1.5 hours a day. Unsure yet if this helps him get to sleep more efficiently at night… stay tuned!
I’m lucky that my kids’ naps overlap, and I don’t take that for granted. How I use this time varies daily. I always start nap time by eating a wholesome lunch. It’s necessary for me to get good fuel in order to keep up with my kids for the rest of the day! I like sandwiches, chicken bowls or salads – basically anything with protein. After I eat, I’ll either take the time to clean the house and do laundry or I fully commit to relaxing by watching TV. When I’m in the creative zone, I’ll work on my blog <3
2 PM – 5 PM
The Afternoon Slump! We’ve all been here when the afternoons feel long and you’re not sure how you want to fill the time. These are the mundane moments, the ones that can feel long in real time, but I know deep down they’re the ones I’ll miss someday. I try to remind myself of that when patience is running thin.
Since my kids are morning snackers, they eat a later lunch – always a PB&J with cottage cheese of some type of fruit. When it’s nice outside we go for a walk or play in our yard. Moving to the burbs has been great for this! If we need to be inside, we’ll bake, color or play with puzzles.
When all else fails and we’re getting restless, I throw on a kids playlist on Spotify and we all get our wiggles out! Right now we are loving The Goldfish by The Laurie Berkner Band or Hop Little Bunnies by Ms. Rachel.
*Pro-Tip: look into your local park district for activities you can do with your kids. You’ll be surprised by how inexpensive they can be! We have a list of activities we plan on joining for the spring.
5 PM – 8 PM
Dinner time! This is when my husband typically gets home and I get to cook in peace, phew! I’ve been rotating dinners weekly and some of our favorites have been chicken pot pie, pasta with meatballs, chili (anything in the slow cooker is a time saver), cheeseburger bowls and obviously frozen pizza on those days I don’t feel like cooking. I plan to do a more in depth post of easy dinners in the future!
After dinner comes bath, teeth brushing, and story time. And then… it’s full on survival mode. I’m kidding. Kind of. If you have a toddler, you know how bedtime is!
8 PM – 10 PM
If we’re lucky, Noah is down by 8 pm. This is considered sacred time when Joey and I get to watch something on TV and catch up. It’s adult time and it’s good to reconnect with your partner. Lately we’ve been putting furniture together as our new house is still a work in progress, but hey, we’ve only been here for a month. It’s been nice to have a glass of wine and work with some tools, ha!
We make sure that the kitchen is cleaned and the dishwasher is started for a new day. This reset really makes the next morning feel easier. Time to head up to brush my teeth, pee a million times before I convince myself my bladder is empty enough to not wake up in the middle of the night and read a book. I just finished Best Offer Wins, a thriller I give 3.5/5 stars! I aim to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night to give me the energy to get up and do it all over again.
I feel incredibly lucky for these ordinary, crazy, beautiful days with my kids. They’re repetitive and exhausting and magical all at once. I know one day I’ll look back on these ordinary days, and instead of wishing I had soaked them up more, I hope I can be proud knowing that I was present and grateful during them when it mattered the most.
XO,
Kassie
