I've been wanting to document our daily routine all summer and I'm finally getting around to doing it today. I feel this big shift coming with Olive starting school this Fall. We have been in total control of our schedules and days for 4 years and now we're giving up some of that control to a school schedule. I think it'll be just fine. It will force us to use our days off for all the fun and flexibility.
I snapped pictures of our regular activities all during the week last week to come up with this post. It felt easier that documenting every single thing in one day. My last Day in the Life post was right before Fletcher was born.
Lots has changed since March 2016
Summer 2017 Routine
Olive: 4 years old
Fletcher: 17 months
(Olive + Fletcher riding Sandy. Fletcher was in heaven. Olive got head butted.)
7:45/8:00am My kiddo alarm clock goes off. The kids alternate who wakes up first and when one is up they insist on finding the other immediately. They're really getting to a sweet age to play together. They both want milk first thing.
8:15am Cartoons and breakfast. I pack Kevin's lunch and we send him off for the day. Everyone goes to the front window to wave bye and blow kisses. Their #1 favorite breakfast is French Toast Sticks with dry cereal being a close second. Olive loves Paw Patrol and was telling me about some pup adventure over breakfast.
9:00 Time to get ready. I do my make up and hair while the kids play. Pause to get the
kids dressed and ready. We usually try to race to see how fast we can
all get ready. Then I get dressed last. We go on a long walk almost every day. Some times it is in the morning and other days we wait until Kevin gets home from work. If we don't go on a walk then we head out for errands, appointments or a play date with friends.
10:00 Get back home and play in the backyard. The kids swing, play in the rock pit or sand box.
10:45 Do some fun learning activity together. Olive is currently loving this PreK workbook. She's working on her letters and sounds and Fletcher is eating crayons and ripping pages. We use the island all day long - for crafts, for school work, to eat and just to climb.
11:15 Run Errands
I always try to run errands before lunch. We made a quick run through the grocery store. Both kids are usually pretty happy grocery shoppers. Fletcher is at the stage where he's constantly trying to climb out of the cart or trying to throw the things I put in the cart onto the floor. I usually end up sweating trying to keep him and the groceries inside the cart. We stroll through the toy aisles, check out the fish tanks, scope out the birthday cakes and try to remember to grab everything on our list. That is assuming one of the kids didn't drop or shred my list in the shopping trip.
12:00 Fix lunch.
I prep the kids lunches and they get busy eating. They are both good eaters and always eat a big lunch. Then I rock Fletcher for his nap. I will snuggle him before nap/bedtime as long as he will let me. I usually eat lunch after he goes down for a nap around 12:30
1-3:00 Nap / Quiet Time
Fletcher naps for a solid 2-2.5 hours every afternoon.
Olive catches up on her shows, books, crafts and plays with toys during this time.
I usually do dishes, tidy up the whole house and work on blog related things.
I also grab an iced coffee at some point and Olive gets a snack. Smoothies have been her fave.
The cats seem extra friendly when Fletcher is asleep haha. Olive has gotten really good with them and I'll find them hanging out with her regularly.
International Delight Light Iced Mocha is my #1 fave drink.
3:15 Wake up slow.
Both kids want a snack & snuggle when nap time is over.
Pretzels, goldfish, fruit and dry cereal are their favorite snacks.
3:30 Outside Fun.
We will meet friends at the park, play in our backyard, go for a walk, take care of our flower gardens or anything else we can think of to be outside. If the weather doesn't cooperate, we will watch a show or a movie while we play inside.
4:30 Book club
We gather together to read some of our favorite books. Right now they're mostly school themed. This doesn't always happen in the afternoon. We just fit it in at some point during the day.
5:00 Keep Busy Before Dinner!
We will make a fun treat together, play with our toys or do whatever it takes to keep everyone happy before dinner. We might go on a family walk, work on a project, hang out together or read soem books.
5:45 Dinner Prep
Kevin's usually home by now so we trade off who's playing with the kids, watching some news and working on dinner prep. Some nights he grills or gets take out and other nights I do all the dinner prep. It's so helpful to have him play with the kids while I cook.
At some point during the day I usually end up cleaning up some giant mess. This week Fletcher figured out how to spray the water out of refrigerator dispenser, dumped a whole box of linguine after he found the pantry door open. He's such a busy boy!
6:45 Dinner clean up and play
I clean up the kitchen and we pick one more thing to do - games, toys, play outside. Then it's bath time and head to bed around 8:00. The kids have loved helping us with our gardens.
8:15 Clean up and put clean kids to bed!
We all work together to clean up the toys and messes we've made. We make a game of cleaning up the toys so it goes pretty quickly. Whether it's a sink bath or a real bath, we like to put the kids to bed clean. Kevin usually puts Olive to bed and I put Fletcher to bed. Then I will go into Olive's room to answer a million questions along with her stall tactics for bedtime.
9:15ish Snoozing Kids
Fletcher goes to bed FAST. Books, bottle, prayers and snuggles.
Olive goes to bed SLOW.
She has a million things to talk about and it seems to take something like forever.
Questions, drinks, potty, playing, books, more questions, foot rubs, etc.
10:00 Alone time.
Kevin and I try to soak in the quiet during these hours. He's usually got some reading to do for work and I do some reading of my own. We have dessert together and then he heads to bed before me. I'd love to start watching a show together, but for now we just enjoy being in the same room together. We talk about our days and go over the plan for the following day.
12:00ish I try to head to bed around midnight. I work on a long to do list after everyone goes to bed. Chores, projects, DVR, blog reading, blog writing, etc. I get a ton of stuff done at night.
Not super exciting, but that's how we spend our days right now!
I just finished reading the best book called Slow Down: Embracing the Everyday Moments of Motherhood by Nichole Nordeman. Have you heard her song Slow Down? I had, but I love the Slow Down book even better. It seems like the perfect book to read this time of year with all the kids heading back to school and seeming so grown up. I love the message of slowing the pace of your life down and enjoying the moments with your children. Children grow up. It's a fact, but there's plenty of things you can do to slow down the pace of life to enjoy the years of parenting your little ones. I loved the message of appreciating your children for who they are, being vulnerable with other moms, savoring the moments without micromanaging them, creating family traditions and savoring the JOY in raising children. The collaborative writing from all kinds of moms to tell their stories and their mothering advice was refreshing. It was fun to hear all of the voices speak to the things they've learned about mothering. Slow Down is a quick read that you're sad to see end. The parenting advice is encouraging and not preachy. Each chapter ends with a couple questions and blank pages for you to answer. The sets of questions really make you think about your family and your kids. The set up of this book would make an excellent book club or book to read with friends. I'd highly recommend this book to any mom.
* I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review of it.
It's time to link up with my favorite Tuesday Talk ladies and
Momfessionals.
Be sure to join us with a fun post.
