A weekday in the life of ...

10:15

Having a 19 month old and two adults who work fulltime, routine and schedule are key to everyone's happiness. Even a few minutes off schedule can throw the start of our day into chaos and have S and I both heading to work stressed, bad tempered and exhausted before we even begin. I like to know other's routines as I'm constantly adjusting ours to maximise time spent with E and getting things done around the home so we all start our day well.

In only a few months we are going to have some very big changes to the current routine but for now, our Monday to Friday looks a little like this:

5:15-6:30am - E wakes up and if its before 6am we beg him to go back to sleep by putting him in our bed and snuggling him under the covers. Despite our tired eyes, its such a delightful way to start the day with E all cuddly, sleepy and very happy to see us. If its still before 6am and no sleep is coming, S being the best dad/husband ever, gets up with E, changes him and gives him a sippy of milk to drink while watching Waybaloos on ABCKids while I either get an extra half hour of sleep or jump up to shower, apply makeup and dress.

7am - S has usually prepped E's brekky so I fix mine quickly (this week its Sustain cereal and juice) and sit down with E to supervise him eating and to talk about his day/dreams etc. Es breakfast starts with a piece of fruit (pears, mango or kiwi this week) followed by toast/crumpet he picks at then a bowl of weet bix with mashed banana and full cream milk (with a half a losec tablet thrown in). S will use this time to have a coffee, eat a piece of toast and clean up the kitchen/do dishes apart from Thurs/Fri where we swap and I pack E's lunchbox for DC including cutting fruit/sandwich shapes while S does breakfast supervision.

7:30am - I clean E down from smeared weet bix and we head downstairs to play and dress him while S has a shower and gets ready for work. I put The Wiggles or a Playschool cd on and we dance while we put the washing out (if I was organised and set the timer the night before) and play in the playroom or in the yard then we choose an outfit for the day, change nappy and get dressed.

8:15am - depending on the day:

  • S's mum arrives to take E and I head off to work
  • S goes to work, I take E to my mums and then head to work
  • E & S head to swimming and I go to work
  • I take E to daycare before going to work and S goes straight to work x2
This is obviously based on a good day where all goes to plan but if E sleeps in past 6:30am, it can throw the whole morning out, especially if we're lazy and don't get up anyway to shower and prep ourselves.

Scott is home Monday Tuesday and otherwise finishes work at 5:30pm or a little after whereas my finish times are a little more flexible and almost always before or on 5pm so the afternoons and early evenings start and then go like this apart from Mondays when I get home and we head to my inlaws for dinner and to pick up E:

4:30/5:15pm - I pick E up from my parents or daycare and we arrive home.

5:15/5:30pm - cook, warm or prep E's dinner. I pull out whatever meat portion or meal he is having for dinner in the morning to defrost in the freezer so its usually just a matter of cooking/warming that and adding it to his steamed veg then we sit at the table while he eats and talk about his day. We always finish with fresh fruit, frozen berries or yoghurt (spiked with losec) for dessert.

6pm - Scott gets home and takes E for his bath or shower while I clean up E's dinner mess and try and prep what I can for our dinner. Bath and shower time involve lots of noise and splashing of course then we all play on the 'big bed', dry E off and put pajamas on.

6:30pm - E watches In the Night Garden with his sippy cup of milk while sitting on my lap or pottering around the lounge room reading his stories. At the end of the show we say goodnight to all the characters, take E to brush his teeth and rinse his mouth then he gives S or I goodnight kisses and cuddles, says goodnight to the trampoline and the bats (don't ask) and then S or I read him a story, put on his Tomy lullaby star projector and lay with him till he falls asleep which normally takes 10-20 minutes.

7:15pm - S or I (whoever is not on bedtime duty) prepare and cook dinner so we can eat once E is asleep then its clean up the lounge room toys followed by mostly couchtime watching tv, catching up on each other's day and tidying the kitchen before bed by 10pm. Sometimes (not lately) if I'm energetic, I will bake something for the week and I try to set the washing machine for an early morning wash load to peg out.

That's a typical weekday in our house and there are some times S will have a soccer game once a week or an afterwork job to go to  or I will have plans to catch up with a girlfriend so by the time E is down on those nights, whoever is home is ready for bed too having done the nighttime routine single handedly.

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