Day to Day, revisited

In August of 2008, when Katy was 2 and David was 5 months, I did a post about what our daily life looks like. I thought I might do another one, because WOW. It looks different now (at least to me). And we still have a 2 year old and a 5 month old, so I guess the difference is the 4 year old? Or I got sick of staying home so much?

A typical weekday looks like this:

At 6:20 the alarm goes off. If the baby is awake, I get up to feed him. But if not, I hit snooze and wait for Brian to get in the shower. Usually Luke wakes up before he is out and I feed him and hand him over to Brian so that I can shower around 7. Katy and David usually wake up between 6:30-7:15. We've been working with David on waiting until the clock says 7 before calling for us. He's getting there, he waits about half the time.

While I shower, Brian takes them downstairs and feeds them cereal while they watch some TV (Cars these days). I try to get done by 7:30 so he can leave for work, but often he brings Luke up to hang out with me while I dry my hair.

On non-school mornings, it's a more leisurely pace, completing the same tasks as below. But we are still out of the house almost every morning - whether it's swim lesson, play date, some kind of appointment or errand, playgroup, or going to the park.

On school mornings (3 days/week), I come downstairs and get the kids ready (dressed, diaper changes, clean up breakfast, brush teeth and hair, pack bags, hopefully eat something myself). A current challenge is that Luke would love to go back down for a nap before we even leave for school, but many mornings the timing doesn't work out. We do what we can. He'll catch a catnap in the car if he doesn't get one at home. We're out the door by 8:40, and no matter how "on time" I think I've been running that morning, I am rushing out the door at go time.

We pull into the parking lot and I unload the kids (put Luke in a stroller), and drag them into the school to take Katy to her classroom door. Then the boys and I have 2.5 hours. One of the days, we usually go to the library for storytime, one of the days we go to church for my mom's group/Bible study, and one of the days we go home. Luke naps in the carseat for 20-30 minutes here and there when he can. If we're home in the morning, he might get a nap in the crib.

After I pick Katy up, we go home for lunch (about once a week we get McDonald's, which I justify because our favorite menu item is the fruit and yogurt parfait). Then we have some playtime before rest. We try to get outside as much as possible, although it's tougher with a baby (he's so heavy, and he always needs something so I'm constantly going inside).

Around 1:30, give or take, I begin heading toward rest time. David goes into his crib and usually sleeps 2 hours or so. Most days, Luke will also take a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon, but it doesn't usually fall at exactly the same time. He might go down at 12:30, for example, and David not until 1:30. Then at some point, Katy will select "quiet activities" (puzzles, games, coloring, etc) and go to the playroom for her rest time. I set the timer for one hour, and she plays in there on her own. I usually have to help with something at some point (potty, can't find blankie, etc). About once a week, she'll fall asleep and sleep right through the timer going off, for about an hour. IF the stars align so that all 3 of them are "resting" at the same time, I get one hour to myself. About half of that is usually cleaning up from the morning/lunch/laundry etc. The other half I'm usually on the computer checking email, looking up information about various things, or this month, I'm blogging. If I had continued to work from home, this afternoon time would have been stressful and busy, rather than a time to catch my breath. So thankful for that breath.

Once Katy finishes her rest time, there is usually some time with just her and I - we play games, read books, or she likes to help me cook, fold laundry, or clean as well. I also struggle because sometimes I didn't get everything done that I wanted to during rest time, so sometimes I will let her play games on starfall.com for a little while.

The boys wake up and we have another round of play time. Again, we try to get outside. Katy usually begs me to go play with various neighbor girls, which could be another post of its own. I try to get dinner together (which is warming up the main course and making salad, rice, or pasta) by the time Brian gets home between 5:30 and 6. The hour or so before Brian gets home tend to be a bit nuts. Luke is somewhat fussy and wants to be held. I'm getting ready for dinner. The big kids are bickering, etc.

The kids go wild when Brian gets home. We sit down for dinner and try to catch up on the day and play a dinner game. They often get down from the table and go play before Brian and I are done eating and we try to have 5 minutes of adult conversation, albeit with a baby on our lap. Then Brian will go and play with the kids while I clean up dinner (this is my preference - please entertain them for a few minutes).

Luke has been going to bed between 6:30 and 7 recently, so I'm nursing and dressing him during this time. Then the family activity varies: maybe it's bath night, maybe I take one of the kids on a walk or to the grocery while Brian takes the other. Or we might all play a game together. Now with the time change, it's too dark to go back outside, but when it was light we would do that.

One night a week, Katy has Awana at church. We carpool with another family, so if it's our night to drive, I take them, run errands, and bring them home.

Between 8 and 8:30, one of us puts the big kids to bed (teeth, jammies, books, prayers and kisses). Amazingly (and knocking on that wood), they've been going pretty much right to sleep. Partially it's Katy giving up her nap, and the bedtime is slightly later for David since we moved them in together.

Then Brian and I either watch TV, work on projects around the house, talk about what's going on, or take turns with the computer. Around 10:30 we are heading upstairs, and Luke usually wakes up by 11 for his first feeding. He's also up again around 3, give or take. For some reason, once every few nights he has trouble going back to sleep after that second waking and he might be awake for an hour. But he isn't crying, just awake in his crib. So we keep going in to check on him, burp him, change him, etc, and eventually he goes back to sleep.

One thing that is drastically different on the weekends is that Brian and I take turns letting each other sleep in - I usually take Saturdays and he takes Sundays. Of course, I'm up at 6:30 feeding the baby, but I can easily go back to sleep, even if I'm awake for an hour. I'm a night owl, so I can sleep LATE. I feel a bit sheepish to admit that I force myself to get up if I sleep much past 9:00. Brian never sleeps past 8:30 on his mornings.

I love reading about daily routines, so if you are up for posting yours, I'd love to hear it!