It looks like I'll probably be becoming a SAHM to my 17m old in a couple weeks (current job is ending and I don't have another lined up) and I'm super nervous. SAHMs can you share sample schedules of what your day looks like with me?
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Sure! LO is 22 months, but we've been on this schedule for awhile, definitely since 17 months at least.
7 - LO usually wakes up around now. I let him chatter to himself in his crib as long as he's happyish for anywhere up to 30 mins while I wake up! Then I play with him for a little while in his room and finally pin him for a diaper change before we go downstairs.
8ish - Breakfast, then some downstairs playtime.
9 - I'll often let him watch "Super Why" upstairs while I throw on clothes and get him dressed if I haven't already.
9:30 or 10ish - We usually leave the house around now for some sort of morning activity. He's in a Kindermusik class and we always go to library storytime downtown. Sometimes we go to something organized by my mom's group. If I have nothing planned, we may just run an errand, like going to the grocery store.
12 - I usually like to be back by noon so that I can feed him lunch and let him play a little bit before I herd him upstairs for his nap.
1 - 3 (give or take) - Naptime. I usually try to do some freelance work, clean a bit, or rest if I'm exhausted.
3 (give or take) - LO wakes up, and again I'll let him chatter for awhile before I go get him.
3:30 - 4:30 - I usually take him a banana or crackers and some water for a post-nap snack, and we play in his room for awhile -- books, puzzles, whatever.
4:30 - ? Our afternoons are pretty fluid. If the weather's nice, I like to take him to the park or just play outside. I used to do nice afternoon walks, but he's not as accepting of the stroller at this age anymore (sigh). Sometimes I'll meet another mom, or we'll go on another errand. Sometimes the weather will suck or I'll just be lazy and we'll stick around the house while I try to clean a bit or get some laundry done. If that's the case, he may get to watch a "Thomas" or two.
6ish - dinner
6:30 - 7ish - more downstairs play while I try to not leave the kitchen a total mess
7ish - upstairs for bathtime
8ish (give or take, depending on the length of his nap) - bedtime, after which I try to be productive in some capacity ... and generally pass out around 11. (I usually made it until midnight before pregnancy No. 2).
This is generally what our day looks like if DH isn't around. Since he's a professor, his schedule varies a lot -- sometimes he's literally gone for 14 hours, sometimes he can be home all day, etc. Anyway, the biggest thing for me is finding a few activities for LO to participate in regularly that can give your week some structure to go from ... and definitely try to get out of the house as much as you can.
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@Mrs. Yoyo: I'm not a SAHM, but I will be off for 2 months this summer and this was so helpful, so thanks! I also like to get out of the house at least once a day with Liam. We're both happier that way.
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830- lo wakes up and I get her dressed and ready for the day, then we eat breakfast.
1030- Some sort of out of the house activity. Library, gymboree, play date, run errands, etc.
12- lunch
1:30 nap
330- she wakes up and we have snack and play at home
5- dh comes home, I start dinner.
6/630- dinner
8- bath and bed time.I think the key to my sanity is getting out of the house every day.
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I have two kiddos--one 14 months, one 3.5 years...
7-730: Kids wake up, get them up and dressed
8-830: downstairs for breakfast
830-930: free play
930-12: I try to go out and go something--library, parks, science centre, etc
12: lunch
1230/1-300: nap/quiet time
3-330: snack
330-5: survival time
500: make supper
600: eat supper
630: free play or bath
7-730: bedAs others have said--if you can schedule to get out of the house each day, it makes life much easier!
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@Mrs. Yoyo: "and finally pin him for a diaper change" that is the perfect way to describe the task
@woodentulip: "330-5: survival time" that's how I was feeling during this time last weekend!
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Well, our schedule has changed a bit, now that the weather is warming up.
6 am-DD wakes up. Sometimes she gets in the shower with me, sometimes she eats a snack and hangs out on my bed watching a show. We often do coloring or crafts in the morning, too, before her brother gets up.
7-7:30 am-DS gets up. We make breakfast and then the kids play in the living room while I clean up.
7:30-8 am-I take the kids upstairs and get them dressed, teeth brushed, sunscreen on, etc...
8-10:30 am-Outside time. We water the garden, go to the park, go for walks, etc... On days when we need to run errands, we leave the house early.
10:30 am-Snack
10:45-11:30- The kids play in the playroom while I do chores (laundry, cleaning, etc...).
11:30 am-Lunch.
12 pm-DS gets a change, and then I put him to bed. This usually takes 15-20 minutes total, and DD hangs out in her room or the playroom, during this time. When I'm done with DS, I check onDD and find out if she wants to take nap or a rest period. If she wants a nap, it take about 30 minutes to put her down; if she wants a rest period, I tell her she can play quietly in her bed until I come back to get her.
12:30/1-2 pm- Baby-free time.
I do computer work, make phone calls,or work on projects. When school starts back up in a couple weeks, I'll do schoolwork.2-3/3:30 pm-DD is awake. We do a homeschool preschool curriculum during this time.
3/3:30 pm-DS wakes up and we have a snack.
3:30-4:30 pm-We go outside to play again (water play) or sensory play activities in the house. My husband gets home right after 3:30, so he's usually home at that point, and one of us entertains the kids while the other one cooks.
4:30-5 pm-Dinner.
5-6:30 pm-Family time. We go for walks, play in the backyard, read books, etc.. Fridays are "pizza movie night" so we watch a movie during this time once a week.
6:30-7 pm-Kids are in the bath, then we get on pj's, brush our teeth, and say goodnight.
7-7:30 pm-Kids go to their rooms for the rest of their bedtime routines. We switch off who puts which kid to bed each night, but DS is faster than DD, so whoever puts him to bed comes downstairs and cleans up from dinner. He's usually out by 7:30; DD's routine takes about half an hour, and she' s not usually asleep before 8.
We go to the Library once a week and to the zoo once or twice a month along with playdates, children's museum, etc... On days where we actually have plans, we do chores after breakfast and go out after snack time.
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My LO just turned 19 months, but this has pretty much been our routine for the past 6 months. As others have said, definitely try to get out of the house at least once a day, even if it's just to run errands.
6 am - LO wakes up, nurse, read books
6:30 - walk the dogs
6:50 - go for a run with LO in the BOB
7:30 - breakfast and clean up
8:00 - I shower and get dressed while LO plays, then we play together and have music time (sing songs, say rhymes, play her instruments, dance) and do toddler yoga
9:15 - get LO ready (brush teeth, get dressed, etc)
9:30-ish - leave the house for an outing. Once a week we have a play date, once a week we go to the park and then to the grocery store, twice a week we go to library story time and then to the park or swimming pool, and once a week we go to the zoo or children's museum (we have memberships to both, which I LOVE)
12:00 pm - lunch and clean up, followed by quiet play time and reading
1:00 - nap
3:00 (or 2:15 if I'm unlucky) - LO wakes up and has a snack
3:20 - play at home, inside or in the yard. Any messy activities, like using the water table or art projects, happen during this time window.
5:15 - DH home from work
5:45 - dinner, get ready for bed, bedtime routine
7:00 - bedtime -
I only work part time, so I'm home 2-3 days a week with my 15 mos old!
6am - J wakes up, but I don't ever let him get up before 7, so I give him his pacifier, snuggle for a minute and lay him back down.
7am: awake, nurse in bed for 10 minutes
7:30: start breakfast while J plays in the living room
8: eat breakfast
8:30: get cleaned up, get dressed/shower etc
9am: playtime in his room - books, trucks, etc..
9:30: nap #1, usually falls asleep closer to 10ME TIME. haha. I either shower and get ready for the day or I clean up the kitchen... sometimes I might do a little FB/email/HB time.
11:45am: wake up. Since it's been nice out we go outside after nap. He likes to kick his mini soccer ball in the field, watch the ducks, walk around the pond etc.. We also just bought him a push-along tricycle and a seat for him on DH's bike, so I am doing that now too.
1:30 - come in for lunch
2:15 - playtime in the living room/his room until naptime
2:45: naptime, usually falls asleep around 3clean up, prep for dinner, etc
4:30 - wake up. nurse him again. Feed him a light snack
5:30 - start making dinner. If he is resisting playing on his own while I cook, then I often put on a baby einstein, signing time or his youtube music video playlist on the TV and that entertains him for awhile.
6:15: eat dinner
6:40: bath time
7:00: diaper, pajamas, quiet play time etc
7:30: bed timeThis is a day being at home all day. My two days off I don't have the option to go anywhere because DH needs the car. But when I do have the car I might try to make it to the gym, library, grocery store, target (for fun hah!), errands, etc..
As for activities at home, he is still uninterested in anything artsy - he won't draw/color, paint etc.. so play time at home is just a lot of free-play with toys. He's really into balls and trucks right now.
I need to schedule more playdates too!
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My lo is 18 months and like everyone said, I keep my sanity by getting out of the house (usually an activity in the morning and errands in the afternoon). Here's our current schedule:
7:00 - wake up and diaper change.
LO plays in her playroom while I make us breakfast.7:30 - eat breakfast, clean up and emply dishwasher from last night and load breakfast dishes. During this time LO "helps" me or goes back and forth from her playroom to the kitchen. Put in a load of laundry
8:15 - get LO cleaned up, brush teeth, do her hair, we both get dressed for the day (we do a bath every other day)
8:30 - pack our snacks for the day and also prep LO's lunch. If we're going to be out at the zoo for lunchtime I pack her lunch. If we are coming home I pack it and put it in the fridge so all I have to do it plate and reheat when we get home.
9:00 - leave the house for our morning activity (community play gym, park, play date, swimming, storytime, zoo, children's museum, and she's in a class 1x a week).
10:00 - wherever we are LO always comes to find me for her snack
11:30 - lunchtime
1:00-4:00 -NAPTIME! We always make it home in time for naptime. I have been working out and showering during this time. I also fold laundry, do yard work, prep dinner, pay bills, etc
4:00 - wake up and have a small snack. Then we usually run our errands (groceries, dry cleaning, etc). If it's nice we go to a park or lately LO just loves to play in our backyard or go for a walk around the neighborhood.
5:45 - dinner
7:00 - wash up, brush teeth, and then BEDTIME!
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Mine looks like this with a 20 month old:
6am wake up - my husband fetches her and she nurses for a bit while we all doze. Then we go downstairs and make breakfast, hang out. Shower.
9am - daddy goes to work, we pack up the burly trailer and walk around the neighborhood, go play in the park, etc.
11am - naptime at home. 1-3 hours. This is my only break for the day, so I have lunch and really relax.
1pmish - she wakes up, I feed her lunch and nurse her.
2pm - we leave the house, and go to the museum, to my sisters house, to see friends, to go downtown and play in a fountain, whatever.
4pm - come home around this time, hopefully she didn't fall asleep in the car. If she did, bedtime won't be until 9 or 10.
5pm - cook dinner
6:30 - daddy comes home, we eat, hang out.
8:30 (ish, sometimes 10) - bedtime. after that I struggle to stay awake, and usually fail. I fall upstairs into bed.
Our schedule looks really different if I don't try to let her nap at home. But that's a typical day.
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Subscribing as I will be SAH soon to my 1 yr old!
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@Mrs. Pen: M is really into balls right now too and has been for months. I don't think it's ever going to end, boys! He just started getting interested in crayons this week. I think he just likes the whole taking them out and putting them back in the tin we have for them, but he's done a tiny bit of coloring...on the counters. Ha
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@Mrs. Stroller: I love doing art so I hope J picks it up soon! and yes I don't think the love affair with balls will end anytime soon
but I love how easy it makes playing outside. We can spend an hour just throwing and kicking the ball. I told DH once he's three we'll put him in t-ball and soccer! haha
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X is 18 months, and this has been our routine for a few months now...
7/7:30: X wakes up. He hangs out for half an hour or so while I wake up and check email on my phone. Once in a blue moon, I'll do a yoga DVD during this time.
7:30: cuddles, diaper change. Then he gets a small snack and milk while I make breakfast.
8: Breakfast, I clean up the kitchen from dinner if need be
9: we shower together OR we go for a run with the dog
10:30-11:30: (if we ran, this is where we shower) OR run errands sometimes, but usually this is when we do stuff around the house-- play in the backyard, color, etc
11:30: he eats a snack while we read in his room
12: nap time-- (I study while he naps)
1:30 or 2: wake up from nap. I usually have lunch ready when he wakes up. If it's nice, I'll give him something to nosh in the car while we take a picnic to the park.
3: outside time and/or running errands.
5: When I have a class that night, I hand X off to DH, so the rest is their thing...
5:30/6: dinner
6:30: bath, get ready for bed
7: bed timeX is so opinionated that sometimes, I can't get us outside at all. (So many tantrums over what he wears, eats, does...) It's just not worth the battle. Sometimes getting out of the house just means some time in the backyard. We try to get out the house daily because it keeps X occupied and helps us get to nap time happily, but we focus on NOT doing things that require happening at a certain time. It's just too stressful for me to try to be punctual with X right now.
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@Honeybee: Where did you find the preschool curriculum? I'm wanting to get more into doing activities with my LO, but the planning always takes forever so over I've been trying to look for some great lesson plans.
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When I was home with my son in the summer (he was between 18 and 22 months) we usually went to the community pool at least once a week. I had the system down so I could maximize our time there, meaning I wore my suit underneath a swim skort so I didn't have to change once I got there and we would have a picnic lunch there.
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@Boogs: I've been using the program at http://www.preschoolcurriculum.com. It comes with 17 lessons per month and then I add extra activites or repeat some of the activites so we have enough for daily school lessons. It costs $20/month, althouh you can find lots of free, religious-based curriculums out there, if you don't mind doing more of the setup. The curriculum we use comes pre-packaged.
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@Honeybee: Thanks so much, I'll check it out!
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Bumping this. Now that we have settled in our new home, I want to create a schedule/routine for T. He's almost 15 months.
Today will be
7:40 wake up (don't be too jealous he was up last night teething)
7:45 - cuddles and sippy of milk
9 - breakfast
9:30-10:30 - free play, mom does chores
10:30 - 11:30 - outside play / water table
11:30 - lunch
12 -2 (hopefully) - nap
2:30 - 4:30 - outing - today we are going to the pool with some folks we just met. will bring snacks, will probably have one around 3:30
5:30 - dinner
6-6:45 - free play / outside play
6:45 - bath, bedtime routine
7:45 - bedI want to get out in the morning as well, but yesterday we were so busy, I just wanted a morning at home.
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We have a much more predictable schedule now that LO is on 1 nap. She is 15 months old.
7:30-8: wake up, drinks sippy of milk while I drink coffee
8:30-9ish: breakfast
10-1: Playdates/errands/walks/go to pool/etc.
(Lunch is anywhere from 11:30-12:30)
1-3/4: Nap + snack when she wakes up
5-5:30: DH comes home, and I finish dinner
6: dinner
7: Bath, play w/ daddy, family devotional
8: bedtime -
@Weagle: I want the 1 pm nap! How long did it take to get there? We are still transitioning.
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@winniebee: Hmm... A few weeks. We started with a 12pm nap and slowly moved it back. I just made sure we stayed out or busy as much as possible. A lot of our baby friends are still on 2 naps, so they were available for play dates around lunch. Being around other people helped her forget she was tired. She also transfers from the car to crib really well, so that helps. However, the schedule doesn't always work. Today she fell asleep in the car at 11, and is still snoozing almost 2 hours later!
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@Weagle: he has no problem really staying up the issue for us is he doesn't sleep that long
I do computer work, make phone calls,or work on projects. When school starts back up in a couple weeks, I'll do schoolwork.
but I love how easy it makes playing outside. We can spend an hour just throwing and kicking the ball. I told DH once he's three we'll put him in t-ball and soccer! haha
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