Setting My Priorities

Between being a wife, homemaker, and mother to two beautiful children, my time is very seldom spent relaxing around the house eating bon-bons (which I’ve never even had one a day in my life!) and walking around in my bunny slippers.

Nope, my day begins with 4-6 hours of interrupted sleep (thank you baby girl–mama loves you!), coffee, and a prayer asking the Lord for guidance, patience and forgiveness for the endless hours ahead of me.

And after a much needed hour of alone time in the wee hours (yup-5AM is my friend), I begin my list of priorities.  I’ve realized that by setting this short list of priorities my days run so much more smoothly.  Granted my house is overrun by my toddler’s toys, Netflix plays re-runs of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Curious George, and I’m still in my pajamas most days at the end of the afternoon, BUT my kids are fed, clothed (a diaper counts as clothed, right?!), and my sanity is spared for the sleepless night ahead of me.

Now my priorities may seem mundane to you, and some simply too easy, but everyone’s home runs differently, and what works for one family doesn’t always work for another, and that’s okay.  Do what works for your family.

My top priorities are simple:

1. Spend at least 1 hour by myself-whether that be taking a shower or watching the news
2. Say a prayer (or 5!) to the good Lord above
3. Spend time with my toddler
4. Shower, brush my teeth (yes, this needs to be listed or I’ll simply forget-I know gross, but its tough having a newborn and 1 yr old!)
5. Cook dinner
6. Pick up the house-typically doesn’t get done until bed time
7. Spend at least 1 hour with my husband
8. Pump breast milk at least 8 times (double duty, but its the best thing for my baby)
9. Make my daily to-do list (no more than 3 things)

And that’s it!  See, nothing spectacular or crazy enough to send me running through the house like a chicken with its head cut off.

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Daily Routine With Kids

Before kids I was always up before the sunset and would have my to-do list done by the afternoon, now I’m lucky if I get to shower!  Fast forward a few years and my time is consumed by my 1 year old son and 1 month old daughter.  Its no longer about me, or only my husband, and getting my daily routine completed on my own time.  Now my days are compiled with diaper changes, feedings (pumping breast milk and bottle feeding it to my daughter), running after my toddler, and rocking a baby to sleep at all hours of the day and night.   The daily routine I once had known has changed from an attitude of”on time” to “it’ll get done when it gets done”, but that’s okay!  I love my crazy, chaotic lifestyle, even if that means a messy house and messy faces running around naked (true story on multiple occasions!).

I’ve attempted at having a daily routine go as scheduled while having two kids under the age of 2 within this past month, but that is not happening anytime soon in this household!  I’ve realized after becoming a mother to two that there are days where nearly everything gets done in a timely manner with only a few things that got left undone, and then there are days where absolutely nothing gets done, and I’m lucky that I haven’t pulled out all of my hair with a fewer than less empty tear ducts following shortly behind.

But I have found out that if I wake up an hour before both kids are awake that I feel more refreshed and put together throughout the craziness of it all.  That typically means getting out of bed at 5:30-6:00 AM, or sooner depending on the baby’s waking hour to eat/snuggle, but I’ve found that if I sleep in until 6:30-7:00 AM I fall behind on the morning routine and I lose my patience far too fast, and nothing gets done throughout the day.

I think I would rather lose an hour of sleep in the morning than have a household that doesn’t run somewhat smoothly.  So on a typical day, my mommy routine looks as follows:

5:30 AM-wake up, watch news while pumping, drink coffee, let dogs out

6:00-baby wakes up: feed and change her

6:30/7:00- second cup of coffee (much needed!), toddler wakes up: feed and change him

7:30- smoothie time for mommy!, pump (again!)

9:00-snack time, pump (again!)

11:00-pump (again!), lunch

12/1:00 PM-nap time for toddler (very rarely will the baby be asleep at the same time!), pump (again!)

2:00-toddler wakes up, snack time

2:30-start dinner

3:00-pump (again!)

3:30/4:00-husband gets home, dinner, wash dishes

5:00-pump (again!)

7:00- pump (again!), close up shop (close blinds/curtains, clean up kids toys), get both kids ready for bed

8:00-toddler in bed (yay!)

9:00-pump (again!), mommy bed time(double yay!-unless baby stays up longer)

11:00-wake up and pump (ugh!)–won’t do again until 3 AM (moms need their sleep too!)

I’ve also kept at a cleaning schedule to keep the semi-cleanliness look achievable::

Tuesday-sweep, wash clothes

Wednesday-vacuum, wash towels and sheets

Friday-wash clothes

Saturday-deep clean the house (vacuum, dust, sweep, mop, clean bathrooms)

So as you can see my day is filled up!  Some days I’ll hand off both kids to my husband around 6PM and I’ll take an hour nap, while some days I’ll walk around like a zombie mom running on “E”.

Obviously I don’t want to seem like the “all-together, Pinterest perfect mother”, so I will admit 9 out of 10 times my day will not go according to schedule, in fact just last weekend the house did not get clean (gasp!), but I do try to the best of my ability to get it all done.

While this may all seem crazy to you with all the scheduling, it really works for my family.  We even have Sunday “Family Day” where we do absolutely nothing, except lay around the house in our pj’s all day (unless we decide to go to the farmer’s market and the park).  The only thing I do is menu plan our dinners for the week, which trust me helps us out tremendously throughout the week!

What do you do to help keep your family and household together?