A Day in the life of a stay at home mom sounds strange as a title for this post because I'm rarely at home all day even if I don't have a job outside the home. The day I chose to blog about is a very normal, busy day for our family of four children under five. By allowing you a peek inside my world you can see that it's a safe,comfortable, stable place and full of blessings despite the chaos many small children can cause!
So here we go!
My day starts 1:00 AM; I'm very sure a picture at this hour would be entertaining if I had taken one!!! My husband and I have only been in bed since 11:00 pm , he had gone hunting the evening prior and had just finished preparing and cleaning up the deer he had caught. We were so excited and thankful for his success! However, it's a lot of work and clean up.Now it's early morning ; our two older sons five and four years old are trying to sneak into our bed! Gavin, the four year old has a cold, he's cranky and cuddly. I steer Tristan the five year old back to the children's room while carrying Gavin. I'm very thankful their noise hasn't disturbed the two year old Clarity. I tuck both boys back into bed. Returning myself to my warm covers back in our bedroom.
2:00 AM eight months old Dag wakes to nurse.
3:00-4:00 AM I wake up and take some of my RA meds, I'm very achy, and have trouble breathing. I know it's raining and windy outside and the moisture is to blame.
5:00AM baby wakes to nurse, as soon as he is finished I drag myself from a warm bed, take a hot shower, dress and head into our kitchen.
6:00 AM the heat is kicking on through out the house, coffee is perking, I am starting a load of laundry, unloading the dishwasher, preparing husbands lunch, laying out coats and boots for the children.
6:30-7:00AM after taking our two dogs out, my husband is up and ready and I wake and dress our littles, we all have to take Daddy to work as we only have one vehicle and have things to do that day. I'm glad everyone is in a good mood despite colds and coughs. My eight month old is getting over an upper respiratory infection, Gavin is starting on a cold too but all are in good spirits for now.
7:30-8:00 AM we have a nice chat in the van as we take husband to work, with our coffee and radio on. We have some traffic coming from the country and going downtown into the city. It's raining and cold, lots of stopping and going.
8:30-9:30 AM we arrive home after dropping husband off. I make oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar for the children with milk. I feed the baby cereal and fruit, let the dogs out again and pour myself a second cup of coffee. We clean breakfast up, then I send Tristan to dress, brush his teeth and monitor Gavin doing the same. I look outside at the weather so I know how to dress the children.
I shove a wheat banana muffin into my mouth, have some oatmeal myself while I apply some makeup. My two year old is by my side the entire five minutes and begs for some powder on her nose. I also paint her two chipped thumbnails with pink polish, this set's us back five minutes. I change, nurse and stuff Dagen into his car seat while the other children run outside to our van. I have a Bible study twice a month with a small group of women, we are running late.
10:00-12:15 we live close to our church, the children are very excited throughout the short ride. They hope to see friends with the group of children who play during the woman's meeting. We enter the church building, I leave the baby with two teenage girls that are immediately calling "dibs". I'm so thankful I get this short time, uninterrupted to study and pray with such a group of godly women.
12:30 PM we pack up, and leave the church for a trip to our food store a mile down the road.I LOVE where we live, everything is so convenient. We go in and out of the food store quickly, I buy milk, baby food, bread on sale, cream, bananas, and peanut butter.
1:30 PM we're home again, I let the dogs out, nurse the baby, prepare lunch. We're having turkey and cheese sandwiches with fruit. Gavin Tristan and Clarity watch a PBS show while I put the baby down for a nap. Then I heat a big bowl of lentil soup from the fridge. I eat some peanut butter crackers while I wait for my soup. Nursing makes me so hungry.
I check on my boys, Gavin is cranky, coughing and sleepy. I give him some cold medicine while Clarity finishes her fruit with her movie.
2:00-3:30 PM I'm taking this downtime to prepare dinner. I put pork and the accompanying spices and sauce into my beloved crock pot for pulled pork sandwiches. I also cut, dice, and pre-cook mushrooms, onions , garlic, green beans. I mix these things with homemade cream of mushroom, and place all this directly from the stove pan into a glassware for part of our dinner that night.
Soon the baby wakes, the boys are dozing and Clarity is playing with her baby dolls. I let the next show continue on the tv. After I nurse baby Dagen he entertains me with his newest sounds, his drool, his running nose and pulling up to stand capabilities.
I could play on the floor all day, but time is running out. We pack up again and prepare to go back out into the rain.I run another load of laundry in the washer, having transferred the one from the dryer earlier that morning the first time around. My laundry must be done at least twice a day, each day is an alternative of either children's clothing or our own. I put the laundry away three times a week in bulk.
4:00 PM finds me stopping at one of our cities libraries for the annual book sale. I purchase five books for five dollars. They're frictional reads, and I'm excited with the price! I also use my change jar coins for a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks drive through! This is my mommy moment, all the children nap and I sip my latte in peace while I drive through beautiful, scenic country side, in all its autumn splendor despite the rain. When I arrive at the store the children are still napping people peacefully in their car seats.
4:30 PM we unload again. This time Gavin isn't having it, he doesn't feel good but I really have to do this. I put Gavin in the back of the cart, baby in the front seat and we hurry through to buy deer feed and filters for our furnace. Clarity is dragging behind the cart, she wants to look at everything. I break out the animal crackers from my purse. Everyone snacks as we make our way through checkout and back out to the van. I change Dagen's diaper, reload children, wipe noses and encounter more whining, this time it's Gavin, I cover him up with a blanket and that helps him to go back to dozing in the van.
5:00 PM we arrive at Daddy's job. On the drive home we share our day,and chat about anything that comes to mind.
5:45-6:30 PM At home I put on coffee while Tristan helps his father drain, ice and soak the deer meat outside in our garage. This is a three day process to prepare the meat for the deep freezer. It's cold outside but my little boy is a big help running back and forth for rags, ice, containers for my husband. I feed the baby vegetables and cereal while Gavin and Clarity beg to go outside and help daddy too. It's freezing though ,actually sleeting and getting very dark.I promise them dinner and tune out the whining, quickly switching laundry, preparing our meal, washing dishes, unloading and reloading the dishwasher, feeding the dogs and cats laying out pajamas, putting away shoes and coats.
6:30-7:30 PM everyone gathers around the table for pulled pork sandwiches with melted c colby jack cheese on wheat rolls, green bean casserole and milk. Tristan and Clarity are more into the casserole and ask for seconds , Gavin eats two rolls then gets more cold medicine before brushing teeth, washing up and getting into pajamas. I follow through the same routine with Tristan and Clarity. Josh takes the baby into the shower with himself. Dagen is very fussy, I give him his meds, lather him up with Vicks vapor rub, and try to put him down for bed with the humidifier on in our bedroom.
7:30-8:30 PM finds us watching another movie, Gavin picked since he's sick and we're all cuddling on the couch fighting for mommies lap. Somehow we all fit, my husband joins us with the laptop and checks email. The baby never went to sleep, my husband retrieves Dagen from our room and he causes havoc with squeals, hair pulling, drooling and noises during the final.moments of our movie.
8:45 PM we have all children settled in their bedroom, getting them there is a hectic routine of diapers, bathrooms, drinks, prayers, tucking in and kisses. We feel like high fives and whooping once that door is shut. But it is and I do a quick tidy of the kitchen before settling on the couch with the baby.
9:00-10:00PM I plug in my heating pad for my back as I sit on the couch to nurse Dagen and rock him until finally he falls asleep on my chest, pacifier in his mouth. I relish this quiet time, promptly falling asleep myself. My husband wakes me, I quickly get in pajamas, brush my teeth, take my meds and we go to bed, the baby goes into his bed next to ours. I fall asleep immediately.
In case you are wondering about homeschooling, we don't do scheduled school work on Friday's. We homeschool all day Monday and Tuesday's while on Wednesdays we have all day co-op.
Also it seems as though I don't spend a lot of time cleaning, this is true most days because I clean as I go. We don't have a lot of stuff so during the days we are home all day I clean a room a day with a deep cleaning once a month.
I do two loads of wash a day, I only put away all folded clothing two to three times weekly.
These are the time saving strategies I make sure to implement weekly so that a day like the one I've written about isn't too overwhelming.
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