A Day in My Life as a 26 Year Old SAHM

I’ve been wanting to write this kind of post for a while now, but the thing that’s tricky about describing a day in my life as a stay at home mom is that it is always changing. Life looked different when my son was a newborn vs when he was six months old vs now that he’s over a year. The seasons affect things too, because in the spring, fall, and winter (literally anything but summer here in Texas) the weather is pretty nice and it’s easier to spend long stretches of time outside. Now that it’s about to be summer, the days are long and hot and that also changes the way I structure my life. On top of those considerations, there’s my husband’s work schedule which changes from project to project. If he’s working from home, things look different than when he’s traveling and it’s just Luke and I doing our thing.

All of that’s to say life is messy. I’m sure you’re aware. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And beyond that, every mother’s journey is different. We all have different factors we’re trying to balance, different life situations we’re trying to make work. There is no one-size-fits-all, even though it’d be nice sometimes if things were that simple.

With all that in mind, this is what I do in a day:

My Daily Routine

Wake between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m.

Luke is what some might call an early riser. Unless he’s absolutely exhausted from some crazy late night thing the day before, he consistently wakes up before 7 a.m. I usually go in and nurse him for twenty to thirty minutes and slowly wake up.

7:00 / 7:30 a.m.

At this point, Luke is making his “all done” hand sign and bouncing around in my lap because he’s ready to start the day. Such a morning person. I know I am too but I still struggle sometimes in those first thirty minutes of the day. My energy doesn’t usually kick in until I’ve been awake for about an hour. Once Luke is done nursing, I change his diaper, put him in a fresh clean outfit, and brush his teeth.

8:00ish a.m.

From here, we rotate to my bathroom so I can get ready. I usually try to shower at night after Luke goes to bed because it just makes things easier, so once he’s ready I’ll brush my teeth, put on my makeup, and get dressed for the day. By this time, Christopher has usually fully gotten ready for work if he’s working from home, but sometimes our paths intersect as we’re all getting ready in the bathroom and that’s sweet. 🙂

8:30ish a.m.

We transition from getting ready to breakfast. I’ve been trying to tidy up as we move from spaces to space, so if it’s not too close to 9, I’ll throw whatever toys Luke was playing with in the bathroom back into their cabinet before going downstairs. I also usually start a load of laundry before going down. In the living room, I let Luke play while I prep his food. He has severe allergies to dairy, egg, and peanuts, so I usually make him vegan banana pancakes or oatmeal. After he’s done eating, I clean him up and let him play while I eat.

9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

It’s my preference to do any kind of outing at this point in the day. I’m a part of two mom groups, one through a Protestant church (because my husband is Protestant) and one through a Catholic church (because I’m Catholic) and both these groups meet in the mornings, so it works out well. Currently they’re both on a bit of a summer hiatus, but that’s the schedule we had before. This is also my ideal time for playdates, coffee dates with friends, grocery runs, or anything else we have to do out of the house. Sometimes we get back closer to noon, but 11 is ideal.

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

This is when I make lunch for Luke (and Christopher if he’s working from home). The times Christopher eats lunch vary because of his job so I try to just have food ready for him when he needs it. Luke, I consistently try to feed and clean up before noon so I can get him down for his nap.

12:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Naptime! Lately, my little guy hasn’t been taking the longest naps and two hours is definitely wishful thinking. Depending on how the day’s going, I usually spend forty five minutes to an hour eating lunch and cleaning up the kitchen in this window. Then I’ll take care of other things on my to-do list that are harder to do when Luke is awake. At the beginning of the day, I’ll try to pick three priorities for the day and I’m usually able to knock one or two out in this time. If I’m feeling utterly exhausted, I’ll nap, but naps usually put me in a weird mood so I try to avoid them if I can.

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Time for around the house chores while Luke plays. This usually means folding laundry because he can play around me while I do it and I am somehow always behind on putting away clothes. I’ll also pause to give him a snack around 3 p.m. If I want to get out of the house, this is another good window to do so, but I’m generally a little lower energy in the afternoons so I try not to schedule errands at this time of day. If the house is looking good, I’ll let Luke play in the living room while I read and play with him.

4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Depending what I’m cooking for dinner and how complicated it is, I’ll start prepping dinner around here. If it’s a fast dinner, I’ll push prep back until a little closer. I’ve been trying to go on daily walks around this time too but it really depends on the weather because Texas summer has officially begun. While I cook, Luke usually plays with a few baby safe kitchen utensils and measuring cups because he likes to be close to me.

6:00 – 7:00 p.m.

This is the ideal dinner window. If Christopher’s not traveling, we usually eat dinner as a family. When it’s just Luke and I, sometimes we have dinner together and sometimes I feeding him and putting him to bed and then have my dinner after.

7:00 – 8:00 p.m.

My goal bedtime for Luke is 7:30 and so I usually start getting him ready for bed at 7. His bedtime routine includes a bath (I try to bathe him every night, but sometimes I skip it if it’s a little late and he’s tired), PJs, brushing his teeth, reading him a book, and then nursing until he falls asleep.

8:00 – 9:00 p.m.

I’ll usually take this hour to have dinner myself if I haven’t already, clean up the kitchen, and put the living room in order.

9:00 – 10:00 p.m.

If Christopher doesn’t have a ton of work to do at night, we’ll take a little TV break and watch something. This doesn’t always happen, but it’s nice when it does! If he has a lot of work or is traveling, I’ll do some pilates (just started getting back into this) and start my night routine early.

10:00 – 11:00 p.m.

Because of how early Luke wakes up, I’ve been trying to go to bed earlier but I struggle with it and this is meant to be realistic. I usually take off my makeup, hop in the shower, and unwind for the night. If I feel like it and there’s time, I might read or journal before going to bed.

And there you have it!

It’s hard to put my entire life into a box like this because every day has its own unique complexities, but this is a blueprint I try to stick to. Christopher and I also have some weekly rhythms that aren’t shown above. Weekends, for one, look very different because sometimes we go to dinner with friends at night and Luke’s bedtime is a little later. Sundays are also pretty busy because we go to two church services (a Protestant service in the morning and a Catholic Mass in the evening) and those affect when (and if) Luke naps and how early we can put him to bed at night. Aside from those distinctions, we will also do things on weekdays as far as Christopher’s schedule allows. If he has a randomly light evening, we might go to our favorite park to walk. He likes to play basketball once a week when and while he does that, I usually take Luke on a walk, play with him on the playground, or hang out at home. I also like to have social outings on weekday mornings when I’m feeling energetic, so it all just depends.

Anyhoo, this is life for me right now at this moment in time. With every passing day, Luke is growing and changing and I have no idea what my schedule will look like in a couple months.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day! 🙂

Verily,
Kyrie