I have never been one to carry around a planner or have my entire day scheduled out in my phone, but since becoming a work at home mom without a routine I would fall apart. I shared why everyone needs a daily routine on the blog last week and I wanted to take the time to share what our routine looks like.

There are two huge keys to setting a routine.

1. Make sure it works for you.

2. Make sure to leave room for lots of grace.

Kids will be kids. Days won’t go as planned. Life will happen. You have to leave room for grace in any routine or you will end up stressing yourself out instead of helping yourself. So be sure to be flexible so that you don’t feel the weight of pressure when you break your routine. If a day goes by and I was unable to do something on my list, I catch up if I catch a free moment or I give myself grace until the following week.

Daily Routine: Baby + Toddler

8:00: I get the kids up and situated with a morning show and a basket of toys in our living room so that I can focus on getting breakfast taken care of. This allows the kids to slowly wake up and for me to get breakfast made while they are occupied.

8:30: Breakfast time!

9:00: After the kids finish eating I get them cleaned up, turn on some music, and they play while I clean up from breakfast and work on my daily cleaning item. Assigning a room or area to do each day really helps me not fall behind and not to feel overwhelmed. I definitely recommend tackling things bit by bit. Of course, there are a few things you have to do on a daily basis, but the bigger things split up!

10:00: I lay the baby down for her morning nap and this is when I work on my “work.” Depending on what I am working on, Jase will do different things. Tuesdays and Thursdays I try to work on my responsibilities for church. Because these hours are not as flexible and I need to meet deadlines, Jase usually sits at the table next to me and works on learning apps on the iPad. Sometimes he colors or does Play-Doh too. The apps are great to expand his learning with little help from me so I am able to focus on work. The rest of the week I work on things for the blog and usually I will sit in the basement with him so he can play while I work.

12:00: The baby is up and it’s time for lunch! I usually put another a Leap Frog video or a show that has some sort of learning element to it.

1:00: This is the most important part of my day. I don’t clean up from lunch right away. When the kids finish eating, I try to completely focus on them. I put everything away and focus on playing with them!

2:00: Nap time!! I make sure that nap time is where I can spend time doing something for me. Sometimes that is writing for the blog, because that really recharges me. Sometimes that is watching a show, taking a shower, or eating chocolate in peace. #dontjudge But really, even if only an hour of this time can be focused on me, I take it! It is very much needed to make it through the crazy time until daddy gets home.

4:00: Both kids are awake. This is usually crazy time in my house. I don’t know what it is but both kids seem to be a bit wild and demanding and I am just waiting for my husband to walk in the door. So the less I have to worry about, the better. I give the kiddos a snack and we either head downstairs to play or if they woke up on the wrong side of the bed I snuggle them and watch a movie. Lots of grace here because sometimes we all need it. My husband also does the cooking in our house because of how crazy the evening hours are. It was so stressful for me trying to cook with the kids at this time, and he loves it so he took over!

This routine really helps me throughout the day to not feel overwhelmed and to feel like I am accomplishing something. I can look back at the day and realize I accomplished what I needed to and I wasn’t overwhelming myself. That also leaves the evening time for lots of family time!

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