It’s that time of year again. Everyone is looking at their time, evaluating priorities, and trying to figure out what works for their family. Over the course of the year our family dynamics have changed quite a bit. I watch my niece, full time, Monday through Friday currently. She is just three weeks older than my daughter so it keeps me quite busy. But as they both have gotten older, nap times have changed, and the overall layout of our day has changed as well.

I have also had to sit back and evaluate what works for me, as a mom who works from home, and is also expecting her third child. The dynamics of life have changed a lot and it’s important to pay attention to what my body needs in this new season of life. I am also learning to juggle working from home, keeping up with the blog as it becomes more of a business, and having time for myself and family in the midst of it all.

The only way I have found to manage all that is on my plate without feeling overwhelmed, is to have a Daily Routine. I shared what our daily routine looked like a few months ago, but the dynamics have changed and so has our routine. So as we begin this New Year I wanted to share with you what my day looks like in hopes it could help you in some way as well.

The differences in this schedule from the previous one are:

1. I still am watching my niece, so I have two toddlers.
2. Both girls dropped down to one nap – BIG CHANGE!
3. Because the girls dropped down to one nap, they lay down for their afternoon nap earlier.
4. I no longer have designated time to work in the morning.

Daily Schedule: Toddlers + Preschooler

A few things you’ll notice about our schedule is we are late risers. From the beginning my husband and I knew that we preferred later bed times and later mornings for the kids and it has worked well for our family. My niece does get dropped off at 7:15AM so a goal of mine this year is to be up by 7AM and read a short devotion while I am waking up waiting for her to be dropped off. Since becoming pregnant my husband has let me get extra sleep and has let her in. This may not happen every day, but when I get sufficient sleep I want to try and get up and be ready for the day before I am bombarded with children.

I usually start breakfast around 7:30 so that the kids are ready to be fed by 8AM. During breakfast the kids watch a worship video, Veggietales, and sometimes PBS Kids. Having something to occupy them has always helped them to eat or they get to antsy and get down from the table. Some battles you just don’t fight.

I break up my responsibilities to do a little each day so that I don’t feel overwhelmed by my to-do list and that really helps. I have also decided to start doing my devotion time when the kids are playing. It works better for me than getting up extremely early and as a mom, I have learned it’s okay to have devotions look a little differently. This is a great way to model for my kids by doing so in front of them, sometimes it’s chaotic, but it’s to be expected.

I work on Pre-School with Jase on a daily basis, but the girls it depends on the day, their moods, and the acitivity. Sometimes I stick in a Leap Frog for them or they just play while Jase works on school. Usually Pre-School takes 30 minutes to an hour and I work on some work things in between.

Then I stick in a movie while I prepare lunch for the kids. The girls lay down for nap earlier than Jase and Jase gets to have some time on the Kindle or watch a show before he lays down. That way I am able to use the chunk of time in the afternoon to work, since I no longer have any time set aside in the morning.

This has been a great routine to help guide our day. Every day doesn’t look this perfect, but having something in place to reference is definitely helpful. It should come with a lot of grace, but without it, my day would be out of control. This really helps us to have a bit of a focus for what the day should look like.

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What about you? Do you have a daily schedule for your family?