A day in the life of a stay-at-home mom; mom holding baby; flowers

A Day in the Life of a Stay-At-Home Mom

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A Day in the Life of a Stay-At-Home-Mom

 

 

Have you ever wondered what daily life looks like when you are a stay-at-home mom?

Many think being a stay-at-home mom is easy. Although it is a blessing to be able to stay at home with my children, easy isn’t the best word to describe my days.

Everything I do for my little ones is worth it, but things can get hectic and we find joy in the moments of peace.

It wasn’t my dream to stay at home full time with my kids. I was a full-time teacher for 13 years before having kids and I always thought I would go back to work and the kids would be in daycare until they started school.

Yet, after having my baby, I felt a strong calling to take care of him and be with him. I loved my students, yet I felt odd about taking my child to daycare and having someone else take care of him, while I went off to work and took care of other people’s children.

As I mentioned, I felt a strong calling to be with my son. As he spent only about four months in daycare, he had an ear infection almost that entire time and didn’t sleep. This also aided in my decision to stay at home with him.

I’m not saying this is the best decision for you and your family and you must do what works for you mentally and financially. Yet, I was fortunate enough to be able to stay with my kids and I even started an at-home business so I could stay with them longer.

My days did not all look exactly the same, yet I tried to stick to a schedule, especially after my second son was born. My husband and I often felt like we were in survival mode, trying to keep two rambunctious boys safe, all while getting little sleep. -props to all you #boymoms.  Yet, it was also a journey I was glad to be on.

This is just a brief recap of what the early days looked like when we were at home.

 

Waking up usually involved one child wanting to be picked up out of their crib. Both would need to be fed and depending on the ages, I may have been nursing and feeding the other in a high chair or feeding baby food or cereal in the morning. I would also grab myself a coffee as I would need it as I went about my morning.

After feeding the boys, I would then need to clean up any spills or dirty clothing. I would throw in a load of a wash because let’s face it, the laundry never stops when you have kids, and when you get behind, it can feel very overwhelming.

Pumping breast milk, is in itself, a full-time job. I won’t go into too much detail, but we drove to Chicago leaving our freezer door open and I had to throw away around 30 bags of milk. Any pumping mom understands how this made me cry. All that time wasted!

I digress, breast feeding takes a lot out of you and leaves you feeling depleted and exhausted. Plus after caring for these kiddos, it just seemed like one more thing  I had to do.

After cleaning up, our breakfast mess we would play. It was also around this time started to realize, the more time we spent in the house, the more cleaning I would have to do, but depending on the weather we would play inside or we would go to a park. (Of course, this was more during the toddler age, but I tried to get out as much as possible.)

We also had a zoo pass and live across from a zoo, so that was always a good outing, but often very exhausting.

On another note, we had to choose parks that included a fence because my oldest was a runner and had no fear. If I was watching his brother and turned my head, he could and would run away. The fenced-in parks usually kept him in, although they still had a small opening. The play structure usually intrigued him enough to keep him from running. Yet, most park play structures aren’t super safe for toddlers, which means I get to chase him up and down, up and down.

He also liked to eat sand, so I would really have to keep an eye on him. (Now that they are older, I can read a book while they play at the park! It is amazing!)

I would bring a snack because my oldest would get very “hangry” if he didn’t eat every few hours.

After about an hour of the park or playtime, it’s now time to get home for lunch. These meal times are super important to avoid any meltdowns.

My oldest also did not like getting into his car seat or stroller, so that was another battle. Sometimes I felt like I had been in a wrestling match from just putting them in the car.

The now messy and frazzled mom, driving home with kids yelling in the back.

(Perhaps another cup of coffee?)

Lunchtime

 

Now it’s time to make lunch and then the exhausting task of getting both kids down for a nap. My oldest was usually really hungry and would throw a tantrum right about now, which is really fun when you are in the middle of trying to prepare food to help him not throw a tantrum. (haha-sarcasm)…

After getting them food, it’s nap time and the day is half over. First, I put my youngest down for a nap. I nursed him to sleep and it was delightfully easy. I would nurse him to sleep. Easy peasy napper!

Next, I would try to put my oldest down for a nap. This also became a battle as he did not like naps. He was very curious and I think he felt like he would miss something if he fell asleep. We finally did away with naps.

He stopped taking naps around age two and a half, and that was a sad, sad day for me. If we gave him a nap, however, he would not go to bed at night, so we then transitioned to “quiet time”. This meant playing and reading in his room, so I could have a small glimpse of a break during the day.

I know I should be doing laundry, but sitting on the couch and watching the bachelor replay sounds WAY more appealing. (#selfcare) As I continue to chase my son back into his room, I quickly turn the kissing scene.

After “quiet time” is over, I try to spend time with my toddler by coloring or doing a letter craft. At times I make him some sensory toys or give him play dough, which keeps him busy for a bit. I try to through some laundry in and put some dishes in the dishwasher.

The baby wakes up (he will always be known as my baby, even though he is seven now) and we get him something to drink and a snack. We usually watch Curious George, while he is still groggy.  I try to savor this sweet innocent cartoon as I know one day he will outgrow it and be on to other crazy shows.

I’m tired, I am *really* tired. I am SO tired, I seriously don’t feel like making dinner. My husband comes home (sometimes). But his job requires different shifts. So other times he works evenings or my worst shift noon-nine (missing both naptime and bedtime). Why did they add this shift to his job? Why? LOL

It is now playing time again. I try to play a few games with the kids, including fireman toys, and Thomas the train – which was HUGE in our house for many, many years. We had tracks going from one end of the house to the other, as Thomas chugged up the track.

We also often put on a video –  Thank God for Thomas and the Frozen movie, so I can just “Let it go!”

Dinner Time

 

After some playtime, it is now dinner time. I whip up something or through something in the oven from the freezer to make it easy.

After cleaning the kids up, high chair, floor. clothing and dishes evening falls. We often go to the park again, or take a stroller walk. Which I prefer because the kids are contained for once.

Other times we just hang out at home and trap the kids in the living room so we can sit on the couch and chat for a few minutes.

Bedtime

 

Around 7 P.M. it is now bath time. We wash bodies and hair each night. Then comes lotion and pajama time. If y ou are a stay-at-home mom or dad, only you will understand my tiredness.  Keep in mind things get easier as the kids get older, but at this stage, they literally need help with everything.

I’m now questioning why I had kids so late in life. Would I have more energy if I was younger? Who knows! I would probably have more energy if my kids didn’t wake me up at night.

Off to bedtime. I sit with the kids until they fall asleep.

Let’s End the Day and Do It Again

 

Around nine o’clock and I am so tired, I just want to lay in my bed and watch any trashy reality t.v. show until I fall asleep.

I run the dishwasher, get ready for bed, and start again in the morning. Yet, I know I will see at least one of my kids during the night.

There you have it. The day in the life of a stay-at-home mom. At times, people think stay-at-home mom life is super easy and you don’t do much. Yet it seems I complete a full-time job, before noon hits.

It’s exhausting, but the tiresome moments are worth the joy these two baby boys have brought into my life.

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