A Day in the Life Of: SAHM & The 17 Month Old

Life has been a crazy roller coaster for our entire family since pretty much the week my son was born last March 2012, he arrived over three weeks later than we expected and we needed to be moved out of our apartment 8 days later. Since that move we have moved five (!!!!) more times but have currently been situated in our present (and hopefully permanent) town for a month now. In that month we have gotten down a pretty good routine, one that feels that it will stick around for a while, so I thought I would share what a typical day looks like for us.

8:00-9:00AM Wake Up!

T nurses throughout the entire night and is a very light sleeper. In the early morning hours he nurses the most but rolls around and keeps his eyes closed. He is not ready to start the day until 8 or 9, sometimes later. He will open his eyes and smile at me or stick out his tongue and laugh and our day has officially begun!

We get out of bed and head to the bathroom. T gets his pajama pants and crazy full nighttime diaper taken off and sits on his potty. I wash my face, brush my teeth, and get some light makeup on. Thresh sits on the counter & splashes his feet in the sink and plays with his toothbrush and makeup brushes I have set aside just for him. He helps brush my hair and sometimes throws a million Q-tips all over the bathroom floor.

Next, we pick out his clothes for the day, put a fresh new diaper on, and then I dress him.

9:30AM Breakfast

T gets cut up fruit from the farmer’s market and then either some leftovers from the previous night’s dinner, scrambled egg, pancake, French toast, beans, bread with almond butter, or a homemade muffin of some sort. I like to give a lot of choices and switch things up but everything is very basic and whole food.

While he is busy eating I make my coffee and get dressed as fast as possible. I don’t know what it is about getting dressed but it is a sure fire way to make T hold on to my leg and scream or whine or just need something from me right then while I have no pants on or something equally as inconvenient.

There is usually a few books requested and read throughout the morning too, cannot forget the books. Just once is never ok; “more” is the most used sign in our house by far.

10:00AM Head Out

Each day’s morning activity is a little bit different but we are usually always out of the house around this time.

Monday: Rotates

Tuesday: Age Related Class at Parent’s Place

Wednesday: Tots in Motion

Thursday: Story time at our local library

Friday: Art & Food Class

Mondays (& sometimes Wednesdays) we rotate with different things around town. Sometimes we will bike to the mall if I need to pick something, it is outdoors and T loves running around and playing by the fountain and doing the stairs. We also walk or bike to various beaches and playgrounds.

12:00PM Errands

Since we are out and about I will make a quick stop anywhere I might need like the post office or market, return library books, pop into the children’s consignment store to see if they have any “new” goods, etc. T usually wants to walk some of the way home and we stop to enjoy many plants and dogs and birds a long the way.

1:00PM Lunch & Play

We are home and I assemble T some more food, he has had some sort of snack while we were out and about but now hopefully he will eat some more and fill himself up a bit before nap time. Dinner leftovers, bean salad, roasted veggies, quinoa, lentils, more fruit, olives, cheese, and hummus make appearances often.

We read more books and sometimes play outside and if T is particularly engaged in his toys/play room I try to prep anything I can for dinner that night.

2:00 PM Naptime

There is usually a semi meltdown or at least some clingy-ness and/or whining around this time so we head to the bedroom for a new diaper, close the blinds, put on the white noise and lay down together to nurse to sleep.

Once T is sleeping I sneak out and do a quick clean up of the place, throw in some laundry or finish what dinner prep I was doing earlier, make a snack for myself, and work on the computer.

T usually wakes around 3PM and if I catch him quickly enough can nurse him back down for another half hour or hour. Sometimes I lay with him and read or work on my phone.

4:00PM Afternoon Adventures

T is awake and ready to party! I offer him more food when he wakes up and he will usually eat quite a bit. Then we read lots of books, play in his teepee and playroom and pretty quickly it is time to head outside.

On Mondays we walk down to the farmer’s market and finish our shopping for the week and Tuesdays we walk to pick up our CSA seafood delivery. We play with the neighbor’s dog; play with balls in the street, go on wagon rides, walk through the forest near our house, dig in the dirt in the backyard, and find other things to explore in our neighborhood.

6:00PM Dinner Prep

It is hard getting T back inside but usually I manage somehow and enlist his help in starting dinner. He hangs out in his learning tower throwing anything and everything onto the ground, plays in the sink, bangs together some dishes, samples whatever I am putting together, and the like. Sometimes he takes all of the garbage bags out from under the sink, all of the mason jar lids out of the drawer, bangs measuring cups together, empties the pantry, stacks muffin liners, and other various kitchen shenanigans. He gets frustrated easily during this time and wants my full attention and I usually don’t get very far into my cooking.

6:30PM Daddy is home!

My husband is usually home by 6:30 and is greeted by a squealing T who immediately runs outside to greet him and to partake in one of his favorite activities, playing in the car (we only have the one car my husband takes to work every day). He climbs in and pushes a million buttons, plays music, etc. etc. etc. while I finish up dinner, yes!

7:00PM Eat, Clean, Play

We eat together while T tries to convince us to read books or take him outside and we try to coerce him into having a couple more bites. I clean the kitchen and my husband takes over playtime. They wrestle, read books, and play outside. I am exhausted at this point; there is almost always wine with my kitchen cleaning.

8:30PM Wind Down

There is usually some eye rubbing or yawning, but T fights his sleepy urges to the death. We take the opportunity to put on a nighttime diaper, pajamas, and turn all of the lights down low. T is not loving baths these days so we have been skipping them and every so often do a quick sink bath, he goes back and forth between bath loving and bath hating. I need to get some new bath toys, bath books, and glow sticks – I have heard glow sticks will turn the most avid toddler bath haters around! We all stay in our bedroom and read books, play around in bed, snuggle, laugh, and just marvel at how much personality this small human that is part of our family has.

9:00/9:30PM Lights Out

T usually isn’t ready to call it a night until about 9:00 or 9:30. We turn off the final light and lay down to nurse to sleep. Sometimes it’s easy, and sometimes he gets up at least 43 more times before he finally drifts off. I have thrown all expectations out the window and never “plan” anything for after bedtime. T is so unpredictable and half the time I fall asleep before or when he does. If I do happen to stay awake, I sneak off and eat some cookies or chocolate or drink more wine and work on the computer or read or fold laundry.

It is a simple life, but it is a great one.

What does your routine look like with your little one(s)? Do you find yourself taking it slower at different ages? I would love to hear what everyone does, we are always looking for new things to keep ourselves busy!