Being a mom to a small infant can be extremely difficult. It can be so hard sticking to a routine and trying to get everything you need done, as well as making sure you are meeting all the needs of your child and trying to have fun and enjoy time with them too!
Many moms choose to leave work and be a stay-at-home mom, so they can spend the most time they can with their child whilst they are still young. Stay-at-home, however, doesn’t mean that things are any less busy! In fact, things can even be much busier as it is entirely down to you to get everything done!
Well, goodbye are the days of hectic mornings and tiring evenings! This article will explain to you the perfect schedule for a stay-at-home mom, to help bring structure and organization back into your life and maximise the fun time you get to spend with your child.
Note: the time schedule given here can and should be altered according to the school, office or other timings.
6:30-7:00pm:
The exact time for this first step is variable depending on what time your little one wakes up. The key is to try and get up about 30 minutes before your child(children), to give you a little bit of time to get some things done before you have to sort them out and get them ready for the day.
Take this time to get yourself ready. Have a shower, brush your teeth, make the bed, get dressed, put some makeup on (if you so wish), make yourself a tea or coffee, read the paper and catch up on any little things you need to. This is also a great time to pop a load of laundry in!
This can help you to start off the day feeling nice and productive and can really make the difference to how smooth the rest of your day goes.
7:00-7:20am:
Bring your children to the kitchen and make them some breakfast (or have them make it themselves if they are old enough). This may require you feeding them, and most likely a lot of cleaning up after!
7:20-7:30am:
Get all the children a bath or shower, brush their teeth and make sure they are all dressed.
7:30-7:40am:
If any of your slightly older children who sort themselves out in the morning aren’t up yet, then it’s time to go and wake them up! And, let’s be honest, you might have to go back multiple times.
7:40-8:00am:
Make sure all your older kids have their bags packed with lunch or lunch money in so they won’t go hungry during the day!
8:00-8:20am:
This should usually involve rushing round if you’re running late, or you can pop the tv on for the kids if they are ready early.
8:20-8:40am:
This is the usual time when older children will need to be taken to school. If they take the bus then make sure they have left on time and have any money they need for it, and if you are driving them then this will be about the time you should set off.
8:40-9:00am:
This is the usual time when younger children need to be at preschool or nursery. Maybe factor in a few extra minutes as younger ones can often kick up more of a fuss when you drop them off! It can be cute but also very annoying!
9:00-9:30am:
Now all the kids are in school or with other childcare, this is a great chance for you to get stuff done.
On the way home from dropping the kids off, pop to the store and get any supplies and groceries that you need. If you have a younger child with you who isn’t yet old enough for school or nursery, then you can take them with you!
Make sure to go with a list of food you need for the meals you are planning on cooking in the week. This will help minimise the amount of time you have to spend in the store and will also prevent you from buying too much or forgetting anything.
9:30am – 10:30am:
Come home and unload all the shopping.
Load the dishwasher or do the dishes from breakfast.
This is also a time when you can get some lovely playtime in with your younger child!
10:30-11:00am:
This is a good time to put your young infant down for a nap or pop them in a highchair in front of their favourite tv show and do some meal prep for whatever you are planning on cooking that evening.
If you are cooking something in a pot, or a dish that can just go in the oven, then prepare it all now so all you have to do later on is pop it in the oven or heat it up.
11:00am-12:00pm:
This is a lovely little space of time for you to spend playing and having fun with your little one! It is a good idea to also feed them their lunch about now before your slightly older children (if you have any) arrive home as your younger one will need more attention and help with eating.
12:00-12:30pm:
This is usually the time to pick up kids from preschool and nursery.
If your children don’t need picking up yet, then this is more time for playing with your little one or to do a bit of cleaning.
12:30-3:30pm:
Once you have picked up your kids from school, it’ll be time to feed them all lunch.
The time following can then be spent having quality time with them.
If you only have one younger child with none who are older, then this is a great time to go to a little activity with them. For example, a mother and toddler yoga class or a swimming session.
3:30-4:00pm:
It’ll be time for the school run for your older children. Make sure to leave in plenty of time so you can get a good parking spot. We all know how hard it can be to find a space!
4:00-4:30pm:
Encourage your kids to get any homework they need done.
This might also be when they have after school clubs.
When they are getting on with these activities you can start making sure everything is ready for dinner.
This will be a good time to put younger ones down for a little nap.
5:00-5:30pm:
Time to feed the kids dinner. You can pop that premade food in the oven or on the stove and serve it up! Younger ones might need your help eating.
5:30-6:30pm:
You might have older children who have sports clubs around this time.
For ones that are home this is a great time to play with them to help get them tired out ready for bed.
6:30-7:00pm:
Around this time, you should have everyone home all together. This is a lovely time to all watch something or spend some quality time together and have a little snack. Keeping things calm and relaxed is the key so they can wind down before bed.
7:00-8:00pm:
This is usually bedtime. Give your kids a bath or shower if needed, brush their teeth and get them in the pjs.
You can read them a story or tuck them in until they are settled and falling asleep.
8:00pm – onwards:
This is all your time now! This is where you can spend some time alone or with your partner, doing any last minute washing up and then relaxing with a book or in front of the tv.
Then you can get yourself ready for bed whenever you are ready! Hopefully you won’t have any of your little ones tiptoeing down the stairs complaining they can’t get to sleep! Although, let’s be honest… it’s going to happen at some point.