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A day in the life


I keep reading all these posts about life with a newborn {note: strong language in that link}, life with twins, life with triplets, life with a toddler... So here's a day in my life: a husband on rotating shiftwork {his shift changes each week}, homeschooling a kindergartner, 3-year old twins, an infant, and a dog and cat.

4:00 am
Baby #4 wakes up for first feeding; feed laying down in bed

5:00 am
Put baby #4 back in bassinet and go back to sleep

6:30 am
Hear toddlers fighting in bathroom. Break up the fight over who gets to use the sink first and send them back to their room. Turn on Keurig. Clean the catbox, sweep the laundry room.

6:45 am
Brush teeth, hair, make first cup of coffee, grab my laptop and start writing at the kitchen table. Send toddlers back to bed multiple times. "Is it 7:30 yet?" No, no, no... back to bed!

7:00 am
Have all three boys sit on their beds until 7:30 {when they can come out of their room} due to wrestling. Give oldest a rag for his bloody nose.

7:15 am
Get baby #4 who has started fussing. Change diaper. Feed. Try to type with one hand while sitting at the kitchen table nursing.




7:30 am
"It seben firty, Momma. Mom! Mom! It seben firty." The day has begun. Put baby #4 in high chair. Start breakfast for older three boys. Make second cup of coffee.

7:45 am
Finish feeding baby #4. Try to finish my thought before closing my laptop. Wait, where was I? What was I writing about? Stare at cursor... Okay, I'll think on it and finish this later. Make myself a bowl of granola in almond milk. Set it on kitchen counter and promptly forget about it. Start first load of laundry.

8:00 am
Tidy up kitchen, sit at table with boys and discuss what we are doing today, how everybody slept, etc. Let dog out roughly 1 million times.

8:15 am
Get myself ready for the day.

8:45 am
Have boys come back to the table and put their breakfast dishes in the sink. Help toddlers put on their costumes {I don't know how many times a day I fasten up the back of a superhero costume}. Give permission to our oldest to go ride his bike in our driveway. Clean kitchen.

9:00 am
Move laundry. Start homeschooling kindergarten with our oldest. Start crafts with our toddlers.

9:30 am
Have toddlers clean up their crafts. Have oldest put away his homeschooling supplies. Change baby out of his now drool-soaked onsie.




10:00 am
Leave the house for homeschooling co-op class/piano lesson/speech therapy/park trip/errands... whatever it is we are doing that day.

10:30 am
Prepare to sit and wait with three children. Two three-year olds and an infant for homeschool co-op or piano lessons {crayons and markers, Uno Moo, singing together, feed baby}; six-year old, three-year old, and an infant for speech {reading with our kindergartner, feed baby}. Bring my latest read, if I have free time or children are occupied {ha! ha!}.

11:30 am
Head home for lunch.

12:00 pm
Walk in the door with hungry children. Baby #4 acting hungry, though I just fed him. Have oldest bounce baby while I make lunch.

12:15 pm
Put lunch on the table for boys. Feed baby who eats for two seconds and then falls asleep at the breast. Put him down for nap in swing. Sit at table with boys to eat my lunch.

12:30 pm
Manage to eat three bites and drink a glass of sweet tea before I realize I didn't move the next load of laundry. And there is that bowl of granola from this morning... maybe I should sweep the kitchen while I'm up too...

12:45 pm
Decide that I should clean a bathroom or two before we finish up the rest of our homeschooling for the day. Our oldest wants to help. Have him vacuum the carpets. Toddlers want to help. Have one dust and have the other clean the bathtub.

1:00 pm
Does the baby really want to eat again? Okay, well, I did get two bathrooms clean. Man, I really should sweep the rest of the house as well...

1:30 pm
Finish feeding baby who actually ate this time. Start sweeping floors and tell oldest we will do school at 1:45 pm. He goes outside to ride his bike. I tell the toddlers they need to go potty and start getting ready for nap.

1:45 pm
Tuck toddlers in for nap.

1:50 pm
Start the rest of our homeschool lessons for the day with our kindergartner.

2:30 pm
Finish homeschooling our oldest. Have him clean up the schoolroom while I move the laundry and unload the dishwasher. And where did all these dishes come from in the sink?

2:45 pm
Oldest goes outside to play. I eat a snack. Have I eaten anything else today? You know what would go well with this snack... a cup of coffee... maybe iced coffee... Brew a cup and pour it over ice with a splash of milk.

3:00 pm
A toddler comes out of his room from nap. "I have to go potty." Send him back to bed after potty. Sit down and try to write again. Where was I....?

3:30 pm
Really in the groove of writing. Busted out a blog post as well. Feeling the creativity flow... "Mom, I need new underwear..." Toddler up from nap. Wet his bed. Start a new load of laundry.




3:45 pm
Settle toddler at table with snack. Omigosh! Is that the time? Wake up the baby to feed. Other toddler wakes up while I'm feeding {thankfully no bed-wetting accident}. Wants a snack as well. Baby #4 is starving and doesn't want to stop eating. Put him in Tula. Make toddler a snack. Oldest comes inside and wants a snack. All the boys at the table with a snack; baby #4 in Tula nursing. Time to start dinner.

4:15 pm
Put baby #4 in high chair at table. Oldest wants to help with dinner. Toddlers pull out markers and paper, draw at table. Make dinner with our oldest.




4:45 pm
Dinner in oven. All the boys ask if we are having cookies. They all want to help make cookies. Have them help make cookie dough while dinner bakes. Put made dough in fridge to bake cookies after dinner.

5:30 pm
Move laundry. Pull dinner out of oven. Have kids clean up markers, wash hands, and set table. Make drinks and tidy kitchen a little while they do this. Put baby #4 in bouncy seat by table.

5:45 pm
Sit down at the table for dinner. Of course baby #4 wants to feed as soon as I sit down to eat.

6:30 pm
Clean up kitchen while boys clean up playroom {aka wrestle in their bedroom}.

6:45 pm
Help boys finish cleaning up the playroom and their bedroom. Get everyone started on baths.

7:00 pm
Baths, pajamas, pick out stories, get asthmatic toddler started on nebulizer treatment, brush other toddler's teeth, have oldest brush teeth. Settle on couch with toddler doing nebulizer treatment and read stories.

7:30 pm
Brush last todder's teeth. Find all blankets, lovies, pillows, toys, whatevers, the children feel they need to sleep with that night. Make toddler's bed that had the accident.

7:45 pm
Say prayers and give kisses to all the children. Yes, I'll leave the door cracked. Yes, Daddy will give you kisses when he gets home. Yes, I'm going to be right out there if you need something. Yes, you can get out of bed if you have to go potty. Give each "one more kiss" and then really leave the room because baby #4 started fussing.

7:50 pm
Feed baby #4 on my bed next to the enormous pile of laundry that I had thrown on there all day long.

8:15 pm
Fold laundry.

8:40 pm
Put away towels, baby things {clothes, diapers, wipes}, and my laundry. Put husband's laundry on the ottoman in his closet. Put the boys' laundry in their laundry basket {there is the small chance my husband will put this laundry away when it starts overflowing... I tend just to pull their clothes out of it for the next day}. Put the toddlers' outfits for the next day {underwear, pants, shirt} on the floor next to their beds. Close their door if they are all asleep. If someone is still awake, give them a kiss and tell them to go to bed.

9:00 pm
Flip through the mail. Take a shower.

9:30 pm
Get the baby ready for bed. Curl up in bed with a book and feed the baby laying down in bed.

10:00 pm
Put the baby in his bassinet. Attempt to read another chapter... just one more chapter...

10:07 pm
Turn out the light. Remember we never made the cookies. Sigh. Tomorrow we'll make the cookies...

And then, of course, we have the times with rotating shiftwork that hubby is home in the middle of the day sleeping:



Never a dull moment! I always wonder what people mean when they ask me what I "do" all day as a stay-at-home mom... ;)

Comments

Michelle said…
This post was very interesting to me. I'm expecting #4 in June. I have five year old twins and a two and a half year old (all boys). I'm very nervous about adding a fourth, but you make it sound do-able. Busy, but do-able. Thank you.
Kimber said…
Congratulations, Michelle!!!!! It is exactly that-- busy, but do-able. I really did feel once baby #4 got here that it was all going to work out just fine. I don't know if anything is more crazy than having 3 children!!! You've got this!!! :)

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