Monday, December 2, 2013

My daily routine with 4 little kids

Happy late Thanksgiving and Merry early Christmas! Turns out I have one fussy baby.  I spent a week trying to figure out if he has colic or gas, if he is hungry or tired, or if he just likes to cry.  He is a great breastfeeder. Little porker is getting chubby and is hungry all the time! I think he does get gas too, but I've found that, if he gets overtired....forget it.  He won't go to sleep and nothing helps. Not even nursing.  So I am really working to make sure he takes a nap before he gets too tired. 

I tried gas drops, probiotics, cut out caffeine, and even formula.  Non of it helped, and he wouldn't even take the bottle at all. It was just making him mad and he gagged when he tasted the formula :(

But he does really really well when he takes nice long naps.  He's like a happy calm baby when he nurses, has wake time, then takes a long nap.  I'm working on getting him in this routine better. 

So you know me....I NEED a routine.  Thank God we are finally falling back into a good routine with a baby in the house.  Honestly a routine makes me feel happy, calm, and thankful.  Here is what I am aiming for.  I am 4 weeks postpartum now and want to start doing C25K next week.  This isn't listing times, or every single time I nurse the baby, because I nurse him often :) as he gets older, scheduling becomes easier and more predictable. Also on days I have errands to run, schedules go out the window. No biggie.  Church nights/days are a bit different too.  

Mom's daily routine with 4 little kids 

MORNING

5:45am
Wake up
Brush teeth
Get dressed
Get coffee
Pray/Read bible
Nurse baby
Start breakfast/lunches
Empty dishwasher (I always want an empty sink!)
Get 5yo ready for school
See husband and 5yo off
Throw in load of laundry
Get 2 & 4yo situated & fed
Nurse baby
Put dinner in the crock pot 
Home school 4yo preschool, 2yo color (T/Thurs)


MID-MORNING/AFTERNOON

11am
Go on walk/run w 3 little ones, 2 in stroller 1 on bike (Couch to 5K, M/W. Saturday daddy watches boys while I run.)  
Pick up 5yo from school
Make/serve lunch (leftovers, already made stew, or frozen burritos I made earlier in week or sandwich and fruit) 
Nurse baby
Put 2yo & baby down for nap
Big boys quiet time while mommy works 1-1.5 hours (boys watch movie or color/read) 
Nurse baby
1 Chore (bathroom, dust, iron ect)
Big boys outside time, baby back down for a nap 
Switch loads, fold clothes RIGHT away at the dryer (do daily smaller loads so this is easier), damp a rag & wipe down washer and dryer, let whites soak in bleach overnight/soak cloth diapers/or do a regular load
2yo wakes up, give boys a snack
Put laundry away, boys play time 
Clean up time! Boys and mommy clean up (all toys, boys room), light a candle, put on music
Vacuum (put Arm & Hammer baking soda carpet cleaner on carpet first...smells amazing!)
Fold blankets
Tidy up

EVENING

Set table
Any dinner prep needed
Fill sink with hot soapy water, put any pans or crock pot in it
Dad's home!
Serve dinner, give everyone vitamins
Clean up dinner table, wash w soapy rag
Put all dishes in soapy water
Wipe counters
Sweep floor
Prep coffee, set timer on coffee pot for morning
Soak beans in crock pot or stew bones for bone broth over night (a couple nights a week) 
Rinse dishes, load dishwasher & start it
Boys play time (usually playing with daddy)

BEDTIME
Bathe all 4 boys
Brush teeth, comb hair
PJ's 
Story time
Read boys bible
Pray
Lights out for boys
Mom & Dad read, watch a movie or show on Netflix with hot apple cider or tea :) (well I drink a hot drink!!) 

Feeew. Sounds tiring.  But this is my life right now! And it can change and will change as we add in sports next season and as they get older!! Also want to sign up for another half marathon so training will really throw in a change! Not everyday goes according to plan...obviously :) 

 I am still adjusting to four boys, and some nights the baby is up a lot and I sleep in and let daddy do breakfast and lunches and get Shane ready.  It happens.  But this is my goal :) otherwise I get so behind on everything in life. Ehum....Like right now there is a huge pile of laundry waiting to be folded...wish I would have folded all 3 loads right when they were out of the dryer! LOL ;-)



"Let all things be done decently and in order." 1 Corinthians 14:40
Something I've been learning since I got married 7+ years ago and realized I was far from orderly! :)

 



6 comments:

Unknown said...

u are a busy woman!!!

The Skinny on Staci said...

Yanno, it really DOES look like a lot when you write it out like that. Lol My life is crazy busy, too. At a glance it looks like you take on too much, but honestly mine is the same way. Ha! And it's not like there's much you could cut out - mostly just normal, household, mommy, wifey stuff. :) My kids used to be in more activities, but I finally had to cut them out. With 4, it seemed like I was running all the time. We decided to keep music lessons and our homeschool group. That is being gone from home 6 scheduled times a month. And then, of course, there's field trips, an errand, etc. that always comes up and drags my butt out more. LOL I really want to sign Tucker up for baseball, but hubby is against it. He says it will take our whole life away with practices and games. :( I was so surprised he was against it because he played little league through college. :::sigh::: I guess I'll just get Tucker a guitar and take him along to scheduled music lessons. HA!

Mummy2Boys said...

Hi,
I love how organised your routine looks, but I also like the fact that you stated that on days you have errands to run etc, the schedule goes out the window and that's okay too.
I was just wondering if you had any tips for what I can do with my nearly 4yo son when I need to get work done (home business and housework). He has a VERY large cup of attention to fill, and even when I play with him for 20-30 minutes doing something he has chosen, he comes back 10 minutes after we've finished playing, asking me to play with him again, OR he turns on the t.v. In short, he's either watching t.v or wanting me to play with him ALL DAY. I also have a 10 month old who gets NO play time from me because of this. I have asked other Mothers and have received a mixed reaction. One mother told me that if I can't give him my full attention all day every day, I shouldn't keep him at home and put him in daycare.
A behaviour specialist told me my son is a normal boy and I'm doing a great job, which is great to know but it doesn't help guide me with how to go about my day. They didn't give me any tips on how I can entertain him. He doesn't do independent play, he gets bored with craft, painting, playdough, drawing, colouring in....his interests really lie in role play (hair dressers, supermarkets etc), or outside play 'shooting' monsters, water play, and I can sometimes get him to play board games. I'm at my wits end and am unable to achieve any chores on a daily, routinely basis without being racked with guilt because I've told my 3.5 year old to do some independent play which he moans and whines about and ends up just bugging me or walking around the house aimlessly.
Any tips?
Thanks......Stressed Out Mum

Anonymous said...

Stressed Out Mum, I suggest since he likes modeling grown up behavior, get him a small, but REAL cleaning set or cut down a broom handle, and have dustpan and brush, rags and a spray bottle of water / vinegar, a dust mop, etc and let him help you clean. I put a damp rag and ask one boy to wipe the furniture or door knobs, or whatever needs wiping, you can have him spray windows and wipe them, use a duster or duster mop to clean, run the vacuum in a cleared area, sweep crumbs in the kitchen into a dustpan, use a cloth or brush to scrub the bathroom sink and taps, etc. My little boys absolutely love helping me clean. And it keeps them busy from MAKING messes! Good luck.
Love the schedule! It looks quite familiar! ;-)

Adrienne said...

Evie, so sorry it's taken me so long to respond! Just saw this :) I highly recommend something like a Leap Pad or even a Kindle Fire and get him educational games and apps. I totally feel you, every kid is so different. We recently discovered that my 4yo would sit and play a game on the iPhone for over an hour. He is normally ALWAYS talking and bugging me LOL I bet he'd love a leap frog, but we will wait until his birthday :) maybe see if he will like that before buying one somehow.

Sr Perro said...

Apprreciate you blogging this