A Day in the Life Of... ME!
My turn. A day in the Life of...
Well, let me start by telling you my day...it is never how I pictured it the night before.
You see, This would be my 'ideal day' as a Stay-at-Home Mom.
6:00 am - Wake up to a quiet house, make a cup of hot coffee, throw in a load of laundry, spend time in prayer and the Word.
6:45 am - Kids wake up. Get them a banana, cereal, and milk. Read a devotional together, pray, read books.
7:30 am - Kids quietly play while I make breakfast and get completely ready with no interruptions.
Okay...are you rolling your eyes yet?
Yeah..its probably not worth it for me to continue down that road as we all know that is SO not how our days begin or carry on as Stay-at-Home Moms.
No..I'll be completely real..as I always try to be.
Here was a typical Tuesday at the home of the Vandersluis'. (Feel free to check out my Instagram Stories for 'A Day in the Life of' in pictures!)
---------------------------------
3:00 am - 19 month old wakes up for bottle. (HOW do I wean a toddler off of a night time bottle!?)
6:15 am - 3 year old walks into bedroom, Hubby calls her over and says 'Shh...' So I can get a few more minutes in. (SWOON).
6:30 am - Hubby takes toddler to living room, turns on Dora, grabs stuff for work, comes in for a smooch while I'm lazily opening my eyes still in bed. (Okay..this sounds entirely lazy. But truth is...the night before I had 2 hrs of sleep and my 19 month old wakes up at 5 am EVERY OTHER MORNING. So I am truly soaking in the sleeping in this morning). I read a quick First 5 Devos, check my emails until...
6:45 am - 19 month old cries from crib and I finally get my butt out of bed, pick her up, go to the living room, and get in some early morning cuddles with my two babies.
7:00 am - TV is off, coffee is being made, and girls are picking books to read for our regular morning routine of devotional, prayer, and books. Truth is, we skipped the devotional this morning, went straight to prayer and read books. I'm really working on putting the devotional part into our routine, as I think it would be SO wonderful to start our day with God's truths.
7:30 am - Breakfast is made by me (Frozen homemade carrot pancakes, toasted), and breakfast is eaten by all. No fights on that this morning which is definitely a mom win!
8:30 am - (Because breakfast always takes an hour) Independent playtime while I get ready. Just kidding...Stand and watch Mommy, bug her as much as possible, and fight over everything, while she gets ready.
9:00 am - Get girls ready for the day, playtime with the girls, break up all the fights and stop all the screaming.
9:50 am - Get out the door, get a Timmies coffee, and go to Library for Story Time. Story Time which SHOULD have been me sitting and watching my girls listen to the stories and do the actions but instead was me with both girls on my lap saying 'NO!' every time I asked them to go sit down on the carpet to join in. Well, at least we tried.
11:30 am - Home for lunch...(Which no one ate.)
12:00 pm - After a few tantrums, many excuses, multiple books, and many 'MOOMM, MOOOMM' 's being screamed from bedrooms...nap time. (Which sometimes means audio books or quiet time reading for our 3 year old, but today was definitely a nap day.)
12:30 pm - Time. Time to do devotions, clean, laundry, eat, write, ... ETC. Today was laundry and meal plan and sit. And then somehow it was already 1:30 and nap time was over. Sigh.
1:30 pm - 3 year old wakes up, asks for show so Dora goes on once again, we have a snack and then read all the books from the library.
2:45 pm - 19 month old wakes up, bottle, we get ready and head out for groceries..which involves LOTS of snacks, about 10 reminders that we are staying in the cart today, and about 15 minutes to get socks, shoes, and coats on.
3:45 pm - Home from a surprisingly uneventful trip at the grocery store with only one freak out by the 19 month old. (Who am I kidding...and one from me because what grocery store does NOT sell Chorizo Sausage!?).
4:00 pm - After groceries are put away and kids are undressed from being outside, I decide why not? Lets put all those winter clothes back on and go to the park! It was worth it though, we saw our first outdoor Christmas lights :).
5:00 pm - Home from park, make smoothies with the girls (because how else can I get enough veggies and fruits in them!?) and time for major clean up, dinner thrown into the oven (a casserole I made earlier and defrosted today) and welcoming our man home!
6:00 pm - Dinner...which involves Hubby and I trying everything to coax 19 month old to eat, and giving 3 year old many threats and warnings to eat. (Do I cook THAT bad!?)
6:20 pm - Giving up on dinner, have kids run around the house, and call them to come back to take bites of dinner in between. Hey, it may be unconventional and against rule books but it works for getting a few bites into them so I'm taking it.
6:30 pm - Hubby takes kids to a different grocery store to get that dang Chorizo Sausage (Seriously, Chili is just the BEST with it.) and I get a few minutes of quiet time to finish dishes and make lunch for hubby for tomorrow while I listen to Risen Motherhood podcast.
7:00 pm - Baths. Today? No complaints, no crying, and no whining. I am NOT taking that for granted!
7:30 pm - All 4 of us cozy on 3 year old's bed for some book time, Bible time, prayer time, and song time. Everyone listened, answered our questions with ease, prayed nicely, and sang along. Just kidding. There were about 20 interruptions, 3 year old knew none of the Bible story from yesterday, and Hubby made a joke out of the songs. C'est La Vie.
7:40 pm - 19 month old gets a bottle (or we try to give it to her, she doesn't take it), 3 year old reads books quietly in bed, and Hubby is out for the evening to a friend's. This RARELY happens so I am soaking it in and using the quiet for some good writing time, reading time, Bible time (since I didn't get to it earlier), and maybe show watching time.
7:45 pm - 'Moooommmyyy' from 3 year old's bedroom. She wants water.
7:50 pm - 'Mooooommmyyy' from 3 year old's bedroom. She wants to read one more book.
7:55 pm - 'Moooommmyyyy' from 19 month old's bedroom. She NOW decides she wants milk. She takes 2 oz.
8:00 pm - 'Moooommmyyyy' from 19 month old's bedroom. She decides she wants more milk. She takes 2 more oz.
8:05 pm - 'Mooommmyyy' from 3 year old's bedroom. She's done reading and wants to be tucked in.
And...Silence.
Phew. What a day.
And that's a Tuesday.
Truth is... As I was recording this, taking the pictures, thinking about our schedule and routine I realized how simple it really is, how mundane it can sound, and yet how much I truly love this life. Yes, the days are tiring. Yes, the days are long. Yes the crying, the screaming, the fighting, the demands, the whines...all of it, it can be a lot. But my time with my girls is precious despite all that. Recording all this truly brought my heart into a state of gratitude for this life God has blessed me with. It's chaotic, it's busy (yet somehow still feels like I get barely anything done), it's exhausting, but it's full. And I truly am happy to start all over again tomorrow.
Well, let me start by telling you my day...it is never how I pictured it the night before.
You see, This would be my 'ideal day' as a Stay-at-Home Mom.
6:00 am - Wake up to a quiet house, make a cup of hot coffee, throw in a load of laundry, spend time in prayer and the Word.
6:45 am - Kids wake up. Get them a banana, cereal, and milk. Read a devotional together, pray, read books.
7:30 am - Kids quietly play while I make breakfast and get completely ready with no interruptions.
Okay...are you rolling your eyes yet?
Yeah..its probably not worth it for me to continue down that road as we all know that is SO not how our days begin or carry on as Stay-at-Home Moms.
No..I'll be completely real..as I always try to be.
Here was a typical Tuesday at the home of the Vandersluis'. (Feel free to check out my Instagram Stories for 'A Day in the Life of' in pictures!)
---------------------------------
3:00 am - 19 month old wakes up for bottle. (HOW do I wean a toddler off of a night time bottle!?)
6:15 am - 3 year old walks into bedroom, Hubby calls her over and says 'Shh...' So I can get a few more minutes in. (SWOON).
6:30 am - Hubby takes toddler to living room, turns on Dora, grabs stuff for work, comes in for a smooch while I'm lazily opening my eyes still in bed. (Okay..this sounds entirely lazy. But truth is...the night before I had 2 hrs of sleep and my 19 month old wakes up at 5 am EVERY OTHER MORNING. So I am truly soaking in the sleeping in this morning). I read a quick First 5 Devos, check my emails until...
6:45 am - 19 month old cries from crib and I finally get my butt out of bed, pick her up, go to the living room, and get in some early morning cuddles with my two babies.
7:00 am - TV is off, coffee is being made, and girls are picking books to read for our regular morning routine of devotional, prayer, and books. Truth is, we skipped the devotional this morning, went straight to prayer and read books. I'm really working on putting the devotional part into our routine, as I think it would be SO wonderful to start our day with God's truths.
7:30 am - Breakfast is made by me (Frozen homemade carrot pancakes, toasted), and breakfast is eaten by all. No fights on that this morning which is definitely a mom win!
8:30 am - (Because breakfast always takes an hour) Independent playtime while I get ready. Just kidding...Stand and watch Mommy, bug her as much as possible, and fight over everything, while she gets ready.
9:00 am - Get girls ready for the day, playtime with the girls, break up all the fights and stop all the screaming.
9:50 am - Get out the door, get a Timmies coffee, and go to Library for Story Time. Story Time which SHOULD have been me sitting and watching my girls listen to the stories and do the actions but instead was me with both girls on my lap saying 'NO!' every time I asked them to go sit down on the carpet to join in. Well, at least we tried.
 |
| (This is as close as Emmy would get.) |
11:30 am - Home for lunch...(Which no one ate.)
12:00 pm - After a few tantrums, many excuses, multiple books, and many 'MOOMM, MOOOMM' 's being screamed from bedrooms...nap time. (Which sometimes means audio books or quiet time reading for our 3 year old, but today was definitely a nap day.)
12:30 pm - Time. Time to do devotions, clean, laundry, eat, write, ... ETC. Today was laundry and meal plan and sit. And then somehow it was already 1:30 and nap time was over. Sigh.
1:30 pm - 3 year old wakes up, asks for show so Dora goes on once again, we have a snack and then read all the books from the library.
2:45 pm - 19 month old wakes up, bottle, we get ready and head out for groceries..which involves LOTS of snacks, about 10 reminders that we are staying in the cart today, and about 15 minutes to get socks, shoes, and coats on.
3:45 pm - Home from a surprisingly uneventful trip at the grocery store with only one freak out by the 19 month old. (Who am I kidding...and one from me because what grocery store does NOT sell Chorizo Sausage!?).
4:00 pm - After groceries are put away and kids are undressed from being outside, I decide why not? Lets put all those winter clothes back on and go to the park! It was worth it though, we saw our first outdoor Christmas lights :).
5:00 pm - Home from park, make smoothies with the girls (because how else can I get enough veggies and fruits in them!?) and time for major clean up, dinner thrown into the oven (a casserole I made earlier and defrosted today) and welcoming our man home!
6:00 pm - Dinner...which involves Hubby and I trying everything to coax 19 month old to eat, and giving 3 year old many threats and warnings to eat. (Do I cook THAT bad!?)
6:20 pm - Giving up on dinner, have kids run around the house, and call them to come back to take bites of dinner in between. Hey, it may be unconventional and against rule books but it works for getting a few bites into them so I'm taking it.
6:30 pm - Hubby takes kids to a different grocery store to get that dang Chorizo Sausage (Seriously, Chili is just the BEST with it.) and I get a few minutes of quiet time to finish dishes and make lunch for hubby for tomorrow while I listen to Risen Motherhood podcast.
7:00 pm - Baths. Today? No complaints, no crying, and no whining. I am NOT taking that for granted!
7:30 pm - All 4 of us cozy on 3 year old's bed for some book time, Bible time, prayer time, and song time. Everyone listened, answered our questions with ease, prayed nicely, and sang along. Just kidding. There were about 20 interruptions, 3 year old knew none of the Bible story from yesterday, and Hubby made a joke out of the songs. C'est La Vie.
7:40 pm - 19 month old gets a bottle (or we try to give it to her, she doesn't take it), 3 year old reads books quietly in bed, and Hubby is out for the evening to a friend's. This RARELY happens so I am soaking it in and using the quiet for some good writing time, reading time, Bible time (since I didn't get to it earlier), and maybe show watching time.
7:45 pm - 'Moooommmyyy' from 3 year old's bedroom. She wants water.
7:50 pm - 'Mooooommmyyy' from 3 year old's bedroom. She wants to read one more book.
7:55 pm - 'Moooommmyyyy' from 19 month old's bedroom. She NOW decides she wants milk. She takes 2 oz.
8:00 pm - 'Moooommmyyyy' from 19 month old's bedroom. She decides she wants more milk. She takes 2 more oz.
8:05 pm - 'Mooommmyyy' from 3 year old's bedroom. She's done reading and wants to be tucked in.
And...Silence.
Phew. What a day.
And that's a Tuesday.
Truth is... As I was recording this, taking the pictures, thinking about our schedule and routine I realized how simple it really is, how mundane it can sound, and yet how much I truly love this life. Yes, the days are tiring. Yes, the days are long. Yes the crying, the screaming, the fighting, the demands, the whines...all of it, it can be a lot. But my time with my girls is precious despite all that. Recording all this truly brought my heart into a state of gratitude for this life God has blessed me with. It's chaotic, it's busy (yet somehow still feels like I get barely anything done), it's exhausting, but it's full. And I truly am happy to start all over again tomorrow.
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