Schedule / RoutineThe house smells like toast and freshly brewed coffee. I grab the Bun pot and fill my cup. The coffee is almost too hot to drink, but I sip it anyway because coffee and I belong together. Wrapping my hands around my mug, I can’t help but think how much I love an organized stay at home mom schedule.
In case you didn’t know this is the part about being a stay-at-home mom that is just for me. I check my phone and see a message from my friend Kelly. She always makes me laugh with her jokes about wine and not sleeping. This is how I connect and feel human even when motherhood takes over *almost* every crevice of my life.
I take another sip of my coffee and it dawns on me that right now I’m filling my cup in more than one way.
Stay at home mom schedules are awesome.
I’m nourishing my soul by taking a few minutes to sip steaming hot coffee in the morning stillness. I’m taking a moment to breathe before the chaos of the day starts. And even once chaos starts, the schedule will save me. And this is why..
It saves a mom’s sanity.
Honestly, it’s a luxury to reliably predict your day to day happenings. It can help you feel more at ease with everything. Less stress, happier mom. Personally, that’s how we thrive and function in our home. As a busy stay at home mom, I can rely on specific times of the day to get things done, and that makes me feel more organized and less crazy.
It increases a mom’s focus.
If you know there is a set available time to get something done, it becomes easier to stay focused. I’m a lot more motivated to finish something on my to-do list when I only have a set amount of time. A schedule can help drive you to accomplish tasks on hand. If I know I have an hour, I work quickly to work through my to-do list, rather whittling away at it bit-by-bit throughout the whole day. By increasing your focus, schedules eliminate wasted time throughout the day to accomplish one menial task.
Better self-care for mom.
If I know my kids will play alone for a certain amount of time each morning, I can prepare and anticipate a time during the day to get things done. Like drink a cup of coffee for 5 minutes. Or shower for 10 minutes. Or briefly chat with my parents, who live half-way around the world.
Moms need to take time to build up themselves so they have something to give back to their kids. Even if it’s only for 30 minutes in the morning while your kids play alone. 30 minutes of self-care recharges your patience. I’m a waayyyy better mom when I take a moment to breathe!
You’re more intentional with daily life.
For me, true happiness is based on intention. When I have time to get things done around the house, and take care of myself, I am more intentional with all the fun stuff and free time. So if you take a day trip or an afternoon outing, the 20 things you need to get done at home won’t be cluttering your brain and ruining your time. It can help you feel more relaxed.
Personally, I’m happier with the schedule. I feel better because I know there is an upcoming time slot when I will be able to get things done in the near future. If there are chores left undone in the house, there will be time soon. No worries.
A sample schedule for you, mama.
Schedules and routines are very popular on this blog, so I thought it would be fun to share our current daily schedule with you. I appreciate seeing what other moms are doing, and maybe you do too.
As a military family, my husband is a gone on and off quite a bit for work. This is a schedule I tend to follow when he is home. We like to have time together in the evenings, and we make a point of heading to bed together each night.
- 5:00 am wake up, drink piping hot coffee, laugh with Kelly
- 6:00 am baby wakes up, feed her, get her dressed for the day, briefly catch up on news
- 7:00 am toddler wakes up, eat breakfast
- 8:15 am take toddler to school
- 8:45 am return home
- 9:00 am baby naps, I work from home during this time
- 11:00 am baby wakes up, feed her, eat lunch, play, run errands
- 1:00 pm baby naps
- 2:15 pm baby wakes up, feed her, pick up toddler from school
- 2:45 pm return home, play at park near our home
- 4:00 pm head inside, toddler watches TV, baby naps, I cook dinner
- 5:00 pm baby wakes up, eat family dinner, baby eats solids, clean up
- 5:45 pm bedtime routines start (Yes! Two kids seem to take my husband and I an especially long time. We like to give plenty of time! Plus, this give us lots of time to roll with bedtime stall tactics!)
- 6:30 pm kids are both in jammies, feed baby, read stories, enjoy our snuggle time.
- 7:00 pm both kids down for the night, hallelujah.
- 7:00-10:00 pm several nights per week both my husband and I work in the evening. The other nights (it’s about 50/50) we watch movies and shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime.
I take one more sip of coffee.
Kelly sends me one more joke about being a sleep deprived parent and then I hear my daughter stir and cry a few times. I feel it coming. The chaos of the day starts to roll inside my mind. It’s picking up speed. And I know before long, I’ll be running full throttle like a runaway train. The schedule will bring me back to center though.
I take one more look at my Bun coffee pot (I’ll never use another coffee pot!) and drink of my coffee. This time it’s a gulp instead of a sip. I’m ready for the kids. Let’s do this. Bring it.
This is such a great post! I work from home full time and watch my two little ones. If I didn’t have a good schedule I’d go completely bonkers.
Oh, wow…it’s so encouraging to hear you say that! I live by the schedule, although I am not a slave to it, if you know what I mean? I was a working mom, turned stay at home, now working at home mom after diving into blogging and it kinda turned into a job. What is your work at home job? I’d love to hear what your schedule and flow is. I was thinking about creating a book of sample schedules as a tool for moms. Would you ever consider contributing to it?
Lauren
You know by now I love schedules and I constantly stress how important it is to have one. I’d go nuts without my schedule in all honesty, although I have to admit this first trimester is slightly throwing me off because I am slightly more tired.
I’d go nuts without my schedule as well. And yes, pregnancy does have tendency to throw a schedule off, lol. Rest well, Ana.
Lauren
Hi Lauren,
Absolutely agree whole-heartedly with this post. Staying at home allows flexibility to the ‘schedule’ and that’s what I love about being at home with my littles. Schedules change day to day and it doesn’t need to be hard-pressed but having a schedule or structure in a day (as I like to call it) is so important. Plus, children thrive in an environment where there is routine – as you know! Sharing!
Thanks! It’s really encouraging to see this article resonate with other moms. We are flexible, but still try to keep a general schedule for most of our days. I’m not running a crazy assembly line around here, pahaha. And yes, I do agree my son and our whole family really do thrive on a good schedule. Thanks for sharing and for stopping by.
Lauren
Love this post I follow a schedule as well and it keeps me sane!
Love it 🙂 So encouraging to know I’m not the only one!!
So true! I wonder how those moms who don’t follow the schedule’still manage to find some predictable time for themselves…
Love this post! We’ve been on a strict schedule with our twins since two weeks after they came home from the hospital (and really, those first two weeks without a schedule were horrible ;)) and we’ve been able to maintain it for the last 1,5 years! They thrive on it! I’m very strict with meal- and bedtime, but it’s obvious that they need it and want it! In their own language, they beg to be put to bed at noon! I love having a schedule and wouldn’t know where I would be if I didn’t have it. I now know exactly when all will be peace and quiet in the house and that definitely helps to get through a hard day! It slightly limits your flexibility (never ever interfere with naptime!) but the reward is definitely worth it!!
Totally agree with everything you just said, Anne! Couldn’t have said it better myself. Thanks for your encouraging words!
Have a great day,
Lauren
Any tips on creating a schedule when husband works nights? I’m a sahm, and our son is 1 year old. I am the worst ever at schedules and routines. I have never been that person, but I feel that my son would greatly benefit from a stricter routine. I’ve finally got him into a schedule where he goes to bed around 7:30ish, but that’s often thrown off. He won’t sleep if anyone at all comes by, and he’ll wake up when he hears the door open. My husband comes in around 4 am every morning, and our son almost always wakes up. I think it’s because he’s not seeing my husband very much since he started nights. The last few months have been stressful for us. We can’t seem to get into a routine that works. My husband has to leave around 3 pm to travel to work. And like I said, he doesn’t normally make it home until 4 am. He has just a few hours to unwind, and then he sleeps until about 2pm. So, very little family time right now. We do plan to move soon, so we’ll have more time together. Right now, this night shift is killing us though. Do you have any tips on setting up a routine when your husband is on night shift?
Oh, and I just want to mention, I’m a natural night owl myself. In fact, our son went a long time with bedtime around 9:30p. I started trying to get him to bed earlier, to improve his/our sleep. 7:30 bedtime has helped a little, but not as much as I’d like.
If you think an 8:30 bedtime would work better for your son and your own sleeping times, feel confident moving his bedtime a bit later. You may want to grab some room darkening curtains so he sleeps a bit later in the mornings (if you haven’t already). That is really the main reason for advocating for an early bedtime–kids wake up when the sun rises and if they go to sleep to late at night, they don’t get enough nighttime rest. But if you can get him to sleep a bit later in the morning, I think a later bedtime is fine if that suits your family. Our son was a very light sleeper and we always use white noise with him. A fan on medium in his room helps immensely.
If your son regularly wakes at 4 am, I would simply treat it how you would any night waking. Keep it all business and do your best to get him back to sleep. Nights is a huge struggle for many families. I worked the night shift as a nurse for years. I empathize!
Wonderful, helpful post! I need to make a schedule and stick to it. I get so beaten down by stuff not getting done around the house. I run an etsy shop and sell handmade items and it gets hard trying to get it all done every day. I have learned that obsessing over it is pointless.
I agree 110% that a schedule is of huge importance for the stay at home mother. I am a public school teacher 9.5 months of the year, and the rest of the time I am at home with my children. Most days we follow our schedule. On the rare days we don’t, we all feel it!!
It’s so encouraging to hear that!