The main reason I'm starting this blog back up into full activity is that I've had so many people asking me about how we do things and I've decided to go ahead and share it!
For now, however, I'll give a general idea of what my days look like.
Our days start off really early.
Rosemary, our youngest, usually wakes up around 4:00 AM to nurse and goes back to sleep. Sometimes that in bed with me, and sometimes that's in her crib. The boys wake up anywhere between 5:00 and 6:00 AM. They do have a Gro Clock
, and only Edgar really listens to it. Hopefully Arthur will start paying attention to it soon. We have it set to 7:00 AM. Cyrus usually tries to leave for work by 7:00 AM, if not earlier.I usually get up around 5:00 AM on daycare days, and closer to 6:30 AM on non-daycare days. I get dressed, brush my teeth, and wash my face before I get the boys. If Rosemary is still awake, I try to get her changed and situated in her swing before bringing the boys downstairs. Before bringing the boys down, I grab the clothes and diapers for the kids and set them on the couch. I also put a gate up between the living room and kitchen at this time.
Once the boys are downstairs, I get them dressed or give them breakfast at their little table, whichever they consent to doing first. Once they're eating breakfast, I escape to the kitchen to empty the clean dishwasher that I started the day before and reload it. I usually drink my coffee and scarf down a little breakfast while doing this. If I have laundry that's dirty, I run that down to the basement and get the washer started. Once that's done, I run back up and refill our essential oil diffuser. By this time, Rosemary has usually woken up. I breastfeed her, change her diaper, play a little, and then she's usually worn out enough to go down for a nap again. Cue coffee #2.
Then, I have a little "breather." I sit down with the boys in the living room and play with them, let Arthur nurse for his first time of the day, catch up on social media, emails, or Reddit using my phone, or sometimes I just collapse and take a nap. Laundry and the dishwasher take at least an hour to run, so I get a decent break then. If the living room or kitchen are particularly cluttered or dirty, I work on those a little. I don't do terribly much cleaning or coursework outside of Mondays and Thursdays, when the boys are in daycare.
Lunch time usually hits around 11:30 AM. Edgar and Arthur have their usual Wowbutter and grape jelly sandwich, Babybel cheese, and fruit leather, and then Arthur goes down for a nap. I still nurse him, so he gets his second nursing session of the day. Sometimes he falls asleep nursing, and sometimes Rosemary wakes up and I have to just leave him upstairs in his room, only to find him asleep at the top of the stairs.
Rosemary and Arthur usually nap at the same time, so then I have some quiet time with just Edgar. Sometimes he plays on his tablet, and sometimes we do an activity like painting or stickers. I usually try to pick up the living room a little at this time, switch over the laundry, or do another load of dishes if there's a particularly large amount piled up. I usually also try to prep dinner during this time; having my ingredients all cut and prepped cuts down the amount of time I need to be in the kitchen following the afternoon break. Sometimes, I don't do anything. Sometimes it's just messy and I leave it so I can catch up on sleep, chat with friends, or play with Edgar. Add optional coffee #3, as well as my lunch.
When Arthur gets up, things usually go downhill. The boys like to climb, and usually Edgar will tell Arthur to do things he's not supposed to do. That's why I need to cut down the amount of time I'm out of the living room. Rosemary is also fussy during this time of day thanks to her mild reflux, so between dealing with that and the boys acting up, I'm usually counting down the minutes until Cyrus gets home.
Once he's home, I finish making dinner (if it's not leftovers), get the boys eating, switch over the laundry if I need to, and then finally sit down and eat... usually while nursing Rosemary. On daycare days and weekends, we try to have dinner all together at the table, and for now until things calm down a bit, the other days are kind of in the living room.
After dinner, it's bath time for the boys 2 nights a week. The other nights, we play in the living room until bed time. Bed time is 7:00 PM for Arthur and 8:00 PM for Edgar. Edgar usually isn't out until at least 9:00 PM, because he tries to use every excuse in the book to get out of bed time. Cyrus and I usually take turns going in and out of the bedroom dealing with Edgar during bed time, as it can be really, really, really frustrating. During this time is also Rosemary's fussy time, but she's not as frustrating to handle because she's a baby and doesn't whine like a 3 year old.
After Edgar is asleep, Cyrus and I have some time with just Rosemary and ourselves. Sometimes we watch a movie (or part of a movie), sometimes Cyrus will play video games, sometimes we do dishes, and sometimes we just collapse in bed to sleep after getting Rosemary to sleep. Rosemary gets up at least once a night, usually around midnight.
And then, the next day it starts all over again!
So there you have it. That's what an average day looks like with 3 under 4 and no outside help. That's every day of the week aside from Mondays and Thursdays for me. On those days, I clean as many of the rooms of the house as I feel up to, do coursework, shower, and work on my mental health.
It's not easy. A decent amount of time, my house is cluttered. I try to fit in taking time for myself here and there, but right now without family or friends right nearby it's pretty hard. There's always a voice in my head saying to me, "you can do better, you can do it all" and I think that's what keeps on pushing me to take on so much at once. I always feel like I should be doing more, and it's a blessing and a curse. Cyrus has pointed out that I tend to (unnecessarily) feel bad that I am trying to do what those who actually have help and can regularly drop their kids off with grandma or grandpa for a few hours or even a weekend are able to do. I'm in the process of trying to find a balance, and hopefully I'll get there soon.
In the meantime, please enjoy my blog. Over the past years I've figured out frugal ways to clean and cook, as well as other household and childcare stuff. I'll be sharing these over the next few weeks, and updating my blog more regularly as time goes on.
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