SAHM Question - Buffalo,NY

6am wake up
(walk dog be fore hubby leaves for work)
7am coffee & cereal, put laundry in
8am little one wakes up, start dish washer
8:30 make youngest's breakfast
9-10am vacuum, dust, clean kitchen
10am, walk with youngest in stroller
10:45 shower, switch laundry
11am run errands
12 lunch, park
1-3 sometimes something fun for the child or grocery shopping
3pm start dinner, put clothes away
3:30 play games w/youngest
5pm dinner
5:30 dishes
7pm used to give youngest a bath
7-9pm family time, watch a show, youngest can watch a cartoon or dvd for a bit
9pm bedtime
10pm mom & dad in bed

I change it up when I help watch friends' kids, pick their kids up at school,
we go somewhere fun like the zoo

I always include craft time or reading time at the library

We both work full time. Our DS now three goes to daycare 3 days a week, and is cared for by my parents two days a week.

We take care of housework in the following fashion-
1. we batch cook and eat leftovers. I or hubs cooks at least 3x what we would eat for any one meal, we eat it for dinner, lunch, and put the rest in the freezer. we pull something or two out of the freezer for the next couple of meals, then we batch cook again. the crockpot can be your friend. frozen veg can be steamed or nuked in minutes. breakfast can be a egg bake that you cook once a week.
2. hubs does laundry once a week, all of it. we fold it that night after DS is in bed.
3. I use robots to clean the floors.
4. we clean the kitchen, and bathroom about 2x a week. If we wipe down surface spills, we wipe down the entire surface.
5. hubs handles the dishwasher, DS and I put the clean dishes away.
6. we get a cleaner every so often, and pay for it via groupon.
7. beds are always made, toys are always put away, surfaces are culled for clutter regularly.

in terms of activities, on the weekends, when we are responsible for DS, we take it in turns so neither of us gets too tired. Hubs will wake up with DS and allow me to sleep in. I take him out around 9 and am back for lunch. hubs then takes him to the pet shop. he is usually asleep on the return and naps for about 2-3 hours. we play, visit a neighbor, eat dinner, play some more, then do the bedtime routine and DS is in bed by 8:30/9.

Same program on Sundays. We try to laze around as best we can, but usually by 9am, DS has cabin fever and so do we.

My suggestion, depending on the temperment of your little one is to get out, at least in the mornings, a neighborhood park or playground, a trip to the library, mall, museum, supermarket is so worthwhile.

Best to you and yours,
F. B.

In general, it looked like this:
up around 8, breakfast, then kids would play and/or watch TV while I cleaned up, read the paper, finished coffee, etc.
Most days we went somewhere between 10 and 12 or so, park, library, pool, a friend's house, etc. I usually packed lunches.
Home by 12, maybe 1:00, nap/downtime for the kids. I'd do some housework, yard work, maybe a quick exercise video, start thinking about dinner, take a nap if I could! Once they were up and about they played nearby (so if I was working outside, they'd play outside, if I was in the kitchen, they'd color or do play doh at the table, etc.)
Late afternoon they usually had a snack and watched TV, and played some more while I continued to do whatever needed to be done that day.
Since my husband worked longer hours back then I would feed them dinner before he got home.
Some evenings I would go grocery shopping (LOVED grocery shopping alone!) or take a class or meet a friend for a walk while my husband spent some time with the kids.
Then bath, reading, bedtime.
Then time with the hubby.
Of course there were interruptions ALL day long, especially with a nursing infant, but I took advantage of those moments just to sit and cuddle, and read a story or two :-)

When my kids were little our routine was:

8:00am- wake up, breakfast, shower, dress, tidy up

10:00am- leave for morning outing (play group, YMCA, Zoo, library, grocery shopping, museum, park etc.)

noon- home for lunch

1:00pm- afternoon outing- (see morning outing activities. If morning activity was a big one, afternoon was a small one)

3:00pm- home for nap, quiet time or at home play (depending on the age of the kids at the time) while I did housework and made supper

5:00pm- eat supper, tidy up

6:00pm- evening outing (swimming lessons, soccer, walk to the park, library, bike ride etc) or stay in to play or watch a movie

8:00pm- home for the evening, reading, baths, tidy up, quiet activities until bed

10:00pm- bedtime, lights out for kids

11:00pm- bedtime for me

Routine changed when I started working part time in the mornings. Then the kids and I went to work from 9:00am till noon during the week.

ETA: This is the routine I had when my kids were that age. The baby just slept when he wanted to on our outings, in the van, stroller or baby carrier.

Chaos with a capital C all day, and night.
Range from a few months old to 7, and 5 of them.

I love grocery shopping alone too.

When my son was 3, I was up by 5am. That's when I got alot of housework, exercise, and devotions done. I worked before staying home and for me it wasn't just taking care of our son, it was also managing my household well.

My son got up between 6-7am. We'd have a nice relaxing breakfast and then be out the door by 8am to play and get some exercise and run around time - usually at the park (playdate with other moms), mall (great place to look at different colors and shapes), grocery or bulk stores (my son listened to kiddie music on my ipod which was a special treat and kept him still and quiet in the cart), home improvement stores, the library, going downtown for kiddie events. I would always have "learning time" too, where we did workbooks from the teacher store or worksheets I would find online.

We would squeeze a playdate or lunchdate in between that and errands. We'd be home by 1 and my son would go down for a 2 hour nap. That's when I could get some school work or office work done. Sometimes I would have someone over for coffee. Or I would just take a nap too :)

3p - snack and playtime (playdoh, finger painting, bubbles, balloons, listening to music).
4 - my son would watch videos while I started dinner. Sometimes he would help me with dinner.
5-6 my husband would come home and we would have dinner together.
6-7 daddy/baby playtime
7-8p - bedtime

You have to plan your day and do it in a planner or on a sheet of paper that is put up on the frig. You can call it daily duties or whatever.

The paper is your guide to how to clean and cook and launder and care for your family. You can break it down by day (morning/afternoon) and duties (laundry/cleaning).

You have to figure out what your children do and make a routine out of it.
3 year old is u p at __. Baby is up at __. When are they both awake? When is breakfast? Are you breastfeeding? Who goes down for a nap first? Do a load of laundry. Change out the dishwasher while they are napping. What time is lunch? When do you all go out for fresh air as in a walk (stroller included)? When is dinner started? Plan your menus out for a month. Make your grocery list up to reflect the menus and only buy what is needed from the list. If it is not on the list it does not get bought. You can train yourself to not go overboard.

I had children your ages once and this routine worked so well for me that I had time for myself in it in the evening. I could do extra chores earlier in the week and have the weekends off. Saturday night was left over night. I made fresh meals daily and the kids and I had left over for lunch the next day. I did diapers (3-4 dozen) three times a week as there were no paper diapers at that time and where we were. Homemade bread was made twice a week and all cookies, cakes, biscuits, rolls were homemade. I would buy cans 2 32 oz size of yeast and 2 cans 32 oz size of baking powder a winter. Flour was purchased in 20 pound bags along with sugar. When the roads were bad there were blocked with 4-6 feet of snow where we were in Quebec.

Good luck you can make it.

the other S.

Schedule. With a capital S.

7am wake. No sleeping in even on weekends.

7:45/8 - breakfast.

Play time until 9

9am - 2of3 naps and 1of3 plays or we go outside.

11am - 2of3 wakes and we all go outside/do some activity/groceries/etc

noon - lunch

Free time until 1p - nap for everyone.

3p - 2of3 wakes and we have one on one time and snack

3:30, 1of3wakes and we have play/activity/reading/puzzles

4:45 - free time, cooking dinner begins.

6 - dinner

then baths, a little tv or play time and bed. 7p for 2of3 and 7:30 for 1of3.
_______________________

btw, they are almost 3 and 1

Well I home school my kids sooo mine might be a bit different. (It's break time/"recess" right now lol!) I'm up at about 5 am...which thats a personal choice I love being up that early. On a good day I get in a workout. So about 4 times a week I work out. More if it's an awesome week. Have my coffee, relax until it's all gone. start up load of laundry and get cleaning. 8 am we have breakfast. Right after that my youngest takes her bath. Start school at about 9. School ends at 3. We base our day off of if we have any home school groups, mom groups, or field trips to take. After school I clean more if needed. Dinner is any where between 5 and 7...depends on what I am cooking. Oldest takes a shower. Brush teeth, stories, cuddle time, and in bed by 8.

I have a 3 yr & 5 month old & 2 school aged kids... I'm not to the point where I can stick with a schedule yet. Things are getting easier , though. The only thing I have planned & do on a schedule is laundry or it gets out of control. Everything else I make a daily list & prioritize the items & get them done when possible. Some things I can do easily with a toddler, others I save for when he's in pre-school or napping. Things I can't get done , I move to the next day or ask my husband to do it.

How old are you kids, and what are you trying to accomplish during your day?

Always get up, shower, and get dressed for the day.

I am always more motivated and productive if I am ready to go.
Don't beat yourself up with a strict schedule but do plan things outside the house and inside the house for activities.
Do chores when children are sleeping.

Our routine is something like this:

7-8 wake up...5 year old plays on tablet while 3 year old sleeps to 8
800: feed baby
8:30 breakfast older two, nap for baby
9:45 morning outing
11:30-12 lunch
12:30-1 nap baby
1:00 books or other activity with older two
1:30-3:00 quiet time in front of TV
3.30 snack
3:0-400 park, bike , etc
6 dinner
6:30 baby to bed
7:30 books
8 lights out

Now, you have and born, so your schedule will be different. I find most babies are ready for a morning nap 1.15 minutes after getting up. I try to get nap done early to get out the door for an outing. I then encourage that third nap while I'm making dinner.

I always shower before I feed the baby! I nurse her at 7, and then she plays while I do computer work to:745, at which point I shower and get dressed.