what our days look like

i have resisted this post for a good two years. it’s one of the things we get asked about the most (aside from the whole socialization question.) “what does your typical day look like?” i have resisted it because what my day looks like doesn’t mean it’s right for you and your family, or even right in general. it’s just what works for us. it’s our rhythm. so here is what a typical weekday looks like for our family

wake up.
i try to be out of bed by 6am so that i can prepare my head for the day. i leave the house and i go for short 20 minute walk all by myself. this is the only time i will get all day without my kids so i try to not skip this. my personal time is so valuable these days!

when i get home, jason has usually gotten up and made coffee for us. we have coffee together everyday, and he stays home until about 8 so he can spend a little time with the kids before he heads out for work.

kids wake up

we don’t set alarms for our kids because we feel like allowing their bodies to sleep as long as they need is the best thing for their brain development and it also sets the tone for the day. i realize this is not ideal for everyone - but for us it just works. all three babes are usually out of bed by 7-7:30am unless they have for some reason had a long night beforehand.

screen time

ok. here is our deal with screen time. screen time is a sensitive subject for people so i usually don’t talk about it but here we go. our kids can get up and watch a show or a movie until 8am. they don’t have their own phones or ipads so we don’t have to deal with that additional element yet. we are holding off as long as we can on that. we have a tv in the school room that they can watch a show on but that’s pretty much it with the exception of a reading program fin does on my computer. at 8am, the tv is shut off and our day begins. so if they want to wake up early to watch a show, that is totally fine but the tv is off at 8am regardless of their wake up time

breakfast

once the tv is off, it’s breakfast time. my kids make their own breakfast and they always offer the rest of the family whatever they are cooking. eggs, toast, oatmeal, pancakes, cereal. they don’t need to ask, that can have whatever they want as long as they make enough to go around, and they clean up after themselves.

household contributions

and school time
we have a calendar for each of the big kids that i fill out monthly to make sure their chores and responsibilities get completed each day. “household contributions” are not something that the kids get paid for doing. we do have extra things they can do to earn some money, but contributions are not paid. we feel strongly that our kids need to learn that it takes everyone in the family working together to run a household. and everyone contributes, even mars! they rotate household contributions each month, so nobody ever burns out - but here is what is on their lists.

both kids:

⋒ clean room

⋒ clean bathroom

⋒ brush teeth

⋒ shower

⋒ schoolwork that is listed for that day on their calendar

⋒ ask mama how they can be helpful!!

sailor:

⋒ load dishwasher (as many times as needed)

⋒ water the vegetable gardens and fruit trees

fin:

⋒ unload dishwasher (as many times as needed)

⋒ feed and water the chickens and baby chicks

depending on what is on their calendar for school time each day, i may or may not sit in with them. if they are doing something school wise that doesn’t require much guidance, then i take this time to do my household chores or reply to emails. laundry, clean, vacuum, make grocery lists, send bids for Jason’s business, or billing for his business or reply to emails for my own business - there really is always something to do. however, if they are doing something that does need some extra support - school comes before those things. which means, i sit with them for support as long as needed.

lunch

the big kids switch off everyday making lunch. i make sure to keep easy-to-make food around so that they can prepare lunch for us on their own. this is something they LOVE. they look forward to this part of the day. we eat lunch together at the table unless we are out and about. the kids use this book a lot to get recipe ideas for our lunches

quiet time

ahhhh. quiet time. after lunch we all go our separate ways for an hour or two. i put mars down for a nap while the big kids enjoy quiet time . this is where i get the bulk of my stuff done

errands

when mars wakes up from her nap, we run any errands that we need to run for the day. sometimes we do errands first thing in the morning and they bring some school work with us, especially when it’s super hot out and we want to avoid being out in the heat

screen time

once we are back home (if we even left, a lot of times we don’t) then i start dinner. the kids usually watch a show while i prep dinner which keeps them occupied and out of my way in the kitchen. once a week, the big kids each make dinner and i usually hang out in the kitchen with them so i am available to help if needed.

dinner

we eat together as a family every single night at the table. it’s a very important part of our day because Jason is back home from working and can reconnect with us about our day.
see some of our favorite dinners here

clean up

after we eat, we bring all of our dishes to the kitchen and the big kids help clean up the kitchen and get the dishes loaded so we wake up to a clean kitchen the next morning. this is something we didn’t always do until this year, and it had been a game changer! waking up to clean kitchen helps me feel like i am not already behind first thing in the morning

bed time

bed time is at 7:30 sharp with the exception of Tuesday evenings because we have a zoom meeting at 7pm every Tuesday. once we are done eating and if there is time, they can continue with some screen time until 7:30. jason reads to fin most nights while i get mars to sleep and sailor reads every single night until about 11pm. she is in her bed and she loves this time to herself so we allow her to stay up and make the decision herself on when she is tired.

we have always had early bedtimes for the kids. for Jason and i, it’s super important to have a little bit of time to connect just the two of us each evening or else it feels like there is no time in the day to make that happen!

like i mentioned before, i don’t really know how helpful this is for anyone else because this is just what works for us and it does not mean it’s the best way or only way to sort your day!!

xo