As moms, I feel like we are constantly asking ourselves: Am I doing this right?

Whether you’re a first-time mom or an old pro, every day is forging a new trail. You’ve never been a mom to this particular child at this particular age until this particular day. And kids are famous for constantly keeping us on our toes.

So it can be helpful to peek into someone else’s life to see how they do things. With that in mind, here’s a glimpse of a typical day with a one-year-old.

 

5:30 am – Yes, I actually woke up this early, but that’s mostly because I went to bed at 9:30 the night before. When I wake up before the sun, I like to stay in bed and plan out my day  get some blogging work done curse the morning and all it brings. Then I check my Facebook feed to help my eyes open a bit.

6:30 am – I finally drag myself out of bed and go downstairs to make a cup of tea before the baby wakes up. Today, I’m even up before my husband. The morning is so quiet that I decide to chill on the back patio while the sun comes up.

7:00 am – I can hear Baby Bear moving around in her crib, so I go get her changed/dressed and set her down to play while I start on her breakfast. Luckily, my awesome Hubby is still home, so he keeps her occupied a little while I’m banging around the kitchen. Normally, breakfast is something easy like toast and fruit or maybe a bowl of cereal, but today I tried a new recipe for toddler banana pancakes and (since I hate bananas) some scrambled eggs with turkey sausage and hot sauce for me.

 

8:00 am – We’re done with breakfast and Hubby has left for work. Luckily, Baby Bear is in a pretty good mood, so I have the chance to clean up the kitchen a little and browse around on my phone while she plays. I want to update our pantry (that’s another post for another day!), so I measure shelves and search Amazon for contact paper while Bear pulls all the books out of her book sling and squeals with delight at all she sees. To answer your unasked questions, 1) yes, I am so lucky to have a baby that will play independently for long periods of time; 2) yes, I had to work at this and I started very early; 3) yes, I’ll write a blog post about that one day so you can learn my secret ways.

10:00 am – Naptime! (Yes, she played pretty much independently for that entire time with only occasional interactions with me. Mom win!) I make her a bottle and take her upstairs for her nap routine. I think she was too tired to drink her bottle, because she had next to none of it and fell right asleep. Time for mommy to get some work done.

She is still on two naps a day (praise the heavens!), so nap #1 is “work time”: Bible study, blogging (hello!), meal planning, online shopping for necessities, my whole-house decluttering project…anything that could be considered “work.”

11:30 am – Bear wakes up and I put her right in the car for errands. Getting out of the house, doing what you need to do, and coming back home takes FOOORRRREEEVEERRRR [insert Sandlot reference here], so I like to squeeze as much time in as I possibly can.

Today, we start out with lunch at Crispers. They have delicious, healthy stuff and they bring the food to your table so you don’t have to awkwardly balance it while keeping toddler hands out of the soup. (I’m looking at you, Panera.)

After lunch, we head to Target. I am a terrible shopper because I spend waaay too much time deciding on things. One day, I’d like to become a “quick in-and-out” shopper, but today is not this day.

2:00 pm – We get back to the house and I let Bear blow off some steam since she’s been cooped up in a highchair and stroller all afternoon. I let her climb up the stairs (a.k.a. The Best Toy Ever Invented) and crawl around her room for a bit.

2:30 pm – She is out like a light. I usually spend Naptime #2 doing two things: dinner prep and downtime. I start off with any dinner prep that I can do this far in advance: cutting/marinating meat, chopping vegetables, mixing dry ingredients for biscuits and such. It never takes very long—sometimes I don’t need to do it at all—which leaves the rest of the afternoon free for “Me Time.”

Fellow introverts, you understand the need for a mid-afternoon breather. I’ve been around a needy toddler all day; the first naptime was spent working; I’ve just come in from being out in the world…that puts a strain on the brain. So I shamelessly take an hour or so to unwind. Sometimes I’ll read a book or surf Pinterest, but most of the time I flip on the TV. I catch up on the DVR (I watch lots of shows Hubby isn’t interested in) or see what’s on Netflix (every episode of Fixer Upper!).

4:00 pm – I hear Bear crawling around her crib and throwing all her loveys and pacis on the floor, so I know she’s up. She’s not screaming, so I take a few minutes to heat the teakettle before I get her. (Small luxuries….) Dinner is still an hour and a half away, so Baby Bear gets a little snack of cherries and Goldfish crackers to tide her over. Then, it’s Netflix time!

We’ve never seen this show before (“Justin Time”). The good thing about letting your one-year-old watch TV is that if it’s super annoying (the show, not the kid!), you simply switch to something else and they will never know to ask for it. (As God as my witness, I will never watch Barney again!!!)

5:00 pm – She’s no longer paying attention to the TV, so I turn to Food Network while I start dinner. Hubby will be home around 5:30, so that’s my “finish line.” Tonight’s menu is Swedish Meatballs with green beans.

5:30 pm – Hubby has gotten home, so he takes Bear upstairs to play while he gets changed, then it’s dinner time! Luckily, he doesn’t seem to mind being the one to sit next to her and give her food from his plate for a change. After dinner, he takes her out to the porch for some Daddy playtime while I do dishes.

6:30 pm – We start Baby Bear’s nighttime routine. Hubby heats up her bottle (it’s the only bottle that we still heat up, because we want to make sure she drinks plenty and falls asleep). She starts drinking it downstairs, but is usually too tired/distracted to focus for very long. When she starts horsing around, we take her upstairs for pjs and some rocking while she finishes her bottle.

7:00 pm – Baby is in bed, but is Mommy’s work done? BAHAHAHAHHAAA!!! You’re hysterical!!!

Seriously, though, on an actual typical day, this is when Hubby and I veg out on the couch and catch up on all our shows, but he’s taking Baby to the beach tomorrow (By himself! While I stay home!!!), so we’re prepping snacks and stuff that he can take. When we are finally finished with that, I cut his hair and sweep up the mess, then show him the latest from my Stitch Fix box. (By the way, I asked, and he totally doesn’t see the need for a pantry update. Pssh. Men.)

8:00 pm – I sit down to some Netflix while Hubby showers. When he’s done, he comes down and we watch some TV. Tonight it’s Big Bang Theory and Shark Tank.

10:00 pm – Whoa, it got late fast. (Hubby passed out on the couch around 9:30!) This is my strictly enforced bedtime. Any later than this and I’m sleeping in way too late in the morning.

 

And there you have it: a wrap on another day where I acted like I knew what I was doing.

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