Last week, I asked my mamas on Instagram what your current motherhood situation was. Whether you worked part time, full time, were a SAHM, etc. I genuinely loved reading all of your varying responses and thought I’d share a little more detail about our current schedule.

Motherhood: Our Current Schedule

Currently, and for pretty much the last fifteen months, we have our nanny about 3x a week, depending on my schedule. Somedays it turns into 3.5, but it really depends on what I have going on.  On the days we have her, she will typically work 9-5. Keith is usually home in the mornings (he doesn’t go into work until a bit later), so mornings always involve a little bit of family time from 7ish-9AM, something I’ve come to really treasure. We wake up, eat breakfast, drink coffee and just hangout before we all get ready for our day. Our morning schedule will typically be a version of the below.

7:00AM

We’ll wakeup by hearing Nate in the monitor and these days, it’s been around 7AMish. One of us will get him and the other one usually trickles downstairs 20 minutes later. Some days, the other parent will sleep in a little bit longer and I use the word sleep in very loosely.

7:15AM

After changing him, we’ll head downstairs where he’ll immediately jolt for his toys and books. He’s typically not hungry until a bit later. He’ll play while I go into the kitchen to drink my lemon water while making coffee. I can’t fully start parenting until I’ve had some caffeine inserted into my body.

7:30AM

 I’ll whip him up a quick breakfast, usually consisting of a vans waffle with peanut butter and bananas or an omelette. Some days he’ll have that and a smoothie and pick on blueberries as he plays.

8:45AM

I’ll start getting both of us dressed, depending on what we have planned. If I’m with Nate that day, I typically have plans to meet up with some mom friends. We’ll go to each others houses while the kids run around, go to the park or if we’re feeling ambitious, eat out for breakfast. Some days he goes to a play group and some days he’ll go to music class. If there are days that I have to be in the city extra early (whether for a meeting, a project or a shoot), Keith will get Nate ready and hand him off to our nanny.

We’ve had the same nanny since Nate was about 6months old and she’s the absolute best! She speaks to him only in Russian, which was a major criteria for me when finding someone to spend that much time with him. On the days we have her, part of their day consists of taking Nate to either a music class, the library or a playgroup.

12:00PM

Nate will have lunch, which varies every single day. These days, his favorite foods are sweet potatoes (still), eggs, grapes, blueberries, peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, broccoli, pasta, grilled chicken or turkey meatballs.

1:00PM

Nap time! On days I’m home with him, I use that time to catch up on work.

2:30PM

Lately, he’s been napping for about 1.5hours (used to be 2+) so it’s definitely become a bit more challenging to get a chunk of work done during that time frame.

Whether it’s staying on top of work projects, mom duties or household things, it’s a balancing act and something often feels like it’s been neglected. I guess that’s part of motherhood, but I’m always reminding myself to take on less so I don’t feel like I’m being pulled in a thousand directions. 

2:30-3PM

After he wakes up, he’ll play and have a little snack while I whip him up an early dinner. He’ll usually have one  of the above things that I listed for lunch.

4:00PM

Nate eats dinner. I’ve tried giving him a heavier meal closer to bed, but I’ve found that this works better. He’s a lot hungrier around this time and then will have a smaller meal/snack before bedtime.

I’ve also had a few people ask me if Nate watches any TV and the answer is, yes, occasionally. We’re only human and there’s only so much self entertaining he can do himself or entertaining that we could provide. If I need a moment to get ready so I’m not a hot mess walking out the door, I’ll put on some educational cartoons. It’s not every single day, but I’d say 3-4 a week, he watches 20 minutes of something. If I need to get ready or do something, some days it’s more. That’s something we started a few months ago and I’m okay with it! 

4:30PM

If the weather permits, we’ll head back out. Some days we’ll go to the park, some days we’ll meet up with friends again and some days I drag him with me to run my personal errands around the neighborhood. Supermarket runs, drugstore, bank, shopping, etc. We’re lucky that he’s chill guy and rarely gives us a hard time with that kind of stuff. He’s just happy to be out, people-watching, saying hi to everyone and observing his surroundings.

6:30PM

 We’ll come back home and start winding down. There’s more playing with his books, cars and trucks while I clean up after him for the 784794 time that day. I don’t even know why I bother, but I guess it’s for my own mental sanity. 90% of the time, I have music playing in the background, which I’m convinced he’s come to love. I love that it creates for a happier, livelier atmosphere and I want him to grow up and have memories that music was always a part of his life, especially since it’s such a big part of ours.

7:30PM

We don’t bathe every night, so we’ll either have a bath at this time or just make our way upstairs to change into pajamas, brush our teeth, wash our hands, read a few books, sing a few songs  and go to sleep. Most  nights, it’s a fairly easy process and I put him in his crib awake and he’ll pass right out. I think because it’s something we’ve established early on, it’s made our lives significantly easier. Like any child, he has his days, but for the most part, it’s fairly smooth.

8:00PM

WINE! ha! just kidding (but not really).

Planning Our Future Schedule:

As I mentioned on Instagram, we signed him up for summer camp and for a 2’s program starting in September. To be honest, I’m really excited for him to start because I know how much he’ll love it. By nature, he’s such a social kid and lately, I feel slightly guilty over the fact that he’s possibly a little bored. He’s ready for the social atmosphere, for the education, for the structure and for a day filled with activities.

For the summer, he’s starting with M-F from 8:30-11:30. I probably won’t bring him every single day, but I wanted to have the option to bring him on the days that worked for us. Otherwise, I’d have to commit to either Tuesdays and Thursdays or Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I also wasn’t quite ready to start with a longer day, especially since I still want him napping at home. For the fall (he’ll be 2.5 then), I signed him up for M/W/F from 8:30-3:30.

We’ll probably keep our nanny for the summer and just rearrange her hours and come fall, I still haven’t figured that part out yet. I now have to consider drop-off and pickup, something I know is a real thing. I guess we’ll see what happens, but if any mamas out there have any tips on how they transitioned or just want to share their schedules or stories, please share!