This is a day in the life from when we were in lockdown. I am not normally one for a routine as such. But ever since Lockdown, and having Evelyn, I have been craving some kind of structure to enable me to balance everything. I am currently on Maternity Leave from my main job and don’t go back until January 2021. Life is also a little peculiar at the moment with the inability to do an awful lot! This is what a typical day tends to look like for us at the moment..
Mornings
5am Wake up
Liam’s alarm will go off at this time. As he gets himself ready for work, I wake up and set myself up to do a little work before the girls wake up. Liam normally brings me up a coffee in bed as well and a bottle for Evelyn if she is starting to fuss.
I will then try and do some work. Whether its engagement of some sort, replying to emails, editing photos on my phone or drafting up blog posts. This all tends to get done between 5am-7.30am..Sometimes later if I am lucky!
7.30am Molly wakes up
This is normally when Molly decides to wake for the day. She will climb into our bed, and we will have snuggles. If Evelyn is still asleep, then Molly will watch something like the Gruffalo or Room on the Broom.
8.00am Breakfast
We get out of bed and head downstairs. Molly will then have her daily cup of (decaf) tea, Evelyn will have a bum change and a bottle, and I will have my second cup of coffee. Once Evelyn has finished her bottle, Molly and I will eat breakfast together. During this time I either put the radio in, or find a playlist on Youtube to listen to. I am really loving alexrainbird on YouTube recently.
9.00am Morning activity
This is when we do our morning activity. At the moment it can be anything from painting, playdough or hanging out in the garden. I am currently putting together a “timetable” for us to start our homeschooling journey in September. I am working out if I want to do weekly themes, or every two weeks or even monthly. Not sure yet. But the morning activity will be turning into “school” come September.
10.00am Clean up time
Molly will help me to clean up the activity we have just done. As well as tidy up the play room. We wash up stuff from breakfast and chuck a load of washing in the washing machine.
10.30 Nap time ( get work done )
I will then put Molly down for a nap. Then I will change Evelyn and give her her second bottle of the day. Evelyn will then go down for her nap at around 11. I then get the laptop out and do some more work, or take any content photos.
Afternoons
12.30pm Lunch time
Once Molly is awake from her nap I make us some lunch. It’s normally something simple like a picky lunch.. Carrot & cucumber sticks, olives, Ritz crackers & crisps. Then some kind of fruit and mini Oreo’s. She will eat what she wants, then graze on the rest for a little while as she does the afternoon activity. For myself I tend to eat veg rice or a sandwich! Evelyn will still ( hopefully ) be asleep in her swing at this point. We tend to eat this whilst watching some TV. Either the Trolls 2 movie or Frozen 2, because Molly is obsessed with both. Those and freaking Spongebob Square Pants!!
1.00pm Afternoon activity
We normally spend the afternoon in and out of the garden, or down at the allotment. If its raining then I will sent up an activity for Molly to come and go as she pleases. Once I get the fencing done at the allotment, we will be spending either the mornings or afternoons down there. I am planing on building a whole play area for the girls down there – I can’t wait for it to be done!
Evelyn will wake for her 3rd bottle during this time as well. She will have a change and either some tummy time or under her play gym! She can hold her head up really well now, and keeps trying to push herself forward with her feet when on her tummy. My gut is telling me that she’s going to be on the move a lot quicker than what Molly was!
3.00pm Chores and make dinner
So throughout the day I’ll do laundry, depending on how much we have, and if a cloth nappy wash needs to go on, I’ll do that too. But from 3pm I will leave the girls with Liam and do things like putting washing away upstairs, a quick tidy of the bedroom as well as make dinner.
Evenings
4.30pm Eat dinner
We try to eat early and together as a family at dinner time. It’s always been quite important to me to eat all together. Someone’s we don’t. Sometimes we give Molly beans on toast if we are making something we know she won’t eat. She will still always try and nab some of ours as well though! Evelyn will also have her 4th bottle of the day between 4-4.30pm – it’s normally just as we all sit to eat!
5.00pm Bath/shower
The bath/shower routine all depends on the girls moods. Sometimes we bath them one at a time. Sometimes Liam bathes children whilst I dry and dress them after or vice versa. There are times where the girls share a bath, and sometimes Molly will have a shower with me and then Liam will bath Evelyn. All I know is that both kids are complete water babies and this normally ends up taking so much longer than originally planned!
6.00pm Chill in bed
We try to be in bed between 6-6.30 to calm down. We either watch Room on the Broom and/or the Gruffalo, and we read a few books too. If Evelyn is being a tad fussy, Liam will take her downstairs and I will put Molly to bed.
7.00pm Bedtime
As we live with the in laws, the 4 of us share a room. Molly has her toddler bed and Evelyn has her Moses basket. It’s not ideal, but it’s (kinda) working for us at the moment. It’s allowing us to save money – so that’s a plus!
Molly normally falls asleep in our bed and then we transfer her into hers. Sometimes she stays in her bed all night, sometimes she doesn’t and climbs in with us. Evelyn will normally have her last bottle between 7.30-8pm and settle to sleep with the help of white noise and snuggle blanket.
There you have it. This has been our routine during Lockdown. I don’t know how much of our “routine” will change as such. We haven’t experienced “normality” since having Evelyn as she was born during the peak of the pandemic back in April. As things start to re-open again and we start to venture out a bit more, start homeschooling, I’m sure all of the above will change and adapt in some way!
