A Work-Out-Of-Home Mom's Routine

Over the past two weeks DH and I have been working on a new routine. Previously our schedules and preferences were very different and

DH used to wake up at 5 a.m. and I would snooze until about 5:30 or whenever he was out of the shower.  He would then work on school stuff or put dishes away until 6:30 when I was ready to go (he stays as back up in case EH would happen to wake up early.)  When I vowed to start exercising again I resumed my previous routine from a year ago of exercising around 8 p.m.  This worked well because usually by that time EH is in bed for the night.  DH said he had trouble sleeping after night exercising though, so for a day or two he tried exercising in the morning and I woke up earlier to shower so that he could still fit in a shower after me.

But that didn't last for long.  Although DH likes to believe that he is a morning person, I believe that it takes a special type of person to roll out of bed and immediately start working out, and DH was struggling with that as well.  So we came up with this new schedule, and it's been working well for us so far.

It looks like this:

5:15 a.m. - My alarm goes off, waking us both up
5:24 a.m. - My 9 minute snooze cycle ends and I get out of bed and into the shower
During this time DH does things like put dishes away or do lesson planning
6:10 a.m. - I am done in the bathroom and DH goes in
6:15 a.m. - I work on prepping EH's food for the day, usually cutting up a banana (1/2 for morning, 1/2 for evening), putting yogurt in a cup and making sure he has food for lunch. I also get his bottles ready for day care and get my own breakfast and lunch ready.
6:35 a.m. - DH leaves for the day; I get EH's morning bottle ready
6:40 a.m. - I go into EH's room to wake him up; often times he is already awake and just playing quietly in his crib, although sometimes I have to wake him
6:45 a.m. - Change EH's diaper, get him dressed for the day, with bib, socks, etc, and then we start his morning bottle
7:05 a.m. - Done with the morning bottle; he plays or follows me around while I get dressed
7:15 a.m. - Pack up my bag and EH's bag and put them in the car
7:20 a.m. - Start to get him in his car seat, at which point he usually poops; diaper change
7:25 a.m. - Out the door for the day (this is a little later than I'd like to leave, but it's how it's been going lately)
7:40 a.m. - Drop EH off at day care
7:45 a.m. - On the road to work
8:15/8:20 a.m. - Arrive at work and start the day


In the afternoon:
4:30 p.m. - DH picks EH up from day care
5:30/5:45 p.m. - I usually arrive home from work, as long as traffic wasn't too horrible
5:45 p.m. - Start making dinner, and prep EH's dinner food (usually a combination of the other half of the banana or some veggies along with whatever we're having.)
6:30 p.m. - DH does the dishes while I play with EH; sometimes we'll play in his room and I'll tidy up or do other things, other times I'll just focus on playing
7:00 p.m. - Start filling the bath tub if it's a bath night, followed by a bath
7:20 p.m. - Get EH's night time bottle ready; put on jammies and get his crib ready (clean up the stuffed animals, fluff his pillow, make sure there is a blanket nearby and a "blankie.")
7:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. - Start the bedtime bottle, depending on his level of fussiness.  As soon as he starts showing signs of being tired, he is whisked off to bed.
8:15 p.m. - DH and I head downstairs for our evening workout.
9:00 p.m. - Workout over; head upstairs to get ready for bed and read.
9:30 to 10:00 p.m. - Ready until we get drowsy and then fall asleep.

As you can see, there's not a whole lot of quality time in there for spending with EH, but we try to make the most of the time that we do have.  Last night, for example, we had a quick dinner of frozen pizza and then went to the park instead of playing at home. There's also zero time for anything else that isn't already on this schedule.  So, if I need to do my laundry or make food for Evan in the evening, then that usually means less playtime or less reading time (for folding laundry or something like that.)  It can be stressful, having such a strict routine that doesn't allow for much variance.  But in a way it's also helpful for all of us - we know what to expect and what comes next, and much like EH, we appreciate the sense of order that it brings to our lives.