Hellobee

In this edition of the Swarm, the Bees share their evening routines whether they are SAHMs, WOHMs or WAHMS.

J A M E S  ,  J  O E  ,  N  I C K  –  4
L I L L Y   –  2 2  M O N  T H S
S A H M

4:00 or 4:30 – I start dinner while Mr. Train plays with the kids. During the summer they go over and swim at my parents’ house.

Between 5:00 and 6:00 we have dinner with my parents at our house. Lately I haven’t been serving dinner until 5:30 because the kids are out playing in the pool.

From the time dinner ends until about 6:30, it’s more outside play time for the kids. Mr. Train usually does the dishes and then we take our younger dog for a walk.

6:30 – Grandma Train usually gives the kids a bath. She loves it and I don’t argue. By bath time I am usually pretty spent so it is nice to have someone else do it.

7:00  – They get to watch a 20 minute TV show and they drink a glass of milk.

7:20  – They have their teeth brushed, go potty and go to their room for a story. Mr. Train or I take turns reading stories, but James (my oldest) wants to start reading Harry Potter like his cousin, so I think I am going to have to take over story time for awhile. Lilly goes down in her own room while the boys share a room. Mr. Train often goes in to help her get to sleep. If I go in she just wants to be held and screams bloody murder until I pick her up, but when Daddy goes in she lays there nicely for a back rub. Go figure.

By 8:00 we are usually done and out of their rooms. Lilly and James are usually asleep but the twins sit in their room laughing and playing. Usually they are asleep by 9.

L I L  C B  –  4 Y E A R S
W O H M

Here’s what our evening looks like on most days… if Lil’ CB ends up napping (maybe once every week or so), all of this goes out the window and he’s up forever!

5:00 — Lil’ CB plays independently while I cook dinner. Sometime between 5:00-6:00 Mr. Cowboy comes home.

6:00 — Dinner

6:30 — Mr. Cowboy and Lil’ CB play while I clean up

6:45 — Head upstairs, change into pajamas, brush teeth, read 2-3 books

7:00-7:10 — Lil’ CB is in bed and out within minutes

Because of the finite time we have in the evening once Mr. Cowboy comes home, we’ve taken to having Lil’ CB take showers in the morning or in the afternoon after he plays outside. It saves us a good chunk of time and gives us some leeway so we’re not rushing to bathe him at night. Once Lil’ CB is down for the night, Mr. Cowboy and I watch TV or read or I’ll catch up on school work. We try to be in bed by 10:30 or 11 at the latest.

C H AR L I E  –  3  Y E A R S
O L I V E  –  2 3  M O N T H S
W A H M

Our routine has changed so much since Charlie started public pre-k and we’re no longer dropping both kids off at the same daycare. We divide and conquer pretty much everything!

4:30pm – start cooking dinner. This takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour (usually an hour) depending on how much I cook since I often make big batches of soups to freeze then a separate dinner. If dinner is something that I can pack easily like pasta, I sometimes feed the kids dinner at the playground in the summertime. Otherwise I pack a snack like fruit to tide the kids over until dinner.

5:30pm – I pick up Charlie from his school while Mr. Bee picks up Olive from daycare. Often I’ll take Charlie to daycare after I pick him up because he wants to visit. He went there for 2 years and really loved it there!

5:45pm – 6:20pm – In the summer we go to the playground every day. We usually go with a daycare friend and run into other friends there too, so it’s always fun for the kids. We definitely have later bedtimes in the summer filled with lots of playground time and play dates. Luckily Olive’s daycare, Charlie’s pre-k, and the playground are all very close to home.

6:30 – 7:00pm – Eat dinner together.

7:00 – 7:20pm – Charlie and Olive take a bath together. We tag team the bath. I give them their vitamins (flax oil and fish oil) and get everything ready for bedtime (diaper, pj’s, sleep sack, white noise, ac/heater, etc.) while Mr. Bee usually does the bathing and teeth brushing.

7:20 – 7:45pm – After lotion, diaper, pjs, and sleep sack, I nurse Olive and put her in her crib awake. She’s usually out really quickly. What will I do when I wean!

In the meantime, Mr. Bee is doing Charlie’s bedtime routine, but his always takes a little longer. Charlie has always gotten 3 books at bedtime, but since he started pre-k, he’s been so tired that he often falls asleep during storytime! He’s usually out by 8:30pm or earlier…. I hope in the next month or so we can move his bedtime to 7:30pm, but he is getting a good amount of sleep — about 11 hours of sleep at night with a 45 minute nap at school. Earlier this year when he was getting 2+ hour naps at daycare he wouldn’t sleep until 10:30pm, so these early bedtimes are awesome!

8:00pm – 12:30am – I work, pack the kids’ lunches and prep everything for the next day, take a shower, fold laundry that I did during the day, work some more, then watch an episode or two on Hulu and go to sleep, sometime between 12:30 – 1am… often later. No matter how tired I am, I usually have trouble sleeping. Sometimes I just don’t feel like doing anything after the kids are down, so I’ll work a little and watch a show or two with Mr. Bee while drinking some wine… but that means I have to wake up extra early the next morning to pack lunches!

We really love the playground time we have with the kids, especially because our mornings are so rushed now. But as the weather gets colder we’ll have to come straight home, and even though I think Charlie already has a full enough day, he gets regular homework! So we’re going to start spending our evenings at home doing homework with Charlie and reading books with Olive. Public school is so much more involved for parents than I expected!

W A G O N  J R  –  3  Y E A R S
L I L  M I S S  W A G O N  –  1 3  M O N T H S
W O H M

5:00pm: Wagon Sr. and I arrive at home and after hanging out and chatting a bit, our wonderful nanny leaves. We either cook dinner or finish dinner prep, depending on the day.. sometimes we order a pizza.

5:30pm: WS picks up WJ from daycare (a 5 min drive from us). WS plays with both kids and gets them washed up for dinner while I set up our plates and cups.

5:45pm: We all eat together.

6:15pm: I run upstairs and prep bedtime for both kids: run LMW’s bath, put toothpaste on toothbrushes, refill and start humidifiers, turn on nightlights and lamps, lay out pajamas and overnight diaper/underwear, lay out WJ’s clothes for the next day. Change crib sheets if necessary.

6:30pm: I run back downstairs and play with WJ while WS bathes LMW. After we clean up the toy area, I give WJ his gummy vitamins and we go upstairs and meet WS and LMW in the bathroom. I help WJ go potty and brush his teeth, and he “helps” while WS and I get LMW ready for bed.

6:45pm: I put LMW to bed while WS bathes WJ, gets him ready for bed, reads him books, and sings songs with him.

7:15pm: By now both kids are in bed (on a good day!). We head downstairs, sometimes I throw a load of laundry in, and we clean up from dinner (dishes, pots and pans, etc.) and pack lunches.

Some nights are pushed ahead quite a bit if WJ has had a good nap at daycare or if LMW took a late afternoon nap. But it’s rare that both kids fall asleep past 8pm.

D R A K E  –  3  Y E A R S
J U L I E T  –  2  M O N T H S
M A T E R N I T Y  L E A V E

Mine isnt very detailed as we don’t really have much of a routine. When I worked my schedule was so erratic and I came home at all different times. So sometimes Mr. Chocolate would wait for me to come home to help with bedtime and sometimes he wouldn’t depending on Drake’s mood. Now that I I’m home though, I would like to get a routine in place, but in all honesty its hard with a newborn. If I don’t return to work this Sept or only work a little and have a set schedule, I plan on trying to implement some kind of set routine.

Our routine once we get Drake up to bed has always been the same: change his diaper, change his outfit, brush teeth and then story time. We have read to Drake since he was in womb and I do think because books have always been the big consistent with his routine, he has taken to them so much. When he was little we choose the books. Now that he is older we let him pick 3 per night most nights, sometimes one more if mommy is feeling generous and sometimes only one if he is too tired, but always a story every night always. I guess that’s the big consistent in our non scheduled life.

1 6  M O N T H S
W O H M

With our varying work schedules, every evening is a bit different. But, I’ll try to summarize it as best as I can. Little Piñata is 16 months.

3:30pm- (M,W,F) Mr Piñata picks up Little P and puts him down for his second nap while I finish up some work at school. If it’s a day I don’t work, I’m the one that puts him down. While he’s napping I try to start dinner, spend time blogging and/or do other household chores. He usually sleeps until about 5pm.

5:30-6pm Dinner- Ideally this is with all 3 of us, but sometimes it’s Little P’s dinner and Mr. P and I don’t end up eating until after Little Piñata has gone to bed.

6:30pm- After dinner one of us plays with Little Piñata while the other cleans the kitchen. Then Mr. Piñata does some work from home and I play with Little P.

7:00pm- Little P gets ready for bed. This starts with a bath 2-3 days a week (if we do it more often his hair and skin get too dry).
-We do a diaper change, moisturize both his skin and hair with coconut oil, and put on his pjs.
-We read a few books and give him a bottle. This will likely be phased out very soon as he usually only drinks about 1 oz.
-We brush his teeth, put him in his sleep sack and put him to bed.
-He usually falls asleep within 5 minutes.

7:30pm- Mr. Piñata and I do laundry, emails, pack lunches for the next day, do work/planning from home, etc. We TRY to take time to relax together, but since the school year just began and we both teach, the past few weeks have been very crazy! Ideally we get to spend this time together and watch one of our favorite shows on Netflix.

10pm- Our ideal bedtime that often turns into 11pm. 

N O E L L E  –  2  Y E A R S
J A R E N —  7  M O N T H S
W O H M

Noelle – 33 months, and Jaren – 7 months

4:45: Get to Noelle’s preschool for pickup.

5:15: DH and I get home around the same time. I change Noelle out of her school clothes, wash her hands, and start cooking dinner. Noelle and Jaren both play independently. I do have to pause cooking to get something or another for Noelle every once in awhile.

5:45: We all eat dinner together. DH and Noelle eat while I feed Jaren solids. Then I quickly eat.

6:00: Give Jaren a bath while DH plays with Noelle.

6:30: Go on a night stroll with the kids in the double stroller.

7:00: Come home, get Jaren changed and ready for bed, then nurse him. During this time, DH also brings Noelle upstairs and starts her bath. He lotions her up, changes her into PJ’s, brushes her teeth, and watches some youtube videos with her.

7:30: Jaren is usually down by 7:30 pm. I go back downstairs to clean and prep for the next day, while DH is still upstairs with Noelle.

8:00: DH gets Noelle in her room to read books and begin her bedtime routine (several books, potty, bedtime story). She’s asleep by 8:30 pm.

8:30: DH and I usually watch TV together in the living room! Now that the fall premieres are starting again we have a lot to look forward to (Agents of SHIELD, Blacklist, The Voice, Top Chef).

11:00: Bedtime for us! Our kids wake up at 6am, and it all begins again.

C H L O E  –  2 2  M O N T H S
W A H M

Our summer routine is very different than our winter routine! I love the long days and the warmer weather.

5:00: Chloe wakes up from her nap. She usually sleeps from 2-5.
5:15: Papa Jumper is home from work!
5:30-6:00: Papa Jumper starts dinner, and usually something on the grill. Chloe and I play outside while he cooks.
6:00: We have dinner, usually outside on the deck if it’s a nice night.
6:30-7:30: We play outside. If it’s still warm enough, Chloe goes for a swim or runs through the sprinkler, or we go for a walk through the neighborhood.
7:30: Bathtime!
8:00: Chloe picks out her jammies, we read a quick story, brush her teeth and then it’s bedtime.
8:15: Papa Jumper & I either catch up on the DVR, or we go back out on the deck and read until it’s too dark outside to see.

L I T T L E  M   –  2 1  M O N T H S
W A H M

4:45pm – we’re all home (on a good day) and I start prepping Little M’s dinner while Mr. S empties the daycare bag and takes Little M upstairs while he changes.

5pm – Little M eats his dinner, usually in his tower in the kitchen. I prep his lunch for the next day if he’s going to daycare and we all chat.

5:45pm – Little M and Mr. S roughhouse and read books in the living room. There’s little reading and a lot of squealing.

6pm – Mr. S and Little M head upstairs for bath. Mr. S plays music and they have a great time. Meanwhile I start prepping our dinner downstairs, empty Little M’s lunch box, etc. I’ll rinse the day’s diapers if Mr. S hasn’t done so already.

6:30 – Bath is finally over and Mr. S puts Little M’s PJs on. I sit down in the nursery and Mr. S passes me the boy.

6:30-7ish – I read 2-3 books, nurse Little M, rock him and put him in bed.

7 – 8pm – cook and eat dinner, watch the news

8-10pm – clean up, take care of the gazillion things that didn’t get done during the day, go running, maybe watch some TV.

10/11pm – Bed time for the adults

 
J A C O B I  –  1 9  M O N T H S
W O H M

The days I work are different from the days I’m at home. On the days I work my husband gets home at 4pm and our nanny (my brother!) goes home. He plays with J until about 6pm at which point he makes dinner.
I get home at 7pm from work, and we all eat together. Mr. Pen takes J to the bath while I clean up the dishes.

We spend the next 45 minutes playing and reading books with J, and he goes down around 8pm.

On the days I don’t work, Mr. Pen works nights. It’s pretty much the same except that I don’t have Mr. Pen’s help. I make dinner, bathe, read books/play and clean up on my own.

L I A M  –  1 8  M O N T H S
W O H M

4:00pm – I get home and the nanny leaves. Liam and I both have a snack,

4:30-5:30 – We play in the house or in the backyard. Liam loves books so sometimes we just read his favorites over and over.

5:30-6 – We usually go for a walk around this time – earlier in the winter when it’s dark. Sometimes we walk to the store to pick up a few groceries, sometimes we just walk around the neighborhood.

6ish – Liam eats dinner. If my husband is going to be home late, I eat with him (we have something easy like leftovers), but if not, I’ll wait and eat with my husband after Liam goes to bed.

6:30 – Bath time!

7:30 – More stories, play, PJs, songs, etc

8:00 – Hopefully Liam is asleep and my husband is finishing up dinner, sometimes this is later or earlier, depending on the day.

I’m usually heading to bed around 9 or 9:30, but it takes me a long time to fall asleep (sometimes more than an hour).

 
B A B Y  H  –  1 7  M O N T H S
W O H M

5:15pm: I get home from work and we either pick up Miss H from the nanny and meet over there or we meet at our house the days Mr. H has her.

5:45pm: We feed Miss H dinner – most things we already have prepped because shet eats a lot of veggies and fruit and over the weekend we’ll make big batches of meatballs, stew, etc to eat throughout the week (to make weeknights easier!).

6:15pm: Go downstairs to start bedtime routine – bath (during which Miss H stands and walks around a lot so baths are quick!), brush teeth, lotion, pj’s, sleep sack.

6:40pm: Read 3-4 stories.

7:00pm (or sooner): sing “night night song” and put Miss her in her crib.

7:00pm: I either go off to the gym or get stuff done around the house. If I go to the gym I usually eat a small dinner/snack when Miss H eats dinner. If I’m not going to the gym, then Mr. H and I will eat dinner together (if he’s home) or I’ll grab something easy.

L I T T L E  C O N F E T T I – 1 9  M O N T H S
S A H M

Little C is usually up from his afternoon nap around 4 or so, and after a quick snack, I have been trying to use this last stretch of day to tire him out and maximizing outdoor time. We try to schedule play dates at the park or play with our neighbors in the front lawn, or we take the dog for a long walk.

By 5:45, we are home and I warm up dinner for C (always leftovers from a previous night’s dinner). If Mr. Confetti will be especially late getting home from work (on weeknights, he never makes it home by bedtime), I will eat dinner with C. Once he is done, we have a little dance party and then I chase him all over the house to get out any remaining energy – he is still quite the speed crawler at 14 months.

At 6:30, it’s time for bath time. Lately, like at @Mrs. Hopscotch’s house, this is very short since he wants to stand in the tub rather than sit and play with his toys while I clean him up.

By 6:45, he’s in his PJs, and I read him a book or two while he has his milk. (When I remember, I brush his teeth after he finishes his milk – I am the worst about this!)

By 7 pm, Little C is happy in his crib after a good long snuggle with mom and a few of our tried and true original bedtime tunes that I made up when I was deliriously sleep-deprived in the early months. He usually falls asleep within 15-20 minutes of being put down.

Once he is down, I take the puppy out the the front lawn if she’s due for a potty run (usually we take care of this around 5, but not always), and then I make dinner and straighten up the house a bit. Mr. Confetti is usually home by 8 or 8:30, and we eat together. We aim for bedtime for ourselves between 10 and 11.

S C R I B B L E S  –  1 3  M O N T H S
S A H M

Baha. Routine? There’s no routine! We just can’t seem to wrap our mind around one. But it generally goes something like…

3:30-4:30 Baby wakes up from nap, we go out to the store or hang at the house.

5.30–6:00ish I start making dinner. If DH is home he watches Scribble while I cook. Sometimes he gets home late or immediately has to do yard work, which means that I cook and watch baby at the same time. So baby fusses in his jumperoo! Easily the worst part of my day!

(Somewhere between 5:30 and 6:30 DH gets home)

6:30–7:00ish: We have dinner together.

7:30 or 8:00: We take a walk if we have the time, or go for a swim. We do a shower if Scribble needs one. Usually Scribble takes his bath after lunch in the middle of the day (because he is usually a giant mess after lunch), so we only do a bath if it is necessary.

8:00-8:30ish: Bedtime for baby. We go upstairs, diaper change, nurse, sleep sack (if it isn’t too hot), then bed.

8:30-10:30 DH and I do chores and yard work while there’s still light available, and sometimes swim afterward. Or watch TV or internet around.

L I L  T E A C U P  –  1 3  M O N T H S
S A H M

4:00 pm- 5:00pm Little Tea cup wakes up from her last nap (2.5 hours ) and has a bottle. She then plays with her toys and crawls around the living room while I start to cook dinner.

5:00- 5:30pm – Mr Tea Cup comes home and we eat dinner together.

5:30 – 6:30pm – In the summer we try to fit in a little more fresh air during this time. Playing at the water table, in her ball pit or going for a walk are all favourites lately. Whatever it is it has to be something active because Little Tea Cup has energy to burn off at this point and usually is a little hyper.

6:30-6:45 – Quiet time. Books or blocks or something similar. Usually we let Little Tea Cup have a few minutes to wind down to herself in her play pen while we tidy. She seems to really like this lately and will sometimes point to her play pen and ask to go in.

6:45 – Bath time, into pajamas and last bottle of the day. Then good night songs and into her sleep sack she goes.

7:10 – Bed time. She is awake when I put her into her crib but she is asleep before I make it down the stairs almost every night.

 
T R I K E S T E R  –  7  M O N T H S
W O H M

I kind of dislike the late afternoon/early evening – the baby and I are both tired and it’s often us killing time before bed. I’m trying to savor it, but not my favorite time of day. Here’s what it looks like in the summer when Im on vacation:

4:00 – Feeling tired after a full day with a baby on a napping strike. Wondering when Mr. Tricycle will be home. Maybe start dinner prep if the baby is happy playing on the floor.

4:30 – Walk around the front yard looking at leaves and grass. Sit on front steps or on the driveway while waiting for daddy.

4:45 – Daddy home! Go inside and visit for a little bit.

5:00 – Continue prepping dinner while the baby plays or if he’s grumpy (from a lack of naps) he goes in the Ergo and we head back outside for a walk.

6:00 – Eat dinner if I’ve managed to get it done, or continue to kill time until bed.

6:30 – Time to nurse!

6:45 – Bath, books and a little bouncing and then into the crib.

7:30 – Finish dinner and eat (if not accomplished earlier) while watching a DVR’ed show.

8:30 – Wash bottles and pump one last time. More DVR with DH.

9:30 – Aim for bed. Hopefully asleep by 10:00.

 
B A B Y  M A R K E R S  –  7  M O N T H S
W A H M

Our routine isn’t the same each night because Mr. Marker’s schedule varies, but it usually goes something like this:

4:30-5:30pm: Baby Markers is up from her nap, and after a bottle she sits in her highchair while I start to prep dinner

5:30-6:30pm: playtime! anything I can think of to keep her happy during her fussiest time of day. Sometimes we play on the floor, take the dog outside, even play in the kitchen sink

6:30pm: bathtime for Baby Markers. She LOVES it so we stay in there as long as my knees will allow (remind me to invest in a better kneeling pad). I have yet to reach her bathtime limit – sometimes she comes out looking like a raisin!

7pm: If Mr. Markers is home, he gives her a bottle while I finish making dinner. If he’s not, I give her the bottle and dinner waits.

7:30pm: Bedtime routine (diaper change, sleep sack, lullabies, sound machine, kiss goodnight)

7:45pm: Finish cooking and eat dinner (either with Mr. Markers or by myself)

8:30pm: Dishes/clean kitchen/pick up toys/straighten up

9pm: Mr. Markers is usually home by this point. If he wasn’t home earlier. I sit with him while he eats dinner. We usually watch a tv show together and chat about our days.

10-11pm: Usually in bed

 I S A I A H  – 4  M O N T H S
S A H M

Isaiah 4.5mo

He gets cranky around 5pm so we usually cuddle and sometimes he falls asleep.

At 6pm we start his bath. I sing all the songs and scrub him down. I only wash his hair once a week, but I still rinse it every day with water. Then we go back to his room to lotion up, moisturize his hair, and put on pajamas.

At 6:30 he gets his last bottle. He usually starts crying halfway through his post-bath festivities, so I’ll make it before I even start his bath.

He falls asleep immediately after finishing his bottle and I lay him down in bed at 7. There has only been one night that he didn’t and he stayed awake until 8. I ended up putting him in bed awake and he went to sleep on his own without a fuss.

Mr. Polish and I eat dinner after he’s down for the night.

L I T T L E  L I O N  –  6  M O N T H S
S A H M

4:30 pm – I try to get LL to take a short nap…. otherwise he is really cranky until bedtime.

5:00 pm – Mr. Lion gets home from work and plays with LL while I make dinner (I try to prep as much as I can earlier while he naps, so cooking goes faster).

5:45 pm – Dinner time – LL sits at the table with us in his high chair. We recently started baby led weaning, so he tries some of what we are having (within blw limits).

6:15-6:45- play time/ walk around neighborhood (or start bedtime early if the late afternoon nap didn’t happen)

6:45pm – Bath, Bottle, Stories, Cuddles – Mr. Lion usually does this while I clean up. We play an iPod playlist that is the same every night. 5 songs, and then crashing waves (white noise)…we start the music when we sit down to feed him and the ocean noise lasts until morning. When I put him to bed I like to sing along with the music while I feed him, but Mr. L doesn’t sing.  He talks to him instead. Most of the time Mr Lion does bath time and then I give him his bottle.

7:30 pm – LL is usually in his bed by this time. He almost always falls asleep on his own without any help, but occasionally he will fuss a bit around 8:00 and that usually means he needs (wants?) his paci back….we give it to him once, and he usually falls right to sleep.

7:30-10:00 – Mr. L and I usually hang out….we put something on Netflix and veg out with our phones or iPad. Being home and settled this early is new for us. I would really like to come up with some things we can do to better use our time together, besides just zoning out in front of the TV! I pump one last time around 9:30 and we try to go to bed around 10:00.

L I T T L E  D E E R  –  6  M O N T H S
S A H M

Little Deer just transitioned down to two naps (yay!). Sometimes our days are still a bit wonky, but generally our evenings look like this:

2:45-3:15ish – wakeup from last nap. This is usually just a quick 30 minute catnap though we’re working on extending it. We usually have a short nursing session once she’s up.

3:00-5:45 – we hang out as a family, play, and prepare dinner. Sometimes we’re done in time for us to all sit down together. Other times dinner’s still cooking when we start her bedtime routine. We try at the very least to have her in her high hair in the kitchen with us while we cook so she can eat some solids.

6:00 – bath time. Since coming home from deployment, Mr. Deer has taken over bath time which leaves me free to do a few things around the house and get her room ready for bedtime. I love that they have this time together.

6:20 – pajamas and start bedtime routine. Mr. Deer usually gets her lotioned-up and in her pj’s; I read stories, zip her up in her sleep sack, then we do one last nursing session before bed. This always gets her really sleepy. After that I lay her in her crib, hand her blankey to her, then turn on the white noise machine before sneaking out.

She’s usually asleep around 6:45.

The rest of the evening Mr. Deer and I catch up on our day, eat dinner, read a chapter in the Bible, and watch some TV. Since we’re up early we’re usually in bed by 9:00 and asleep soon after. I am definitely a fan of sleep and am happy to go to bed early to get enough .

.  .  .  .  .

What does your evening routine look like from the time you leave work to the time you go to bed?