This is a behind the scenes look at what a day as a SAHM with two rambunctious cubs looks like on any given day at the Grizzly Bear household. There’s laughter, there’s tears, and there’s a whole lot of mayhem. Ready to begin?
6:30 – 7:00 : My cubs wake up early. Before they started rooming together, one of them would normally wake up earlier than the other. Usually it was Patrick and I could get the coffee maker going while he quietly ate his breakfast before Olivia would be insistently calling for her breakfast. Now it doesn’t matter which one of them wakes first. First peep out of them and it’s all over; everyone is up for the day.
7:00 : Breakfast time!
7:30 : I turn on PBS for the kiddos so that I can eat/drink my cup of coffee in peace/get dressed. Most of the time the cubs might stop and glance at it for a few seconds, but they’re either too busy eating their breakfast or are already engaged in another activity to care too terribly much.
8:00 – 8:30 : Time to head outside. This, I think, is my favorite part of the day. I know they love going outside as much as I do. Patrick automatically goes on the hunt for shoes once he’s dressed and even knows that he should bring Olivia and me our sandals. Once Olivia is dressed, she starts waving bye-bye and standing by the door. Me? I’m just glad I can grab a second cup of coffee as I herd them outside!
We try to spend at least an hour to an hour and a half outdoors every morning. Here in Tennessee, it’s hot, which wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t so blasted humid all. the. time. That means that by 10:oo or 11:00 it’s pretty much unbearable to be outside without a considerable breeze blowing. Thankfully our backyard is in the shade of the house and we have a shade tree, so early morning is just about the perfect time to go outside.
9:00 – 9:30 : Inside to wash up. On a good day it only takes a wash cloth to get the dirt and grime off the cubs and myself. On a decent day it normally means a quick rinse in the tub just because there’s too much dirt everywhere. And on a bad day we have to cut outside time short because Patrick was having too many tantrums. Isn’t being 2 FUN??
9:30 : Snack time. I try to alternate best I can what we have for snack, but it usually depends on how good of a mood everyone is in and whichever fruit or vegetable is at its peak freshness. If we’re too hot for mom to stand in the kitchen and cut up strawberries, I might go for quickly rinsed carrot sticks and hummus for dipping. I think of this kind of like I imagine a hobbit would eat. This is second breakfast. If I didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast before we headed outside or if they’re acting hungry after their snack, I’ll either fix everyone some more breakfast or offer the kiddos some cereal to crunch on.
10:00 : Now comes the fun part. I start to feel a bit like a mad scientist as I weigh how the cubs are acting to what I need to get done that day. Do I attempt to run to the store or the library or some place external while it’s still relatively cool outside? Or do I stay inside and wait until lunch and nap time then try to go out later? It all depends on how much growling is going on. If I decide to wait I turn PBS back on because Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is on. This gives the cubs a chance to let the food settle, quiet down and cool off from the heat, and gives me a chance to catch up on my email. Plus Patrick adores the songs and will often mimic the lessons after he sees them or sing the songs. Olivia’s content just to let her batteries recharge so that she can make it til nap time. Even though she adjusted to one nap several months ago, she still seems to hit a point in the morning where her energy is just nil. I try to keep Patrick occupied during those times so that she can recoup and when he hits his low energy points, I do the same with her.
10:30 : If we’ve stayed in and their mood has improved, I may try to run whatever quick errand I need to now. If we’re out and about, this is about the time I start trying to wrap things up. Say we’re at the library which is a few minutes drive from our house. That means Patrick has been running around the children’s area with any other children present, Olivia has been toddling off and climbing chairs, and I’ve been trying to round up books for us while watching both of them. Sometimes I have myself together enough that I request books to be held for me before I ever decide to go to the library, but I also really enjoy giving the cubs a chance to pick their own books. One day we’re train obsessed. The next days it’s shapes. I enjoy seeing where there mind takes them because it’s usually some place fascinating! But it also means that I get to follow along behind them picking up books as they’re piled willy-nilly while making sure they’re in sight. That’s why I start the ‘getting ready to go’ process so soon after arriving. Because it’ll probably take me until 11:00 to get the books checked out and everyone settled enough to leave.
11:00 – 11:30 : Lunch time! This used to be nap time but I think the longer days call for some adjustments, so I’ve pushed nap time back a bit. After lunch we usually play with Pandora on in the background. The cubs love having silly hat dance parties at any given point during any given song. It has a beat? Cool! Find a hat, give one to mom, then plop one on Olivia’s head. Perfect! Let’s dance! Who needs a workout when you have two toddlers??
12:00 – 12:30 : Nap time is always fun. Olivia is usually very happy to go to sleep whenever I put her down. Pretty much anytime between 10:00 and 1:00, she’s ready. Put her down and you probably won’t hear a peep from her for at least two hours. Sometimes three. But Patrick… Oh Patrick. No matter how tired he is, no matter how much I prepare him, warn him, remind him, he still cries right before falling asleep exhausted. He just wants to keep on playing. Thankfully the tears don’t last long and both kidlets are asleep within ten minutes, but I still hate that we have to have the tears first.
12:00 – 2:30 : Much needed me time. This is where I try to do dishes if I feel so inclined, check email again, catch up on my news feeds, and relax.
2:30 – 3:00 : Nap time’s over! The cubs are awake and ready to play. If they’ve woken early enough (read that as ‘too early for my productivity’s sake’), I let them play before getting our shoes back on and heading out again. If there isn’t enough time then I either ask Mr. Bear to do it for me on his way home or plan to do it the next day. This is also another time that I offer them a snack to tide them over until dinner time and if we’re planning on staying indoors, we’ll do an art project, puzzles, or blocks.
4:00 – 4:30 : Mr. Bear is home and everyone’s happy. No, really! The entire house just seems to light up a little. The cubs light up because Father Bear is home, I light up because I get an extra set of hands finally – it’s just a whole lot of win! Mr. Bear usually jumps right into the fray of whatever’s going on as soon as he walks in the door. Sure, he has to change out of his uniform first, but he doesn’t mind dealing with whatever toddler crisis suddenly arises while he’s fixing supper. It doesn’t seem to faze him a bit which just leaves me calmer knowing I’m not the only one available to kiss an owie better or soothe a whining, clingy toddler. Did I mention he also brings in our rabbits Hansel and Gretal in for “hoppy time”? The man’s a wonder.
5:00 : Dinner’s served
5:20 – 7:30 : Family time for us means that we’re all working together in some way. That might mean helping Patrick build a tunnel for his trains to go through or showing Olivia how a puzzle piece goes in place. We try to keep this time as relaxed as we can make it and we often have something on in the background. It’s probably a generation thing but we don’t sweat about screen time because their attention span just isn’t there yet. We strictly monitor what we show them and pay attention to how it seems to affect their behavior. Besides, we’re constantly engaging them and they’re constantly engaging us.
7:30 : Put Hansel and Gretal back in their bunny hutch.
7:30 – 8:00 : Our bedtime routine may sound a little… different, unless, of course, your kids share a room. With bookshelves. And books. Most of the time I can’t tell which is more diverting – the books being read aloud or the running back and forth to pull or put another book on the shelves! And have I mentioned the running around in circles? I can tell they’re both really running on fumes when they start just going around and twirling in circles.
8:00 : Lights out. We’re pretty firm on this one and again, it usually leads to tears from Patrick. Olivia seems to be grateful for the quiet and a chance to lie down in the dark, but Patrick does his normal whine and cry before falling asleep. And sometimes both children are awake and making noises at one another. It sounds like a demented version of Marco Polo, honestly, but it gets really cute sometimes. And super annoying other times!
8:30 : More me time! Hooray! I made it! Okay, okay, usually it’s ‘us’ time as Mr. Bear and I catch up on anything we might have forgotten to mention to one another. Sometimes we wait until the cubs are asleep and we watch a movie or an episode of something together. And sometimes we’re just content to be in the same house as one another. It just depends on our mood and how we want to unwind.
9:30 – 10:30 : Bedtime for me!
What does a day in your life look like?
watermelon / 14206 posts
I’m tired just from reading this!
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
I love that you aren’t too stressed about screen time – I am not really either and it is refreshing. And I am jealous of your family dinners and quality time (and help!) each night. Sounds divine!
nectarine / 2600 posts
Full days! What time does Mr. Bear go to work? Love how early you get outside!
GOLD / grapefruit / 4555 posts
@Dandelion: It’s exhausting but some days are better than others and some days are worse. Tantrums are usually the deciding factor but we’re working it out.
@Mrs. Confetti: I think of it like this – we limit what they watch, we watch it with them, we don’t let it babysit them, but it certainly offers everyone a bit of peace now and then. And isn’t life hard enough with two littles? Really, those two, five, ten minutes that their attention is captured while I take a sip of coffee are priceless. Why stress the small stuff when we’re so busy in so many other ways? I’ll take the peace where I can get it.
@TheSwissWifeStyle: Mr. Bear’s alarm goes off at 5, he’s out the door before 6, at work by 6:30 and clocked in a little before 7. He gets off work at 3:30 and fights traffic back home.
And like I said, totally necessary to get out that early thanks to the humidity but lately we’ve actually had a few cooler days and have been able to linger. It’s been really great! I’ll be doing a post soon on how we’ve slowly grown our outdoor activities and toy collection. It’s fascinating to see what keeps the littles occupied sometimes!
nectarine / 2600 posts
On the TV thing, my brother and I grew up (we are very close in age, much like your 2) watching TV a lot! We watched Sesame Street, Electric Company, but also sitcoms with our folks, and old TV reruns, like Batman and The Monkees. And of course Saturday morning cartoons! (Jem anyone?) Now granted, some of today’s TV is way more obnoxious than it used to be, but my brother has a Masters degree in Criminal Justice, and I guess I turned out ok too, so I really don’t have a problem with kids and TV! I think like you said, it’s when parents “use” it too much, or if they are just watching hours and hours all day and not doing anything else like playing with toys or going outside, or watching the obnoxious programs, that it could be a problem. Just my “not a parent yet” two cents
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
It’s nice that their naptimes are similar! I bet that was really difficult when you were juggling two different naptimes for awhile. Sounds like fun days, especially with all the outside playtime!
blogger / nectarine / 2687 posts
phew! i applaud your effort to keep them engaged and in a routine throughout the day, any day. i would have such a hard time being a SAHM because i’d have a hard time with exactly that!
GOLD / grapefruit / 4555 posts
@Mrs. Pinata: Before Olivia cut to one nap, it was kinda difficult but it was pretty much a given – any time between 10 and 3, I was home bound thanks to tag team naps. But even that was pretty okay. It gave me time to bond with both of them differently. It’s much harder to entertain a newborn and a toddler at the same time but much easier to focus on one or the other if sibling is napping. I also tried to stagger naps if possible so that I would have at least ten, twenty minutes of me time in a day but it didn’t always work out as planned! I’m just glad everything seems to be working out now with them being in the same room.
@Mrs. Cowgirl: It isn’t so much of a routine as it sounds, really. I don’t look at the clock and go “Hmm, it’s obviously snack time.” I go with the flow as much as I can concerning naps or activities. It depends on the weather, their temperament, what we might need to get done that day, etc. There’s so many factors! But despite the factors we do seem to have settled into something resembling normal. It gets really tough sometimes when it comes to keeping them both engaged.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
Your days from morning til 4 pm kind of sounds like our weekends! (Our weekdays are vastly different since I WOH)… but I love my downtime from 12-2:30-3 pm. You are amazing to do this every.single.day. By the time the weekends are over, I am exhausted and ready to go back to work!