Now that I’m back to work, I thought I’d share what a typical day looks like at the Oatmeal house. We’re lucky that Mr. O’s work schedule can be flexible, so that helps a whole lot. Mine is more rigid, but it’s only Monday to Friday. Overall, adjusting to being back has been much easier than I anticipated…but there will be a post to come on how we keep things balanced at home. For now, here’s a snapshot into a typical weekday:
6:45am- Little Oats wakes up, so I bring her into our bed to nurse while Mr. O showers.
7:00am- Mr. O takes Little Oats downstairs to eat while I get showered and ready.
7:25am- I get Little Oats dressed, make coffee, and ensure that her bag for daycare is packed. Mr. O makes his breakfast smoothie and loads up the car.
7:45am- Mr. O and Little Oats leave for daycare and work, and I have a few quiet minutes to myself to eat my breakfast and finish getting my lunch together.
8:05am- I leave the house, arrive at the office by about 8:15.
4:30pm – Mr. O picks Little Oats up from daycare and they head home.
4:45pm – We all arrive home at about the same time. LO nurses, we have a snack.
5:15pm- Someone starts dinner, LO plays.
5:40pm- We all eat dinner together.
6:00pm- If we need to run errands, we will all go out together. Otherwise, we hang out, watch TV and play.
6:45pm- Bath time for LO. Then I nurse her, and Mr. O takes over bedtime routine. I start on the dishes from dinner.
7:30pm- Mr. O and I make our lunches for the next day, and finish tidying up the mess that LO inevitably made
8:30/9:00pm- Mr O and I have time to catch up – we plan out the week, talk about our day, share ridiculous things that Little O has done. We’re TV people, so chances are there are at least a few TV shows on the DVR for us to catch up on. We’re pretty laid back- a beer and some reality TV, computers.
10:00/10:30pm- Bedtime!
It’s funny, but we are actually better at getting dishes done and the kitchen cleaned now that we have less time to do so. We’ve gotten into a good routine, and it seems to be working out pretty well!
How do you relax after work? Do you try to tidy nightly, or do a big clean on the weekends?
eggplant / 11716 posts
Wow, how rare and amazing that you both have jobs with short commutes and low hours! I’d love to have my husband home when I get home from work.
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
Sounds like you guys have fallen into a great rhythm. I am totally envious of both of your manageable and predictable hours.
kiwi / 511 posts
My DH and I relax differently I relax with TV. He relaxes by reading or hacking around on the computer. We are trying to balance things out so we can both relax, additionally we tend to do some clean up each night of toys, but mostly it is moving things away from doorways :). Big clean ups are done Monday night (our cleaner comes on Tuesday) or whenever Mimi comes because she cannot stop her self, she always is picking up the toys and going through the bits and pieces and putting like things with like things. I swear it is pathalogical with her so it makes her happy and gives me a clean room (for a few hours while the kids are alseep) so who am I to complain?
kiwi / 558 posts
That is the cutest family shot!
cherry / 187 posts
Looks like a great routine! I can’t help but be jealous of the hours you both work (and assuming short commutes). Our little ones leave for daycare around 6:45am and we get home from daycare around 6:15/6:30pm which makes a mad rush to eat before putting our youngest to bed at 7pm (older one is 8pm bedtime). I wish we were lucky enough to have more time to spend together as a family like you do.
pear / 1672 posts
Agree re: jealous of two partners with short work hours. DH is usually out of the house 12 hours per day. It’s a treat to have him home for the bedtime routine. That said, we have a cleaning person, so I guess that helps.
blogger / honeydew / 7081 posts
@tipperella: weekends are MUCH different around here- Sundays are 16+ hour days for Mr O, so we make up for it then!
GOLD / grapefruit / 4555 posts
We tend to binge clean on the weekends and try to keep everything up to snuff during the week (which it never is). But with this new preschool thing, our whole week is a little out of whack! Love how similar your clean up schedule and mine are. Kids go down and – boom! – clean the house so we can finally relax
Sweet picture!
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
It seems like you guys are able to come home pretty early! SO nice! Is it more common in Canada to be done with work at a reasonable time?
kiwi / 511 posts
@Mrs. Pinata: I think it is pretty dependant on the company
I am in the US and we as a family are out the door at 7, DH does drop off and then goes to work, I go directly to work. I leave a bit earlier than DH does because I got to work first, and do pick up and he goes straight home and generally starts dinner (4:30ish) and the kids and I are in around 4:45, occasionally we will be as early 4:35 or 4:40 depending how traffic and pick up were and as late at 5.
I see a similar pattern with my co-workers and same for my DH’s co-workers.
apricot / 370 posts
Your schedule is really nice that everyone is home by 4:45p.
Our mornings start at the same time, get the 2 kids up and fed, dressed, lunches packed and out the door at 7:30a. We divide and conquer since our kids care is in 2 different directions, so DH takes the older 1 to preschool and off to work, and then I take the younger one to daycare and off to work. Both of us get home around 6p with the respective kid we dropped off. Dinner is usually a slow cooker meal, eat together, clear table, then either a small walk in the neighborhood or playing outside in the yard, then clean kids and bedtime routine and put to bed at 8p, again we divide and conquer the bedtime routine, he takes 1 kid and I the other, and then alternate the kids the next day. Then we both clean dishes, kitchen, laundry, get dinner ready for the next day, before a little relax/down time. Us too, now that time is of the essence, we have to stick to having a good routine of cleaning up, or else it’ll really just be a sad huge pile of things to do the next day.
Our schedule is jam packed and I wish we had a little more time to spend with the LOs, but I am grateful too we both are able to be on the same schedule and spend some time with the kids together.
blogger / honeydew / 7081 posts
@Mrs. Pinata: Not a Canada thing…really just an our-jobs thing. DH’s schedule is flexible – he tends to be in office from about 8-4:30, but he works a lot at home, and a lot on weekends. I’ve got a clinic job, so we’re only open certain hours, which is nice.
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
@Mrs. Oatmeal: Well, that works out really great for your family! What great hours!
It sounds like your DH’s job is a lot like mine in terms of flexibility, yet need to work nights and weekends. His problem is that he doesn’t get out the door early, so then he can’t often get home early either! ha! 
pomelo / 5621 posts
In my head I plan to clean in the evenings after DS goes down but in reality by the time dishes are done and lunches are made I’m pooped and just want to put my feet up. So I do. We usually relax with a little tv/computer time and early to bed.
I love your schedule!
blogger / kiwi / 675 posts
sounds like a great schedule! cute pic too!