Realistic Stay at home Mom Morning Routine Expecting Baby #2
What does my current stay at home mom morning routine look like?
Before transitioning to a stay at home mom, I would stay up late into the night, play video games, and only get up early if I had to work that day at the pharmacy. As I got closer to my due date I saw a lot of posts on social media about their stay at home mom morning routines. These moms were super moms. They woke up hours before their baby. Breakfast was prepared before the crack of dawn with a smile on their faces. I saw so many of these posts that I started believing it. These must be the most perfect stay at home mom morning routines. When I didn’t start my day the way that they did, I felt like I was doing something wrong. Surely, all these other moms have it figured out.
Let’s be REALISTIC for a moment for a stay at home mom morning routine
Social media is almost always showcasing the BEST parts of someone’s life. People are starting to become more vulnerable online, but the majority of people only share the good. They will show themselves as being perfect 24/7. A morning routine for them is SO EASY – just never take a breath and continue working 24/7. Does anyone else feel like this is such garbage and social media pushes people to pretend they have perfect lives?
Perfect Routine?
Now if someone does have a perfect routine, good on them. Sometimes we don’t see the things behind the screen. Some of these moms have help at their disposal. Their parents or friends are constantly coming over to watch the kids. This helps out with a mom’s energy a ton! When my parents watch my daughter for even 2 hours I am feeling way more refreshed. A lot of people have cleaners or the cleaning isn’t the main priority of their daily ‘to do’s’. Some people eat out or get take out. There are many other reasons why someone’s energy level might be different than yours. This allows them to potentially get more done or make it seem like they are always happy.
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
Some women are AMAZING at what they do and are meant to do what they do. These women are rock stars and hold down the house easily. They put in so much work and effort to lead a happy and healthy life. It’s definitely not easy, but they are consistent. I say this to say that we should celebrate all stay at home parents. Everyone leads a different life.
I personally find it difficult to hold down the house. I don’t enjoy cleaning, I enjoy working as a pharmacist. My enjoyment comes from counseling on medications, not making food from scratch (unless it’s baking!). In saying this, my morning routine will look very different than someone else. I hope that it shows you that even though I’m not completing everything during the morning, I’m getting my few priorities done.
My Morning Routine
I have an almost 15 month old and I’m currently 9 months pregnant. This pregnancy has been extremely taxing on my body. Not to mention that it’s summer time! This summer has been beating record highs in the area and my house is not insulated correctly.
With that being said, I’m still able to generally do a few of the same things daily.
8-8:30 am: Wake up & wake up my daughter. I try to wake her up at this time so she doesn’t end up going to bed too late. It’s hard for me to wake up early now and I get the most help during the night because my husband is a night owl. This is what works best for us!
9 am: Clean up after feeding my daughter her breakfast. We usually have plain yogurt and I add in unsweetened apple sauce, almond butter, pinch of salt, some cinnamon, and sometimes mashed banana or chia seeds.
9 am: The other option at this time is that I do Walmart pickup for groceries. I can’t stand having to lug around my huge belly with my baby to get groceries. My back will be broken by the time I get home.
9:30 am: Clean up the kitchen. I take the dishes out and start my coffee maker to make my espresso shots. While that’s going, I start putting the dishes in the dish washer. I’m usually done by the time the coffee has come up through the top of the device.
10:15 am: Around 2 hours after waking up I have my coffee. I fill an espresso cup (about 2 shots worth) and make cafe con leche. That has been my go to breakfast recently. Somehow this is able to energize me more throughout the day compared to eating food then having my shots of espresso.
10:30 am: I’m usually watching some Youtube video until 11 am comes around. I’ll sweep one area of the house or vacuum the carpets. My carpets need to be vacuumed like at least twice a day. My dogs shed so much fur!!
11 am: I watch The Price Is Right with my daughter. She actually loves the commotion and I grew up watching this show. During this time my daughter is eating or winding down (closer to 12) for her nap. If she fall asleep at 12 pm, then I put her in her crib and let her sleep for 2 hours.
That’s my morning routine. It’s doing dishes in the morning every morning. Sometimes I get groceries. The floors are usually done in small portions (maybe just the kitchen or just the living room). Other times I’m reading books, playing, and feeding my daughter. It’s definitely not about running around the whole time feeling pressure to have a perfect house. If you have a toddler or baby, you know that cleaning the house can almost feel like an impossible task. I do the dailies needed to keep the house somewhat organized.
If I’m capable of including more cleaning then I will. I’m listening to my body at this stage in my pregnancy and if I do too much then I am limping around the house the next day. I hope this shows you all that morning routines are not always special or moving non stop. It’s okay to do the bare minimum sometimes if it’s just you. You’re still doing your best!