A Day in the Life Of....A Stay At Home Mom (Renee!)

Today we take a look at what 24 hours is like for Stay at Home Mom Renee and her family! Renee’s got her hands full with her fabulous family including Kaden-3, Riley-2, and her step daughter Kiana-4. 

530am

Third time waking up. Woke up twice during the night thinking that I heard Kiana yelling for Daddy. She really is yelling this time. My hubby Chris goes and gets her and brings her down to our bed. I really hope I can go back to sleep. Ki talks for half an hour or so. I try to get comfortable on the 6 inches of queen sized bed left for me. Just as I start to drift off, I hear the boys start to squeal. Check the clock….630. They’ll be fine for a little bit, right?

7am

First Alarm. Hit snooze.

730am

Okay, I’m up, I’m up. Riley is not a very happy kid in the morning. Kaden on the other hand; I wish I had his energy and optimism! I probably would if I slept as soundly as he does. He gets 12-14 hours each night!

745am

First dispute of the day; Kaden and Ki are fighting over which baby doll is whose and which one gets to wear the clothes. Bye Daddy! Have a good day at work!

8am

Coffee is started! It’s definitely a 6 cup day today!
Get breakfast ready for the kids. Luckily their food isn’t that hard to prepare.

805am

Kiana, “My baby is better than your baby!”

Kaden, “Well my baby is the best in the whole universe!”

Me, “They can each be the best to each of you, etc, etc, good feelings, blah blah blah.

Kaden, “I know! Let’s be wildebeests!!!!”

Why do I even try? Haha!

810am

Was just informed by Kaden that he “peed everywhere” in the bathroom. Yuck!

830am

Breakfast is over and the kids are playing a sleeping game together. So nice when they get along and play! Sneak downstairs to get something for myself to eat. Put in a load of laundry while down there.

840am

Yay! The older two are using their problem solving skills we’ve been teaching them! They just spoke nicely to each other and worked out their problem! These are the moments that make it worth it. Of course as soon as that thought is out they begin a new game. Riley is now made into the “bad guy”. I have to explain multiple times that it’s not nice to exclude people and threaten to take their cardboard box house away. Kaden then points to me and says, “Look! There’s the witch right there!” Nice.

9am

Still haven’t cleaned up the pee yet. Had a poo diaper change to do and an almost successful bathroom trip for me! They didn’t even find me until I was washing my hands! Now I try to finish my coffee while Riley sits on my lap and reads a book while demanding bites of cereal and milk. He’s pretty small and cute though! The older two color and try to ask me questions as the same time as each other.

910am

Ki just informed me that her pants are wet from pee. This is after she has been back from the potty and sitting on the floor for a while. Hooray for vinegar! Now time to clean up breakfast stuff and work on a second cup of coffee.

930am

Kids are practicing their writing while I do the dishes. Kaden just wrote balloon! Riley is driving his little push car right through the middle of the coloring stuff…of course! Wooo! I got the dish washer going! I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have a dish washer, work harder I guess!

10am

First Time out of the day. Ki hit Riley because he was laughing at her blowing up a balloon and then letting it go. I’ve finished cleaning the kitchen; washed big dishes, wiped the counters and table, swept the floor. I even made Ki a little pole for her flag! Oh the wonders of duct tape and newspaper!

“Riley stop licking the window!!” Haha, really?? I still haven’t cleaned up the pee or gotten dressed. Time goes by so fast!

1010am

Chose getting dressed over cleaning up pee. Luckily we have two bathrooms upstairs! Emptied the dryer, reloaded it and started a new load in the washer while downstairs getting dressed. Kids start arguing then start crying…nothing too serious.

1030am

The pee is finally cleaned from the bathroom. I’m thinking Kaden stood in the doorway and tried to reach the toilet from there. It WAS everywhere! Cleaned the rest of the bathroom while I was in there. Should clean the other one too….haha not likely. Kids are playing “football” haha! They’ve stuffed blankets in their shirts and are chasing each other around in circles. Too cute!

11am

Tired to use the bathroom but Riley stood outside the door yelling at me. Must fix door handle! Right now I have to hold a potty in front of it with one foot. Kind of hard to go to the bathroom that way! Next I cleaned the fireplace and vacuumed the living room. Not sure why the kids think creaming will make the sound quieter! Second time out of the day; Kaden kicked Riley in the face while being crazy. Had to give him another time out shortly after. While trying to talk to him about being calmer he started flopping and screaming so he went into the bathroom for that time out. Now he’s screaming his head off in there. Oh what the neighbors must think!

1110am

Too out a stinky diaper and the kitchen trash. Got yelled at by a two year old for not reading him a book quick enough.

1115-1145am

Read books with the kids. It’s so nice when they all settle down and snuggle up for story time! Reading to them is one of my favorite things to do!

12pm

Lunch time! They all had leftovers so that made for pretty much zero prep work. Time for Riley to nap. He wanted me to sit and rock him before bed. He is so sweet and still smells like a baby. I really love our quiet moments together. The older two are tired of me telling them to finish their food but ARGHH! They’re so wasteful! The kitchen floor now looks like they ate on it and not at the table. How is it that my 4 and 3 year olds are messier than my 2 year old?

1210pm

Got another load of laundry in and out of the dryer and another load in the washer. The older two are painting while I clean. I love their pictures! They’re such good little artists!

1pm

Swept and organized the landing and stairs. I should really eat lunch before Riley wakes up. As soon as I sit down Ki wants all of my attention. She was perfectly happy until I stopped moving!! Take the older two downstairs for some PBS and some computer time for me.

130pm

The last load of laundry!! I’m not motivated enough to clean downstairs.

150pm

Riley’s up from his nap!

2pm

Outside we go! The kids seem to be in better moods out here. I think we were all annoying each other being closed up in the house today. Everyone is doing their own thing now with plenty of space. I worked on the rock path and the brush pile. I made the kids an “eagle nest”. Ki laid in it for ten minutes by herself then came over and recited a little poem about being alone with her thoughts. So sweet! I think we all need more time to ourselves haha!

345pm

Time to go in. Kaden is in his third time out for the day for being too rough with Riley while wrestling. He’s screaming and yelling at me while telling me that I’m mean and he doesn’t like me. I just want to leave him outside. GRRR!!

4pm

Time to start dinner. Hubby won’t be home for dinner tonight. I’m just going to make spaghetti again because I don’t feel like arguing with kids over eating. My mood is very quickly getting more negative. So tired!!

5pm

Dinner is ready! Spaghetti wouldn’t usually take me an hour to make but the kids believe I am a super human put on earth to serve just them. That has its ups and downs.

520pm

Wow. That was the fastest dinner ever. Kaden usually eats for like an hour. Maybe my super stares got to him tonight? Time for baths! Had to take Kaden out 5 minutes into the bath. That child will not quit splashing! Our floor is going to fall in soon! Okay, Kaden is back in. Just need to sit for a minute and take slow, deep, breaths.

540pm

Bath time is over. Time for stories!

6pm

PJ time! I love little kid pjs.

620pm

Snack time! This is the first night having a snack BEFORE brushing our teeth! Don’t even remember why we started doing it after teeth. Not very bright.

630pm

Daddy’s home! I let the older two color while daddy eats. Usually we don’t do things this early but I wanted to get them to bed early tonight so they wouldn’t be grumps tomorrow.

7pm.

 Time to brush teeth and get the boys in bed. It took a little bit for Riley to get used to the new schedule. I’m super grumpy and just want the kids to go to bed! They really got on my nerves today. Maybe it’s just PMS? Ugh. I snapped at Chris. He wanted me to sit with him and Ki on the couch bit I didn’t want my mood to bring them down. And I just want Ki to go to bed! She was a super grump today too. Now I’m thinking I need to work on thinking before I talk. I don’t’ want to hurt my sweet husband!

730pm

I think the boys are sleeping. Chris took Ki to bed to read stories. Usually I go with them but I’m just too grumpy tonight.

8pm

I folded and put away the laundry downstairs. Turned on the radio and worked on a puzzle for a bit.

830pm

Ki is sleeping. I apologized to Chris and had a good talk with him. What a difference that makes in my mood! Talking with the hubby is very helpful.

10pm

Time to get ready for bed!

12am

Snuggle up and SLEEP! I make a mental note to make sure tomorrow is better!

I’ve been thinking a lot about my feelings on being a SAHM. Sometimes I feel like I’m just treading water. Some days I’m lazy and grumpy and don’t pay enough attention to the kids. Those days are my FAIL days. I go to bed feeling guilty and hopeless, but I just make sure that the next day is better. Thankfully my fail days aren’t as numerous as my success days. I don’t always get the house work done and I feel guilty almost all day because I know how hard my husband works.

I love all of the time I get to spend with my kids though! On my good days I realize how lucky I am to have such a wonderful job. I love teaching the kids new things or doing art projects with them. I think for me, being a SAHM is not nearly as physically challenging as it is emotionally challenging. Some days I dread hearing the word mommy. But all the sweet things my children do and say make up for any annoying habits they have. 

I’ve learned how to laugh at the things that they do and to be more patient. When I think about doing something other than staying at home I get teary eyed. I am so grateful and so lucky to have such an amazing family! I know that I have a lot of growing to do as a mother and a person but being able to watch my children grow with me is incredibly exciting.