Day in the life of a work from home mom of 3
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I will be breaking down a generic day in our lives as a work from home mom of 3. My kids are 3 and under and it is busy and slow all at the same time.
Even if we stay home and do nothing there is so much happening just because there is kids there. Now not everyday is the exact same. Mondays we go to the library, Wednesday they have a play date, Friday we have a park play date. There is things that change.
And some weeks I have work meetings and some weeks I don’t but for the most part our schedule is the same.
I live with a block schedule and it has changed my life and has made it so easier. I’m not sure if it’s psychological. But since I’ve been doing the block schedule, I feel so much more productive and like a better person.
I have a whole post on block schedule that I will link here. I learned about it from Jordan page. I will also link her YouTube channel here. She is wonderful.
Block 1:
My first block is from 6-9. In that time I normally get up, hopefully at 6. I like to get up before the kids to start my work tasks and to start what we call first breakfast. This is the time I normally do things for myself, like shower and start my work to do list.
Around 6:30-7 Lyra wakes up and helps me make the rest of first breakfast. At this time normally Lennon and Lucy are still asleep so this is my one on one time with Lyra.
At 7:30 Lucy wakes up and the girls eat. Once they eat I start to clean up their breakfast and if I made a morning basket ( I set this aside the night before) then this is the time they play with it. Lennon is awake by then and I sit on the couch, read my bible, and nurse her.
Once I am done nursing we get our hair done and clothes on and read a book together. I really try ot make sure we read at least one book a day together.
They have free time for the rest of this block.
Block 2
At the start of block 2 which is 9 am through 11 am. We make second breakfast. This is when I eat. Normally second breakfast is eggs, yogurt, a bagel, or something else like that. If Bryton is home this is when he wakes up and if he is home he will make second breakfast.
After second breakfast I start on my “focus room” I dive more into that in my post about how I keep the house clean. I will link it here.
When I am finished I start working for the main lawyer that I work for. I make a to do list the night before and now is around the time that I start on that to do list.
The kids are little and do not understand yet that mom is working and I need to focus. While it is hard, it will not last forever and I know that.
How I normally get anything work wise done is this. I put my laptop or IPad on the counter, I wear the baby and then I put Lucy on the counter next to me.
I find that if in the beginning I include Lucy she will get bored and get down to go play and will play much longer.
Kids want to be in your world. Let your kids be with you and then when they are done watching you reply to emails they will play longer because they’ve had that connection and know mom is still there for you.
My dream is to eventually to be able to go to the spare room and work without being interrupted but I know with three kids 3 and under that will be later in life.
Block 3
11-1, is block 3. It is the lunch block and mid day clean up. I try to have the girls clean up whatever they were playing with and I start lunch. By the time lunch is done the house is mildly cleaned up.
Once lunch is done we finish cleaning up the house before I let Lucy have a movie. Lyra will not sit still for a movie and Lennon is too little.
But Lyra is so glued to me I try to sit, feed the baby and read while Lucy has her movie. It is the mid day wind down.
I like the house to be picked up before the movie though. This helps the house not get destroyed. We clean it 2x a day. But each time it is maybe 10 minutes.
Something that changed my mind about this too is the book A billion hours of good. The author breaks down time during the day.
14 minutes is ONE percent of your day. Insane right? So if I clean the house twice a day for 10 minutes that is 20 minutes. That is almost 3% of my day.
You will be so surprised how much you can do in 10 minutes and also, if you do it more than once the house will stay within a reasonable level.
Though don’t forget you have kids and the house CAN looked lived in. It CAN look good enough. Being a happy mom is more important.
Block 4
1-3 is block 4, and probably the busiest block to be honest. Once Lucy’s movie is done, I try to get them to play outside and burn off some energy. Truly if in any block the kids ask to go outside I am ALL about it.
Going outside is such a good thing for your kiddo. We are trying to do the 1,000 hours outside ( I want to write a post about this soon). But after screentime I really want the kids to get out and explore the world.
Some days I take them on a walk, or walk to the school up the street and play on the playground. I try to get a lot done in this block for the other attorney’s I work for.
But I found during the day this is when the kids have the hardest time being away from me. So I try to be present. Lucy is so good at playing by herself, but during this time of day she seeks me out for that connection.
So I try to really realize that and not be annoyed that she is up my butt and wants to hang on me. I want to stop if I can stop and give her that place to get that connection.
If we go outside I try to weed or do some yard work while they play. It does not always go that way, but that’s OKAY! My yard is not that great and weeded but I make that effort. One day they will play and I can weed in peace so for now momma, take a deep breath.
It is okay to not get it all done. There is tomorrow. You are in a new season and what will make something happen and a pattern is trying again.
I want a weed free yard, so every time we are outside I try to weed. But most days it doesn’t happen but having that mindset that it is okay it will be okay.
Block 5
3-6 another busy block, but a good one. If the kids are still wanting to play outside then we will play outside, but if they are done we go inside and wind down.
On the days Bryton works I start dinner at 5:40 so that is is done by the time he comes home. Sometimes the kids want to help and sometimes they are content to just play by themselves.
We recently got some new play doh toys and kinetic sand and I love to get them out in this block. Or a sensory bin, it is later in the day so your patience may be closer to being thin.
I know that about myself so I try to do crafts or activities during this block too so that I know they have something to grasp their attention while I need to do something.
If I do have any else work things to do I do them in this block. I try to clean up all my edges with my work stuff so that I can start tomorrow fresh or know that this task can wait till tomorrow.
Block 6
6-8 this is the last block because I was born 80 and I go to bed so early. After dinner I am starting a new routine where we read a chapter of a book, Lucy LOVES to read and if we haven’t read yet that dat I know that we will be able to get it during this time.
Even at 3 she will sit still and listen to a chapter or 2 from a book. We read some Junie B. Jones and now we are on some mermaid book that has pictures too.
After story time, we read a chapter from a bible book, I will link ours here. Then we say a prayer, say our happiest part of the day, and then we brush our teeth.
When our teeth are brushed Bryton and I sing the girls one song then we tuck them in, and then 9/10 they are good.
Some days they do not and bedtime is a battle but they have had this routine for years and they handle it very well.
Once they are asleep I try to work on the blog and Pinterest while watching a show. Some days I just need a break and I read a book and not worry about work.
Bryton always plays a video game and we kind of just sit next to each other while we do this. I love that we can just be there together.
If we ever need to talk about something then this is the time we do that too.
Conclusion
So there it is. In a nutshell that is what I do day to day with the three little. Now I didn’t really include too much about Lennon because at 3 months she is with me 24/7. I wear her a lot and if she is hungry no matter the block I stop and feed her.
I get what I get done with having such a little baby due to baby wearing her. I will link my wrap here.
She is strapped to me right now and passed out. I LOVE being able to “hold” her while doing other things. I feel like I am getting to give her enough attention and also the other girls.