Do you find yourself spinning your wheels as a stay-at-home-mom day after day?
It’s so easy to get caught up in the midst of diaper changes, toddler tantrums, messes, and spills that you find yourself in reactive mode all day long, just trying to survive.
One of the ways you can THRIVE as a stay at home mom is by having and following a daily schedule for you and your kiddos. While parenthood includes many moments of just trying to survive, having a daily routine for you and your precious little ones is an amazing way to give everyone some predictability in their day. Predictability allows everyone to feel more regulated and calm, which creates more opportunities for joy!
The stay at home mom schedule that works for you is going to be one that includes time blocks throughout the day built around non-negotiables.
My two daughters are currently 1.5 and almost 4. Our daily non-negotiables include leaving for preschool at 8:20am, my baby going down for her nap at 12pm, and both kids going to bed at 6pm. Those three times are extremely consistent on a day to day basis (give or take 20 minutes for nap & bedtime). My husband handles the preschool pickup at 12pm, so I don’t have to factor that into my day.
Below is a sample schedule for a stay at home mom with a baby and a toddler. I’ll go into more detail below the chart.
Daily Stay At Home Mom Schedule
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 4:30 AM | My alarm goes off. I let the dog out, change into my workout clothes, and drink my pre-workout. |
| 4:50 AM | Start exercising. |
| 5:45 AM | Take a shower. |
| 6:00 AM | Work on my blog. |
| 7:00 AM | Baby wakes up. Give her a bottle, get her dressed & come downstairs to play and eat breakfast. |
| 7:45 AM | Toddler wakes up. Get her dressed and brush hair & teeth. |
| 8:20 AM | Leave for preschool. Baby and toddler eat breakfast in the car. |
| 9:30 AM | Morning block of time with baby. We'll either run an errand after preschool drop off or just come back home. In this morning block, I take care of chores (empty dishwasher, do a load of laundry, tidy up the house). |
| 11:30 AM | Baby eats lunch. |
| 12:00 PM | Baby goes down for a nap. I make lunch for myself. |
| 12:30 PM | Toddler gets home from preschool and eats lunch. This begins my afternoon block of time with my toddler while the baby is sleeping. We will read books, play together, watch a show, or go outside. |
| 3:30 PM | Baby wakes up from nap. Snack time for everyone. |
| 4:00 PM | Take an afternoon walk to end the day. My husband joins us for this when he can wrap up his work early. |
| 5:00 PM | Start making dinner. |
| 6:00 PM | Bath & bedtime for the kids. Evening block of time to hang out with my husband. |
| 8:00 PM | I start getting ready for bed. Read a book and journal for 30 minutes or so. |
| 9:00 PM | Asleep by 9! |
As you can see, I start my day very early. There is so much power in having an early morning routine. As moms, we often don’t get a whole lot of time to ourselves – but by starting your day when everyone else is asleep, I guarantee you will feel refreshed & energized by the time your kids wake up!
My day is organized into four major time blocks: the very early morning block, morning block, afternoon block, and evening block. I don’t hyper-schedule these times, but because they are built into my day, I know when I can take care of certain tasks.
Life happens and there might be a day here and there where we don’t follow this rhythm, but the beauty of focusing on time blocks (rather than actual start and end times) is that we’re able to follow this routine 90% of the time.
Very Early Morning Block
Focused time for myself is always in the very early morning block, between 4:30 and 7am. I do my exercise and get whatever work done I need to do on my computer. By starting my day taking care of myself, I feel powered up and ready to take care of everyone else for the rest of the day.
I never use this time for chores. Even if I wake up and see that I forgot to wipe down the kitchen counters or there are toys laying around from the day before, I ignore them. Those will be taken care of later; the very early morning is for me.
Morning Block
Chores always happen during the morning block, which is the time from when we get home from preschool drop-off until the baby goes down for her nap (typically from 9:30am until 12pm).
If I have an errand to run or something to do around the house, this is when it gets done. If I need to run to the store, my baby and I will go right after preschool drop-off since we’re already out and about.
If we have laundry or dishes to do, we’ll come home and get them done. Babies love to be your little helpers, so involve them in your chores! My 1.5 year old loves to help me unload the dishwasher and put away the laundry. Obviously it takes longer to complete a task when you’re letting your kids assist you, but don’t rob your children of the joy of “helping” you do these things.
It teaches them from a young age how to be a contributing member of the family, even if they are putting their clothes in all the wrong drawers. 🙂
Afternoon Block
My afternoon block is flexible. This is the time between my toddler getting home from school and the baby waking up from her nap (usually around 12:30pm-3:00pm).
My toddler’s morning preschool program is extremely active, so she often comes home tired. We’ll base our afternoon activities based on how much energy she has.
Some days we’ll read books all afternoon, and other days we might walk down to the beach or go on another little adventure, just the two of us. My husband works from home and so he can keep an eye on the baby while she sleeps, which gives me the flexibility to go out with my toddler for an hour or so if we want to.
If the baby wakes up early from her nap, I’ll usually load both kids up in the stroller, pack snacks to go, and walk down to the park. This will take the place of our normal end of the day walk.
If she sleeps until 3 or 3:30, we’ll have snack time, then go for our walk around 4.
Evening Block
The evening block is after dinner, bath time, and the kids are in bed. This is the time I finally get to hang out with my husband after our busy days. We enjoy getting to catch up with each other, and then each of us might spend some time on our hobbies. I like to read, sew, or crochet in the evenings.
Occasionally we’ll turn on Netflix and watch something, but I try not to get too sucked into TV shows because it eats up our precious little time together.
Our evening block is usually from about 6:15-8pm. I go to bed early so that I can get up and do it all again the following day!
Finding The Stay At Home Mom Daily Schedule That Works For You
Depending on your kids’ ages and whether or not you have kids in school, your chunks of time might look different than mine.
The most important thing when drafting your stay at home mom schedule is to identify the non-negotiable times throughout your day. Things like school drop-offs and pick-ups, naptimes, and bedtimes.
Once you have that outline, you can organize your day into time blocks, and decide which activities fit best in each block.
If none of your kids are in school and you don’t have to work around drop-off/pick-up, you could choose either your morning block or your afternoon block to take the kids out of the house and go on an adventure. To a park, to the zoo, wherever! I highly recommend getting out of the house with your kids at least once per day as a SAHM, but that’s a post for another day.
If you have a baby that is still taking two naps, you might have a mid-morning block of time and an afternoon block of time while she’s awake and you can plan activities.
If you only have one child and they’re still napping, I recommend doing your house chores while your kid is awake! Don’t save them for naptime. Let your kid help you while you clean the house (or wear them in a baby carrier if they’re itty bitty), and use the naptime block for you. Read a book, engage in a hobby, paint your nails, or do something else that you can’t do when they’re awake.
By building your day in time blocks around the non-negotiables, you will feel at peace heading into every day knowing what to expect from your routine.
Obviously none of us can predict when our toddler will have a tantrum, when the baby will spit up, or the dog will barf all over your playroom (speaking from experience, lol), but time-blocking your day will allow you to feel in control of the activities and tasks you want to accomplish each day.
You’ll never be left scrambling trying to figure out when to do chores or when to take the kids to the park. Your day will have a steady rhythm to it, and when the bathroom needs to be cleaned or you want to take the kids to the aquarium, you’ll know which part of the day is your best bet for success.
I hope this was helpful for building your own stay at home mom daily schedule!