As many of you know, I am a full time homemaker with a one year old to care for 24/7. As a homemaker, I am always fascinated by and interested in other parents’ routines and ways of managing life with children. So, I wanted to share a bit of our routine for those like me!

Some background information before we get started…

I have a one year old, who we will refer to as Stinky for privacy reasons. She is a champ eater and sleeper (most of the time), but she is also very sensitive to routine changes and deals me a large load of sass on a regular basis. My partner (her father), works a lot, but helps me as much as he can. He would prefer to remain unnamed as well, so we will refer to him as Hubby.

I am a very routine based person, and our routine is shaped around all three of our needs and preferences. So, if something in our routine sounds inefficient or silly to you, remember we are fulfilling the needs of three different people and everyone’s needs are different.

Lastly, our routine can change dramatically based on Stinky’s needs. Babies change rapidly, so this routine may be completely different in a few months. As many of you parents with young children can attest, they run the show. Stinky’s needs are the most important thing to us, so she naturally comes first.

Please do not parent shame in the comments. If you have any tips that are kind and presented without shame, that is fine. But please do not criticize the way we raise our baby. We are only human, and we do what is best for our Stinky.

Our Current Morning Routine

6:00am

Stinky generally wakes me up some time around 6am. I try to go to bed before 10pm, but I usually don’t go to sleep until 10:30pm. Stinky generally goes to bed around 5:30pm.

I let Stinky play in her crib for a while, so that I can slowly get up, use the bathroom, and get dressed. I need a slow, quiet morning, so taking this alone time has been vital for me as a parent, and Stinky hasn’t seemed to mind.

6:30am to 8:00am

Next, I go get Stinky with lots of waving and “good morning”s. I change her nighttime diaper and check the weather on the google home mini in her room.

Then we go downstairs. Stinky plays with her toys and watches Canticos, while I get her a bottle of pear juice (and a scoop of Miralax), because she suffers from long term elimination issues. She will drink that bottle on the floor while watching Canticos, so that I can make my morning macchiato and slowly wake up for the day. This is usually when I do my writing (which is what I am doing right now), because Stinky is slower and more independent in the morning.

A bit before 8am, I give her breakfast in her highchair, while I continue to drink my coffee and take my time. Stinky usually has some combination of rice crackers, Yogis, frozen fruit, and/or peanut butter oatmeal. I usually put the clean dishes from the dishwasher away while she eats. it takes on average 40 minutes for her to eat a meal.

Once Stinky signs that she is “done”, I clean her up and let her go back to playing with her toys and dancing to Canticos. She also usually has a dirty diaper after breakfast. I let her watch more TV in the morning than the rest of the day, because it lets me do my thing, and she enjoys the music for dancing during breakfast. This system has worked well for us so far.

8:00am – 10:00am

Around 8am, Stinky and I wake up Hubby for the day. He will come downstairs for us to have breakfast together, while Stinky plays. We switch off eating breakfast ourselves.

Around this time is when I plan dinner, put that morning coffee to good use (if you know what I mean 💩), and Hubby watches Stinky while I shower. We also play with Stinky until nap time, which is her favorite part of the day.

Obviously, some days Stinky is having big emotions and needs her mama. These days look very different. These mornings usually consist of me holding her for most of the morning and not getting anything done or any alone time until her nap.

10:00am to 12:00pm

Stinky’s only nap is around 10:15am to 12:00pm. This is when I get ready for the day by tidying, making about plans, packing hubby’s lunch, packing the car, and prepping the diaper bag (obviously depends on the day). Hubby showers and gets ready for work during her nap. I usually listen to an audiobook while putting Stinky down for naps and doing chores, which has been a total game changer when it comes to my mental health and reading productivity. If I am doing laundry that day, I will also start the laundry during this first nap. Sometimes, I will even sneak in a nap, if it was a particularly restless night, and I don’t have much to do that day.

If she is still asleep when we are done getting ready, Hubby generally leaves for work, and I will do a fun activity for myself. I like to play Animal Crossing, read, write, or watch Youtube while enjoying an early lunch.

When Stinky wakes up from her nap, the morning is over and we move into our afternoon/nighttime routine!

That’s it!

That’s our current morning routine! It’s not perfect. We like to take mornings slow. I prefer to be most productive in the late morning/early afternoon.