How to Create a Stay at Home Mom Schedule You’ll Love
Between the kids, meals, chores, and everything else on your to-do list, being a stay at home mom will keep you busy! And, if you’re not careful, it can leave you feeling drained. With a few simple tips, you can create a stay at home mom schedule that will help you accomplish the most important things and make you love your role as a mom even more!
I don’t know about you, but I thrive on good routines! I’ve been a stay at home mom since our first was born and creating healthy routines has been a huge help to me.
In the few years since she was born, we’ve moved states multiple times and had various living situations, sometimes with family around, sometimes not. Regardless of where we’ve found ourselves, keeping a regular, although flexible routine, has helped me to prioritize the most important things and enjoy being a stay at home mom.
Make a Routine, Not a Schedule
Days can be unpredictable with kids, and it’ll add stress to your life if you try to force your family to stay on a strict schedule. Instead, create a routine that can be modified depending on the day.
Sometimes you may find yourself having a crazy day that didn’t go as planned. That’s okay! Just try to form your days around the general routine and let life happen and kids be kids.
What Are Your Priorities?
When creating your stay at home mom schedule, first think through your priorities. This doesn’t have to be a list of everything you must get done every day, but just the general things you want to build into your routine.
As an example, these are my priorities on a normal day (in no particular order):
- Take care of the kids (this includes everything from playing with them to changing diapers)
- Spend time with my husband
- Keep up the house
- Get myself fully dressed and put together
- Prepare food (meals, snacks, ferments, etc.)
- Read
- Spend time on a hobby (right now, that’s this blog)
Some days not everything gets done, but these are the goals. If you’re in a short season different than your normal life (such as postpartum or moving), you may need to temporarily adjust your priorities.
Tips to Create a Stay at Home Mom Schedule You Love
Build in Time to Get Ready for the Day
Getting fully dressed and ready for the day is one of the best ways to start your day! It’ll make you feel so much better and be more productive than if you would’ve stayed in leggings and a t-shirt. Give yourself grace for the days it doesn’t happen, but make an effort to get in the habit of getting ready each day.
Save Nap Time for Yourself
While you could just knock out a bunch of housework during nap time (or quiet time if your kids are slightly older), it’s important for you to have this time for yourself.
If you have a hobby, fun random project, or just need some time to put up your feet and read a good book, this is the time to do it!
Get Out of the House Each Day
I know this isn’t always possible, but when you can, try to get outside each day. It will do wonders for your kids (and you too)!
After spending time outside, my toddler is always happier and much more willing to play on her own. It also tends to improve sleep for kids!
On days that playing outside isn’t an option, just getting out of the house (even if it’s grocery shopping) is a great way to mix things up as well.
Don’t Save Everything for After the Kids are in Bed
Get dinner cleaned up and the house back in order as much as possible before the kids get in bed. You’ll enjoy your evenings so much more if they’re spent with your spouse or relaxing doing something you enjoy!
On days I get behind, even if the house is a little messy, once the kids are in bed I only let myself do things that MUST be done before bed. This includes putting away any food that’s still out and loading the dishwasher. Pretty much everything else can usually wait until morning.
Discuss You and Your Husband’s Roles Together
This can look different for everyone. What matters is that you and your husband are on the same page with what each of you are contributing to the family. It’s important to know what you each expect the other person to do and discuss this together to make sure it’s realistic.
Also, talk about ways each of you can help the other when one of you has a particularly busy day. For example, it works better for my husband to help with dishes or cleaning rather than with cooking. If I have extra time, I like to get his lunch ready and clothes laid out for work the next day.
Be Flexible
Keep your priorities in mind so you know when to be flexible. It’s usually okay if dinner is a little late or if the house is messy because a child needed extra attention or you got in a long conversation with your husband. Know the things that are the most important to you so you can make good decisions on when to change up your routine.
Find a Planner that Works for You
Some people love using daily planners on their computers or phones and others prefer pen and paper. Experiment with a few different options to find what you like best. I love simple daily paper planners like this one.
Use whatever option you choose to keep track of appointments and other reminders, write your to-do list, and meal plan!
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My Stay at Home Mom Schedule
Schedules are unique to the person and family. However, sometimes seeing someone else’s stay at home mom schedule can help you create your own.
While I like to follow this general routine, other than dinner, nap, and bed times, I pay more attention to the general order of things rather than the times. Here’s what my days typically look like:
Mornings
6:00 AM: Before my toddler wakes up, I like to get dressed, pack my husband’s lunch for the day, and read. If we got to bed late the night before or I didn’t get good sleep, I’ll skip this and just sleep as long as I can.
7:30 AM (or whenever my toddler wakes up): Once she wakes up, I’ll get her dressed and make breakfast. If something has to bake (like German pancakes), I’ll get it in the oven and get her ready for the day while it’s baking. If I slept in that morning, I’ll use this time to get myself dressed as well.
9:00 AM: Once breakfast is over, it’s time to clean up the kitchen (including emptying the dishwasher from the night before). I also make the bed and do any quick tidying up. I may also throw in a load of laundry. If I didn’t have time earlier to get fully ready for the day (hair, makeup, etc.) I’ll go ahead and do that too. I try to involve my daughter in these tasks which she usually loves!
10:30 AM: Mid mornings are when we prioritize getting out of the house for a little while if we can. Playing outside is what we do most days. However, if I have errands or an appointment I’ll try to do that at this time instead.
11:00 AM: If we’re at home, I’ll do more household tasks or projects. Depending on the day this could be baking, deep cleaning, or something else. After being out of the house, my toddler is usually very content to play independently once we come back in.
Afternoons
12:15 PM: Lunch time! Usually we’ll have leftovers or I’ll have thrown something in the oven or crockpot earlier that morning that we can eat. I’ll also pick up the kitchen as much as I can before 1:00 PM.
1:00 PM: This is when my toddler goes down for her nap. During her nap I don’t do any household chores or cooking. This is strictly my personal time to relax and work on my blog.
3:30 PM (or whenever my toddler wakes up): If it’s a nice day, we’ll go back outside to play for a little bit. If not, I’ll go ahead and give her a snack.
4:00 PM: Once we’re back inside, I’ll give my toddler a snack while I start making dinner. I’ll also use this time to wrap up any household chores I still need to finish.
Evenings
5:30 PM: My husband usually gets home around 5:30 PM, and we try to eat right away.
6:30 PM: After dinner we’ll get the kitchen cleaned up and then relax. This could be going outside for a little bit, watching something, or just hanging out and playing with our daughter.
7:30 PM: My husband or I will do our daughter’s bedtime routine while the other one finishes up anything that needs done before the morning.
8:00 PM: Once she’s down for the night, we’ll have some time to relax and get ready. for bed. Depending on the night we may read or watch something.
9:00 PM: We’re not very strict on the time we get to bed, but it’s usually around this time.
Weekends
I don’t have such a structured routine on the weekends. While we try to keep nap and bed times consistent, everything else is more flexible. I like to plan easy meals and have some leftovers available so we can spend more time as a family and I’m not in the kitchen all day.
Since we only have one car that my husband usually has during the week, we typically do all our shopping on the weekends.
Create Your Routine
Decide how you want your days to flow and the order you typically want to do things in. Also, know which things must be done each day and what can be skipped sometimes.
Now write out what you want your days to look like and place it somewhere you’ll see often. Once you settle into your new routine you won’t need the visual reminder. For now it will help you stay on track.
As you begin to follow the routine you’ll discover some things you love about it and other things that just don’t work. Keep modifying it until it works for you and your family!
What does your day look like as a stay at home mom? Let me know in the comments!
More Helpful Tips for Moms
How to Survive the Newborn Stage (and Actually Enjoy It)
How to Make a Minimalist Baby Registry – What You Really Need
