Hi! Just as my title says I am currently a stay-home-mom with a toddler that will be soon going to school.

I just wanted to "talk" to anyother stay at home moms that are logged in that wanted to share with me what they do and you start your days.

Me, I am moving very slow this morning. Still in my PJ's and have a MESS in the kitchen. My toddler is still sleeping and don't want to wake her up, so I dress the beds, pick up clothes and shoes from the floor, and do stuff like that , that doesn't make much noise.

I also do aerobic workouts and weights with Cathe from Cathe.com. She is on Fitness TV and she is WONDERFUL!!! And of course, I do it at home!

Anwya, moving slow here. Need to go dress the beds which I haven't done yet but the little one wakes up.

Anyone out there? I have my PC in the kitchen so whenever I walk pass it, I can see if anyone is writing.

And, if you feel lonely , I am also here to listen. Sometimes we get like that too.

Well, I have two boys...6 and 4. The 4 year old likes to get up early...ueually around 6:15-6:45. Hubby gets up before 6 for work, and my 4 year old usually comes to my bed when he wakes up and tells me jokes and talk to me until I finally decide to roll out of the bed (this doesn't take too long!) My 6 year old used to sleep in (afternoon kindergarten), but has been getting up around 7-7:30. I am not a morning person at all, and it takes me a few to get motivated and to wake up. I usually flip on pbs when they wake up, have a cup of coffee, and check cc. Give them breakfast, and am usually getting dressed for the day by 9, feed the boys lunch around 10:45 (very slow eaters!!), leave the house by 11:45 to get the kindergartner to school, drop off the 4 year old at preschool, come home and do some chores. I pick up the kindergartner at 2:30, preschooler at 2:45, back home by 3. Get snacks and clean some more, play games with the boys. I watch Oprah at 4 , then start dinner. Sometimes I get pilates in there somewhere, but I really need to sign up for a class so I HAVE to go workout. I don't feel like I do anything for ME most days. This morning, dh had the 4 year old watch cartoons, and told him not to wake mommy til daytime! The boys woke me up at 8:25 for breakfast! They played nice and quiet for almost 2 hours Now, that won't happen very often, but it was a nice surprise! I hate mornings, and next year, my oldest will have to be at school at 7:55

Hmmm....what does my day look like? This morning it was a dentist appointment for my two boys 4 and 5. Had to take my 2 year old DD b/c hubby was out (he usually works from the house). 4 year old SCREAMED for 5 minutes before finally calming down enough for the dentist to look at him. 5 year old thought it was FUN and even the 2 year old wanted her teeth cleaned . Then on to Walmart where we had to pick out a birthday present for a party this weekend (do i even need to say how long that took?).

OK....most days look like this.....kids all up by 6:30. Hubby fixes them breakfast so that I can shower. Coffee/cake central/email/IM until around 9am. Then school work (we homeschool the boys) until 11 or so....longer if they have bad attitudes. Lunch and reading at 11, naptime for the 2 year old at 1pm and rest time (usually involves Spongebob) for the boys. From 1 until the 2 year old is up at 2:30....I hear "I'm hungry" about 82 times. 2 year old gets up, snack time! Baths around 3:30/4, then get the 5 year old and hubby ready for TaeKwon Do (3 nights a week). Dinner around 5:30....play time, then get ready for bed around 7. Kids all go away.....quiet time for a while.

I'm wore out just writing this!!!

Well I am a SAHM also...My son is almost 6 and my daughter almost 4.We get up about 6:30 am and the kids watch cartoons,about 30 minutes..have breakfast and I turn on the PC and have a cup of coffee.We go upstairs and get ready for school at 7:10 as my son is in kindergarten and it starts at 8:30 am.We come down and they play or watch cartoons about 40 minutes and we leave for school.The school is only 5 blocks away.Drop him off and on Tues/Thurs my 4 yr old has preschool from 9:00 to 11:15 so I have 2 mornings to myself.Pick up my son at 11:10 am and go home for lunch.That's it...I usually don't go out after lunch unless I have an appointment etc...Make supper at about 4:30 and we eat at about 6pm.Kids are in bed by 8:00-8:15.

I am also a stay at home mother. I have 3 at home right now. My oldest is 4 next one 2 and then the youngest is 10 months. All girls! I am having one of those days you know where you can just tell that you have 50 million things to do and not enough hands or hours to do it in. My step daughter is having her birthday party this weekend. She'll be 8. So I have to make her cake for the party. I have to go to Costco I am out of diapers. On top of all of that my kitchen is a wreck right now. lol Its just a crazy crazy days. I think I need a nap I'm getting tired just looking at what I have to do!

Thank you for sharing with me!! It is a lot of work, isn't it? Some people may thinkg, "Oh, you are at home all day long, you have plenty of time to do this and that..." but not true. Kids take up a lot of time and effort. I am not complaining though. It is such a blessing that I am able to stay home and enjoy my little one this time around. I couldn't do it with my first girl.

She will be going soon to preschool half days to begin with, and then I have to figure out if I can get a partime where I can leave early enough to pick both my girls up (only would be leaving at 12:00pm and the eldest at 2:30pm).

My husband is a computer guy so he is busy all day long and comes home HUNGRY!!

It is going to be hard when I start working full time eventually because I would be getting home about 6, after picking up girls at school, and then having to deal with meals and then exercise.

Fridays are a treat for me. 3 boys, 9yo, middle one is 5 tomorrow and next one is 5 in June. Little guys don't have preschool on Fridays so we stay home and DH takes 9yo to shcool.
Typically I am up at 5:30 for my quiet time, DH & kids up at 6:30-7,
drop off all kids to school from 8-8:45, 2-3 days a week I go into work doing medical billing and coding for 2 hours, I can also do this at home if I want but find it is more likely to get done if I just go into the office. I also spend one morning erranding. Pick up little guys at 11:30 then lunch, home office work, housework and if I have a scap of time left over, cake or craft time, not usually. pick up 9yo at 3:30 then home for homework and dinner prep/dinner. Take dinner to my grandpa at 6 and sit with him for an hour, then home for more homework/cleanup. Bedtime between 8-9, computer or spend time with DH if he is not futzing around. Bed by 10ish usually. I am almost always at home on the weekends, this is when I do my freezer cooking and any extra projects

Today I could not get started, after sent DH & DS off me and little ones dozed on couch, its 9am and time to kick it. Clean floor, iron,, plan for middle ones birthday party this weekend, pull out decos, make fondant accents for his cake. Then errands, one kitten needs stiches taken out from getting spayed, to recycle place, library, cartridge recycle place, pu 9yo. blah blah blah.

Kids now throwing toys across room to see how many pieces they will break into, gotta go.

Heather

Let's see...I have two kids, DD is 8 and in 2nd grade, DS is 4 and in pre-k. We get up at 6:30, DH showers & leaves for work at 7. I make DD's lunch and get the kids breakfasts ready. DS is usually up at 6:30-6:45, so he eats & watches tv while I'm getting things ready for the day. Make sure DD has everything she needs in her backpack & wake her up around 7-7:10. She is NOT a morning person so it takes her a good 10 minutes to wake up, get dressed, and get downstairs. On most days I'll have about 10 minutes to check my email and eat a bowl of cereal before I have to wake her up. While she's eating I get dressed and put my hair up so I look halfway presentable when I drive her to school at 7:40.

When we get home from taking her to school, I read the newspaper online (we don't get a real paper) & check CC Then I'll shower & get dressed, and usually get interrupted 25 times by DS who is telling me every detail of what he has been doing during the past 5 minutes. DS then gets dressed while I vaccuum (a daily thing here), put dishes away, clean the kitchen, and a few days out of the week do/put away laundry. I'll usually check email here too (like right now). Then it's time for DS to have lunch & get ready for school. His bus comes at 11:30. When he's at school, M-Th I either get on the treadmill or go to the Y to exercise & then run errands. I also use this time to make any phone calls or do any paperwork for the rescue that I have to do. Fridays I go into school (I alternate between DS's & DD's schools) and work in the classroom. The kids come home between 3:15 & 3:30, and then I supervise homework. I start making dinner around 4:30. Bath time is around 7, and we start the bedtime process at 7:30 with them being in bed by 8.

Tuesdays & Wednesdays the kids have swimming after school, so we don't get home until around 6. Those nights we'll have something easy for dinner (like spaghetti) or leftovers. Weekends are easier because we usually just veg out!

I think I'm finally going to start the Wilton classes (Course I) in Feb., so I'll be able to get out one night a week!

-Lisa

Hello--
I have 2 wonderful children. DD is 3 and a half and DS is 2. Usually the kids wake me up as they tend to get up somewhere between 6 to 6:30 am. I then within 5 minutes of them jumping into my bed decide to get up and get moving. I thought about getting up earlier and tried a couple of times but my son has some sort of mommy radar and is up usually within 15 minutes of me if I try to get up earlier. As most mornings I go to the gym, i usually let the children watch about 30 mins of cartoons, get them dressed and then fed and then into the car and on our way. I used to do all my housework in the mornings but since I joined the gym that hasn't been going so smoothly. I also seem to be much less motivated in the afternoons so as it is Friday and rest day for me I have some work to do in this house before it ends up being condemed due to to much clutter!!
Have a great day all and it is great to meet you!

Yes, me too... I try to get up before everyone else does... I can't handle the kids without a cup of coffee first....

Ape how do you boys get social skills???

I am also a SAHM. My day during the week starts at 6:30. I wake up my 7 yr old to get her ready for school. Then DH wakes up about 6:45 to get in the shower. We have to plan bathroom time for eveyone since we only have one bathroom for all of us. Plus now I'm potty training my 2 yr old DD. And for all who have potty trained know that they don't wait for whoever's in the bathroom. If they can't get in right away they have an accident. Anyways DH leaves at 7ish to go to work. Then I feed all 3 of my girls and make my 7 yr olds lunch. At that time I get in to the bathroom to get ready. We leave at 7:40 to take DD to school. After that I meet my MIL for breakfast. We eat breakfast together every day during the week. It's a good thing I actually get along with my MIL. About 9 I either go home or go do any errands I need to get done. The kids get their first nap around 9:30 or 10. That's my time. I get to do whatever I want. Sometimes I take a nap. Other times I catch up on my email or get on here to look at all of the new cakes. About 12:30 the little ones wake up and I feed them lunch. We play until 2:30 when I have to go pick up my 7 year old. We get home about 3:15 and then I do household stuff like laundry or dishes that need done. My 1 yr old lays down for her final nap of the day and then DH comes home at 4:30. Usually I'll hop back on the computer like I am right now for a few minutes before I start dinner. After we eat my 7 yr old does her homework and we do baths. Then it's bedtime at 8:00. After that I usually do another load of laundry and the dinner dishes. Then it's grown up time. It's nice to spend some time with DH without the little ones running around. What I look forward to are the weekends because I get to sleep in. Dh gets up with the kids so I get to sleep in for a little while. It's great! You know it's not the easiest job to be a SAHM but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm a new SAHM. My daughter is 16 and son is 11. I have always had a full time job outside the home, but 6 months ago we decided that our teenager needed some full time supervision. These teenage years are rough!

It has been a major adjustment for me. I was a sales person and was always with people. Going from that to being alone for half the day was really hard. I was bored at first. Now I'm used to it and can spend more time learning new things like cake decorating and scrapbooking.

My day starts off with a cup of coffee, then some Bible reading and prayer time. Then I spend about 30 minutes doing beginner's yoga. I watch a couple of shows on HGTV while I fold laundry. I do some house cleaning and surf the net. DD comes home at about 2:00, followed by DS at 2:45. I feed them a snack, talk to them about their days. We make sure homework is done and before you know it, it's time to start dinner before my husband gets home. My being at home has made a positive difference in the organization and health of the family and our home. That is fulfilling. I realize now that it's a privilege to be able to be at home with your children and I'm grateful.

SAHM here too! I have a 6,soon to be 5, 3 and 18 month old. I'm in culinary school right now (2 year program) and volunteer at a few places.

My day was a cold one! I was outside here in MI on a field trip to watch ice sculpting about 1 hour away from where I live. It was cool athough not too many ice carvers were there as normal so we walked around a lot. Came home put 2 of my kids down for their naps and the other 2 played. I ran 1 mile on my treadmill and thought I would die! Got yet another shower took a 15 min. nap and then my 6 year old fixed my hair and put my make-up on me and dressed me into a pretty outfit and jewlrey she picked out. Cooked dinner and picked up. Later on my DH came home and asked what happened to my hair and face Getting ready to give baths now so I have to go.

Oh, how sweet that your kid got you all dressed up and make up on!!!

My little one is a bit on the destructive side!! There is nothing that she touches that stays in one piece. Loves to tear up pieces of paper!

Yikes!

She has also broken some of her older sister's dolls. Some of them are headless and some are missing clothing...

Oh, well!

hey guys iam a stay at home mom of two a boy 7 and a girl nearly 3 my day starts at 6:30 that seems to be a popular time of day around here I get my husband off to work and my son on the buss by 8 and then my daugther watching some cartoons or colorers while mommy checks the computer and then we shower and play games and go to the store if need be and then she goes down for her nap at 1 thats when mommy has her quite time and thats when i work out and clean up I volunteer twice a week in my sons first grade classroom I love kids and before becomming a stay at home mom I was well on my way to being a first grade teacher. around 3 my girl wakes up and we walk down to get brother from the bus and then we do homework and so on and so forth. until 9 aclock bedtime. I was wondering when do you think you will all go back to work if ever? I was thinking once both my kids were in school full time I would pursue my teaching career so that i would be around them at school and then home at the same time as them but I dont know you would think after 10 years of being at home my skills in the work force may not be up to parr and who really hires people who havent had any job experience in a million years but ethier way thats along way off just something I think about.

J9morabit:
I'm a SAHM of 2 girls, 8 and 4.
I have heard that staying at home is even more important when you have teenagers. Lots of people go back to work when the kids are that age and that is when they really need the attention.

I am also a SAHM of two. DS is 4 1/2 and DD is 2 1/2. Our day starts at 9:30am. We get up and eat breakfast. Kids usually play or watch a movie (depending on what I need to get done). We wake Dad up at 11 or 12, if he doesn't let me sleep in that is. He gets up and eats, then showers to get ready to go to work. We eat lunch around 1:30pm which is when Dad leaves. After lunch is school. I homeschool my DS. School lasts anywhere from 1-4 hours depending on the intensity of the work. Then it's naptime. Naps usually last about 2 hours. Sometimes I nap and other times I try to do housework. Then they get up to play. Supper is around 6pm. After supper they play until 10pm. At 10pm they go to bed. (They have baths sometime during the day depending on when is best for us.) I stay up until DH gets home which is around midnight. We usually watch a movie and go to bed by 2am.

A little strange I know but we do it to fit DH's schedule. It seems to work okay for us.

mitsel8
Thanks for that comment. Raising kids is a hard job. I find myself constantly wondering if we're making the right decisions for them.

butterflyjuju, how cool that your family can adjust your schedule to fit around Dad's. He must feel lucky to have such a supportive wife.

Ape,

This is what I tell people. When I went to public schools, I constantly heard the teacher say, "We are not here to socialize." My kids get the same socialization as yours.

j9morabit,

DH was on day shift for a while. We really liked it but his company did some rearranging so he got shifted to 2 shift. We just try to work it where he can see us.

My kids go to public school with some of the most socially inept and poorly adjusted kids I've ever seen. I grew up going to church with lots of home schooled kids. Their parents enrolled them in the same extra curricular activities as the rest of the kids we knew - sports, dance and music lessons, scouting, etc. Most of them succesfully completed college, all of them became wonderful adults.

My daughter has little interaction with other kids, but it is very social by any means. Too social!! She does goes to her kid's class at Sunday school and has no problem interacting with the other kids, playing, sharing and stuff.

She does have her older sister, which has taught her to defend herself when the eldest tries to take advantage.

I too am a SAHM and have been for 10 years. We have 3 beautiful daughters, 13, 9 and 3. I think it is one of the most difficult jobs there could possibly be but the most rewarding. Sometimes I think it would be easier to get up and go to work.

We get up around 5:45 here and start our day. My 9 year old has to be at the bus stop at 7:00, 13 year old at 7:45. I work with my 3 year old with my neighbor (who also hasa 3 year old) and try to teach them their alphabet, etc. At lot of times we will go to different places with the neighbor for fun time. The 9 year old gets off the bus at 2:40, 13 year old at 4:00. My husband's schedule changes every 6 weeks from days to nights so we try and adjust our schedule to that. It is hard though because we are eating dinner at 4:00 for 6 weeks and then 6:30 for 6 weeks. My housework also has to change around because if my husband is working nights, I can't do a lot during the day as I am afraid I will wake him up.

As far as the teenager goes, I think it doest get rougher. Right now we are dealing with the fact that we can't give her the most expensive items that she wants. She wants a D&B purse for $175!!!!! She has one that we bought for $80 (she paid 1/2 and I gave her the other half for helping me this summer when we moved). The other day I told her the only way we could give her stuff like that was when I went back to work. A few hours later she asked when I was going to go back to work. Guess that tells me what she wants! I know she will appreciate the fact that I was home with her when she is older but it doesn't matter to her now. Sorry for complaining.

As far as going back to work, I don't know. I too am worried about someone wanting to hire me after not working for so long. I at least have another 1 1/2 before my little one starts Kindergarten and it is only half days here so probably more like 2 1/2 years. My husband says when he reitres from the Navy he is going to stay at home and do my job. I just laugh because there isn't any way he could keep up! HA

Hi navywifetrat~I'm a Navy wife as well. We have the most difficult job of all I think. Well, any wife whose husbands are in the military!!!

My husband just deployed for 7 1/2 months this past Tuesday! This is our fourth deployment but our first with kids.

We have a 4 1/2 year old son and a 2 year old son! They are already used to daddy being gone because in the last year that he's been on the boat they have been gone pretty much all of it sporadically, three weeks here, four weeks here, seven weeks there. Every month they were gone for some amount of time. This time around he'll be gone in one long stretch!

Anyway, my 4 year old goes to preschool Mon, Wed, & Fri. My 2 year old will start as soon as I get back from the cake show in March! I can't wait for that. I haven't worked since I had my first son. Most of the time I wish I could go back to work just to prove to myself that I can do something other than change a diaper, wipe runny noses, discipline, and do house work! I go nuts just about every day!

I suffer from GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) I take two different meds for it but I tell you, they just don't seem to work anymore. I can't be switching my meds everytime I feel they aren't working for me!!!!


Once 8 pm comes around every day THAT's when I get time to myself! Having my desktop in my kitchen is the ONLY reason I spend as much time on here as I do. If it weren't for you all here on CC I would litterally go nuts and cry every day!!!!!!!


Amy

Bluehen92/Lisa,

That's a good idea about being a para. I'm considering subbing at my kids' school for the same reason. Only problem is the lousy pay, but it would pay for all the extracurricular activities.

God bless you Navy wives and all military spouses for that matter. The only job tougher than being a mom is being a military wife and mom. I was a Marine wife for the first 4 years of my marriage. It was hard. He was only deployed once, for 6 months, but training ops kept him away often. I was proud and still am of his love of our country and his patriotism, as I'm sure you are of your husbands. I am grateful to all members of our military for their service and sacrifice. I thank their spouses and children too, as they sacrifice for us as well.

cakemommy, I was just at the dr.'s office yesterday about my anxiety disorder (performance, not generalized). He finally talked me into supplementing my meds with counseling/therapy. I don't want to rely on the pills any more. Maybe you've already tried the counseling?

Cakemommy -

My husband just came back last March from an 8 month deployment to Iraq. This was his first time away for that long. We just stuck to a schedule and talked about daddy alot. I had pictures taped on the fridge so our then 2 year old could kiss him at any time. We would ask her where he was and she would say Iraq. I also had a picture with each girl beside their bed. He thinks he will be going back again in August. Being a military wife is very difficult - not everyone understands that. Get into a routine and time will go by faster. At least it did for me. I did try to be nice mommy and not come down to hard on my oldest and that really back fired on me. I finally had to step up and come down really hard on her.

j9morabit - you are right, it isn't just about the military spouses but the kids sacrifice a lot also. I am so proud of my husband and the rest of the military and their families. I always say, my husband signed up for the Navy however, I am in the Navy also (unless it comes a party that I don't want to go to! HA!!)

Wow, so many wonderful stories...

When I decided to stay home with my 2nd daughter, I received some negative comments by some co-workers.

Comments:

"Oh, I can't say home all day... I need to be challenged." As if staying home with a young child, taking her of all households chores and errands isn't challenging enough...

Another one was: "So, you went to school and got your Bachelor's Degree for what... To stay home..?"

I told this one that my degree is like money in the bank. When I need it, it will be there for me to take it out and use it. I told her that I would eventually go back to work but for the time being my priorities where to take care of my baby.

Aren't people something?