The Best Stay At Home Mom Schedule (and 7 game-changer tips)
In this post: how to create a stay at home mom schedule that will organize your life and give you free time.
To say that being a stay at home mom is like being on an endless roller coaster, would be a serious understatement.
When you finally get a routine down, someone gets sick, new teeth come in, your toddler has another growth spurt, and you burn out again.
The responsibilities are endless, you clean the house so it can get messy again, your days are the exact same yet completely different.
After finding myself in a constant burnout and completely miserable, thinking I couldn’t do it anymore, I finally established a stay at home mom schedule that worked for my family.
Before we get into creating your schedule, there are some things you need to know and I’m here to share them with you.
Things To Know Before You Start Your Stay At Home Mom Schedule
Every Day Will Not Be The Same
Think of your stay at home mom schedule as an outline of your day: all the things you need to get done and what you would like to get done.
You won’t always be able to refresh the bathrooms every Tuesday because this Tuesday you’re bringing the kids to the aquarium. Or, everyone woke up in a bad mood this morning and your toddler is extra clingy today.
Your schedule is a guide to follow so not everything is sitting in your head all the time.
It Is A Balancing Act
I know it sounds like a cliche but once you really understand what the “balance” is, you’ll limit some of the pressure you feel every day.
Finding the balance between grace and discipline.
Let’s be real, the feeling of motivation is hard to get when you’re with your kids all day and just want to lay down & not be responsible for everyone for 10 minutes.
Some days give yourself grace and order dinner instead of cooking because you’re so beat.
Other days you know you just need to kick yourself in your backside because you can get it done.
Things That Help When Creating Your Stay At Home Mom Schedule
Schedule Ahead Of Time
Weekly and daily planners will be your holy grail. At the start of your week, whatever day that is, look at your calendar for any events or appointments that are scheduled.
Daily Trips Outside
Getting your kids outside as often as possible helps improve their sleep, better their mental/physical health, and gives them something other than you to focus on for an hour.
Time Blocking
When creating your stay at home mom schedule, it’s important to time block as much of it as possible.
Example: 9-10am educational time. That means that during that 1 hour, you will do nothing but focus on educational time. If you finish before the hour is up, you’ve just gotten yourself a couple free minutes to rest.
Free Times In Your Schedule
Allow for there to be empty time slots in your schedule. If there’s one thing all moms know, it’s that kids are unpredictable. What worked one day may not work the next.
Allowing free time in your schedule will come in handy when your toddler doesn’t let you do your 10am chores or make your grocery trip.
During scheduled free time you can either complete the missed tasks from earlier in the day or use the time for extra playtime, independent time, etc.
You may think that the more tasks you can fit into your schedule, the more you’ll get done. Nope. Just don’t do it. You could be setting yourself up for a lot of disappointment, frustrations, and exhaustion.
Nap Times Are For Naps
Do not try to complete anything besides resting, self care, reading a book, etc.
Now, onto creating your stay at home mom schedule.
Start Your Schedule With Your Everyday Responsibilities.
All Meal Times
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner should all be around the same time every day (a few minutes or so won’t knock the kids out of their routine).
Snack times should also be scheduled so they know when they’ll be able to get their snacks and won’t be so tempted to ask for them all day.
My kids get 2 scheduled snacks a day: an hour before lunch and after nap time.
Scheduling and planning out our meals has also significantly helped with my weekly meal plans and grocery trips.
Clean Up Times
Scheduling clean up times has limited the amount of tantrums my kids have because they know that at the same times every day, we will all be cleaning up our messes.
Include your kids in the daily chores. Toddlers usually are eager to help as long as you keep it fun and let them think they’re in control.
We schedule our clean up times for before lunch (after snack), just before dinner, and if there are any small messes made after dinner while I close down the kitchen.
RELATED: 5 Steps To Raising Responsible Kids
Independent Time
It’s important for everyone in the house to get alone time to rest or reset their minds. We like to have independent time during first snack since it’s right after the early morning energy rush.
It’s also important for you as a mom to get alone time during the day to do whatever you want. I usually take this time for 30 minutes of reading or trying to still have a social life outside of motherhood while I finish my morning coffee.
Nap Times
I mean we all know how absolutely FERAL our toddlers/preschoolers get without their nap. Having a daily routine in place for your kids is so important for this exact reason.
Every day they’ll have their morning routine (wake up, brush teeth, etc), breakfast, playtime/educational time, snack, independent time, lunch then nap.
Kids are a lot more willing to have their regular nap when they’ve been kept busy all morning and their internal clocks are regulated to their same routine.
Schedule Family And Play Times
Realistically, things have to get done. We can’t just play with our kids all day long. However, it’s still important to make the time every day to play with them and give them our undivided attention.
If you have more than one kid, be sure to schedule 1 on 1 times with each of them. It’s good for them to see us taking care of our home but being intentional with them, doing the things they love, is more important for the relationship you’ll grow to have.
Your Kids Morning Routine
Starting from when they wake in the morning. My kids get up and out of bed by 7:30am. They brush their teeth, wash their face and inspect if anything was changed in the house overnight. Then they have breakfast.
Your Own Morning Routine
I do not and probably will never wake up before my kids. Everyone does everything at the same time. Wake up together, brush teeth together, etc.
Once my kids are situated with breakfast at 8am, I’ll go and do the rest of my morning routine in peace. Put on a podcast, audiobook, etc., do my skincare and get myself ready for the day.
Your Kids Night Routine
I’m a firm believer that a child’s bedtime routine begins at dinner time. So every night, dinner time, quiet play, clean up, bathtime, bedtime snack, brush teeth, in bed at 8pm.
MORE INFO: A Realistic Toddler Bedtime Routine
Your Own Night Routine
Just like your morning routine, you should be scheduling your night routine. After the kids go to bed, jump straight into your own bedtime routine before you get into bed!
The longer you put it off, the less likely you’ll do it and you’ll probably go to sleep later too.
Throw on your favorite show/podcast/audiobook, shower (if you’re a night shower(-er?)), skincare, brush teeth and get in bed. Done by 9pm!
Take 15 minutes to refresh your SAHM schedule with the next day’s activities, appointments, chores, etc.
Read a book, watch an episode of your favorite show, or take the time to do extra work.
When your set bed time hits, immediately stop whatever you’re doing, get off your phone and get to bed (mine is 10pm).
Keep reading for my example stay at home mom schedule!
MY STAY AT HOME MOM SCHEDULE
730a: wake up & kids morning routine
800a: my morning routine
830a: my breakfast & kids independent play
900a: open the house/chores (unload dishwasher, laundry, open windows,etc)
930a: educational/family play
1030a: snack time & continue chores
11a: outside (play, errands, park)
12p: lunch time
1230p: naptime
200p: my workout & kids exercise (dance, stretches, etc)
300p: my shower & kids playtime/snacktime
400p: cook dinner & bedtime prep
500p: dinner time
600p: quiet play & clean up
700p: bath and snack
800p: kids bedtime/ my night routine
The purpose of creating a stay at home mom schedule is to give you something, that’s not just a random list of responsibilities in your head, to follow.
Your schedule is there to organize your day and guide you through it. It’s not there to be another thing you have to get done. It should be the only thing you follow each day, if done correctly.
Don’t stress if things on your schedule don’t get done to the exact minute. Just organize your day the night before and flow through it as best you can.
Hope this helps mama – xo
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