Our Daily Routine

Happy Friday, Y’all!  I know many of you have anxiously been awaiting this post.  I must preface this by saying this is what I’d like our schedule to be like every single day.  Yes, most days it is, but sometimes there are hiccups and we just try and roll with it.  Since the children have all been at the same school for two years now (hallelujah, godsend!), it makes is a million times easier.  I’ll have one more year of this before Wheeler heads to middle school in the Fall of 2020.  Don’t even get me started… // Wearing this striped top, these jeans, these flats (true to size, color is seashell pink) and these sunnies.

4:45/5am – Wake-Up (make coffee, work on blog, respond to emails, DMs, switch over laundry, etc.)

6am – Kids Wake Up (It’s mostly internal and they’re usually all up by this time.  Whether they go to bed at 6:30 or 10:30, they usually will still get up at 6am.  But both the girls and boys have these clocks in their rooms and they’ve always known that if the clock light isn’t green, they can’t get up yet.  It’s still crazy to me that all four are early birds like me.  This makes mornings a million times easier.

As soon as they wake up, they make up their beds (they each have their own twin bed, so it makes it easier for them to knock this out.  I thought about having bunk beds for their rooms to give them more space like in our last house, but I knew with twin beds that they’d have this responsibility…and they needed it.)  I also knew they wouldn’t be as prone to chilling up on their bunk beds if they wanted to read, play with toys as they would with twin beds.  If you’re wondering, the girls have these beds (currently on sale!) and the boys have these beds.

After they make their beds, they put on their clothes.  Again, a perfect day, they’ll pick their clothes out the night before so they’re not rummaging around the next morning looking for anything. This step makes life so much easier in the morning.  And yes, they usually pick out their own clothes.  I separate their dresses with tops in one drawer and pants in the other, so it makes it easy to grab and go.  They also know that their pajamas go in the washing machine when they head downstairs.

6:10 – They come downstairs to eat breakfast.  This has always amazed me, but my kids can eat!  Every single one of them eats an egg everyday, along with cereal and/or yogurt.  And maybe something else too, like a banana.  And they like to talk as much as I do.  So usually at this point, they’re all sitting around the kitchen table chatting it up while enjoying their breakfast.  It’s really cute, but I’ve got to keep it moving since they’ve got to get ready for school.  I usually have an egg and a banana too.

After breakfast, they pick out their own snack, brush their teeth and brush their hair.  They then put on shoes, jackets, grab book bags and we’re out the door for school.

6:50 – They love being the first ones at school.  You’re allowed to get there as early as 6:50, but the late bell rings at 7:20.  I’ve found that if I take them early, there’s no carpool line and since school started back in January we’ve made this happen every single day and it’s been great!

7:30 – If you know me, I’m the world’s best procrastinator.  If there’s something I NEED to be doing, I’m probably not doing it.  I’m finding something else that I’ll do instead.  Lately for me, exercise has been my excuse…which is a good thing I guess, right?  Like I need to be loading/unloading the dishwasher, washing and folding laundry, responding to emails, cleaning out garage, organizing clutter in my house, grocery shopping, getting ahead on blog posts, shopping for new outfits to post, etc, but instead I’ve been working out.  I guess it’s not that bad of an excuse since it’s good for me, but sometimes I put it ahead of other priorities and I probably shouldn’t.

8am-2pm – This is my time to do all of the said things above.  As far as what I do when I work out.  Everyday I try and run three miles.  I use that as my base.  If I don’t get anything else done the rest of the day, at least I did that.  And I almost always try and knock it out in the morning because if I don’t, I find that the day gets away from me and I’ll put it off until I just don’t have the time to do it or don’t feel motivated to do it later.  I also enjoy taking spin classes and playing lots of tennis.  When it comes to grocery shopping, I shop online and go and pick it up in the express line.  Game changer.  Especially when Lanier used to travel even more often than he does now, this was my saving grace when I had four littles under 5.

I get asked a lot if I ever have or had help, especially when the children were younger.  And I honestly never did.  Even when we lived in Charlotte and had both my parents and inlaws in town, I only used them on rare occasions.  I guess you could say I wanted everything to stay on a routine as much as possible or whatever, but I just didn’t like being away from them, especially during the day.  I was induced with each of my children, so it was easy to plan out when the others would go and stay with family while I was in the hospital.  But you better believe as soon as I came home, I wanted my other babies back.

Life with boys.  These holes have all happened in the past three weeks.

Remember that procrastinating thing I was talking about, yeah…  I know I should fold a load as soon as it comes out and all that jazz, but I just don’t.  Yes, there are weeks that I do, but having six people in a house, it just catches up with me pretty quickly.  And when I decide to work-out, play a board game/piano/video game/outside with the kids/run other errands/meet a friend for lunch, etc., sometimes I’d just rather do that in the moment than fold laundry.  Another question I get asked a lot is if I’ve ever had help with laundry/cleaning the house.  I’ve never had anyone do my laundry or taken it to the laundromat, but I do have a cleaning lady that comes for about three house every other week.  And let me tell you, that day is glorious.  That is one thing I’ll never give up.

2:15 – Pick the kids up from school.  They then come home and knock out homework, practice piano, read and play.  A few days a week they have after school activities like piano, tennis, Wednesday night church which they love!  But they also love a good down day too.  They’re just as happy hanging at home playing with LEGOS, having dance parties, playing in the yard, as they are going on an outing.  I’m very lucky that they all get along so well, so they’re just as happy playing with each other as they are having a playdate.  Yes, they still love those, but they’re not always needed.

5-6 – Dinner

6-6:30 – Read (Sometimes the girls will read their own books and I’ll read books to the boys, or the girls will read books to their brothers.)

6:30 – Sing songs, say prayers, lights out.  I wouldn’t make the girls go to bed this early if I knew they weren’t tired, but they’ve never had a problem going to bed easily and early, so it’s just always worked for us.  I’m not religious about this.  Yes, most nights, especially school nights, this happens.  But if we’re out somewhere, I’m not racing home early to get them in bed by 6:30.  And church doesn’t even end until 7 on Wednesday nights, so that’s obviously a later bedtime for them.  Whatever works for you is great!  This has always just worked for us and I know the kids need it.  Man, wouldn’t it be nice to sleep almost twelve hours a night??

After their bedtime, I’ll clean up their dinner, switch over some laundry, etc.  If Lanier works late, we’ll have dinner together after he gets home.  Or if he’s traveling and not home, I’ll just make something easy for me.  I’m usually in bed between 10 and 11.

And that’s pretty much our day!  If y’all have any other questions or comments, feel free to comment below or email me: sweetsouthernprep@gmail.com.

A comfy cozy outfit from earlier this week.  // Sweatshirt Pullover (I like mine all the roomier side, so I wear a medium in this top) // Jeans // Flats (Color is Perfect Sand; they fit true to size)

Also, if you want to check out other daily routines in the past, check this one out from a summer schedule five years ago, when I used to work at a gym from 5-7:30am at least three times a week and blog…even when I had four littles.  Yes, you read that right.  Or this one from three years ago when they were at separate schools.  Talk about some amazing down time in the afternoons when they napped!

On a side note.  Y’all know how much I love my Jane Dresses.  Well, this dress is basically the same thing…with sleeves!  Obsessed!  Absolutely loving this print too.  Paired here with these heels.  Can’t wait to wear it soon!

I hope y’all have an awesome weekend!  We’re hoping the rain coming doesn’t mess up too much of our weekend plans and holds off for at least a little while.  We’ll see!

TGIF, Y’all!

4 thoughts on “Our Daily Routine

  1. Loved reading this!! Makes me feel like our life with four littles isn’t too crazy!! ♥️ Our schedule is so similar. Mine are a little younger than your crew but it’s so much fun, and I feel blessed that they all play together well!! I really enjoy reading your blog!

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