Full time working mums - what’s your morning and evening routine?

[Emilyjayne9421]

Just curious really. I get up at 7am (ok 7.20 after hitting snooze), me and OH get kids ready and fed, get ourselves ready, and out the door at 8.20. I drop the kids at school and get to work for 9.30. I work 5 days all in office. I leave at 5pm, husband gets kids and we are all home for 5.30. I’m always knackered after work. We then do dinner, all showered, then chat and cuddle/screen time until 8pm when the kids go to bed. Then it’s usually TV until 10.30. What about you? Have you got any tips to make life easier?

Sounds about the same here. I do the morning drop offs and DH does the pick ups. We get home rest for 30mins with a cuppa then make dinner, do homework’s, pack bags for the next day including lunches, I do some work from home for an hour, then get the kids ready for bed while DH does the tidying up. Then we sit down for a chat, go and water the plants, I go to bed early because am always tired and DH watches TV and come to bed about an hour later then me.

No tips because the first years are a blur but now the kids are up a bit and a little more independent it’s easier. I do make sure that at the weekend we rest, do a 1/2 day out somewhere and then have everything ready for the working week ahead.

ohh actually maybe re the cooking, we buy ready meals (the healthy ones made from the local deli) and they take no time or effort and it means everyone eats and clears up quickly and no stressing over dinners.

I’m up around 6ish (2yo wakes then)

Both get the kids ready, DH takes one DS and I take the other (alternating), leaving house around 8am, earlier if we can.

I collect on way home about 5ish. DH does tea and tidies up after while I focus on the kids bathtime, getting ready for bed etc. They don’t tend to sit still so I’ll pull out the duplo, play doh or get them running round the garden.

We alternate who does bedtime while the other does a workout at 7:30ish.

We then potter about and tidy or I might have another hour of work to do (despite being out the house 8-5:15 it doesn’t make my hours), we strictly draw the line to get together and watch something at 9pm and off to bed.

6.30 get up and quickly get dressed, brush teeth
6.45 wake ds (he's 10 and gets himself up at 6am on weekends no bother, funnily enough)
7.15 deadline for ds to have made and eaten his breakfast, he starts getting dressed and brushing teeth etc
7.35 leave for school
8.00 school drop off, speedy walk home to start work, possibly run to shop on the way
8.30-2.45 work sometimes no break, sometimes run to shop, less often eat some lunch
2.45 school run
3.15 home and ds gets on with homework and I get back to work
5ish stop and do dinner, time with ds, chill
7.30pm I get a bath or shower and wash my hair so I don't need to in the morning
Bed as soon as I can persuade him 😂

I batch cook at weekends so some dinners are easy. He's with his dad 50/50 so I also have an opportunity to work extra hours, socialise, meal plan and prep etc every second weekend and a couple of weeknights.

Up at 6.30am
Shower, dress, wake ds.
make ds' breakfast
school run7.30
back to house for 8am
Log on

5.20pm log off
school run
back to house by 6pm
cook supper, serve, eat
clear up
Prep for tomorrow. Persuade ds to bed

much the same except I start a bit earlier and don't have a partner. Tired by the end of the day too.

Things that help- do the week's food shopping and put some washing on Friday night so I get more of the weekend as rest/fun time.

6.30 DH gets up with LO and I join them. He Cooks eggs and unload dishwasher, i get LO dressed and make sure nursery bag stocked.
7.45 I get on my bike and cycle to station, DH takes LO to nursery. I get to work at 8.30
5.15 I leave work and cycle home for 6. DH collects LO from nursery at 6.
6.15 we have dinner, usually frozen batch cooked or simple fish or stir fry. LO has second dinner.
6.30 on weds is bath night! LO has milk and stories and goes to bed at 7pm. Whoever does stories the other makes LO's lunch.
7pm one of us goes for a run or exercise
8pm we curl up on sofa to watch something
9.30-10pm we go to bed.

Some nights DH is out, boys or table tennis. Or I'm out, parish council or rarely social event.

I'm shattered and looking for pt work!

On a school day it goes like this:

6:30 - adults get up. Each get 45 minutes to get ready upstairs and 45 minutes to do jobs, feed cats, get child ready downstairs

7:00 - child gets up

8:00 - all leave the house. One of us takes child to school and the goes to the station or to wfh. The other goes straight to the station.

Commute/work/commute (or wfh)

End of school until 6:30 - nanny looks after child, takes to clubs and feeds dinner

6:30 - nanny finishes so at least one of us needs to be home by then. The other will often be at events or working late.

6:30-7:30 - music practice, chat, bath, pjs

7:30 - 8.00 - get child to bed

8:30ish - dinner

9-10.00 - crash in front of the tv for an hour

Single mum to two here

6am get up, dressed, make up etc
7am kids get up. Have a play, breakfast, get dressed, teeth etc
8:30am school run
9:30am work until 5
5:30 collect kids and go home
6pm start on tea
6:30 eat tea!
7pm kids bath and pjs
7:30pm stories
8pm kids to bed
8:15 - tidy kitchen, tidy living room, make pack ups, get bags ready for the next day etc
9pm shower and into pjs for me
9:30 bed and read for half an hour

Add in homework 4 times a week

I work 5 days per week

I long for some down time but I think that's just the realities of having little ones

Depends if I’m working nights or not. I work x3 night shifts a week. On my days off I’m up at 7:30, DP gets the kids up, feeds, washes and dresses them. Sleep is my priority on these days.
8:30 school run
Various things with toddler in tow, play groups, big shop, house stuff, see friends.
3pm school run.
play time, garden, telly.
5pm DP is home
5:30 family meal.
play/ bathtime/swimming lesson/rugby matches depends on the day
8pm kids in bed.

when im on nights
8am finish work and commute home for 8:30
speak to DP and the kids on the way home as he takes them to school/nursery.
prep slow cooker.
9:30-2:30 sleep
3pm school run
playtime, garden, telly
5pm DP home
Slow cooker tea.
I nap for an hour.
6:30 do bath time.
7pm head to work/ DP puts the kids to bed.
drink fuck tonnes of coffee to stay awake.

7.30 - I wake up along with DS
8.00 DH leaves for work
7.30-8.30 - me and DS get dressed have breakfast brush teeth
8.30 - leave the house for school
9.00-2.45 I work
2.50 school run
3.30 back from school with DS
3.30-4.30 whilst I finish work DS is on video games
4.30-5.30 homework, reading and catching up with DS
5.30-6 we all sit and eat
6-7 - bath and showers
7.30 - DS goes to bed
7.30-10 - me and DH chill watch tv relax

6.45 - get up, wake kids, run around organising stuff, make coffee, make smoothie for kids and throw clothes on!
7.30 putting on shoes time
7.40 - actually leave the house
7.40-9am: driving to school x 2 / work etc
9am - 3.15 work
3.15 - school run x 2 drive home
4.45 - get home, either chill for a bit before prepping dinner or take a child to an activity depending on the day
5.15 - make dinner
5.45 eat dinner
6.15 clear up, do a load of laundry, admin
6.45 harass children into homework and music practise
7.30 - kids have showers, sit with ds while he does handwriting practise, put away laundry
8.30 - try and spend 5 mins with each child, sit down for 10 mins

in reality it’s often punctuated by lots of kids messing around and we usually run much later than this 🤣 one child has a club almost every evening, sometimes two. But that’s the order of things anyway!
I make up my work hours either after 8.30/9pm or by working at the weekend when they’re with their dad depending on how it’s going, I’m lucky that I can be very flexible as long as it’s done.
It is Very rare that I’m not scrambling around chasing my tail! Do hello fresh and that really helps. Single mum with a no hoper co parent!

I'm a single mum, working full time with a 5yo dd.

Get up at 6.30, have my shower, do teeth, and wake dd at 6.45. Make breakfast and we eat together in bed. 7.10 - Brush dd's teeth, then she gets herself dressed, whilst I do light makeup and sort my hair. 7.40 - I then do her hair, get myself dressed, and we're out the house for 8am so I can drop her at breakfast club and get to work for 9am.

Evenings, I finish at 5pm and collect dd from after school club at 5.40. Get home at 5.50, and i get changed whilst dd plays. Start making dinner around 6pm and we tend to sit down to eat at about 6.30-40. 7pm I clean up the kitchen, and then we watch an episode of bluey together. 7.30 we go upstairs to get her ready for bed, read a book together and I go downstairs about 8pm ish. Then I sort stuff for the next day like lunches etc. Usually sit down to watch some tv at 8.30, and go up to bed at 10.30pm.