A Day in the Life of a Work-at-Home Mom and Homemaker
By Katie Bennett, contributing writer.
Homemaking is a beautiful discipline with many different facets and faces. Each home and life are different, but the godly calling is the same. As women, we are to nurture this God-given space we call home.
But what does that look like?
While I’m far from “a perfect homemaker,” I’d like to give you a glimpse into my daily life as a WAHM (work at home mom) of three little ones, ages 4, 2 and 3 months.
I’m not a highly structured person, so the thing that empowers me is routine. I attach small routines to many parts of my day to ensure I am accomplishing the necessary daily tasks. These small things slowly add up into big things!
Mornings
Early Morning
I begin my day with a simple morning routine, outlined here. This routine ensures that each day I prioritize spending time with God and exercising.
As a work at home mom, I must also find time run my blog, Embracing a Simpler Life. Since my children are late sleepers, I am often able to work for an hour or so before they wake up.
My routine also allows me to start each morning with curtains drawn, beds made, dirty clothes put away, and myself and my little darlings dressed and fed. In this way I experience the satisfaction of knowing our bedrooms are under control for the day.
Mid-Morning
During the mid-morning I spend time with my children. We have play dates, go to parks, play games and go for walks. I like to get out of the house if possible, since the variety is refreshing for all of us.
Lunch and Nap time
Sometime around noon we have an easy lunch and then clean up.
In the afternoon, from about 1-4, we keep things quiet around our house. My children enjoy some combination of TV time and nap time (or “room time” for my oldest daughter who no longer needs naps). She sets a timer and enjoys monitoring this part of her day independently.
This is my main opportunity to work. I write blog posts, schedule social media, craft newsletters and spend time creating products. I love what I do! However, it’s easy to get sidetracked on Facebook. One of the most powerful productivity tools I’ve found is an online timer. I set it for one hour and discipline myself to write during this time. Once the ball gets rolling, it’s great. I am much more focused with this structure, and I find it amazing what I can actually get done!
Dinner Prep
At 4:00 pm I stop working and begin assessing the dinner situation. If I’m organized, I already have a meal plan and groceries in place. I do preliminary prep and spend the next hour and a half cooking and spending more time with my children.
Evenings
We eat dinner at 5:30 pm each evening when my husband gets home from work. He appreciates a hot meal on the table, so this gives me a good goal! After enjoying dinner together as a family, I do the dishes immediately and wipe the counters and sweep the floors. I love heading into our evening with a clean kitchen.
After dinner we spend time as a family until bedtime. Our kids have a few bedtime duties and then are put to bed systematically, from youngest to oldest.
After everyone is in bed, I spend about 20 minutes tidying up and decluttering the main living areas of our home. This is a routine I repeat in exactly the same order and to the same standard every evening. I have to dig deep to find the energy and motivation in the moment but it makes me feel successful as a homemaker to go to bed with a tidy home.
At this point, I often go to bed! I don’t carve out time in my day to watch TV personally, but the trade off in sleep and productivity is worth it!