If you are new around here. I am a nanny. I take care of my cousin's son. I started when he turned 1 and I will be here until he turns 2, at the end of August. I've done babysitting before and been a short-term nanny, but this full-time, all the time thing, was fairly new. I live with the family, and there are two kids, although the older one is in Kindergarten. I've gotten into a good routine and I thought I would share what we do on an average day! Kids are all so different and I love reading about different parents' days!
6:30am
This is when my first alarm goes off. And I happily turn it off because I know I still have half an hour in bed. It might seem silly to have this one, instead of just the one going off where I actually go off, but it physiologically makes it easier I swear.
7:00am
At 7 I actually get out of bed. My boyfriend works nights and finishes at 7 and when I get that good morning text like clockwork each morning it's time to get my tush upp. I would be lying if I said I didn't check all social media outlets before getting up though.. I usually shower at night and blow dry my hair before bed. This makes it easy to straighten it quick when I get up. With 4 other people in the house I do not get bathroom time in the morning so I do without.
8:00am
Breakfast time. For the most part we all eat it together. I have cheerios and orange juice 85% of the time because I like routine ;) Sometimes oatmeal or smoothies or granola. Meals are a little crazy with children so it's pretty quick, and then I go out in the living room with the kids. I read books, make sure homework (drawing pictures) gets done, brush the odd head of hair, etc. Sometimes we need some pump up music for the day so we put on the 'Welcome to Kindergarten' CD and have a quick dance party.
9:00am
Parents are off to wear, child off to school. We hang out for a bit and clean up the kitchen, brush our teeth and get everything ready to head out.
9:30am
We're off to Playgroup. There is a great community centre near us that has Kindergym Monday and Wednesday and Drop-In Tuesday and Thursday. Kinder gym takes place in a big gym with lots of riding toys, slides, mats etc. The kids play until 11 and then have circle time. Drop-In is upstairs and more low-key. It's a room with all the toys kids could ever want, a play kitchen, dress-up area, art, etc. The kids play until 10:30 and then there is snack-time, followed by circle time. Thursdays are 'around the world' snack day, and volunteers bring snacks from their culture! (On Fridays the centre is closed, so we usually go to the library, but with the nicer weather we will definitely be choosing parks more and more.)
11:30am
We walk home. He really likes to fall asleep in the stroller at this point so I usually give him a little snack and speed walk home! If he does fall asleep, I wake him up when we get in the door and he's usually okay to go down for this normal nap. But I'd rather not risk it.
12:00pm
Lunchtime! The majority of the time we have leftovers from dinner the night before. If nothing else he loves peanut butter sandwiches, bananas, cheese, sandwich meat... We eat together and then I give him some raisins or something to occupy him while I empty/fill the dishwasher quickly. Then we play until he gets nice and drowsy.
1:00pm
Sometimes he falls asleep while we are reading on the couch, or in his highchair, or curled up on the couch. But usually I take him upstairs and we lie on the bed together watching the aquarium channel, and he tends to fall asleep pretty quickly. Sometimes I take a nap. Sometimes I go on a cleaning spree. Sometimes I do some Social Media work.
3:00pm
Most of the time he wakes up between 3 and 330. He gets a snack and then it depends on the day. I like to get outside so we will go for a walk or to the park or just play in the backyard. Sometimes we run errands that need running.
5:00pm
His dad gets home around 5 with his sister, and we all hang out for a bit. While his dad makes dinner I'm with the kids in the living room. By this point we are all ready to relax so either colouring, reading, playing, or good old TVO until dinnertime!
6:00pm
Dinner happens around 6, and this marks the end of my day on the clock. Usually I'll eat and then go to the gym. By the time I come back the kids are in bed and I go watch some Netflix (I'm finally into Greys!) and go to bed.
How do you feel about routine? Routine with kids? Do you find it helps you or hinders you more?
No comments :
Post a Comment