Suggestions/Tips For a Typical Day's Routine for SAHM of 1 Year Old

Updated on October 14, 2008
J.L. asks from Gold Creek, MT
4 answers

Dear Moms,
Tomorrow marks a start of a new chapter for me. I have a 14 month boy who's a dynamo of energy. Since his birth I have been a SAHM but have always had a live in domestic helper to help with the housework, cleaning and babysitting. Tomorrow, our helper returns to the Philippines and I am going to be alone at home with my son as hubby works all day. I'm not sure I can actually handle him and the household chores (including getting all our meals - hubby and mine and kid) by myself and would appreciate any suggestions or tips from other moms on how they organise their days.

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K.P.

answers from Boise on

J., don't underestimate yourself. Just a little bit of personal advice before I get to the daily stuff. The first thing you need is confidence that you can handle it. Don't whine to your husband about how scared you are. Just show him that you are woman enough to handle it, and he will be very proud that you are his wife and the mother of his child. Ok, so far, I have been doing this for 6 years, and I found that for me it is all about knowing that I will do my best to get the laundry done, the kitchen clean, toys picked up, beds made, toilets cleaned, etc, but I know that whatever I don't get done because I have bigger priorities (playing with my kids) will be there for me to do tomorrow. I always start in the kitchen. Get it cleaned up after breakfast and my oldest one is out the door to school. Then I start a load of laundry. Then make my bed, and go on to the kids room. My little one at home helps with her bed and I usually make my son's bed during the week, and both kids do their own beds on the weekends. Then it's just a matter of looking around at what needs picked up and put away. Toilets can be done anytime during the day. I am not one to keep a strict schedule of my "chores." Some people need that and you will get responses like that that may be more helpful. Plan dinner when you have a minute to think. Make sure you take out frozen meats early enough, and you should have no problem. You can also do the crock pot thing, and there is not much stress involved in that. Later in the day, you can put your baby on the floor to play, listen to the radio and fold the load of laundry that you started in the morning. That's usually when I get my Dr. Laura time in. The main thing I like to tell people that are stressing about getting everything done is this...It is impossible for you to be Wonder Woman. You can't possibly do EVERYTHING and still give your little one the attention he needs all day. It is far more important that there is LOVE in the house than the house being spotless. When your husband gets home from work and sees you playing in the floor giggling with his baby, he isn't going to care about the dish in the sink. Just do what you can, and don't be hard on yourself for not getting it all done in one day.

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B.

answers from Boise on

Be ready for the day a 1/2 hour to an hour before your son is ready to get up. Throw a load of laundry in. Do emails. Unload the dishwasher. Get your son up, feed him, play with him, naptime- dry the laundry, make sure the kitchen sink and counters are clean and dirty dishes put in dishwasher. Get your son up, feed him, read to him, play with him, naptime- Prep your dinner- chop meat and vegetables- if a casserole, get it all put together and put in fridge til it goes in the oven. Emails. Do a 5 minute swish of the toilet and bathroom sink now, or before you go to bed. Get your dinner started so it will be ready when your son needs to eat, and your hubby comes home. Let your hubby clean up after dinner. Relax. Vacuum once a week if you're able. Don't stress about it! You're certainly more capable than you think!

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D.K.

answers from Denver on

OF course you can handle it! :)
You can do your chores while your son naps. I loved that time with my daughter as far as being home and it being just her and I.
Get up, eat breakfast, giggle and play a little, throw a load of laundry in, do the breakfast dishes.
You and your son go to the park, library, play around the house.
Come home, put laundry in the dryer, get lunch ready, eat lunch.
Put your son down for a nap. Fold the laundry for the day and put it away. Do one major thing a day, like dusting, cleaning bathrooms, etc. I vacuum daily, do the dishes daily and one load of laundry daily. The way I work it is on the weekends I have no household big chores to do and can enjoy downtime.
Get your son up, snack, fun time, play a game, have a playdate with another mom, run errands or whatever. Plan meals a week at a time so you have the ingredients on hand, aren't in a rush. Make simple meals and when your son is napping a good time to brown meat, make something larger and stick it in the fridge ready to heat up at dinnertime.

I do parttime child care from my home and still never put more then one hour of work in a day around the house. When someone is at school or napping I do all my major stuff and get in a shower.
If you space it all out, not try to do too much in a given day you will be fine! PROMISE. I am a single mom raising two kids alone and have for years now. It isn't hard at all.
Then when your son goes to bed, you and your hubby can sit down and relax for the night.
Also don't feel you have to constantly entertain your son either. I learned the hard way if you constantly taking him out to do things, or if you are right there being their sole sense of entertainment, it takes a lot longer for them to gain independent play or enjoy just some downtime. Set him up with some puzzles or toys, put him in a pack n play with toys if you need to do something else for a bit too. I was right there always for my daughter and she had a lot harder time playing by herself or entertaining herself. With my son it was different because I had two kids, my daughter would play with him some, I would some but he played by himself well early on. Makes it a lot easier if they don't expect to go somewhere or be entertained 24/7.
Good luck, hand in there and you will be great! :)

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K.D.

answers from Provo on

You can do it. I do it plus work part-time from home -- it just takes planning on your part. Since I worked while my son napped at that age (and still do) housework had to be done when he was awake. And guess what -- at that age they LOVE to help out. It takes a little longer with their "help" but you are getting some quality time with your kids and teaching them life skills (even at 14 months) when you have them do it with you. Now that my son is 3 he can actually help things go faster.
Here's a typical day/week for me. Get up with the kids (have 2 now -- a 5 month old and 3 year old) since I'm not a morning person any more. Get everyone dressed and breakfast taken care of -- breakfast dishes IN the dishwasher is part of this routine. Get son off to preschool and daughter down for nap then I work. Pick up son from preschool. Play a little then make lunch. Once again dishes into the dishwasher is part of the luch routine. We play a little more or clean up a bit (depending on how many toys are out) and then it's nap time for both kids. I work while they nap. When they wake up we play. Then my son plays independantly while I cook dinner or he comes into the kitchen with me to "help" (he's not allowed near the hot stove and is on the other side of the counter away from the knives if I'm cutting stuff up for dinner). Mostly we just talk about what I'm cooking for dinner. When he was one we'd work on naming colors of the food or counting objects -- whatever was appropriate to his development at the time. After dinner is the major kitchen clean up. Then we play/watch some TV before bedtime routines. Some nights he plays with dad now while I cook dinner. But from dinner until bedtime is all family time. And I get time alone with my DH after bedtime (or if my son wants to go play by himself while we watch some TV or talk before bedtime).
On the mornings my son doesn't have preschool (2 days a week) we do the more time consuming cleaning: vacuum the house, clean the bird cages (I could make my life much easier if I didnt have my birds but I love them too much), mop the floors, dust, etc. And one of those mornings is is laundry day. I hate having it spaced out all week 'cause I hate laundry. So I get it all done in one day (just have to be diligent about keeping it going and folding/putting away right after it comes out of the dryer).
Now, that said, right now my house is a mess -- but I'm sick so I've been resting when we should be picking stuff up. And it doesn't always go smoothly according to schedule. Sometimes my job is more demanding and takes more of my time -- but since you don't have to work you won't have to worry about that. However my husband has learned that if he is going to complain about how the house is then he is expected to put some effort into making it better. That keeps any complaints from him about housework at bay (cause my DH is like yours -- great in every way but household chores!).

Good luck to you. Remember that housework is not a reflection of your worth. Your house only has to be clean enough that it it safe and not causing disease in your family. Anything else is you taking time away from your family for the sake of show. (At least, that's what I tell myself)

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