Today I’m excited to announce a continuation of my partnership with Allstate, an insurance company dedicated to keeping families in good hands. Last year, Allstate made it possible for me to continue my Monday Morning series, documenting moms across the country to show their unique morning routines. We met Anna in LA, Shaneka in Chicago, Diane in DC and Kristen in Houston among many others.
Now, we’re taking it to the evenings! Wednesday Evenings is a brand new series that aims to show the beauty in every family’s evening routine. From dinnertime to bedtime, we’ll capture a typical night for 12 featured families.
The goal of Monday Mornings was always to show that no matter how chaotic or stressful your mornings feel, there is beauty to be found as well. I’m betting the same holds true for Wednesday Evenings.
This is the time when most parents come home from work, have dinner, play and then put the kids to bed. Right in the middle of the week when no one is still adjusting from the weekend or looking forward to the next one.
Just a regular night with the kids.
As different as everyone’s morning was last year, I think evenings have the potential for even more variation. Bedtime is open-ended. Instead of seeing people head out the door by a pre-determined time, evenings give opportunity to see different bedtime routines and parenting styles.
We are looking for parents who put their kids to bed early, parents who put their kids to bed late, parents who work an evening shift, parents who stagger bedtimes, parents who deal with tons of homework, parents who make sure their family all sits down for dinner together, parents who let their kids fend for themselves, moms who do it alone, dads who do it alone, etc.
Before I tell you how to enter, I’d like to show you a bit of my Wednesday Evening, documented as always by lifestyle photographer Raquel Langworthy. When the shoot was originally planned, I wanted to capture Mike and I both coming home from work, because the kids run to greet us with kisses and hugs and it’s always one of my favorite moments of the day. I also wanted to show our nanny Ruth who I always felt was missing from my family’s Monday Morning shoot. Unfortunately, Ruth got sick in the middle of the day, meaning I had to come home unexpectedly to watch Harlow.
Mike picked up Mazzy from school and because of the change in schedule, he decided to take her for a slice of pizza. Pizza is the NYC version of fast food, after all. He brought back a slice for Harlow as well.
By the time Raquel arrived, the kids were already home and fed. Not exactly a typical evening. Such is life.
Mazzy and Harlow spent the first twenty minutes of the shoot running around the house doing Mazzy and Harlow things— like putting on jewelry, playing musical instruments and jumping on the couch.
The plan was to take the girls for ice cream as we often do if they have had a good dinner. But then we learned the elevator was broken, which put a kink in our plan. We live on the 12th floor.
Mazzy did not take the news well.
I guess you can’t introduce an ice cream trip and then take it away.
We took the stairs.
Then we had an ice cream shop debate which I lost. I like Davey’s which has real ice cream homemade in the back, but Mazzy wanted 16 Handles which has pink spoons and a toppings bar.
I’m glad Mike is “keeping it real” and looking at his phone during our family moment.
Here he is trying to negotiate a spoonful.
Also true to form was Harlow putting on a show outside the yogurt shop. I should just set up a cup for money and maybe she could pay her own way through college.
Then we headed home.
Harlow dropped her ice cream on the way back. Obviously, I had to snap a picture. I’m sure you’ll see it on @insta2yearold one day soon.
Harlow handled it remarkably well. I was proud.
Then we headed back up twelve long flights of stairs. There was no whining which was a nice change.
When we got back, it was time for PJs and tooth brushing. Even with ice cream in their bellies, this never goes over well.
Mazzy is fully capable of putting on her pajamas herself, but unless I want her to go to bed at midnight, I usually give her a hand.
Harlow is the tougher of the two because she’s quick and squirmy.
“Where’s Mike this whole time?” you might be wondering. He’s making dinner for the two of us to eat after the kids are in bed.
This is something he does to be helpful and also because he prefers it to wrangling the children.
Notice Harlow’s half-eaten banana on the table. Not a night goes by where she doesn’t request one right before bed.
Once the girls ate their last minute snacks, they went to the bathroom to brush their teeth.
Where’s Mazzy? Oh, still in the living room, deciding what jewelry she wants to wear to bed.
MAZZY!!!!!!!!!
Then they picked books for bed time stories, while I checked something on my computer. It wouldn’t be a real portrayal of our evening if I wasn’t standing by my laptop at least once.
Mazzy picked the Official Guide to Frozen, which is the longest book ever written and definitely a present from one of the Grandmas.
Harlow picked “Iggy Peck Architect” because she likes to scream “GET OFF MY LAWN!!!” when the neighbor is standing there in his underwear, even though it does not say that in the book. I think Mike must have taught her that.
Mazzy asked to sleep in Harlow’s bed which I will sometimes allow. I told her “okay” but if they weren’t asleep in 15 minutes, she would have to move to the top bunk.
Then I hugged and kissed everyone goodnight. Their new request is “as tightly as possible”.
After I left the room, I quickly posted a photo to Instagram (because that’s what I do).
And then Mike and I sat down to dinner, just the two of us.
Except it wasn’t really just the two of us. Not quite yet.
I wish I could say that was the end of our evening, but Harlow got up and out of bed about 15 more times after Raquel left. That will be the subject of a future post, I am sure.
If you’d like to be featured in Wednesday Evenings, please leave a comment below starting with your city and the ages of your kids. Then give me a brief description of your evening with any details you think might set you apart from everybody else— even if that detail is feeding the kids frozen fish sticks 365 days a year.
We’ll be scouring the comments to find 12 families from four different cities, so if you know anyone in your town who might want to participate too, it will definitely up your chances to have them enter!
A HUGE thanks to Allstate for coming back for round two. I can’t tell you how much continuing this series means to me. You are in good hands, I promise!
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This post was sponsored by Allstate, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Photos by Raquel Langworthy.
Cromwell, CT (about 15 minutes outside of Hartford)
2 kiddos- my daughter will be 1 on Friday and my son is 3.
My husband technically works in NYC so often isn’t home mid-week. He makes an effort to work from home Monday’s and Friday’s but often is away over night throughout the week. I am a SAHM so Wednesday nights are usually a continuation of our day. My mom often makes an effort to come and help me if she can- even if it’s just a walk around the block with the kids while I catch my breath and get a few things picked up around the house. We always eat with the kids and I try to plan meals my three year old will try and eat. After dinner it’s clean up and try and get some playtime inside or outside. Bedtime is typically easy at our house. I bathe the kids together, they wrestle for a bit, stories in separate rooms, kisses and bed. Both kids are typically sound asleep almost immediately always by 8.
We live in the Cleveland area in OH. My daughter is 6 3/4 and my son is 3 3/4 (the 3/4 is VERY important if you ask them) . A typical Wednesday night goes something like this: I get home with the kids around 4. During the school year my daughter will beg for snacks and procrastinate until she absolutely has to do her homework. Meanwhile I get my son a snack, get him snuggled on the couch for “a little rest” after his long day of playing with grandparents and feed the dogs and let them outside. Once homework is done we go outside to play in the driveway until my husband gets home. Usually it’s a balance bike / scooter race between the two of them and we even setup a course in the driveway.
Once 6:00 approaches we like to stroll down to the corner to “look for daddy” and then race him home on the bikes. Once inside it’s a hustle to make dinner, which is usually an actual meal for the adults and something thrown together from the ingredients for the kids. But never touching on the plate. And nothing with weird textures. And don’t even think about the thing they liked the day before. So what I’m saying is they eat saltines for dinner and we feed the dogs the scraps of what I pretended they would eat. We all sit down for dinner at our dining room table that is also covered in legos – the result of a lego obsessed husband and children. We eat, the 3 year old usually cries over food and/or nearly wets himself from holding it so long and trying to tell us that he’s just “doing a little dance to the music” (there is no music).
After dinner it’s normally bed time right after. Bath for the 3 year old and shower for the 6 year old. Then my husband takes one and I take the other. Each gets a book or two and a song, then a kiss. As long as the 3 year old didn’t take a nap he’s asleep in 5 minutes. If there’s a nap, he’s singing and playing, and being adorable trouble. The 6 year old will need water, and is scared, and has questions about quantum physics and how rockets work. Finally by 8:30 we are on the couch, watching our programs. Because we might as well be 70.
Atlanta, Georgia
Evelynne- 22 months
My father-in-law is off on Wednesdays so ‘Nana’ and “Papaw’ visit each Wednesday evening from about 6pm until bedtime. My husband is a software developer in the city but works from home on Wednesday. I’m an assistant principal at a high school and watch the media center after school on Wednesdays since he can pick our daughter up earlier than normal. We usually cook or do a big chicken dinner family style with the grandparents while Evey shows off her newest skills. Lately that has been lots of karaoke and playing dollhouse. Once Evelynne gets her bath and two (“plus Sam I Am pleaaaaaaaaaase”) bedtime books and we say goodnight to the grandparents (around 7:30pm) my husband and I will usually watch an episode of netflix. We all wake up by 5:30am so even the adults are tucked into bed by 9:30 or 10.
I live in Troy, Michigan (metro Detroit) with my husband, 2 year old son, and our mini golden doodle. I love your site. Our life is a little different than others because we just moved in with my in-laws temporarily. We are building a new home and they were kind enough to let us move in for a few months. That being said, 4 adults, 1 toddler, and 1 dog make for an interesting Wednesday evening! I hope you pick us!
I live inside Yellowstone National Park and I have three kids: 4, 2 and 11 weeks. My husband is an emergency dispatcher for the park. In the summer our evenings differ a little bit everyday with fitting things around nursing, but usually we eat around 5:30pm, then try to burn as much energy as possible outside, at the playground, biking around the block or playing in our yard-depends on whether there’s elk or bison around. Then it’s clean up time- the kids pick up all their toys, pjs, teeth brushing, stories, prayers and bed. Almost every night the 4 yr old trys to negotiate sleeping in her dressups and the 2 yr old either roars like a dinosaur or crawls around barking like a puppy 🙂
Tess
Boca Raton, Fl
Layla – 4
Stella – 2
Our evenings generally start around 430-5pm when I get out of work. Thankfully I work at the girls school so drop off/pick up is fairly easy.
I wrangle the girls into my car. If we are out early enough, I bribe them with a swim in the pool. This also helps with building their appetites for dinner. After a swim, we hurry inside for a quick dinner – I try to pre make certain things as much as I can, but that doesn’t always happen. Layla is my picky Eater and soon enough I’m a short order cool. There is usually a tantrum or 6 in regards to her meal. It’s like negotiating with a small terrorist to eat his peas or go to bed hungry. I rarely win.
In the mean time, Stella is somewhere singing Let It Go on a table top after shoveling whatever I out on her plate into her mouth as fast as she can. Polar opposites.
Bath. Teeth. Hair blow drying. And snuggles are next. We tell each other our days. Say our prayers: or as Stella says, “father son and he howy ferret” & lights out.
I stay with them until they are asleep. I always have. Watching them slowly drift off safely is something I just cannot let go of. The quiet dark room gives a moment to reflect and re energize to clean up from dinner and prep for th next day. It also offers me 10 minutes to check Facebook, because, let’s be real.
My evenings aren’t much – but hey, they are mine!
I am a lucky mommy to two beautiful kiddos, Alec who is 3 and a half and Everly who is 8 months. We live in Cromwell CT, just outside Hartford and became homeowners this past winter. We have a hectic lifestyle with both parents working outside the home and both kids at daycare. Our typical evenings consist of play time, dinner time, YouTube videos, asthma treatments, books and bed hopefully by 7 so mommy and daddy can get ready for the next day (and enjoy some alone time!). We’d love to share a slice of our life with you!
My name is Nici. I have a three year old and a one year old. We live in Tucson, Arizona. I would love to be apart of Wednesday Evenings to show a routine of a family with a special needs child.
My husband gets home around 5 and we start to make dinner together while we play with the kids. We sit to eat dinner and start my son’s dinner through his feeding tube. After dinner, we usually watch TV and do therapies with my son. We do bath time with the boys. At 8:30, we put our son on his bipap machine and start his feed, as he eats all through the night. Around 9:40, we take our one year old to his room. One of us does his breathing treatment while the other puts our older son to bed. We put our younger son to bed and wait for his night nurse to arrive. Once she arrives, we go to bed for the night.
I think it sounds a lot calmer than it is. I would love to see photos captured of our routine.
We live in middleton, id (small town outside of boise). We have two kids. Harper is 2 and Rowdy is almost 8 months. I get home from work first to relieve our nanny. I usually get somewhere between 30 minutes to an hour with the kids to myself before my husband gets home. Then he watches them while I make dinner. We try to all sit down together to eat. We have some serious food negotiating from our two year old. some nights we like living room dance parties or playing at the park close to our house. Once the kids are in bed, I exercise and we get to bed so we can get up early for work.
Our family of four lives in Las Vegas, NV (contrary to popular belief we do not live on “The Strip”). We have two girls ages 6 & 8. My husband works in ministry so every Wednesday so night I fly solo. We sometimes eat dinner together quite early (think 4:45) so he can get out the door by 5:00. Then it’s just the girls to finish homework, chores, have a little screen time & catch some Wheel of Fortune before books at 7:30. The goal is always to be finishing books & saying prayers by 8:00pm. Then I get to sneak in some reality TV (& ice cream) before the hubby gets home.
Hello My name is Sara and I am a SAHM from Poughquag NY in the beautiful Hudson Valley. I am the mom to two wonderful children, Teaghan age 4 and Caiden age 2 and I am currently 4 months pregnant with #3. A typical “Wednesday” evening for us starts with my son waking up around 4:30pm from his nap, from that point on its usually a chaotic mix of dinner prep and child wrangling. My husband is an accountant and currently works an hr from home and has crazy work hours. Most nights it is just the children, myself and my mom, she moved in with us to help since my husband gets home so late.
Once dinner is prepared we sit down as our little unit. After dinner if its nice we try to get in some outside time. And before you know it its bath time which is usually me yelling to please stop flooding the bathroom followed by our bedtime routine of teeth, pjs (sometimes requires some 2yr old wrangling), and books. I try to have both children in bed between 8-8:30pm. Sometimes if they are calm we will do a half hr of tv before heading off to bed. Lately my 4yr old has had a fear of going to bed alone and in the dark so there are usually a ton of lights on and a few trips back to bed.
After everyone is down for the night its time to finish up whatever chores I didn’t get to finish during the day such as folding laundry. And if I am lucky and not totally exhausted I try to stay up until my husband gets home (sometimes between 10pm-midnight) so that we maybe get and hr or so together. And before you know it the alarm is going off and we are at it again.
Hello from Charlotte, NC! My name is Brittany, and my husband Brandon and I have 2 boys. Noah is 3.5 and Eli will be 1 in June. Baby #3 is currently cooking and set to make an appearance in December. OUr night time routine is a mix of chaos, struture, and noise. Lots of noise. Wednesday nights are particularly interesting because Eli has therapy in afternoon, and both boys are usually worn out. I am a stay at home mom, and Brandon usually gets home around 5:30. Depending on how my day went, and if I was able to do any dinner prep, he will either take Noah outside to ride his power wheels, play Legos, rock with the baby, or help with dinner. We have recently been making more of an effort to sit at the dining room table and eat together. Its very nice. We usually will give noah a bit more playtime before baths. Noah and Eli bathe together (so much easier!!) And we typically let noah stay in a bit longer to play. Brandon and Noah will go into his room to read books, and go to bed around 7:30/8. At this point, I go into the kitchen and make Eli’s formula for the night. He has a g-tube (feeding) and he gets his feeds at night.I set the pump, hook him up and rock him to sleep after 8. He is still in our room as I can not fatham having him in a different room at night with all the tubing around him. I love our nights. And our crazy little family.
Hi, I’m Peg and we recently moved from Denver to Grand Rapids, MI. I’m married to Nick who is a full-time youth minister (pastor to MS & HS students) at our church and we have a “larger than life” 2 year old son (Everson). I’m 18 weeks pregnant with Everson’s little brother (due 10/27). I used to work as a Program Manager at a nonprofit safe house for women escaping sex trafficking and the commercial sex industry. I loved my job, so when we moved my ED made a contract position for me I can do part-time from home in MI. I’m now their Communications & Media Director, which means during my son’s nap you can often find me editing a blog post or creating social media posts at my laptop.
Wednesday evenings there is typically programming at the church for teens, so my husband has to work late. Every other night of the week except Sundays he’s usually home by 5:30 and is “all hands on deck” once home. Our Wednesday evening usually goes like this: I make something for dinner and we eat around 5/5:30. My son eats a gluten & dairy free diet (he’s had chronic severe croup and the diet change has helped a lot), so sometimes he eats something different than me but he’s not a very picky eater. He’s a serious carnivore and is always asking for 2nds and 3rds of whatever meat he’s been served. After dinner, he plays pretty hard. He’ll usually be covered in dirt outside making a nightly bath pretty mandatory. Everson has a love/hate relationship with bath time. Sometimes he loves playing in the tub and “swimming like a fishy,” but typically it takes some serious cajoling to get him upstairs in the tub. After bath our routine is very consistent…towel, night time diaper, lotion, PJ’s (he picks out), then come his meds. He has a serious medication routine in both AM & PM. I have a med list posted in his room or else I would forget something because it’s a lot to remember. He usually does well with the meds (aka “num nums” for liquid meds & “air” for his inhaler) then his “treat” is two gummy vitamins. After that it’s tooth brush time. I insist on brushing first (while always singing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” then he without fail insists “MY turn!” He then proceeds to chew on his toothbrush for a solid minute. By then the sound machine is on “ocean,” only his lamp is on and we’ve picked out 4 books. After we read the books in the rocking chair, I coax him into bed by promising a “bonus book” once his heads on his pillow. After the bonus book, I sing the same songs each night and softly rub his head. Then he asks for several hugs and kisses before I leave the room. He typically goes to sleep around 8:30 when I leave his room and doesn’t get up again until around 7am. He knows he’ll get a super hero sticker is he sleeps/stays in bed all night.
We would love to be featured!
My name is Kendra and I’m a working SAHM to my 17 mo little man Wyatt. Wednesday’s are always long days for us since my husband goes straight to his second job at our church from his first job as an instructional aide to children with special needs. Our Wednesday evenings start to wind down at 4 with a dinner. Mama is a plain person, so Wyatt usually gets pb&j or Mac and cheese or simply yogurt and a banana. (Mother of the year, right here) while he is eating I’m usually wrapping up scheduling appointments for my Mary Kay business. Next is bath time, in which we FaceTime daddy so he still sees him somewhat during the day. Then we head to his room where we feed his fish (toofer (which comes from us getting the fish as he got in his second tooth) then I nurse him to sleep and he’s out by 530. I fend for myself for dinner so it’s usually Pizza Hut and a time to decompress in front of the tv for an hour then more phone calls to some of my consultants.
Duh! I hope this doesn’t ruin my chance but I’m in garden grove, Ca. 10 minutes from the oh so amazing Disneyland!
We live in Myrtle Beach, SC and have two children Anthony (5) and Gianna (3). A typical Wednesday night includes dinner around 5:30 then some activity pool, beach, bike ride, tonight we went to fly kites. We are perfect candidates because our life is always a debacle. Something wild is certain to happen and make for an interesting shoot. We embrace the crazy. Plus we live at the beach. Win. Win.
I’m a work out is home mom to a 2 1/2 year old sassy teenager wannabe named Emerson (Emme) and a sweet but stubborn 2 month old named Everly in Lincoln, NE. After the normal routine of dinner (must include Watermelon or Emme won’t eat it) we do bath and start bedtime routine. Now this is a hassle as Emme had decided she hates her room and big girl bed and she usually tries to fall asleep on the couch. This is after getting up 10x, needing water or going to the bathroom or needing to “show us something.” Almost every night results in me setting an alarm on my phone and if she’s not laying down trying to sleep when it beeps she’s to go to her bed. It’s a long process!
I am in St. Louis, MO. I have two boys ages 2 and 5.
A typical Wednesday evening right now involves me coming home around 430 to relieve Grandpa as Daddy works evenings and has to leave before I am home. Sometimes I have to wake someone from a nap. If they are not napping they are wired from the candy and soda grandpa has given them. Right now we have to hurry up and go to t-ball. If we don’t have t-ball and it’s nice I will walk the boys to the park close by. We come home and discuss dinner, will it be cereal or Dino nuggets or a peanut butter sandwich, often eaten sitting on the couch as the table is usually covered in cars. Lately we have been spending sometime sitting on the couch looking at mini coopers for sale in the area. The boys love mini coopers and mom would love to buy one as a play car. Then it’s floor time. Sometimes we play tickle monster, or city where I often play a bridge or a tree, sometimes a stoplight. Or we race, or play horsey, or climb on mommy. Then it’s clean up time, them toys, me the kitchen. Often showers come next, then it’s chill on the couch a bit and watch tv,then it’s up to bed where the boys each pick a book, which is read on my bed. The boys have their own rooms, I put the youngest to bed, or as of late to floor as he keeps wanting to sleep on the floor,,and we cuddle for a few. Then on to the oldest where we feed the fish, discuss the day, cuddle and sleep. Usually after the boys are down I do laundry then head to bed myself.
Charleston, SC; son Pierce 6 months old. My husband and I (and our furbaby) welcomed our first baby in Decemeber. Having just gone back to work and still adjusting to the new normal of having a baby I feel like my life is in a constant state of catching up. The wheels are always moving trying to stay afloat between my home life, work life, relationship with my husband, being a new mom, staying in touch with friends and family.. Always something that needed to be done like yesterday. I know we will get there but the feeling of being in such disarray and unorganized is unsettling. Our typical evening includes me picking our son up from my MILs house and heading home to wait for my husband to get home. My husbands entire family lives within a 1 mile radius of us so our evenings are typically spent with some or all of them (walks, golf cart rides, dinner, etc.) until after dinner when we settle down with just us which I would love for Raquel to capture what that really is now.
I love that you are doing nights because for many families including ours, this is the time of day that includes everyone and is consistent. We live Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit. My son is 4 years old. Our situation is unique because my husband works from home on a California schedule, and I recently went back to work part time after being a stay at home mom for 4 years. Our son goes to preschool in the morning while I work, so evenings are our time to connect. They are usually chaotic, but at the same time give us balance of always knowing what to expect. My son can be so high energy and all over the place, that I love how he calms down at bedtime, when we have the best (and sometimes most ridiculous conversations.) Even though my husband sometimes has to continue working after, we always have dinner as a family, and it’s a fairly wild shit show trying to make a decent dinner with a mini tornado underfoot. Right now, we do a gymnastics class on Wednesday nights, but that may change in the summer. We also have both sides of our family within 4 blocks of our house, so we get regular random visitors as well. Sometimes I think my husband doesn’t realize how much my son appreciates this evening time with him, and I would love the chance to show him how we are unique and average all at the same time.
My Name is Jen – mom to Eliana age 4, and Adira – turning 2 next week. We are on the brink of a big move. my husband is finishing his surgical residency in manhattan. In 3 weeks we are moving from the upper east side to a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland where he will be starting his fellowship in transplant surgery. Having a parent in medical training takes huge sacrifice and commitment not only of the physician him/herself, but of the family as well. On the more rare occasions when my husband is home, he jumps in head first and the girls fight over who he puts to sleep – usually the younger one :). When he is home, we have the divide and conquer approach to bedtime, but there are many sweet moments before then when our girls unwind together after a long day at daycare. What i think makes us different is the ability to see the support system a young physician in training has if he/she is simultaneously raising a family. His job is very cool, but the often unspoken piece is the behind the scenes coordination it takes to keep his family life in order so he an be 100% committed to his responsibilities. It takes not only sacrifice from the supporting spouse, but from the children as well. It is challenging trying to creatively manage the girls missing their daddy and not knowing when he is coming home. Sometimes I tell them he is on his way, and then something unexpected comes up and I have to mitigate the disappointment and sadness. One strategy I came up with when he is away at night, is a bag of hugs and kisses for daddy. so before the girls go to sleep, they pick a bag and decide how many hugs and kisses they will put in it for daddy. this way, they don’t miss giving daddy hugs and kisses – he just receives them later when he comes home. I have no idea how our lives are about to shake up moving from an apartment in manhattan to a house in the suburbs. I’m pretty proud of the commitment we both have to our little family despite both working full time and one of us being in a very intensive medical training regiment. we would love the opportunity to share a glimpse into our little world.
My name is Amanda and my husband is Jeremy. We live in Bennington Vermont and have two kids. Johann is 3 1/2 and Daphne is two. Our Wednesday evenings consist of picking up the kids at daycare, going outside for a walk and outside time. We have a river in the backyard so we like to go down there and splash around and play in the water and rocks. We do dinner after that which can be hectic, then bath time, a little tv and bedtime for Daphne. Johann will head up about a half hour later, then we will usually pick something on Netflix. We would love to be featured!
Canton, Ga
Duke 3 & Finn 1
Raising dragons in the Deep South!
Lordy mercy.. It’s been 3 years and it’s still madness at my house. Tonight as I was getting the muffins out of the oven, #1 poured out the dogs FULL water bowl onto the floor while #2 simultaneously climbed onto the couch (since when can he do that????), grabbed the glass baby food jars (that we’re in a box for donation) and started throwing them on the hardwood floors… Shattering everywhere. Food is literally on the ceiling and the dogs tongue is bleeding. Had to lock #1 out of the house & put #2 in his crib (where he screamed nonstop) just so I could clean up the messes.
Lord. Have. Mercy.
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My Husband and I currently live with our almost three year old daughter Kennedy in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Our Wednesday nights are usually one of my favorites because it is my day off of being a full time preschool teacher. Kennedy and I love to enjoy the outdoors while we anxiously wait for my husband to return from work. When dinner time rolls around you will always see Kennedy up on the counter watching (and directing) me cook dinner. We all sit down for a family meal and talk about our daily events. After we try to enjoy a walk, but if the weather is not permitting we play board games, build blocks, and play Kennedy’s favorite chase version of hide and seek. Eventually we convince her to take a bath, brush her teeth, and pick out one (or two, or three) bedtime stories. We all snuggle up in her bed to wind down and finish her night as we always do with sharing our favorite part of the day and prayers. Come fall I have accepted a teaching job at an inner city charter school teaching kindergarten, so the routine may change, but the constant will be that we always enjoy our evenings as a family.
I live Columbus, Ohio with my husband and our two little boys -17 mo) and (4 1/2). My husband is a teacher and does daycare drop off and pick up and has dinner ready to be served when I walk in the door between 5:15 – 5:30 pm. One of my favorite parts of the day is seeing those happy faces when I walk through the door 🙂 We sit down together EVERY night – its not pretty – the 17 month old flings and wears most of his food and our 4 1/2 yr old has a hard time sitting down with us but we do it – a home cooked meal – every night. After dinner we all go and play (Right now it is outside – a walk around the block, a walk to the park, playing with neighbors, water gun fight, yard work, etc) and at 7 pm I do tubs while my husband cleans the kitchen. I recently went back to grad school so if there is a test coming up I might study for a few minutes while he does tubs. After tubs its dessert/show and then we all go upstairs together to brush teeth, read 2 stories, sing songs and talk about our favorite parts of the day. The traditions we have are small but heart warming and make the limited time feel so worth it.
We live in Small Town, Nebraska, about 15 miles outside of Omaha. My kids are ages 10 and 8. We are a three person family due to the loss of my husband about two years ago. I’m an only parent, who works, juggles kids, and still tries to work on advanced degrees. I’m an educator by trade. In my “free time” I write and take photographs. We also have a small dog. Our evenings are simple, and depending on the night vary. In the summer we might have baseball and in the school year, the kids go to church while I run errands. When not at activities, we read, watch TV and go for walks. We’re an active, fit family. We make dinner a priority and try not to be too busy. However, I’m still breathless. I’d love a true documentation of our family and life. Life changes in a heartbeat, and I don’t have many recent everyday shots.
I have one son, Jimmy, who is 20 months old. We live in Buffalo Grove, a suburb of Chicago. I stay home with Jimmy full time, and my husband works about 20 minutes away. Our evenings are usually pretty mellow. My husband gets home arund 5:00, and he will usually play wth Jimmy while I finish cooking dinner. Jimmy eats dinner at 5:30. If I’m really on my game we all eat then, but if our food isn’t finished I’ll just feed J and my husband and I will eat later. Bath and pajamas come next, then we all cuddle on the couch and watch TV while Jimmy drinks his milk. We head upstairs and I brush Jimmy’s teeth, and then Paul reads him stories. While the boys read, I lie on the floor and pet our VERY attention starved cats. Then I say prayers and sing songs with Jimmy, and he’s in his crib by 7-7:15.
Morrow, OH (outside of Cincinnati). 22 month old daughter and 6 year old dog (he’s my fur baby, judge all you want). Wednesday – I love to hate this day. Why? Every other Wednesdayy husband rushes out the door to drive 30 minutes south to play Dungeons & Dragons for 3-4 hrs (why? He works from home and mommy needs a break from 50 questions when I walk in the door with the screaming toddler). On these Wednesdays, I have to rush out the door, pray there are no firey bus crashes on the way home so that I get to daycare no later than 545, so as not to upset the princesses schedule. She’s a delight when I pick her up, blows kisses to all, and will generally act “normal” all the way home but as soon as she crosses the threshold to the house all hell breaks loose and it is a race to throw something/anything on her plate while I stand in the corner eating some super bad for you cereal, trying to hide it from her. Then it is usually time for Mickey or outside play with our dog, maybe a wander to see Grandma Lynn. Next we fight the bath demons and the begging to sit on the pot because she’s needs to poop but I think she just likes balancing on the edge of the toilet and getting me wet. A fight over which book(s) to read – did I mention I have there was an old lady who swallowed a fly and good night, I love you memorized? Because I do and I’m working on a few more. Some cuddling in the dark before putting her in her bed where she will Carry on a conversation with herself before drifting off. A quick Call to my husband to pick up my favorite frozen treat from sonic and cleaning/lunch making before a shower and bed
My family resides in a suburb of Cleveland, OH. My two sons are Sammy 4(almost 5) and Jacob 2. We have 2 dogs that add to our chaotic evenings. My husband gets home first with the boys and makes dinner (how awesome for me!) i arrive about 20-30mins later. We usually play outside or go for a walk. There is also meltdowns, sometimes bath time, stories and finally bedtime. Our boys are great sleepers but we are debating moving Jacob into the bottom bunk in Sammys room (he is still in his crib). I would love this opportunity! Thanks for considering!
Cumberland Maine (The way life should be!)
Harper 2.5 and Holden 11 months
On any given night I pick up the kids from daycare at 5:00pm and arrive home around 5:20, my husband shortly thereafter if not before. Although we have a kitchen table both kids sit at the island while we review their sign language (I’m an interpreter) and I throw them snacks like hungry little seagulls and throw together their dinner. We just found out that Holden has an egg allergy (dear god help me) so we’re still figuring out how to accommodate that allergy.
Do we eat with the kids? On a good night yes but on a normal night no, we wait until they’re in bed.
Dinner is fed and lunches are made for the next day by 6:00pm
Nice weather equals outdoor playtime at school which in turn means every night is bath night!
The chaos called bath night with two children under the age of 3 takes about 30 min and then it’s time for pjs and 30 min of the show of Harper’s choice before bedtime at 7:30.
Bedtime has been all mommy all the time lately by Harper’s request so upstairs we go to brush our teeth, read two books, hugs…kisses and then LIGHTS OUT!!! While I”m doing this my husband puts Holden to bed,
Once the kids are in bed my husband and I eat a quick dinner if we haven’t already done so and then sit down to wade through the endless missed shows on the DVR.
The alarm on my phone goes off at 5am for my morning run so my bed calls my name pretty quickly!!! My husband, ever the night owl comes to bed a few hours later.
So? Are we interesting? Lobster’s on me!
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which is just west of Philadelphia. We have one son, Isaiah, who is one year old (it took everything I had to not write 21 months.)
I’m not sure if we have a real typical. Isaiah has a condition called Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI). OI is commonly known as brittle bone disease. He’s fractured more times than we can count, so we don’t :). Regardless of this, he is resilient, happy, and amazing (no bias here, just fact)
Dave, my husband, has a job where he makes his own hours. Sometimes he travels for work, sometimes he’s home by 4pm, and on the good days, 1pm. If Dave is home, we have dinner together around 5, preferably grilled (less stuff to wash? Yes please) in summer. After dinner, we go for a walk around the neighborhood or Dave plays guitar with Isaiah, and after that it’s bath time and bed time routine for Isaiah. Isaiah’s bedtime routine includes a book or five, a bottle, hooking him up to his pulse ox (machine that monitors his oxygen saturations since he has apnea) and brushing of teeth.
Once Isaiah is passed out for the night, I jump in the shower and we vedge. Sometimes we watch a movie together. Sometimes Dave plays Halo with his buddies online while i craft. Sometimes we stare at our computers, Dave answering work emails while I work on the blog.
I’m not sure if you’d ever consider sharing an evening with a special needs family, but if so, we’d love to show your readers/followers that our lives are more typical than you think. 🙂
I’m actually pretty private, so surprising myself by posting, but as a single mom one of the things I feel I have way too little of are pictures of me WITH my kids (I have about a million of them solo), and I just can’t pass up the chance. We live in Boston, MA, where I work full-time; I have almost-4-year-old boy / girl twins. I describe our evenings as controlled chaos – we have a routine, but my version and their version are often not quite in alignment. My son is an active, guitar-playing, singing, jumping, monster- or lion-being little tornado, and my daughter is a cross between snuggle-lover and teenager in a 3-year-old’s body. They’re best pals and worst competitors, and together, they’re a pretty formidable force. Evenings are both wonderful and awful – I love the time together, the evening snuggles and the end of day conversations, but am always a little bit grateful when the frenzy is over and they’re (finally!) in bed.
We have an weekday evening routine that rarely varies based on the day of the week, it’s what mostly works. I pick up Theo (2 years old) from daycare around 5:30 and am home between 5:45 and 6. If I get home on the earlier side and it’s warm out, we will play outside for 15-20 minutes. Theo LOVES to be outside, but it’s hard in Michigan! Then we go inside and I get dinner ready. Most of the time dinner is prepped for the week on Sundays. It’s the only way I have anything other than frozen pizza. Theo and I will eat together, although sometimes I have a very small portion since I’m going to eat a different dinner after he goes to bed. Dad comes home between 6:30 and 7 and joins us when he can. Theo loves his dad so much and is always asking for him. He gets really sad when he isn’t at dinner with us. After dinner is bath, which is a favorite around here! We splash, wash and read lots of bath books. Once Theo is dressed and diapered he has milk while watching Thomas the Train (choo choo as he calls it). Then he brushes his teeth and we read LOTS of books. After books Theo and I cuddle and he goes into the crib. Sometimes he cries and sometimes he happily goes to sleep, you never know! After Theo goes to sleep Erik and I catch up on our day, have dinner and sometimes each have to work. And that is Wednesday night!
Saratoga Springs, NY
Charlotte almost 9 months
fur baby Dax – husky – 6
My husband and I both have office jobs and love our evenings with our little family. It is rushed, but filled with love. I pump exclusively still, so working in pump breaks is always a challenge. I also try to sneak in as many snuggles as I can before our gal passes out around 730/8. (We are home between 530&6). She is exploring new foods and textures in dinner and we love seeing her priceless reaction to new tastes. Chicken thigh purée (not the same as pate no matter how much I tried to believe it) was NOT a hit. But that kid will chow down on some avocado and pear.
Charlotte is close to crawling and Dax helps his little sis along by never leaving her side.
After bed it’s more work and we are not far behind!
Lancaster PA, Caleb age 3 Lexi age 5.
our kids thrive on routine! One thing gets thrown off and were screwed! From everything to the exact same episode of Bubble Guppies every night, the very specific sippy cup that the milk must be in for bed, the same voice my bedtime stories must be read in, the line up of what seems to be 100 stuffed animals on their bed that they need to say good night too and tuck in. And if anything goes wrong, we start over again, because if not, well than nobody in the house sleeps!
Charles 13, Nora 11 , Evie 3, Maggie 1. Peanut the dog -(small and neurotic but still has a bedtime routine. Redmond, WA – our nights are always busy, 2 working parents, kids in different age groups. Bedtime is from 6:30 ish with the littles to until we go to bed and threaten the older children to not be loud and wake us up because we are exhausted. We take an evening walk and look for birds, deer, and bunnies. We live in a neighborhood where we often stop and chat with our neighbors. We say hello to the chickens in one yard, the koi in another, bounce on a trampoline in another, and finally make it back home. Our 3 year old is the kind who believes wearing matching pjs inhibits her creativity. We are negotiating screen time with the older kids who are usually attempting to rehome an ipad to their room. Its chaos in a lovely setting.
Orlando, FL
Lucas 4.5 and Ethan 8 months.
Our Wednesday evenings, no 2 are alike. The boys and I will play most of the afternoon and evening until Daddy comes home. Over the summer, the heat is pretty relentless so we’ll be inside, you can bet we are playing at the train table. Once Daddy arrives by 6, he’ll cook our dinner (such a blessing to have a husband who cooks!). Eating a meal around the table all four of us doesn’t happen 99.9% of the time, our oldest, Lucas, has ASD. Meal time for our family, well, we use the divide as conquer method. *Sometimes there are “special” nights (when daddy isn’t too tired) where we will go to a Disney park for dinner & fireworks. One of the awesome perks of living in central Florida is having Mickey as our neighbor!
Houston, TX
3 kids: Tristan 22; Tre 10 & Olivia 8 months
My husband and I both started our new jobs this year on the same day. Some days take an unusual turn, I may have to stay late for an event or he’s checking in with office from home … we’ve experienced them all. And then there are nights where we just relax. You never know.
On a relaxed night, I picked up our youngest and arrive home first. Depending on my day, I may order in or whip up a tasty dish. It’s all on my mood. When we eat I do insist we all eat together with no electronics. It’s a our time to chat.
Dinner time for Olivia is interesting. She is still figuring out the foods and textures she likes. She was born with esophageal atresia, a rare birth defect that effected her esophagus. Her upper esophagus ended and did not connect with her lower esophagus and stomach. The lower esophagus connected to her windpipe instead. It was repaired at birth, but only time will tell on how it will grow with her. Some nights she wants to try food other nights it’s only breast milk. We try and learn each day.
My oldest lives with his grandparents now. No disputes or anything. Just more freedom and perks. Mema and Popo treat him like the son they never had. He visits.
My middle child Tre was inherited through marriage. Genetically not mine, but in my heart he is. My husband has custody, so he’s with us 3/4 of the year. He’s with us every Wednesday. 😉
After dinner, it’s bath time for the kids. In bed by 8:30/9:00. Mom and dad unwind for an hour usually laughing about our day, finding memes we relate to online (we’re dorks). Then snuggle with the baby (we co-sleep – no judging please) when we lay down for bed. Check our emails on our phones then get some rest.
Hi there! We have two kids, Norah (5.5) and Dietrich (almost 1 yr.). We live in Molalla, OR (45 min. south of Portland, OR) My husband is a Pastor and will usually have evening meetings 3-5 times a month depending on the month or we will be hosting a congregation member at the house 🙂 We usually try to eat dinner all together and then he will take off for his meetings. I then take over and am often in charge of bath & bed routine for both kiddos. Ahh…the plight of a Pastor’s wife.
Norah will often have a dance class/sport going on 2 times a week. Especially during the school year.
Summer time will be dinner followed by either a walk to the frozen yogurt place in town or a bike ride to our local park…sometimes both if dinner goes well.
Eric and I will tag-team the kids to get them ready for bed. I am usually in charge of the baby while Eric and Norah will clean up after dinner. Norah then gets ready for bed and we do story time & evening prayers.
By the time the kids are in bed Eric and I usually have a drink and hang out a bit just the two of us or we FaceTime some of our friends who live far away.
2 children Avery 4 and Max 2 we live in Austintown, Ohio
As a teacher and a coach our Wednesday nights can totally vary. Some Wednesday nights might include cheerleading practice featuring my 2 biological children and 21 adopted cheereladers. It might mean taking two kids to a high school football game. My husband is a registered nurse who works late hours so In our house every evening multitasking is key. As one parent bathes children the other cleans/does laundry. Basically it’s all hands on deck from the hours of 4-8 we stagger bedtimes, our youngest goes to bed between 7:45-8 and our oldest goes to bed at 8:30. After that my husband and I can experience some sort of alone time before we go to bed ourselves and start over again at 5:00am!
Hi, I’m Holly from Framingham, MA, about 30 miles outside of Boston. I am a working mom to nearly 3 year old Zach. We live with my husband, Todd, and his mother Valerie also lives with us. Grandma babysits Zach while we work. On Wednesdays, I have the day off so I’m home with Zach all day. Todd gets home around 5:30 and I’ve usually started dinner by then. Sometimes dinner is the crockpot and other times I’m cooking the meal. Zach is usually playing. He gets all excited when Todd comes home. Todd changes his clothes and plays with Zach while I finish up dinner. We eat around 6. Zach refuses to sit in a high chair or booster so dinner is usually the adults trying to eat while Zach is up and down. He begs to sit on our laps, throws food, feeds the dogs, begs for a cookie, etc. After dinner, it’s bedtime for Zach. I give him a bath while Todd picks up his room, folds laundry, and gives him his allergy meds. Then I take Zach upstairs and get him dressed while Todd cleans up the bathroom. Then Valerie comes up and says goodnight to Zach. She holds him up to the skylight in his room and they say good night to the sky, clouds, airplanes, and birds outside. Then we brush teeth, read a story, and Todd says goodnight to Zach. I cuddle with Zach for a minute and we talk about plans for the next day if we have any. Then I put him to bed and go downstairs. We start a load of laundry and then settle in on the couch to watch tv until we go to bed.
Raleigh NC claire (3) Evan (6). Our evenings are typical of 2 working parents. Evenings actually begin around 3:45 when I get Evan from carpool. We head home for an hour where I straightne up, figure out dinner, or flop on the couch! Then we go to daycare to get claire. By 5:15 I am in full on mom mode getting dinner for the kids ready. They are done by 6 when daddy comes home. 6-7:15 is playtime with family. Sometimes I go for a run, get stuff for our dinner or just sit on the couch. 7:15 begins bedtime routine. I head that up while hubby gets our dinner going. We read as a family and then lights out for kids. We then eat our dinner! Ahhhhhhhh!
Vienna, VA
Daughter, about to turn 4
Son, 18 months old
My husband and I both work full time, 9-5. We split up in the mornings, I work in Maryland and he works in Virginia. One of us, if not both of us, will get home at 5:30pm to relieve our nanny. From there, and usually just towards me, there is crying from exhaustion from a long day of preschool and fun for my daughter, and toddlerism for my son. Daddy is the chef of the family and starts dinner (with daughter if it’s a good night) while I take care of our son as he still goes to bed early. Then the 3 of us left eat dinner and after my daughter usually gets to watch one show before bedtime, which consists of a nightly routine. This all sounds really boring and i swear is pretty lively if this is even what happens. My husband and I are very social and one of us might go out for the night to visit with friends. Or, we could decide to order in or eat out (if we are being particularly crazy). Bedtime is important to us though not only so our kids are getting enough rest, but so we can spend time together after they are asleep. One thing that may set us apart is that my husband and my daughter are both bilingual in English and Farsi and talk to each other often in Farsi. After 13 years I am still learning but can pick up most and at least bark commands in Farsi if I need :). Who knows where my son is at…he hears English, Farsi and Portuguese (nanny) often. So there you go 🙂
We live in Anoka, MN (suburb of Minneapolis). Two boys ages 6 and 3 (both just turned in May). Older boy is Nico, younger is Alex. The Hubby gets home from work between 4 and 4:30 and has a few minutes of down time before I come home with the boys (I pick them up from daycare at 5 on my way home from work). Then the boys head downstairs to our basement/living room to hang out with Daddy while I make dinner. Sometimes they “help” me cook. Wednesday nights are Nico’s Choice for dinner if he had good behavior at school (they have a color-coded daily chart). If he didn’t have good behavior, then Alex gets to choose dinner. Both children invariably choose “Casual Dinner Night” (leftovers) or “Snack Night”. By the time dinner is done and we finish eating it is usually bedtime already. If we have time we try to squeeze baths into Wednesday nights, but about half the time they get postponed to Thursday. Alex goes to bed at 7:00 and it takes me til around 7:30 to finish tucking him in. At 7:30 Nico comes upstairs to get ready for bed and I hang around in the hallway and play games on my phone while I talk him through his bedtime chores. He gets tucked in as soon as he finishes his chores, which can be anywhere from 7:45 to 8:15 depending on what kind of day we’re having. While I’m tucking the boys in, The Hubby is also going to bed because he gets up early in the morning to get to work. By 8:30 I am the only person awake in the house and I then stay up way too late trying to do everything at once and then collapse into bed around 11 and don’t get enough sleep.
Hi! I live in West Orange, NJ and my daughter Mae will be 2 in July.
My Wednesdays are incredibly normal and imperfectly perfect. I arrive home around 6:30 and greet my nanny and happy little bunny. She’s usually screaming with joy and showing off for me. It’s so sweet.
She’s had dinner by then so I usually give her a snack, have some playtime, head upstairs for more playing (which typicall involves dancing naked or in her diaper in front of the mirror), then it’s tubby, a FaceTime with Grandma, nursing and then bedtime by 8:15ish.
My husband arrives home around 7:30-8 to the sweetest, most elated expression from Mae. i’ve tried to capture her reaction to him opening the door but always miss it.
We don’t do crazy, game-changing things on Wednesday evenings just beautiful little special moments that fill me up after being away all day. I appreciate I’m not objective but it’s all adorable yet mind-boggling-Mae always leaves me in awe of her.
Lastly, I’m hanging onto our nursing relationship as much as I can right now. It’s part of every evening albeit brief now. And I know it will end soon therefore capturing what I’ve worked so hard to create and develop with her would mean everything to me. I’m most proud of what she and I have accomplished and to have something tangible (a photo) to remember this unique time would be magical.
Thanks in advance for your consideration.
Xx, Naomi
We have a 2.5 yr old daughter and I am currently 4 mo pregnant due in Nov. We live in a house in suburban Northern NJ and also have 3 pitbulls. I am an art teacher and usually pick up my daughter after school and we have time together from 3-7:30pm when my husband gets home. This time can be sitting out back on te deck loomi g for ants, doing chalk or playing in the sandbox – or if Im exhausted, can be me laying on the couch with my feet up while she plays ipad. We eat dinner together early like by 4pm amd its usually reataurant take out (i hate to cook) If the weather is nice we try to walk to town (10mins) to meet daddy as he gets off the train. This is always an amazing moment at the end of the day. When my hisband gets home he usually only has about 30-45 mins to spend with her before the bedtime routine starts which is a bath, teeth, one story and then lights out. I am regimemted with the bedtime but my husband is more lax. We also loosen up during summer when we dont have to wake up early for school. Once she is asleep I am working at my computer doing freelance graphic design or working on my online MFA degree classes. My husband is foraging for food in the kitchen. We also have a “nightclub” in our basement Since he used to be a dj, so if he gets home early enough and she asks to go “downstairs” sometimes they have a dance party together before bed!
My name is Shannon and I live in BEAUTIFUL Bristol RI with my husband, dog, and nearly threenager (7/9). I am a full time special educator, while my husband is a master electrician and volunteer fire fighte . I pick our daughter up from “school” around 4 and bring her home where she promptly gives me a hard time, most likely because I didn’t spend the whole day with her. This usually consists of rotating rounds of ‘I need to potty’, ‘I want to go outside’, ‘can I color’, and ‘I’m hungry’. None of which is ever what she really wants, lol. Daddy gets home between 5&6 depending if there is a fire call on his wa . We eat dinner between 6&7 and then do bath, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, and bed. My daughter loves those shows. If daddy’s here he has to do bed routine between 7&8 or the princess refuses. Mom and dad then usually catch up on dvr. If daddy’s not here, which is every first Wednesday of the month due to fire meeting, then mommy struggles to get Ms Emma snuggled and tucked. Usually around the third try I give up and snuggle in the couch with her until daddy gets home. Which is fine bc I love to snuggle her and hate to hear her upset asking for daddy. On those nights he tucks her in when he gets home.
Hello!
I’m Christie, and I work full time as an assistant principal. My husband is the IT director at the same school.
We have 2 daughters- 5 (almost 6) and 2 1/2.
Wednesday’s are a bit harried since it is a “late” work day. So there is much rushing and typically nothing goes according to plan.
So we stopped doing baths on Wednesday. That helps.
Instead the girls run around the front yard with water squirters in various stages of undress. Dinner is haphazard, at best.
The 2 yr old goes to bed at 7pm- but since it is so damn light out we always lose track of the time and when we finally realize it’s usually closer to 7:30. Then there is the typical stalling tactics, diversions and distractions. So we’ll say 8.
The 5 year old goes to bed at 8 after 3 books, which she will often negotiate to 5 books. Then she gets 10 minutes in her room to draw at her desk, which we always forget since we finally have the family room to ourselves and can actually carry on a conversation. So she usually gets more like an hour. So really around 9. My husband and I typically split the kid responsibilities, with him more often than not taking on a larger role. Yep, that’s right. He gives the baths, brushes the teeth and gets them dressed for bed. I make the dinner, clean up and read books to the oldest. It works.
Then there is the dog that can barely walk anymore and will instead pee on the floor. It’s good times over here in Alexandria, VA.
I was actually called as a back up to the DC Monday Morning selection- trying our hand at this again. 🙂
Seattle, WA. One daughter, Anna, who is 3.
No Wednesday is typical. Most nights I rush home from work, my husband works at home, scramble to find food for Anna and the sit her down for her 60 min dinner(slow) while we eat or make our dinner. Anna plays after dinner, then bath, then books and bed. Then we eat or talk or do house stuff or judge the construction next door. But tonight I had a board meeting and my husband had a work flight to Utah….so he fed Anna early, drove downtown with her, picked me up and took me to where my car was parked and swapped – him to airport and me home for bath and bed. Schedule gets crazy with parents who work full time and one that travels constantly.
Hi my name is Jessica I am a stay at home mom to our 15 month daughter Cassidy. We live in Lindenhurst NY. My husband works in the TV, movie industry so there isn’t really a set time he gets home. No matter what time he gets home Cassidy is so excited to see her Papa. Our evening usually starts with Cassidy and papa playing while I’m getting dinner ready. If he is home early we play outside and feed the swans in the canal in our backyard. We eat dinner in the living room watching TV. After dinner I clean dishes while Cassidy and Papa play then it’s pj time for Cassidy and we all go lay in bed and watch Big Bang Theroy….and that pretty much sums up our Wed. night.
We live in West Orange, NJ and have one son, Jack (13 months). Both my husband and I work, commuting every day to New York City. I leave work early to pick Jack up from daycare on Mondays and Tuesdays because my husband is working towards his MBA and takes classes on those nights, but on Wednesdays, my husband picks Jack up from daycare at 5:30pm. Sometimes if the weather is nice, they’ll go to the park, or they’ll go straight home to have dinner. Jack eats dinner, has a bath, gets into his pajamas, and by about 6:45/7pm I finally get home. Jack goes to sleep around 7:30, so I really only get about 30 minutes with him on Wednesday nights. It makes me so sad to have such a short period of time with him, especially after such a long day away from him (I drop him off at daycare by 8am each morning), but I try to enjoy every minute that I am able to spend with him in the evenings. We play in his room, read books and try to wind down (although sometimes, there is some running around and general silliness). My husband starts to get dinner ready for the two of us. At about 7:30, it’s time for bed. We brush Jack’s teeth (sometimes it requires both of us !) and then I sing him two songs – “Blackbird” by the Beatles and “Never Never Land” from the musical Peter Pan. Once he’s asleep, my husband and I sit down for dinner. After dinner, we get things ready for the next day. The evening goes by way too quickly and I always wish we had more time to spend together.
Roxbury, NJ.
I have 3 kids ages 14, 5, and 4. My husband and I have been married for almost 6 years. He owns his own business and I stay home, and that means that almost every night I am fighting the good fight alone. I usually don’t see him until a little after 9PM every night during the week.
my nights usually begin after dance or whatever activity we have that day (tutoring, Girl Scouts, soccer). Sometimes I cook, sometimes I don’t and use the magic of our microwave. Dinner usually involves many shenanigans with the 4&5 yr olds, while the 14 yr old shoved as much food in her face that she can while looking at her phone. After dinner I usually try to do some clean up duties while my son(4) convinces my daughter (5) that they should have a birthday party for the Hulk. My daughter (14) showers and gets ready for bed and usually “needs to go watch her show”, which I’m a pretty proud to say is still on the Disney channel. Bedtime for everyone is 8:30 but my daughter (14) doesn’t actually have to turn the lights out and TV off until 9:30. Besides yelling at the 4&5 yr old to go to the bathroom (SEPERATELY!!!-we are working on boundaries), and physically get into their beds in a position to actually sleep in (NOT curled up in a ball or your head hanging off of the bed) they usually stay there. When the husband does get home, he finally has his dinner and we watch some Netflix. Like boring people. But after the “excitement” of 3 kids by myself all day, boring is what I need.
We live in Bowie, Maryland. My daughter, Audrey, is just over a year old. She and I live actually with my parents and my brother right now. Our household is always moving and grooving! She is full of spunk and makes everyone do something they don’t even want to do in the first place. It’s always interesting watching grandpa play dress up!
So my name is Alleyna and we live in Pittsburgh, Pa (go Steelers)… (Unless that hurts our chances in which case go… your favorite team(; ) My husband Joshua and I have just one daughter, because he refuses to procreate at the time being, who is 13 months named Finnley. Him and I were both MPs in the Army where we met in Colorado for the first time. He is now a driver for Highmark health systems and I stay at home with my brat, oops I mean beautiful baby girl(: I also am a full time Radiology student.
Our typical night consists of waiting for daddy to wake up (he works nights) and screaming “Daaaaadaaaaaa” if he’s even a second late waking up. Her internal clock is like nothing I’ve seen. Whenever he’s awake and moving we usually have dinner shortly after. Josh and I have dinner, Finnley shoves her food in her diaper for later. Then we watch jeopardy and wheel of fortune every night, and I always win because I’m the dominant species (: Then we have bath time which Finnley will refuse if she isn’t the one to grab her towel. Followed by teeth brushing telling daddy goodnight and story time. I must read the same five books in the same order as well or its tantrum city! Then a little alone time for mom and dad before he heads back to work.
Thanks for considering us! Super obsessed with all your pages. Be well, Alleyna.
My name is Katie Devree and I have two children, Deacon who is two and half years old, and Emerson who is four months old! Our Wednesday evenings are pretty laid back most of the time, I usually will have dinner ready by the time my husband gets home, and usually I’m tryin to wrangle Deacon into his high chair so he is ready to go! We love summers here in Michigan, bc we can play outside all the time and walk to the park across the street or of course to the icecream shop! Usually Emerson either is sleeping during dinner or she is wanting me to hold her and be up looking at everyone….she is def. a mover like her brother and is so curious to see what is going on! My husband Scott usually will mow the lawn after dinner and my son has to take his lawn mower out to copy daddy, and every time daddy comes by he has to get a high five! Usually at this point I’m either nursing Emerson or giving her a bath to get her ready for bed, and by the time that is done its deacons turn to get his Jammie’s on and teeth brushed…which usually he lays on the ground and I sit(gently) on him to brush his teeth. When that’s done I let him do a bible story on my phone that reads to him and has actions he can push….he LOVES it:) then it’s time for bed and we all go in and say his prayers…..which seems to be everything including his lawn mower! My husband and I usually wind down after by having some wine and relaxing on the couch together…..we are usually in our own little world for a bit but I think it’s to unwind for the day, and then we start chatting to see how everything went that day and usually by 10:30 we call it a night. Just a lazy night but I wouldn’t trade it for the world kissing my little ones goodnight and being with the man I love every night!
My name is Kristen Small and I live in Atlanta, GA with my husband and 1.5 yr old son. I treasure bedtime with my son at this age as he is now old enough to to really enjoy his bedtime routine. We eat dinner (usually Mac and cheese and peanut butter – 2 of the 5 foods he will eat), play on the floor as a family with our two dogs (my son and dogs are equally obsessed with playing fetch – my son throws the ball for them and they retrieve it enthusiastically 1,000+ times!) , do bath, teeth brushing, and nurse to sleep. My sweet boy loves his routine! I hope I am picked so I can have these sweet and simple memories captured :).
My name is Lindsay and I live in Richmond Virginia. I’m a mother of 2 girls. Sadie, 5 years old and Lainey 2 years old!! We also have Millie, our third child, a two year old rescued greyhound! I am a kindergarten teacher and my husband works for LG. Our Wednesday nights usually consist of our favorite Mexican restaurant because its half price margarita night and Mexican is one of the few foods that everyone in my family likes! Sometimes we get sweet frog after dinner, sometimes we head straight home to walk the dog and start our bedtime routine: bath, teeth, nightgowns (because my girls are divas) lots of books, maybe a game of candy land, and both girls fall asleep to CDs. Sadie loves all her Disney princess cd stories, Lainey prefers the same frozen story EVERY night!! I am Often very guilty of going straight to my bed after the girls go down. Sometimes I just watch tv, other times I’m doing school work. I don’t mind leaving messes or dishes for the next day! The summer is coming soon and we often pack dinner some nights and go to the pool for a swim and picnic dinner!
We live in a suburb of Baltimore, MD and have 2 girls that are almost 4 and 2. We probably are pretty typical, but maybe a little less structured than some. Depending on the day, we either grill at home or go out for dinner, or more often in the summer we pick up food and head to the pool or a park. We spend most of the evening outside. Depending on the semester, some wednesday nights I leave to teach a class at the local college and my husband does bedtime alone. That would usually mean a trip to home depot for the girls before bedtime :). Bedtime usually involves reading, singing, face timing relatives, and about 20 trips up the stairs for water and answering random questions of the day.
Love the idea for this upcoming series!
We’re located in Denver. I’ve got a 1.5 year old. Our Wednesday evenings start with us waiting impatiently for my husband to get home! He takes the light rail to work downtown, so he sends a text when he’s caught the train and I know he’ll be home usually 20 minutes later. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t do a giant clean sweep of the house the moment I get that text (and then I’ll later act like I did it at naptime instead of watching Ellen)…
Depending on the day, I’ll either feed my son before my husband gets home or I’ll try and stretch his dinner to be able to eat with us. My son waits for daddy by the window and yells “hi daddyyyyyy!” When my husband pulls up, so then I’ll usually let him out the door to run and meet him.
My husband comes in, changes into a tshirt, and immediately starts reading or wrestling with our son while I start dinner (he sneaks into the kitchen to rummage for snacks during this time also).
Eventually, we all sit down to eat, though my son always prefers whatever is on our plates to his own (even when it’s exactly the same).
After, we’ll play outside or inside, depending on weather, until bathtime. We’ve always prioritized bathtime as a media free zone where all of us are crammed into the bathroom to chat and splash. Sometimes we FaceTime my parents (breaking the media free rule… But you know).
Jammies, books, a song, then bed for our son. We usually either separately do our thing or watch a documentary together before bed (except right now it’s the nba playoffs, so…). We totally leave the dishes until the next day!
It would be an honor to have you join our evening!
Hi,
We live in Toms River, NJ. We have a 6 year old son, Sean and a two year girl, Alison (aka Allie). Our typical Wednesday nights are not really always typical. I am a teacher and get home around 4:00. My husband is in sales so his schedule is never the same-ever. This means Allie and I go ‘watch Sean.’ Which really means Allie runs around like a maniac and I run around after her. This is followed by dinner, baths, homework, book reading, patty cake, lots of craziness and one tired mommy! I wouldnt trade it for the world!
Gosh you have a lot to read 🙂
I’ll be quick.
I have 2 girls (11 & 8) in middle & elem school and 2 boys (3 & 5 months) hubs and I joke we live in 2 different parenting worlds (we do)
Wednesday evenings my husband is home around 8:30 so bedtimes get pushed back and we stagger. 8 year old is first then 11 year old. Then we focus on the boys. Backwards I know.
I recently became a stay at home mom after working in marketing for 12 years. I can’t tell you what a normal Wednesday night looks like because it’s never the same. Our routine is not to have a routine. Sometimes we go to grammas house to swim other times we go to church for weekly dinner. Sometimes we just stay home and chill, ride bikes etc.
You’d just have to be here to see. 🙂
Oops. We live in Pinehurst, NC about an hour south of Raleigh, NC.
Hi, I live in Howell, NJ with my husband, 4-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son. My husband works at a university an hour away and works very late on Wednesdays, though in the summer he may or may not make it home in time for bedtime. I usually get dinner ready around 5:00 after a lot of screaming from my son and demands for more Disney channel from my daughter. Since it has been nice out, we have been going outside in the sun to eat popsicles and/or fruit and play on our slide. Then we play inside for a little bit, whine about cleaning up, though it does get done, and go up to do bath and teeth. We read on the floor in my daughter’s room while my son runs around like a crazy person. If my husband is home, he likes to do push ups with our daughter and me lying on his back. Then then kids bounce on her bed, we sing Let It Go and it’s lights out between 7:30 and 8.
After my daughter is in bed, I take my son downstairs, get him some coconut milk (he is dairy free) and hold him on the couch for a while before putting him to bed.
In the end, the kids are happy and tucked in, my kitchen is usually a disaster and it is time for me to get on my computer to work on my grad school work until I am too tired to think straight. It is usually an exhausting but very rewarding routine.
Oh and I forgot to mention while I am on my computer doing school work, my husband spends the night working on his while eating cookies/ice cream/chocolate and watching family guy. It’s all very glamourous. 🙂
My name is Amber Morton, and my husband and I have 2 kids-Joanna (2) and Benaiah (1). We are a family full of redheads from a town just outside of Nashville, TN. Our evenings are pretty routine. Dinner-Bath-Pajamas-Brush Teeth-Story-Prayers. EXCEPT during football season, when it’s just me holding down the fort during the evenings. That means that when it’s not football season, I am adamant about eating dinner as a family and spending as much time as a family as possible. We are a laid-back family and my children love to entertain. We would enjoy showing the “world” an inside peek at our life!
Hey there! I love watching the adventures of your girls. I’m a sometime SAHM juggling a booming independent business as a Child & Infant Sleep Consultant in Austin, TX. Yep, I could help you with those pesky sleep problems or bedtime negotiations. It’s what I do. I am actually a trained clinical social worker and was a therapist pre kids but I started this 4.5 years ago as a small project to help other parents and then it turned into a flexible full time gig that I love. I often say I am basically a parent therapist now. My kids are 9, 7 and 5. Two girls and a boy. We pushed the odds and got that wild thing of a boy! My husband is often traveling during the week and then evenings are on me and to be honest, it’s pretty great. We are in a good stage and the kids are at awesome ages which helps. And then when he’s home he’s a mac daddy chef for us so then I just take a back seat and drink…A LOT. Did I mention we like drinking and eating in Austin? Ha. Well, there you go. That’s often our evening story.
All girls- ages 8, 7 , almost 2 and baby girl #4 due Oct 1. Beecher, IL (40 mins s of Chicago) we have no true routine. Try to do homework but someone always ends in a full blown tantrum. Cartwheel and sing around the house. Try to make dinner if you don’t like it you can make yourself a salad or you don’t eat. Send the kids outside to play while I clean. Husband comes home from work (Sorry we were too hungry to wait for you to eat.) Everyone wants to eat again cause dad is eating. Has anyone seen the baby? Oh shit. It’s already past 8. Everyone takes showers or bath. Continuous Cartwheeling and singing around the house. Everyone attempts to go to bed but please can’t we watch full house. Someone needs a drink, someone’s arm hurts… Baby won’t go to sleep. Beautiful chaotic life. Oh and there might be soccer or gymnastic practice somewhere in between. (Sorry too tired to spell check)
I’m Amy from Marlborough, CT. Mom to Charlotte (5), Fallon (turns 4 on Monday), and Fiona (21 mos), with baby #4 on the way. Wednesday evenings are special for us because My husband and I own a children’s fitness center where we teach gymnastics and mommy and me classes to kids, and on Wednesdays, my 4 and 5 year old come to a class that I teach in the evening. I get to be their instructor while they learn new skills and get to play with their friends. It happens to be the last class of the night, and when we’re finished, we order pizza in to the gym. My kids look forward to Wednesday all week! When we’re done, we head home where we put the kids to bed which I’m sure is just as crazy a ritual for us as for any parents of young kids! Our older two have an exercise routine at bedtime too. Every night they do 10 push ups, 10 sit ups, and 10 squats, and my 5 year old (who is in Taekwondo) also practices her roundhouse kicks every night. All this happens after putting on Jammie’s and brushing teeth. Then each gets a store on Mama’s lap, we tally up stars on a reward chart we keep on the iPad, and then we have kisses and lights out. I treasure my nighttime routine even if it’s late on Wednesdays for us!
I am Tasha from Maumelle, AR (just outside of Little Rock). My husband, Andrew, and I are the proud parents of Presley Ann (3) and Eden (4 months). We are the blonde hair blue eyed (younger) version of Mazzy and Harlow! Presley is a full fledged threenager that is convinced that she is a super hero princess. Her impromptu dance parties and dramatic response to everything keeps us on our toes. Eden is new and we are all still trying to get our “routine” down pat! Wednesdays are really our only nights without an extra activity (dance, swim, gymnastics, super club……).
During the day, I am a speech pathologist at a school for children with special needs. I am the high school therapist and my day is spent with mostly teenage boys! My husband’s job is very demanding of his time and even when he isn’t “working” he is helping friends and family with handy-man jobs (we like to call him Handy Andy….but he doesn’t always answer to it!).
Between bottles, Presley eats while I am making lunches for the next day. If it were up to her she would eat macaroni and cheese with “pink” milk every single night (and day)! I throw in vegetables each meal, basically to say “I tried”!
On evenings when daddy is home there is a lot of flashlight chasing, tickle monster raids, and a number of airplane flights through the house. If mommy is home alone it is basically a constant battle of who needs me more! A dress up costume (or two) is a given and often I find myself lying on the floor to get my “checkup” from the nurse. Bath time is a marathon and often leaves Presley bargaining whatever she can think of to not put on lotion. After prayers and a hundred kisses she is tucked in and its off to cook the adults dinner! My goal in the next year is to eat together, but our schedules right now just do not allow it! Mommy and daddy usually eat around 9, maybe catch a trashy reality show DVRed from several days back, cuddles with the baby, then crash once our heads hit the pillow!
It is a long shot because we are so much like your family, but Little Rock has a lot to offer and is often overlooked. Our little town near the “big” city is perfect for raising a family.
Hi!! I’m Emily, part-time drug and alcohol therapist, full time Mom to five (I know, I know) five kids, ages 13, 6, 4, 2 and 6 months. We live in Wilmington, NC where my husband is stationed, active duty USMC. My Wednesday nights are LOUD. We blow up the kids’ bounce house they named Sweetie (?!), and we yell at them as they alternate between jumping, fighting, crying, sweating, and running in and out of the house one million times letting all the Carolina humidity and creatures inside. Then we have dinner. No one ever likes everything, so we negotiate chicken touching carrots for a half hour. I may or may not nurse the baby at the table. Then we take a walk, where someone inevitably falls, and my oldest son becomes angsty about something, walking either ahead quickly or moping behind. Then it’s bath time, and it is just a naked menagerie of toddlers for an hour. Then we have dessert which is the high point of their night. Then wind down with some electronic devices, which are only allowed after bath. I listen to a variety of YouTube kid cooking demos, or the ever amazing surprise egg videos. Make sure oldest is finished with homework. Then, after a half hour of bedtime requests, it is bedtime. And I stare at the tv watching Desperate Housewives while I nurse baby. And thank God for my crazy, loud, amazing crew of hilarious kids that make every day awesome 🙂
We hail from Orlando, FL and have two boys, Logan (6) and Lukas (4). I work every Tue/Thur and most Sat/Sun so Wednesday is special, for the boys. Dinner menus change weekly but you can count.on Lukas only eating the carbs and Logan, the akinniest 6 year old I know, asking for second or even third helpings, of everything! After dinner, the boys are usually chasing our 96 pound puppy around our small house or playing in our large backyard, Lukas asking to be pushed on his swing for what seems like hours on end but is really only 20 minutes. Logan may have school work to finish, we homeschool, and then it’s cuddles and time for teeth to be brushed and off to bed, but not before our secret hand shakes!
My name is Kat and I’m a full-time mom teacher and full-time mom to 2 girls, ages 4 and 2. We live in Butler, PA, about 45 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. Our Wednesday evenings are our family nights since it is the only weeknight that both the husband and I are home. Tonight I got home from work and started dinner while husband finished up cleaning the pool and put together the fire pit. This is our first year with a fire pitt so needless to say the girls were thrilled! They got their camp chairs out and set them up right next to the pit. All four-year old could talk about, and talk to her sister about, was toasting marshmallows. Even though she is 2, youngest daughter says very little at this point. Receptively she understands the spoken word, but expressively she’s delayed. Big sister was too; poor kids take after their mother. Back to the pit, they were NOT happy that I made them eat before we toasted marshmallows. Once we finally got to the main event, the girls were ecstatic until 4 year old believed 2 year old was too close to the pit. She was terrified that she was going to get burned. We sorted through that incident and 4 year old finally settled on having us make her marshmallows. Pictures were taken as both girls were a sticky mess but overjoyed that they could have marshmallows!
Two sticky children were then herded in to the tub and hosed down. Tub time was cut short as 4 year old slid back in our claw foot tub seeing a boatload of water on to the floor. Husband sent 2 year old downstairs where I got to wrestle her into a diaper and PJs; it would have been easier dressing a slug! 4 year old then gets out of the tub; dries off as little as she can and proceeds to jump, naked as the day she was born, into our bed. 2 year old follows her so I take that time to condition their hair and brush it; again, not a pretty task.
By the time we all get downstairs it’s time for bed. Husband takes 4 year old and I get 2 year old who we just transitioned to a toddler bed as she figured out how to climb her crib. We read a story and then lights out. I sit with her for a bit as I tickle her arms and then I tuck her in, restart her CD player and leave. I end up going in and putting her back in bed about 5 more times before going downstairs to clean the kitty litter for tonight’s trash night. I then get on the computer and begin my Cyber School work before I take a quick break to go back to 2 year olds room to turn down the music and put her back in bed. I come downstairs and continue to work as husband finishes putting the 4 year old to bed. As I’m working I keep on hearing the tell tale thumps of wired child. Husband makes it downstairs and finishes the trash before coming in to the TV room. Eventually everything upstairs quiets down and I’m sure I’ll find 2 year old in some awkward position on her bed when I check on her before I go to bed. For right now, husband and I are watching TV and just listening to the quiet… ending our Wednesday beautifully.
I am a full time 4th grade teacher and my husband also teaches PE. Our Daughter is 9 and is actively involved in dance (4-5 hours a week plus she competes!) and my son is 11 and starting Middle school. He also plays sports most days. Both of my kids are in an accelerated school program, so our lives are always on the go. Most nights are hectic but we manage to sit down and eat together nightly. Its a crazy life but its worth it for the smiles and hugs every night.
I am a single mother and have been since day 1 to a gorgeous 5 year old DIVA. I am a very stubborn sarcastic mama, and seem to be creating a mini version of myself, but one that is far more fabulous, stylish, and prettier! I live in the suburbs of Denver. A typical day in our life isn’t like most. My gracious mother moved her life out here to help and be closer to us. My mother picks up my daughter from daycare each night as she comes home from work. Although I work from home, I cannot watch my daughter while I am working. I work until 8pm at night so I plan my break around the time they get home to prepare and serve dinner to them each night to have some semblance of a “normal family”. My daughter is the pickiest of eaters and although she loves salads, veggies, fruit, and pasta, she isn’t a fan of hardly any meat or any other bread products. Each dinner is a fight to provide her a well-balanced meal. I was a vegetarian for years until she started eating solids and was dropping in weight so I was trying to introduce meat to add on weight for her–and I fell in love with meat all over again–but she won’t touch it!!
I often leave the table to go back to work while my mother is trying to bribe her into eating more dinner. They then play games, dance, read books, or watch TV until I get off at 8. I come out at 8 and my daughter is so excited about seeing me that she is usually wound up. I attempt to start a bedtime routine while trying to spend quality time with her before she goes to sleep–which usually involves her acting silly for 30 min.
My daughter is deaf but has cochlear implants, so when I get off we usually read a lot of books to help build up her vocabulary. She goes to speech therapy at 7:30am on Wednesdays so those are our longest day of the week!!
I then start my routine of trying to get her to go to bed which can take up to 2 hours. (Thank god I finished my Master’s Degree on-line while she was still a good sleeper or I wouldn’t be alive today).
I try to get her go to sleep in her bed, but usually ends up sleeping in mine. I then clean up and pack her lunch for the next day. I hope she doesn’t have snack at school the next day because I try and keep up with the Pinterest SAHM and make some creative snack that sometimes I nail, or sometimes I stay up until midnight trying to perfect for toddlers!??!?! WHY? I then may catch up on a show or Netflix but usually fall asleep watching it and realize I need to then take out our dog “Prince Charming” before I really head to bed.
That is a typical Wednesday night for this Single Mama of a Deaf Diva and our very own Prince Charming (oh yeah and gramma too).
I also forgot we are in Cleveland Ohio . Go Cavs!
MD suburbs of DC, 3.5yo and a 1.5yo. My 1.5yo has a feeding tube, which gives us a whole new category of things to deal with every day! I typically fly solo for bedtime/baths and sometimes my husband joins us for stories right before bed, or comes after the kids are asleep, and then we eat together. I have to continuously sing nursery rhymes to get my 1.5yo to eat anything (goal is to eventually decrease tube feedings and increase oral feedings) so that would be a little embarrassing on film, but I’m game 🙂
Minneapolis, MN! Ages 3 and 18 months. My husband and I both work outside the home, so evenings often feel rushed and chaotic as we get home, make dinner, and then try and get the kids to bed at a decent hour since we’re up early the next day. I generally do the cooking, and we split the bedtime routine. We may let the kids watch TV if we’re feeling frazzled, or we may spend extra time reading, or like tonight set up the inflatable bouncy house and hope it wears them out. Bedtime is a dance and often a long one as we try and get our son to stay in his room. It’s exhausting at times, but it’s also nice to be needed.
I am a Mom of 10, 8 whom still live at home. Ages 21, 21, 21, 18, 15, 14, 13, 13, 12, and 8. The youngest 5 are adopted and one of the 21 year olds came to live with us shortly before his father was killed in a car accident. We live in the small town of Anthon Iowa where we own and operate The Diamond H Ranch. My husband also works full time at a feedlot and I am a stay at home mom. Between homework, chores, volleyball, football, 4H, house chores, and all the ranch work we rarely have a dull moment. Summer nights after chores, until midnight or later, are spent in the barn breaking and preparing show calves for the fair. Horses are a big part of how we work around here with kids putting in 10+ miles a day checking fence and cattle. Supper in the summer usually means standing at the counter grabbing a bite on the go between outdoor activities. My front door should just as well be a revolving door with the amount of extra kids that come and go. Bedtime? well that varies depending on activities and attitudes especially during the summer months. During school I try to get them all in bed by 9. We are not a special family just a big, loud, hard working one!!!
Just north of San Antonio, TX
18mo son
(Loved Monday mornings! Though they made me ugly cry at work.)
Evenings are both my favorite and most dreaded part of the day. I work 30 min from home. The hubs works from home. I skip lunch so I can pick up baby and get home about the time hubs gets off work. We usually all head out for a walk around our little hood, then play outside until it’s time to get dinner going. Dinner falls on me and I try to toss together a quick, healthy meal (i.e. frozen pizza that I toss a few veggies on to make myself feel better for serving frozen pizza for the 3rd time that week). Family dinner together is highly important to me and we make it priority. We have so few hours together during the day that I insist on those 30 minutes for us to unplug, converse, and enjoy a meal together. Then it’s a frantic push to clean up, bath time, book time, bed time by 7:30p so we can be up by 6:30a. After tidying the house, I say I will log in to work for a while, but usually watch mindless drivel and fall asleep on the couch.
I’m jenn from Kansas City – a part time working from home but mostly stay at home mom to a 2.5 year old girl, Sutton and a 14 month old boy, Henry. We’re headed into our first summer where our daughter is old enough to be able to experience some fun activities (and let’s be real, #2 just gets dragged along because that’s part of being the second child). So, our Wednesday nights usually consist of eating dinner close to 5 so we can have some free time before bed. That means I have to think of something for dinner and get it going before my husband gets home – a small feat in and of itself with two kids who seem to want to attach themselves to me during that time. After dinner is finished, we’ll throw the dishes in the sink (maybe tonight will be the night the dish fairy comes?!) and head outdoors. We’ll either do a family walk with our 2 dogs – Jake the lab and Eddie the labradoodle, go find a new park, take the kids to try an ice cream place or maybe snowcones. Or sometimes we go grab a glass of wine at a restaurant with a place for the kids to run and play. And sometimes we just go to target… Or the grocery store. From the time we get home until bed is a fast flurry of crazy- we usually have just enough time to dip Henry in the bathtub before his bedtime at 7 and then my husband and I try and spend some one on one time with our daughter. We typically color, play kitchen or get talked into ‘just one more swing outside’. She’s in bed by 8 at which point my husband and I eat, do dishes (dish fairy still hasn’t come), pick up the house, do a little bit of work and then hit the sack to get ready to get up the next day and do it all over again!
We live in Columbus, MS. My husband is a pilot in the Air Force, and we have been stationed in Columbus for close to three years. We have a 2.5 year old son and a baby on the way. I work full-time at Mississippi State University. My husband’s schedule is very unpredictable. He often doesn’t know until the night before what his hours are going to be like the next day. I get home around 5. He typically gets home any time between 5:30 and 7:30, so depending on the day I sometimes have to do the whole evening routine myself. When he’s home, he’s very helpful though. I think it would be fun to highlight an evening in a military family :). Our life is definitely chaotic!
I am a working mom of three kiddos. We have a sassy, cute, too smart for her own good daughter who is 4 going on 16, a sweet but rough and tumble mommas boy son who is 2 1/2 and the sweetest, easiest baby boy who is 3mos. We live on a farm by Louisburg, which is a small town by the Illinois/Iowa/Wisconsin border. Wednesday nights vary depending on the time of year. During the winter my husband is in a bowling league on Wednesday nights so those nights are “family night” at my in laws house. My mother in law cooks dinner for us and my husbands family which includes 10 adults and 11 kids under 7! If this sounds wild and crazy, it is exactly that! Those nights I pick up the kids from daycare, get to family night eat and play. I take kids home and do bedtime routine by my self. During the summer family night is more sporadic as family members are busy. My husband works full time and also farms so during the Spring/Summer/Fall Wednesday nights I pick kids up from sitters, rush home and cook supper while the older kids play outside and husband is doing chores on the farm. Meanwhile littlest guy needs feeding. Then we eat supper,everyone at the table, then its bath time, watch cartoons and play, baths if needed and to bed by 7:30 for the big kids and 8:00 for the little guy. That leaves about and hour for my husband and I to talk, catch up on DVR, or tend to the garden, etc. This season of life is crazy busy but it is also the season that I am going to miss the most!!
Prairie Village, KS.
3 daughters, 6 year old Amelia 4 year old Samantha and 6 month old Georgia, who is now know as Mississippi by her older sisters due to the amazing spelling of Mississippi.
Also 2 overweight female English Bulldogs.
Dad is the lone male who just started his own business so works long/late hours.
We share one bathroom, I’m a stickler for baths and showers every night. Dinner is unplanned and picked at. Georgia gets the first bath, then the two older sisters take showers. Pjs on and head out for a long walk. Fresh air before bed is the best. Stopping for ice cream or the little library at our neighbors house. Back home to read a bit and demand snacks. Dad takes the big kids to bed and I take the baby. Baby Georgia gives Dad hell at night. I sneak in to kiss girls good night, dad quietly rolls out of their room and heads to the computer and TV. I draw/write in the big girls workbooks for their morning art. Tonight Sam asked for a unicorn rainbow pony in her book and Amelia just wants a surprise. Every night is a bit of organized chaos. It’s a success if the kids are fed and clean and happy.
I finish drawing and peek into my husband while he glances up from the TV/computer/phone. Next up laundry and cleaning up the kitchen then to bed. Soon enough the baby will be up and Sam will sneak into our bed.
Maryland –
our girls are 2 and 4 and Wednesdays are a big night for us. we try to pick up the kids from preschool as close to 5 as possible, mostly because of that evil eyeballs at being the last kids picked when we sail in at 5:30. it’s a toss up between myself or my husband, based on the day-to-day schedule (he has his own business and i am a part-travel sales gal.
we race home to dinner (a mere 6 miles) to get home before the cries and screams about hunger and needing to eat get too escalated. we try really hard to have some plan in place to avoid un-helathy dinners, and that happens about 50% of the time. once we’ve made our run at dinner, we clean the food from the dishes, table, floor, window, wall, etc and try to get a walk/bike ride in. our 4 year old can now make it around the neighborhood all by herself on the bike (!!!!) – this is HUGE.
Weds are the days we pick up our vegetable share from the local organic farm, but it can only be gotten AFTER 6:30….so someone has to go back out. ALSO, Weds is usually the evening of the neighborhood guys(and one gal) poker game. If my husband can get the veggies before poker, he saves me from the hassle, or else we bathe the girls, load them up and sing twinkle twinkle little star all the way to the pickup and back.
We read together and they get two books before being tucked in. Lately we also have an Anna/Elsa book in constant rotation along with either the pout pout fish OR that naughty curious george.
all tucked in , we usually are lucky with kids that stick to their beds, and most nights its back to work for both of us so that we can keep our weekends solidly work free!
Rodeo, California – San Francisco Bay Area
Kids are almost 6 year old, Sofia and twin almost 3 year olds, Thomas and Jacob
Wednesday’s have the most intense witching hour ever since Sofia gets out of school at 1230 instead of her typical 245. Which means the twins don’t get to nap as long in the morning. Which means they go supernova in the evening. Which is either a blessing (so exhausted they fall asleep quickly) or a curse (too amped up to fall asleep). Other than that it’s just another typical evening – cooking dinner in a too tiny kitchen, husband who is trying to unwind from work, getting the kids to the dinner table at the same time and then have them eat two bites before saying they are done, mom never getting eat a hot meal (I need more juice, I dropped my fork, I need a napkin), kids who must listen to the Frozen soundtrack to fall asleep, helping Sofia take 17 years to read two pages in a library book because she’s learning… But they all eventually fall asleep and aren’t they so angelic at that point?! Heart full. Life blessed. And then we get to do it all over again the next day.
Lord there are a lot of entries here! Good for you! Here’s my shot:
I’m Audrey and I live in a loft condo in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood. We have one daughter, aged 3 and a half. She is a true redhead (the best and the worst parts of that stereotype) although both of us have brown hair (and are super boring). Our evening routine depends on whether my husband is traveling or home. When he is home, its fairly energetic. We get our kid fed (almost always snacks that sub for a real dinner), play with our new cat, watch some videos on Amazon prime while playing with toys or bathing in the tub, then she changes into PJs, gets 3 short stories, and gets into bed. The best part of our evening routine comes next; we review the day and talk about the exciting (or scary, or funny) things that happened. Then I kiss the kid goodnight and leave the room. My husband stays longer and usually invents a story before saying goodnight.
When I am single parenting its a more compact routine. The first 2 nights the kid gives me a lot of trouble and is very sad, but as the weeks pass (he is typically gone for 4-6 weeks at the time) she gets used to our routine and bedtime is actually quite sweet. I don’t try to mimic daddy’s routine, I try to make my own. I will admit that I downgrade to “snack dinner” same as the kid in those weeks.
In either situation, after the kid is quiet, we retreat to our bedroom to check email, surf the web, shop online, and play with the cat. Its not exciting, but its real life!
I’m Alexis, and my husband and I have a 2.5 year-old son. We live in a condo in Chicago (just outside of downtown). My husband and I both typically get home from work at 6pm. While we change, our son likes to play games on our bed (like having us flap the sheets over him like a parachute or playing hide-and-seek under the covers), and then he usually asks to cuddle with mommy and daddy. So the three of us cuddle and talk about his day. This is my favorite part of the day, and what I think sets us apart from others.
Then the easy part of the evening is over! After he’s done cuddling, he asks to play iPad, which we don’t allow in the evenings, so one of us tries to distract him while the other prepares his dinner. If we have leftovers for the adults, we all eat together. Otherwise, one of us makes adult dinner while the other sits with him. Getting him to eat anything other than carbs and cheese is a real struggle. As is bedtime. Bedtime routine starts at 7:15pm. PJs, brush teeth (I brush his teeth while I sing him a song), then three books. Then the in and out of bed for at least a half hour (usually more). My husband and I eat a quick dinner on the couch before we watch a TV show and go to bed.
my little family consist of my husband, myself and my 2 1/2 year old firecracker henley. We live in small town usa, or Cynthiana kentucky. Our Wednesday evenings start out as picking henley up from the sitters, then stopping by my dads auto body shop where henley knows all the employees by name. She has her own little tool box she plays with and pretends to help her granddaddy. Then we stop by the local sweet shop for a cookie( and not tell daddy) then head home. We love to play outside and pick tomatoes from the garden and eat them right there after a dinner that she usually doesn’t eat anyways. It’s usually something quick and easy, we would rather have time to play than spend in the kitchen. Then daddy does bath, a little Mickey Mouse clubhouse and Popsicle time and then the forever bedtime ritual. There’s books, telling our favorite part of the day, lighting up the glow stars on the ceiling and asking why our dogs don’t paint. (Seriously. Every night) then I cuddle with her in our bed where she sleeps until she falls asleep. Then I struggle to get back up and spend time with my husband before its time for bed. (Aka staring at our phones on the couch together) and we live happily ever after 🙂
Name is Becky I’m a sahm to Carter a 2 year old boy(3 in July. And have one on the way in september. We live in Kentwood Michigan. Typical Wednesday night starts with me making dinner while Carter plays with dad or watches tv. The dinner usually consists of a separate meal for Carter because he only likes about 4 different things and 3 of them include cheese in the name. After dinner we usually go to the park or play outside for a bit. Then we come in and have a snack watch an episode of handy Manny and go downstairs to say goodnight to dad which consists of about 10 Hugs and kisses. After that we brush teeth, get Pjs and a pull up on. We are trying to read 1000 books before kindergarten through our library so we usually read about 5 Books a night. Then he needs his giraffe, “baby boy”, “baby’s”(which is a bath toy that has baby Diego and Dora in an inner tube haha), lion and little pillow before he is satisfied and we say a prayer and I lay with him for a good 10 mins or so. Gotta get the cuddle time in:) after he’s in bed Jordan and I either play some video games together or watch a movie/tv Before heading off to bed ourselves. Your daughters are adorable by the way! I love seeing Harlow scooter so so adorable!
We live in Alexandria, Va and have 3 children – 5,3,1 – two boys and a girl. Both my husband and I work out of the home. We also have a live in au pair who helps us with the children and juggling our crazy life and schedules! Our Wednesdays can be hectic if it’s is tball night or I’m trying to get to a Pilates class, but for the most part in the summers – we definitely try and enjoy the extra long days by hanging out outside after dinner. Sometimes that includes swimming (like tonight!) up at my parents (Nannie and Papa’s) pool! They live 2 blocks away so we can walk there! Or it may be quick bike ride or playing with the neighbors new puppy.
As for routines, my husband usually feeds the kids (530-630) and I’m arriving on the tail end of it, but we definotley enjoy eating as a family and the kids especially love it if they get to eat on the our porch! Bedtime can go a variety of ways – as you know and is dependent on who napped and for how long. My husband is in charge of the baths (which are a ritual!) and I do the reading – which I always look forward to. I also love that we are equally involved in the bedtime routine. On a good night the kids only get out of bed 2 times for the potty!
We love our evenings – especially this time of year and I love that it’s all hands on deck to make it happen in this house. Come visit! We promise we will make you laugh! Oh, and we may make you dance as we love to have dance parties too! My oldest boy and daughter currently are fighting over which one is Taylor swift this week!
Hey there. We are the Chrisley family from Charlotte, North Carolina (Brett 37, Jocelyn 36, Norah 8, Sutton 5.5 after excessively celebrating her half birthday last night). We live in a petite bungalow house with the four of us, a 120 pound polar bear of a dog, 4 chickens in the backyard, and a gecko who hides a lot. Which I totally get. Last night after bed time we were standing on the porch in pajamas watching the barred owls that live on our urban block. After my older daughter talked to the owls, she realized our chickens hadn’t been put up. The girls both raced to the backyard and I ended up using a broom to move the sleeping chickens out of our bamboo forest and into their secure coop. We love the owls but we worry about how much they love our chickens. My husband travels a bit and sighs a lot while smiling when he is home. I am at home with our girls now but still feel like a social worker in my heart. My girls are a study in opposites. One has read every word of Harry Potter and believes in all his magic while the other carries all the feelings of the world around in her heart. They are beautiful. Our nights are messy. I still lay with them until they are asleep.
My hubby and I are high school sweethearts who have moved back to our hometown after 5 years of life in the NFL! We are an interracial couple and are proud parents of a biracial, athletic & extremely energetic 2.5 year old. I’m an elementary ESL teacher and my hubby is a retired NFL player who is trying to determine what second career he will have. He has one foot in real estate and the other in finance. We live with our two pitbulls (age 4 &5).
I’m Kristen from Sautee, GA. I have a 7 year old daughter, Wren and a 5 year old son Archer. I’m a SAHM and we live in the country, so Wednesdays in the summer are super laid back. We go for walks, ride bikes, eat, play games, whatever we feel like and then wind down for bed.
My hubby and I are high school sweethearts who have moved back to our hometown after 5 years of life in the NFL! We are an interracial couple and are proud parents of a biracial, athletic & extremely energetic 2.5 year old. I’m an elementary ESL teacher and my hubby is a retired NFL player who is trying to determine what second career he will have. He has one foot in real estate and the other in finance. We live with our two pitbulls (age 4 &5). And we live in Chicago suburbs.
We live outside of Honolulu, Hawaii. I am a stay at home mom to our 16-month old son, Blake. My husband, Sir John, is a soldier in the U.S. Army. Our Wednesday evenings usually consist of taking Blake and our dog on an evening walk down to the road or to the beach to see the sunset, cooking dinner and feeding the little one, then playtime, and bath all before daddy comes home. Dad usually gets home in the middle of Blake’s bath time, so they play for a little afterwards before B goes down for bed between 7:30 and 8:00. Hubby cleans the kitchen and takes the dog out before we get some time to just chill out together and binge watch tv! If dad is working a late night, which happens often, you can find Blake and I hanging out with another mom friend and toddler down the road. We sometimes do dinner together on Wednesdays if both our husbands are working late.
Lake of the Ozarks, MO. My name is Stacy Asante and I am the wife of 1 and mother of 3. Our children are ages 16, 7, and 2.5. We are a blended family (oldest is mine and younger two are ours together) and we are also interracial. My husband and I both work full time, and our evening routines consist of playing outside while I cook dinner, yelling for kids to come and eat, plopping both littles down at a Dora the Explorer table so that the toddler will copy his sister and maybe put some food in his mouth. After dinner they take a bath with bubbles, then run around crazy until it is time for bed. We give lots of hugs and kisses at bedtime, including the occasional random objects such as a door, basketball hoop, cat, mommy’s pillow, etc. Our house is NEVER clean, and I chalk that up to the fact that we are too busy making sure our kids are happy and loved…and maybe just because we are too tired to clean for God’s sakes!
Loved this post! I’m sure there are plenty of more interesting families, but I figured I’d give this a shot because I’d love to document an average day. Most likely it would be playing princesses (or something related), feeding picky eaters, splashing in the tub, and stalling bedtime as long as possible. Although both of my girls are under 4, they are already practicing their teenager attitudes. Looking forward to reading!
I have a 17 mo old and a 4 year old and live in San Francisco with my husband and our 12 year old doxie, Isabella. My husband and I both work full time but we are both home with the kids by 6pm to eat dinner as a family. Sure, dinner isn’t as fancy as it was before kids and we are often not even eating the same thing but we are always together. We share our favorite parts of the day and then negotiate ways to get our 4yo to finish his dinner. After dinner we usually watch and play sports in the living room (I live in a house full of boys, remember?) do bath time, put the baby to bed and then do an activity with our older son – puzzles, drawing, etc. then we read story(ies) with my son and he usually convinces me to lay quietly in bed with him for a while. It’s urban, chaotic, calming and fun and mundane all at the same time.
My husband and I live in Denver,CO with our 2 yr old daughter, Kaia. I stay at home with her throughout the day and my husband gets home from work in the evenings and we usually just relax, play outside/take a walk around our neighborhood or hit up a park, then come home and eat dinner, get my daughter ready for bed and do the usually bedtime routine things. My daughter is very particular about what items go to bed with her and always wants “one more book!!”. My husband is an f-16 pilot and high energy- so our house is never quiet! We would love to be part of this 🙂
Hi! I’m Jessica, wife of the handsome Lt. Dan (married 5yrs) & mother of (Goosey) Lucy age 2.5 & (Big D) Dj age 8 months. We live in a Chicago, IL suburb (about an hour south), small country town. Wednesdays for us aren’t typical Wednesdays because my husband is a lieutenant/ firefighter at two departments. So his schedule goes: day1 off day2 7am- 7pm (12hrs) day3 7am-7am (24hrs)…. Repeat 3 day schedule for all eternity. It seems like I’d see him a lot but it’s actually quite the opposite. I guess our “Wednesdays” would be his day2 shifts, he gets home at 7pm, I attempt to have dinner hot & both kids in their high chairs eating when he walks in… I have a success rate of about 65% on that. Oh, I usually need to “feed” Lucy bc she sees me feeding the baby & is jealous.
What makes our family unique is his schedule, it’s tricky balencing everything when he’s gone so much. My toddler either is super excited to see him or starts to cry… I get a glimpse of what she’s gonna be like when shes a teenager with moods swings! Usually after dinner she warms up to him & goes in a “crazy” mood which always ends with laughter that’s kinda crying too that turns into a full blown tantrum for no reason (well the reason is she’s super tired but we stretch her bedtime so she has time to spend with daddy). My son is usually wiped out by this time to so I’m usually doing everything I can to keep him entertained while daddy & Lucy play.
Oh yea, before he comes home… I usually waste time until about 5 when I realize the house is a reck & I have nothing ready for dinner. So I franticlly clean while cooking and simultaneously keep the two kids happy.
Side note: LOVE your blog 🙂
My Name is Jessica Watts. We live in Salt Lake City, UT. My husband Mike and I have one year old twin daughters Gigi and Evie. Our Wednesday nights are pretty chaotic (pretty much like the rest of our lives!) having twins keeps things interesting and definitely messy. I am a stay at home mom, so by the time Mike gets home from work at 5:30 I am exhausted and needing some me time, and I’m usually still in my pj’s or yoga pants with my hair in a high bun. By this time the girls are also needing a break from mommy and absolutely love it when daddy gets home. He has the same little routine every time he gets home, he sneaks up the stairs without the girls seeing and slowly peeks over the half wall until they notice him. They squeal and laugh and crawl (or wobbly walk) to the stairs as fast as they can! They proceed to a nice long game of tickle tortures and he lays on the ground and basically lets them slobber him with open mouth kisses while moms sneaks away to check Instagram on her phone in silence in the bathroom (because who knows the last time I was able to do that in peace). Then we get the girls on their highchairs and scrounge around to find something they will eat. This changes often. They go through phases of pickiness, and it’s never what the other wants to eat. They want to feed themselves so usually it ends with fruit smooth splashed down the side of the cabinets and all over the floor and smashed avocado in their hair, hands, and face from the nightly, “smash any food we don’t want to eat and throw on the floor” routine. We get them undressed, trying hard not to spread the mess around the whole house and take them down for their favorite part of the day, tubby time. Daddy loves to bathe the girls while mom grabs pj’s and makes bottles (yes…I know…they are one! We’re working on weaning from the bottle thing). I come down and take one girl out, dry, lotion, pj’s while dad watches baby in the tub. Then repeat. Brush teeth. We pull the books down and “read” or let them just throw them and flip through the pages before we are even done with the page. Then it’s lights out, twinkle music on, bathroom fan on, and “love you’s” and “night nights”. They usually go down without a fight. Mom and dad then usually make dinner together and eat while watching a DVR’s show we have missed. It’s mayhem and exhausting, but I miss it all from the minute they go down to the minute they wake up again in the morning.
I am a sahm to my daughter, Olivia. She is 7 1/2 (she’s want you to know about the 1/2)! LOL We live in Des Plaines, IL (a NW suburb of Chicago). Starting June 16, our Wesnesday nights will consist of Olivia being at baton practice from 4pm-8:30pm in Roselle. She belongs to The Silver Knights Baton Corps and this is her 3rd year in the corps. Once school ends, the girls practice tow nights a week from 4-8:30pm and either a Saturday or Sunday from 10-6. All of this is to get ready for Nationals which are held the 3rd week of July in South Bend, IN. Anyway, either me or my husband will pick Liv up from practice and we’ll either stop at McDonalds for her to eat in the car on the way home, or I’ll be cooking while my husband goes to pick her up and we’ll eat dinner once she gets home. After dinner she have her nightly smoothie (with melatonin) and she’ll get ready for bed. If she eats McDonalds on the way home – Geoff and I will eat after she goes to bed. After baton season is over…..the summer nights are all different so I couldn’t really give an exact description of what we’d be doing 🙂
I’m Heather, husband is Kyle & our son is 1 (Sam). Our nightly routine is varied depending on my husband’s work schedule. I am a wine & liquor rep so I am usually tasting wine or trying cocktails with a baby on my hip!