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.
My name is Heather and we live in Deerfield Beach, Fl. We have an almost five month old daughter. I work days and my husband works night so bed time is usually up to me unless we get lucky and he has a night off or gets out of work early. We usually eat dinner after baby goes to bed because she always decides she is hungry (again) when it’s time for me to eat. After she goes to bed, if my husband gets off of work at a reasonable hour we spend time together or I just see him in passing in the afternoon when I get home from work and he is leaving for work and hand me our daughter.
I have two daughters currently ages 2 and almost 5 (bday is 9/9) and we are located in Berlin, NJ. They keep us jumping. Both hubby and I work full time but I work from home for the most part. Hubby cooks dinner, makes lunches and helps put the oldest to bed. I’m responsible for keeping them entertained till dinner, getting them ready for bed (including a bath together which is always interesting and has the potential to go very wrong with my youngest liking to poop in the tub), and putting the youngest to bed. We also have a dog who is constantly under foot in the process. He’s a shitzu. We spend a lot of timing pretending to talk like him if he could talk. Won’t come across in pictures but it’s definitely entertaining. At the moment we are on a later schedule with the girls going to bed at 830/9 (ok usually 9) but depending when this runs our schedule may shift due a change in my company’s schedule. There’s also a possibility the oldest will have an activity in the evening like horse back riding or soccer or ? Things are always chaotic but we try to ensure we all eat together and we tag team responsibilities. That actually may be what makes us unique…our boringness. Lol!!!
We are probably a pretty typical family. We live in Cincinnati, Oh, and have a 2 year old daughter. I am an occupational therapist for the schools, so I pick up my kiddo from daycare by 4. We play and eat a snack, depending on the day outside or inside and I cook dinner. My husband does construction and gets home very late often. If he’s home on time we eat dinner, give Zoey a bath, and do the bed time routine. if he’s not home, I do it alone and usually right as she’s falling asleep in bed he comes home and disrupts bed time and gets her all wound up again 🙂 then its back to trying to put her to bed (yet again). Often she ends up sleeping in our bed and we all are so exhausted we fall asleep at 9.
Wednesday nights like every other night are never routine, I try but never did get the routine thing down other than bedtime. I am a stay at home mom of Pete a curly headed 6 year old ginger that can take a beating on a soccer field but absolutely breaks down if his 2.5 year old sister breaks a lego creation. Which brings me to the second child who is comparable to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This is Alice pure sweetness one minute-terror the next. Then the baby Katherine aka Kat or Miss Baby who is 10 months and in usual 10 month old fashion sweet and not the best sleeper.
My husband arrives home around 5:30 or 6 every evening and that is usually when we have dinner often followed by my husband playing /singing slightly inappropriate songs so the 2 year old can dance and the 6 year old can complain that his name isn’t in every single song ever written. This is the highlight of the evening sometimes followed by outside time. Then 7 rolls around and I desperately need the children to go to bed. This often takes 2 hours and I am unsure why. Divide and conquer is my preferred method but often the husband has a different plan in mind! First the baby – rocking milk and hopefully out. Then then 2 year old which is usually a few books, a drink some rocking then finally she will lay down in her crib and attempt to be quiet. The 6 year old is last but not least in an attempt to get him to brush his teeth well we usually have about 3 go arounds with this followed by a chapter of something a little complaining and then bed. This is when I should start cleaning up the mess that is my house but often times do the minimum and spend a little time catching up with my husband before one of us passes out in exhaustion. We are fairly boring and rarely routine until bedtime.
Denver, Colorado
My Husband and I have one daughter, Allison who is 3.
We just moved into our home closer to downtown, where my husband works. I am currently a stay at home mom, entrepreneur, and part time college student. I frequently have class on Wednesday nights, so my husband doesn’t most everything. He will pick her up from school or wherever it is we could find a sitter, feed her, give her a bath, and put her to bed. It’s a real treat for me when I get to leave class a little early, and hopefully I can make it home before she falls asleep. After she is in bed, we spend a little time together before he goes to bed, and I usually stay up a little late to get some homework done.
I love that they both have that little bonding time together without me around.
I have three crazy boys. Ty (6) , Tucker (5), and Tanner (2). We live in Okeechobee, FL. Our evenings are eventful to say the least. Ty and Tucker share a room and that usually results in lots of fun filled antics before they fall asleep. Tanner still sleeps with us. Yupp, you read that right. He still sleeps in our bed. Tucker usually asks for an obscure toy we haven’t seen in months to be his bed time companion. Ty has the personality of an 85 year old man and Tanner keeps things entertaining following me around until I can lay down with him. We would love the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful series.
Name: Charlotte
City: Chicago IL
Mother of 2 girls ( Neriah 3 yrs old & Micah 2 weeks old)
Wednesday evenings will never be the same. Lol
Our latest addition has completely shifted our schedule and we wouldn’t change it for the world!!
im currently on maternity leave Afro the next few months and enjoying time at home with the girls while hubby works.
Our Wednesday evenings consist of picking up Neriah from daycare. We sometimes stop at the playground for a little play to make sure we get any energy she may have left out of her system lol.
Followed by getting home to get dinner started while we wait on dad to get home.
My name is Niki and I have 2 children. Lexi age 6 and Cooper age 5. Our evenings are crazy because we don’t have any sort of schedule. My hushusb usually has the kids fed by time I get home from work. I put them to bed when I’m ready to turn in for the day. What happens in between dinner and bedtime is a mystery.
We live in Marietta, GA just outside of Atlanta.
My name is Paige, we have a 3 year old and a 1 year old and I’m pregnant with #3 in August. Our Wednesdays are pretty typical except we have in home therapy for our 3 year old son with autism. His therapist comes to our home for 4 hours and works with him while me, dad, little sister are trapped upstairs. Sometimes it’s easy and most times it’s not. We try to eat dinner as a family but we have really weird conflicting schedules and a very picky boy so dinner is usually whatever works for everyone. Then we’ll do baths, play time and books, then get ready for bed. Pretty normal night except my kids share a room and it turns into thunderdome at night.
North Canton, Ohio.
We have 7 children, son 14, daughter 11, daughter 8, daughter 6, daughter 4, daughter 2 and son 16 weeks old.
Our typical Wednesday is normal spent with a rushed and hurried dinner. Followed by our oldest three children going to our church for activities. Dad works in the oil field so some days he makes it home to lend a hand and some he just can’t get away. During activities the younger children get bath time/nightly routines. We have staggered bedtime so that children actually go to sleep instead of chatting all night.
Depending on the time of year we could also be battling loads of homework and high school football activities. Our life feels crazier than it sounds but what wouldn’t be crazy with 7 children to juggle!
Thank you so much for doing a continuation of your Monday Morning series! It was so beautiful and, while I expect my hurried evenings are not nearly as lovely as our lazy mornings, I’d LOVE the opportunity to have them photographed to keep forever.
We live in Prairie Village, KS (Kansas City) and I am a SAHM to two boys; Kendan (5) and Damien (3). Wednesday evenings for us are different depending on whether my husband is in town or not since he travels a bit. If he’s out of town it’s something easy like waffles for dinner (is that cheating??) and baths and bed for the boys. After bedtime I usually eat popcorn for dinner and stay up way too late basking in the quiet house. Ha! If my husband is in town then we try and all have dinner together once he makes it home from work. He usually doesn’t arrive home until around 7pm so I hold the boys off for dinner with a 5:30pm bath! It’s backwards but it works and then they are ready for bed as soon as dinner’s over. I still do all of the bedtime routine stuff, even when Dad is home. He will poke his head in the room and usually start a tickle fight of some kind while I try and get them settled in…. it’s not “helpful” but the kids love it. Once they’re in bed, I rush to clean the kitchen up (my husband is very busy staring at his iPad) and get coffee and such made for the next morning so I can make it to our local frozen yogurt shop before they close!! Yes, almost every single night. We eat our treats in bed and then go to sleep.
It’s not glamorous! Haha I always joke that if they made a Real Housewives of Prairie Village that nobody would tune into to see us scrubbing our floors every week. Hah! But that’s what’s so wonderful about Raquel’s pictures! Capturing the everyday, mundane details and finding beauty in them. Can’t wait to see the Wednesday Evening series.
My name is Meggs, I live in Buffalo, New York with my two daughters. E is 3 years old going on 16, and C will be 2 in September (they are 20 months apart in age). Our evening routine can be just about anything, but I do stick to a routine as much as possible. Naps end about 4, the girls either play or if that isn’t working I put on a TV show, so that I can prep dinner. Usually my husband is home anywhere between 3 and 5:30, it all depends on what work he has for the day. Once he is home, again depending on what work he has, he might play with the girls or work in his home office. On a good day I have dinner on the table by 5:30/6pm. We sit to eat. My youngest will eat anything. My oldest says “dinner is yucky” before knowing what I’ve cooked. I am the type that cooks one meal and every eats whatever part they want. I refuse to make different meals for the kids, unless my husband and I are having something special (ie New Year’s Eve lobster). After a meal and a quick kitchen clean up (no dishwasher so the pile waits until after bed) I scramble to get the girls in the bath. Usually my husband will head back to his office to complete paperwork from his day. The girls will be asked 6792930 times to pick out pjs and diapers/pull-ups and get in the bathroom. Bath time is one of my “breaks” in the day. I let them play forever while I Facebook or read a magazine. Since I am with them 24/7 from wake up to bed time, I find times to “check out” for me, to keep me “checked in” to them the rest of the day. Because of this, bath can last as long as 45 minutes to an hour (that’s including pjs running and hair combing etc). After everyone is dressed, combed and ready they brush their teeth and go potty, we all clean up the toys. By all I mean it takes everything in me to not do it all myself and just keep pointing until someone grabs everything. Then it’s pick out your books and reading time. My oldest a sits in on my youngest’s book choice. We all kiss and hug good night (if my husband was working in his office he comes up for evening good nights, never misses out.) Then I put my youngest to bed and go read, snuggle, get a cup of water, tell a secret, snuggle, get a cup of water, chat, coax, remind, ask, tell, blow a kiss and say good night with my oldest. The. I flop on the couch, remember I have 4 baskets of laundry to fold and a giant sink of today’s dishes to wash… But usually watch a show with my husband instead 😛
Cambridge, MA: We are a two mom, two kid family. Our daughter will be thee this week and our son is 10 months old. Our evenings are usually pretty chaotic, like most others I’m sure. She’s the cook, I clean.
We keep our kids up too late because 1-my wife wants to spend time with them after working all day and 2-we are often too tired to fight the good fight and so our expert procrastinator of a toddler somehow stays up an hour late 90% of the time.
We live in a smallish apartment and the baby is still in our room with a side-car crib. He nurses to sleep while we watch TV but usually has a little 2:1 play-time with the moms in our bed beforehand. Second child, gotta take it when you can get it! So he is often up til 930. Then he and my wife pass out and I drag myself out of bed to attack the day’s messes.
It’s not glamorous but it is amazing. Took us a long time to have our kids so we are incredibly grateful and don’t take our time with them for granted. Even when they make us completely batty! Some nights, after they are asleep, we look at pictures or videos of them. We are those people.
We sold our house in Florida last November, and currently live in Houston, TX in the mother-in-law apartment of my husband’s Aunt & Uncle’s house while we’re getting ready to move overseas to Istanbul, Turkey (initially) in late August most likely, where we will then continue traveling every few months—we have condensed everything we have to fit into two 30L backpacks. Here’s the catch. We have four kids—age 6, 4-1/2, 3, and 1-1/2—and are expecting our 5th sometime late June or early July, before we go, at home. And my husband’s Aunt & Uncle ALSO have 3 kids (9, 5 & 3). Safe to say it’s a bit insane most hours of the day. Also, the mother-in-law apartment consists of one bedroom and one bathroom over the garage and off one of the noisest common areas (the kitchen). Thankfully our kids are good sleepers (most of the time). My husband has been doing renovations in exchange for our “rent,” and I’ve been continuing to try to keep up my blog during naptimes and bedtimes and chasing kids around the house while holding my iPhone in one hand (9 months pregnant), since that will be our main source of income while overseas. We trek everyone out to the Houston zoo and local parks frequently to break up the chaos a bit, and love going out for pizza whenever we can swing it. The older kids do online homeschool from iPad minis through the year, which is also how I blog (we don’t own or use computers at this point, and our phone system is Skype & Google Voice). Since we’re all in the same room, the older kids have small cots that they fold up during the day, and the youngest has a small sleeping tent (which also collapses). The baby will have a similar solution but with an open top, though it took us a bit of discussion to figure out where we would put it, since there’s not a lot of floor space left at this point! However, it’s safe to say one of our mottos is “everything is temporary.”
We are near Baltimore, MD in the burbs. Our kids tend to stay up late because my husband doesn’t come home until 6:30 usually. When they were little I would keep them up until 9:30 so he could have some time to spend with them. Now that my oldest is in kindergarten he goes to bed a little earlier. Since our two-year-old naps he gets to stay up later than our six-year-old and our oldest doesn’t think that’s great but he accepts it. I usually don’t make dinner until my husband comes home (something my husband LOVES (insert sarcasm)). I just can’t seem to find the time or energy to make dinner while they are at the peak of their whining and snack wanting. We also try to get homework done while I make dinner and that’s always a treat. Our six-year-old hates homework so there’s usually quite a bit of arguing, persuading, whining, crying. And that’s just from me! Not really. Only half from me. 🙂 if kindergarten homework is this hard to get him to complete and arduous I can’t imagine how it’s going to be in the future. Once dinner is made we all sit down and of course the kids ask for something else. As a new age parent, I short order cook food for them instead of making him eat what we eat. Just to avoid another argument. So while others are eating I’m usually whipping up a hotdog or something acceptable to the boys. My husband does help. Especially when asked. Cartoons tend to be on during dinner so my husband and I can talk a little. Now that it’s summer after dinner we will swim or play sports in the backyard. Then we usually come in and watch more cartoons. My husband and I pick our horse for the night/who are going to put to bed. The six-year-old is a lot easier now than the baby because he gets himself ready and has better books to read from the library. One of us puts the oldest to bed and one of us puts our youngest to bed about an hour later. The usual shower/toothbrushing/vitamins routine. We prefer showers to baths immensely. The kids don’t feel that way but showers are so much easier, quicker and seemingly safer. By the time this is all done my husband is usually tired and ready to go to bed himself. I beg him to watch a tv show with me so we can have a little alone time. Then he heads off to bed and I stay up until late to watch my “Jimmy’s”. Fallon and Kimmel.
Fort Worth, Texas. One 7 month old boy named Henry. Would love this! My husband and I are a GREAT team! We love being parents and want to do everything together when it comes to Henry! We both work downtown so we carpool to work and pick Henry up on the way home at 4:15. Thank goodness its so early because he has an early bedtime and we want to spend time with him. We definitely cherish every second! We play with him as much as we can before dinner at 5:15 and bed at 6:30. I’m sure we overwhelm him with activities but we want to stimulate him as much as possible! After flashcards, reading lots of books, encouraging him to crawl around the house and pull up on furniture, we have a strict bedtime routine which we both always do together. To calm him down after playtime, we carry him around the house while singing. My husband does a little singing but usually I do most of the singing while I follow him around and he carries our precious bundle of joy. Then we put him in jammies, read Goodnight Moon in the living room, and then sing Amazing Grace while walking back to his room. When we put him in his crib, he falls asleep immediately about 70% of the time. The other 30% of the time, he starts crying so we have to sit on the floor in his room until he calms down and puts himself to sleep. We won’t get him out of his bed but we will give him his pacifier. Sometimes we have to sit there up to 20 minutes. We love our evenings as a family!!!!!
Hi! We live in a suburb of Denver and have an interesting situation. My husband, David, went back to school to earn his PhD last fall, and I work full time. We live in family housing on campus, which means my husband does the drop off and pick up from daycare. I usually get home from work around 6, and either meet him and our daughter, 2 1/2, on the playground or in the house to eat dinner. We all eat dinner together and then have some playtime before I do the evening routine. David does the dishes and clean-up from dinner while I do bathtime, pjs and reading stories in bed. David does the teeth brushing because I am too impatient for it….After our daughter is in bed we either work for an hour, or depending on the timing, just get in bed to watch netflix together. I would love to show how much my husband does for our family.
Hello my name is Jamie and my husband and three kids live in Roscoe, IL. I have two boys and a girl. My boys are 5 years and 5 months old. My daughter is three. Our nights are always pretty crazy.
My husband and I are both teachers, but will be home for the summer.
Our night usually consist of playing outside, maybe swimming in their little pool or playing on the swing set. Then dinner my husband usually makes it and I play with the kiddos. If they have had a really good day we may visit our local homemade ice cream shop which is in a little brick cottage and serves the best homemade ice cream. The kids would play there for a bit, running around by the picnic tables in the back.
If I don’t get my 5 month old to bed by seven he has a meltdown so usually we try to be home by seven for bed. I nurse him and put him to sleep, which usually takes 30-45 minutes. During this time my husband is supposed to be working on getting the other two ready for bed. My daughter is quite the drama queen and will usually get her way with daddy, so it is really anyones guess what happens during this time. My son will usually be in his pjs and playing on the ipad when I come out. Then we each grab a kiddo take them to their rooms read a book and hope for the best. Most nights my husband will fall asleep with one of the kids and I have to sneak in and wake him up.
Then there is usually a mess to quickly clean and wine to be had on our deck in the back yard. We’ll sit out there and chat for awhile before heading in and calling it a night….that is if we don’t have any babies that need us in the meantime!
I am a WAHM with two kids: my son is 6 and my daughter is 9.
It’s amazing to me how much our evenings have changed since the kids were itty bitty. On Wednesdays, I have to sweep the kids from the bus stop, usually make chicken nuggets for dinner (and make their lunches the night before) so I can get the them to their after-school events. Depending on the time Tball starts, we take our daughter to swim and get our son to his Tball game. From the time they get off the bus to the time we leave is an hour and a half!
If the game starts at the same time as swim practice, she skips the practice because we think it’s important for them to support each other at their events. (My son has put in A LOT of time at her swim meets).
After the events, we all cuddle in our bed and watch TV before reading and lights out.
On days that my husband is not out of town, this has the potential to work out perfectly. On days that he is not, it is a struggle to get everyone where they need to go AND get showers/bedtime done at a reasonable time.
Bedtime is not easy since each child has a 22-step process which includes but not limited to teeth brushing, reading, talking, essential oils, and relaxing breathing exercises. This is mostly for my daughter since she has anxiety, and I will do just about anything to make sure she gets a good sleep or the next day is very difficult.
Love, love, love this project!! We live in a suburb of Kansas City, KS. I am a SAHM (social worker by profession, which comes in handy dealing with toddlers! ;)) to a 2 3/4 year old little girl. Our evenings are always very unpredictable in terms of participants–sometimes hubby comes home by 5 or 6, sometimes not until 10 or 11. Our dinnertime to bedtime routine does follow a general flow, as DD is most comfortable with routine. We always prepare dinner together (unless it’s a take out kind of night ;)). She LOVES helping in the kitchen so we’ve always involved her in food choices and prep. If something needs time to cook, we’ll do some activity like art, playing with toys, or heading out to the swingset in the backyard (I’m getting incredibly toned from all the pushing of swings-haha) while we wait. We always eat at the table where she talks non-stop and takes a few bites here and there. If hubby is home, I start washing the dishes and she and he “run for 2 minutes” which involves running around our staircase in circles endlessly until I ruin the fun by saying it’s bath time. If hubby isn’t home yet, I get to play AND ruin the fun (there is a lot of use of timers in our house). DD then starts to find ways to stall such as using the potty (she’s newly in underwear and knows we don’t say no to her using the potty), praying, face timing with grandparents, and “just one more last” x, y, or z. Get her up to bath and into pjs. then we do story time–reading stories together and then a few minutes of individual “reading” time before heading to her room. I rock with her and sing 2 particular songs (she has a whole routine that needs to happen in the exact right order to get into bed). If hubby has been home the whole time, I’ll finish cleaning up and we’ll sit and watch a show or movie while working on our computers. If he hasn’t we do dinner together when he gets home.
A very wordy, and yet so incomplete, description of our evenings!
My family of 4 lives in Aurora, co. I am a teacher turned one year sahm of our two boys (5.5yo and 9mo). I am going back to the classroom in August. My husband is a software engineer. Our evenings consist of dinner together as a family (usually I cook, but sometimes we pick up sandwiches if I have lost my will to cook). Because we really try to always eat together, dinner time is based on when daddy gets home (between 5:30 and 6:30). The baby is now mobile so cooking while managing the two of them can get interesting. Assuming my oldest is allowed electronics (he has a clip chart), the electronic babysitter usually takes care of him while I cook or he plays outside or with his Legos. I try to keep the baby from choking or knocking himself out while preparing our meal. After dinner it’s jammies for the big one and play with the baby while one of us cleans up. The baby has asthma and ezcema so he is inhalers and ointment while his brother picks out books. We man to man, bottle and stories for the baby and books with the big boy. The kids are usually in bed by 8-8:15. Daddy usually logs into work until late and I snuggle with the cat, play on my phone and watch tv. It’s romantic and glamorous.
I’m Dana and my kids are Samantha 12 mo and Ben 3.5. We live in Park Ridge IL no too far from Allstate’s HQ. Wednesdays are my day home from work with them all day, which means no nap for Ben. So we try to get Sam in bed at 7 and Ben by 7:30 so he is asleep at 8 (crossing fingers) my husband is a teacher so as of this week he is home for the summer, which is always helpful. We have dinner together as a family every night. We put the kids to bed together because Ben has to have mommy do certain things. We had a sleep consultant help us with him a few months back so bedtime involves an envelope that he puts his routine cards in so we know what has been accomplished. He has 3 book cards so that has helped cut down on requests for more books. But he is allowed to “read” in his room after we leave because otherwise it was a fight. He usually calls to us once for bathroom and then to tell me he is tidying his room or a million other things to stall before actually falling asleep. He gets a prize for staying in his room at night…so I tell him the options for the next day to choose from. It’s exhausting some times. At least the 12 mo old goes to bed relatively easy. And Iggy Peck and Rosie Revere are on of our favs here. But most nights we read Sesame Street books that my mom saved from when I was a kid…so they are like 30 years old. I’m pretty grateful she did actually.
I’m Zakiya Esper and my husband Darnell, my 2 year old daughter Ryan and I live in Elgin, SC (very close to Columbia) with my 23 year old sister and my parents (I’m expecting so depending on when this segment begins there might be a newborn in the house). Our evening routine is very sporadic and eventful. We spend a lot of time outside watering and checking on Ryan’s plants and garden (everything is hers lol). Ryan and I are usually already at home and everyone else gets here around 4 or 5. We usually hang out outside and welcome everyone home. We usually do dinner around 8 or 8:30 as a family. Sometimes in the den while we watch tv and sometimes sprawled out around the kitchen. Never all at the table mostly because it only seats 4. Then Ryan has bath time with Daddy. After bath time she hangs out with my mom, dad (if dad is in town he travels for work) and sister until we pry her from their grasp for story time. I won’t lie…sometimes this is as late as 10 or 10:30. It hasn’t been a huge deal because she’s been out of school for a little over 2 months so she just sleeps in late (which I’m totally fine with) but she’s going back soon so we’ll have to get back on the bedtime schedule. Once we pry her from their grip usually kicking and screaming for her “Oma” she gives everyone several night night kisses and then we’re off for story time. Her Daddy grabs some milk and the three of us read a story. She usually isn’t done with her milk yet when the story is over so we let her finish up (sometimes I doze off during this part it’s just so late). Once she’s done with her milk we say our prayers and put her in bed. Then me and Darnell shower and eat junk food while we catch up on DVR until we fall asleep. It’s not perfect and I know I’m breaking lots of mommy rules but it works for us right now.
Pfeiffer family of Five (soon to be six)
Just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hubby: 34, salesman during the day, superdad at night (just ask my kids!). He thinks everyone he meets is “such a NICE guy” and when I roll my eyes he says “no I’m serious, babe!” (That’s him – always seeing the best in everyone and not judging) My kiddos are obsessed with him and it goes both ways. It’s not rare to have him come home from work to cook dinner, give the three kiddos a bath, and put them to bed (with zero complaints I might add) while I work late.
Me: 33 in a few days, obsessed with real crime shows and laffy taffys. Photographer of new babies, kids and families in my studio located just a few minutes from our house in a “downtown” area of a tiny town called Merton. Being a photographer means I work late a lot of nights during the warmer months photographing families. But that also means in the mornings, I’m able to leisurely get the kids up and out the door to day care before going to my first session of the day that typically doesn’t begin until 10:30am. OH and one more thing – I’m currently growing our fourth human inside of me. I’m due just before thanksgiving.
Us: Met in sixth grade band class – I had a huge crush on the funny kid with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was so nice to everyone, I totally took that as him having a crush on me, too -not so much! I have my diary from sixth grade that has “Amanda Pfeiffer” signed over and over. Lol Only thing – I didn’t become Amanda Pfeiffer for ohhh, about fifteen more years! But hey – even if it takes me awhile… I always get what I want! lol We bumped into each other at UW-Milwaukee in 2002 and well, as they say…..
Kiddos: Broderick (Brody) – 6 years old – I think he’s smarter than both my hubby and I combined. He acts like the grumpy CEO of a major corporation a lot of the time… I’m very curious to see what he will be someday… He is called the Lego Master in our house and for good reason!
Coleton – 4 years old – sweet, sweet Colety is our kind, silly, goodball always laughing and looking out for everyone but especially for his baby sister. He’s clumsy as they come and will def be our first trip to the ER someday for a broken bone.
Delanie (Lanie) – 22 months – (I’ll stop counting her months when she turns two in July, okay?!) I thought I wanted another boy but God knew I wasn’t thinking right and blessed us with this gorgeous ball of everything I love about babies mixed into one sweet, smart, goofy, pretty girl with curls who look best after three days without a bath and those suckers are in full bloom. Her brothers go to bed about an hour before she does… It’s fun hanging with just her for that time.
Our family: We are living with my amazing inlaws, trying to sell our first home, while hubby fixes up the home we are moving into soon this summer. It’s an old, big, Victorian home my mother in law grew up in on a main corner in a town about twenty five miles outside of Milwaukee. It’s just miles from where we both grew up except the towns we grew up in were unincorporated so this town, Hartland, having a Walgreens is like really big to us! Lol
End: I’m trying to soak up these years as best I can before my kids are all in sports every night and it’s hard to get us all at the dinner table at once. I’m excited to sit in our new dining room this summer and make new memories while we get ready for the addition that’s coming later this year, Pfeiffer Baby #4. <3
Ha ha Wednesday’s is that day where the house that I cleaned on Saturday starts falling apart. The dog hair dust bunnies start floating around, the basket of clothes my dear sweet husband has folded is still sitting on top of the dryer, and we have run out of fresh uniform shirts so I am trying to decided if I can find one that looks clean or if I really want to wash a load of laundry (guess which one I choose). During a typical school year since I am a teacher we get home pretty early so that means more time to fill with entertainment. When we first get home I go through all of our bags and pull out all lunch stuff and decide whether I want to go ahead and pack lunches for the next day or wait u too the morning. If it is the beginning of the school year I am usually on top of things and go ahead and pack lunches. The end of the year is another story. After I go through all of our bags my girl is begging me for a snack and we are trying to decided if we will watch some tv, paint, or go outside. So we play for a while and then I start prepping for dinner and wait for daddy to get home from work/working out. Wednesday’s are typically pasta days (Monday-crockpot, tuesday-tacos, Wednesday-pasta (gluten free of course), Thursday-leftovers or breakfast for dinner, friday-date night). About this time my girl will watch some team Umi zoomi or peppa pig or play in her room. Daddy comes home we eat and then my bath time timer goes off at 6 and depending on the day we either take a long bath (wash hair, paint, etc.) or a short bath (play in the tub because mommy is tired.) after bath we dry hair, get jammies on, and start winding down. The bed time alarm goes off at 7 (preschool teacher, I love timers) and we brush teeth and decide whose turn it is to read books (mommy and daddy switch every other night). We read 3 books, snuggle, say our prayers, and give a million kisses and then mommy and daddy lay on the couch for 30 minutes before they get up to get things set for the next day. I always lay out our clothes, shoes, etc. for the next day the night before and set my coffee because without that nothing would ever get accomplished!
And in all of those words I forgot to add that my girl is Mckinley and she is about to be 4 July 27 and she is a blond haired blue eyed spitfire and she will probably growl at you the first time you meet her.
Last one we live in Memphis,TN
Hi, I’m so glad you’re doing this, I think it’s such a great idea!
We live in Arlington VA. It’s me, my 7 year old son and my 13 month old daughter. My husband and I are newly separated so things will be different now. Every evening is totally different at my house because my son is autistic and sometimes is ready to erupt by dinner time.
Right now my son comes home from school around 4 but on our way home we usually stop at the park for 15-30 minutes. We come home and try to get him to eat a snack and do homework. While he is doing homework I’m probably helping him while also taking turns nursing and making dinner. Then I struggle to convince my son to eat dinner, although some nights he just decides to eat and we’re all happy. After dinner it’s time for him to shower and brush teeth. This primetime for a meltdown where I would attempt to diffuse the situation by negotiating or some other tactic. If that doesn’t work it will turn into a full blown tantrum.
Meanwhile, my daughter is just hanging out somewhere close by while I try to keep her out of harms way. If he eventually tires himself out then he’ll calm and fall asleep. (If not I may have to call an ambulance for medical sport at the hospital.) Then it’s time for me to get my daughter ready for bed. She might get a bath, then I brush her tooth, she only has the one, put her in an overnight diaper and pjs and get myself ready for bed. Finally it’s time for me to relax. I like to watch tv or play on my phone while nursing her to sleep. Once she’s asleep I try to have a little time doing something for myself but in actuality I usually just go to bed because by then I’m exhausted.
There are a couple of reasons I really want this opportunity, the first being because I could really use the photo evidence that love and kindness and fun happen in these normal life moments. I know I love my son but sometimes I worry that I am so focused on caring for him and just surviving the day that I forget to show him. I also think it would be good to show other families what it might be like to care for an autistic child. I often hear comments about how “high-functioning” means “not challenging”. I think spending a few hours at my house would help to show that’s not the case.
Hi! I’m Jenn and I have 3 kids, ages 15, 7, and 2.5 (boy, boy, girl). We live in a small area about an hour from Washington DC called Stephens City, VA. My husband and I both commute an hour to/from our full time jobs. Once I get home (around 530p) we have to handle homework (which I assist with), and cooking dinner (which is usually handled by my husband after he gets home around 7p). We all eat dinner together which usual always end in chaos because my middle one hates veggies and whines a lot and my youngests way of letting us know she’s finished is by throwing silverware. Once dinner is finished I handle the bedtime routine while my husband cleans up the kitchen from dinner. Bedtime routine is the bathing and brushing which never goes swimmingly because my middle hates the idea of sleeping and it always ends up in arguing. My youngest goes down around 845-9p and still involves me rocking her. My middle going to bed is usually enforced by my husband at 9p since I’m busy. Luckily, my oldest is easy because he’s 15 and pretty much does his own thing. I should also mention while all this is going on after work, my oldest is drumming on his set in the basement because he’s in high school band, we have a pug that is out of control 80% of the time and occasionally we’ll also head to the gym which takes away an hour of time and crams all that’s listed above into non stop craziness. Finally, once all the kids are down, I can focus on my second job which is owning a handmade children’s clothing business. Sometimes I wonder how we fit it all in. Thursday’s are just as bad if not worse when my oldest is playing hockey and has a game at 8p. That’s when we live on fast food and very late evenings. It’s not until I read it all laid out, that I really start to ask how we aren’t locking ourselves in our bedroom rocking in the corner.
I am Megan. A single working mother of 2 in Omaha. My son is 7 and my daughter is 5.
Wednesday nights are our favorite night. They always include dinner at chick-fail-a on our way to swim meets and cheer practice. We start out night, like every other night of the week. We rush home after school to quickly change into, or grab, whatever practice attire/sports equipment we need for he night. We are home for a whopping 7 minutes, climb back into the car and then head out to a quick drive through dinner. If we’re lucky and don’t have a swim meet, then we get to dine in at Chick-til-a. Always a treat! I drop my son off at his swim meet give him good luck kiss and hugs and then race my daughter 40 minutes across town to drop her off at cheer practice. I give her kiss and hugs and remind her to keep her listening ears on, tell the coaches to call me if they need me, and hope back into my awesome truck to drive 40 minutes back across town to my sons swim meet. We parents cheer and chat. On a good night, he is finished by 8 and we fly back across town to pick my daughter up from here. If he’s not done, I bribe another parent to bring him home while I fly back across town to pick up my daughter. Now that we’re home…and its 9:00…and we’re all covered in chlorine and sweat, it’s time for baths and showers. My son hops into my shower while my daughter cries that she’s too tired to even go potty. He’s showered and ready for his snack before I’ve convinced her to take a bath. Then she’s even more charming because her brother is going to eat all the Oreos. (After his snack, he begins his homework) After complaing that she is too tired to take a bath, for the last 20 minutes, I’ve finally convinced her to get in…and now I can’t get her out…because she is busy playing, I mean…too tired of course ;). Once dressed in jammies she is quick to grab a snack and head to bed. After collecting all the right cuddle buddies and the right combination of cheques…she’s asleep before her head hits the pillow. We are closing in on 10:00 and now I have to carefully talk my son into bed…which is a process about as long as getting my daughter in and out of the tub.
We live in Lincoln, NE and my boys are 5 1/2, 2 1/2, and almost 3 months! We are busy busy! I run an in-home daycare and love every minute of it! By the end of the day, my own three seem like a vacation… Except on the days when they’re not feeling like they had my attention for long enough!
Wednesday nights around here are t- ball nights! We have to get all the daycare kids out, eat and get out the door by 5:30! While my husband and oldest son go to practice, the younger two and I hang out at the park to get out as much energy as possible before bedtime! Sometimes we walk home from practice, because it’s close enough to home to do so, but my sweet middle walks PAINFULLY slow so it has to be a night that we all have plenty of patience!
Once were home it’s showers, a snack, bedtime stories, teeth, and bed! They go to bed fairly well… Most nights!
We would love to have you come and visit us!
My name is Kathleen and I live in upstate NY – Albany. My two daughters are Giuliana (4) and Emelia (2). Our Wednesday evenings (or any evening) is always chaotic and messy, yet fun and loving. My husband is a police officer and in today’s society I worry and pray he comes home safely each night. Typically when he gets home our kids wake up from a nap and it’s off to the races – dinner, clean up toys, bath time, books and bed. In the summer we try to squeeze in a quick dip in the pool as well. I love our evenings because it’s the only 3-4 block of time my kids really get to spend with their dad since he typically works weekends and works 8-4 (most of their waking hours). We don’t really have the finances to do extravagant things as a family so time together at night is a treat for us.
Hi!! We’re an Unschooling family. However, I work out of the home full time. My hubby is sah. We have 2 kids 10yo son and 30mo daughter. My 16yo step daughter lives full time here too. She’s in public high school. I come home from work by 5pm. Still nursing my 30mo so that’s the first thing I HAVE to do. Lol I try to do something with them at home, see what my son has gotten into during the day. We don’t have set bedtimes. I usually follow my daughter’s cues that she’s ready to sleep, and she will even tell me sometimes. My house is always crazy. I’d love to do this! !
Hi, my name is Sage, I’ve got 4 kids ages 7, 5 1/2(he doesn’t live with me sadly), 2 1/2, and 8 mo. And we live in Oregon Illinois. My husband works the night shift for Chrysler so he usually leaves the house between 3 and 4:30. The kids and I are usually doing homework or cleaning, then the oldest either runs off to play minecraft or watch YouTube videos of others playing minecraft. Depending on his work schedule, we’ll invite my dad over for dinner, but usually just end up playing outside or down in the living room until I either make something or order it. I usually end up having to make a quick store run before I can make dinner but we only live about 3 blocks away so it’s a quick trip. The 7 year old argues he doesn’t want to go, the 2.5 year old tries to run out the door naked, and the baby just smiles like she always does. After dinner we sit down for a few minutes together before getting everyone ready for bed and then argue over who’s sleeping where (it usually ends up with everyone in bed with me or everyone has a slumber party downstairs). I wish I could add ‘and then mommy sneaks downstairs for a glass of wine and chocolate’ but this is real life and I’m usually passed out watching the x files. 😉
I live in Rural Retreat, Virginia which is a teeny tiny town. The closest big city is Charlotte, NC (which is still three hours away). I have a 6 year old son, and two girls who are 4 and 3. What makes us different is that my husband works in another state and only visits us on weekends. So, Monday morning until Friday night I am a single parent. We also homeschool, so this past year of doing this arrangement has been really difficult for me. I feel frustrated and angry almost all the time. I cry like 50 times a day, and I’ve been having a really hard time seeing anything good about anything in my life. We live in a duplex (kind of, there’s no good way to describe it) with my husband’s parents so built-in grandparents are great for the kids. Our neighbors are the kids aunts & uncles. We live on a farm with some horses, and the kids actually do help out. Today, in fact, they are helping bale hay.
my husband and I both work full time. I normally pick up the kids (5 yr old b/g twins) at 430pm then manage to get dinner on the table for the whe family by 530pm. We play and bathe, read and lights out for the kids at 730pm. We would love to have our Houston family be party of Wednesday evenings!
My name is Brandy. I have a 3 month old daughter, Kate (Katie, Katie Bug, Katie Grace, Katherine, etc). She was born with HIE and has a feeding tube. Our Wednesday evenings are full of blow outs (at least one), bath time, tube feedings, walking the dog in our jammies, waiting for Daddy to get home and a lot of colicky tears some nights. We sing songs and read books and rock and bounce and rock some more. Pass Baby Kate back and forth until one of us is successful in getting her to sleep on our chest. It’s hectic and sometimes pretty stressful but we always remember that we almost didn’t have this sweet baby to rock and sing to. She’s the best and we love our bedtime “routine”.
We live in Queens, NY. It is my husband, me and our 3.5 year old daughter, Olivia. On Wednesdays my husband picks up olivia from day care and starts to feed her dinner. My mil comes over at 5:30 and usually plays outside with olivia when she is done eating. I get home right in time for bath time which is followed by drawn out pj time, book time, extra water and cuddles.. And then the going to sleep process which usually involves going potty at least three times and two emergency water refills before she actually falls asleep around 8. We would love to be featured
Our family lives in San Diego, CA. My husband Scott and I have a 9 year-old son Noah (mine from a previous relationship) then we share an almost 5 daughter named Sophia and our newest little chunk, Samuel, who is 8 months old. Both my husband and I work full time, though working in Construction, Scott gets home earlier than me. He picks up Noah from school then heads home. I stay another couple hours at work then pick up the younger two from the sitter and don’t get home until around 6 pm. That’s where the crazy starts. I try to fit the full time job of housewifery into the maybe 4 hours I gave til bedtime. That includes making a dinner for the kids (no fish sticks here unless it’s from scratch). Trying to get dishes done from the night before, make a batch of baby food, throwing in a load of laundry,picking up the house. Then we eat, probably at the coffee table, kids need showers/baths, then it’s bedtime. That’s nothing short of fun (read: sarcasm). The baby takes forever, them I’m tired and head to bed.
I have seen in the Mobday Morning Series that moms said they were glad to see that in the stress of the morning, they were glad to see they smiled and enjoyed moments. I would like to see that for my husband and myself. Evenings are crazy and stressful for me and I just want to see that I’m being too hard on myself and am a good mom.
i have a 2 1/2 year old son and 3 month old son. We live in Champaign, Illinois pretty close to Chicago. I’m a stay at home mom and my husband is an active duty marine recruiter. he works until about 10 pm five/six days a week so I let my son stay up so they can play before bedtime. I don’t have any routine, don’t judge me. We would love to be apart of this!
I am a stay-at-home mom to 3 kids (10, 6, 4) in a teeny tiny Texas town, Iraan (pronounced Ira-Ann), in the middle of the oil patch. My husband works in the oilfield so we never know when he will be home and he goes to bed by 7:30 (if he gets home early enough, if not it’s dinner and bed right away) to get up at 4 am. Here’s the interesting part…we live in a 36 foot rv full time with a 50 lb bird dog. We are probably pretty boring compared to most, but it’s always quiete the production at bed time.
I love in Mentone, California and am Mommy to Evan, age 6, and Lily age 3. Our Wednesday nights are a little different than most. I am a registered nurse and I work graveyard shifts. My husband, Nic works a regular 8-5. After my son is home from school, we work on homework and then I attempt to get everyone down for a nap so that I can sleep for a couple hours before I go to work. At 5, I hop in the shower and start getting ready for work. My husband is usually home between 5:30-5:45 which leaves me just enough time to give him the run down of the day and high five him before I’m out the door at 6. After I leave, my husband manages to feed, bathe and play with the kids until 8:30 when they go to bed. We are definitely a tag – team family and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Please consider us!!!
I’m a single mom of three boys in Birmingham, Alabama. Boys are 7,4 and 2. Nights in general are extremely chaotic: the two year old is hungry immediately upon getting home and doesn’t want to wait for anything to be prepared: there’s some crying/screaming/begging for food usually involved. Since I work full time we don’t usually get home until 6 after I’ve made the rounds to pick up. Since my horrible divorce I decided to take up boxing so Wednesday afternoons I’m usually exhausted from that which means scrambled eggs are dinner for the evening. Then the craziness of getting ready for bed and reading books, etc. Lately the two older boys have started enjoying watching old Bob Ross shows on YouTube and it has an amazingly calming effect on them, he’s the guy who would paint a picture in half an hour on pbs. I lay with the boys until one falls asleep then negotiate whether to let the other go in my bed or not. Then I’m usually falling asleep on the couch until I can drag myself up the stairs for bed. Just another night.
I’m Lauren, a mom of two boys (4 mos and almost 2). Both my husband and I work full-time, so our Wednesday nights (and really most weeknights) are a mad dash from pick up to bedtime. After I pick both boys up at daycare (from two separate buildings, right next to one another), I head home and unload them from the car (littlest carried into the house first, then my older little guy who is currently in a boot due to an ankle injury). I get the title guy situated in his rock n’ play while my older on climbs into his Learning Tower to watch me make dinner. My husband comes home around 5:30 and plays with our littlest while I spend time watching my son pick at his food if it’s not waffles and singing silly songs. Right before 6:00, I take our littlest upstairs for bath, nursing and bedtime. I’m back downstairs by 6:30/6:40, where we both play with our older son until my husband takes him up for bedtime around 7:00/7:15. I work on our dinner and cleaning up while he does bath and bedtime. By 7:30/7:45, we both can relax on the couch. It’s a crazy end to the day, but we do it together and love it.
I have a almost 5 year old daughter and a 20 month son plus a 7 pound barky dog 🙂 We live in the DC suburbs. If nothing else we sit down and have dinner together every night. My husband and I both work outside the home so some nights it is really stressful but I think it’s a great opportunity for us all to sit down together and chat about our day. Because the kids are little they can’t or don’t participate as much but I’m hoping if we start early it will come natural to them when they are both old enough. My daughter is starting to get the hang of it now and will occasionally tell us about something at school or ask about our days. I am so looking forward to the series. I loved the Monday mornings series. It made me take a minute out of our morning to really appreciate what we have. But only a minute because it is pretty crazy 🙂
San Diego suburbs. We have a 3.5 and 6 month old and I would love to say I have a routine but my husband just returned from a four month military deployment a few days ago. The routine we used to have for our 3.5 year old got thrown out the window when we had the baby, then again daddy left, again when I went back to work, and now AGAIN since he came home last week. I’m sure we will settle back in and figure it all out but until then….life is crazy.
Little Rock, arkansas. Working mom of two, my son is 4 and my daughter is 10 months. My husband works late and travels a lot so I often on my own for the nightly routine. I scramble to leave work at 5 and get both kids picked up from different schools before 5:30. We eat dinner at 6. I am a stickler for prepared at home meals during the week so the kids play while I get dinner ready. Then we sit down togther for dinner. Over dinner we talk about our day, listen to music, laugh and teach my daughter new tricks like blowing kisses. After dinner it is bath time for my daughter which may be her favorite part of the day. She loves it and cries when it’s time to get out. My son usually plays in the room with us, defending us from any bad guys that may be lurking around the corner. After her bath the 3 of us snuggle up in the chair in my daughter’s room and sing songs and read books while she drinks her bottle. She we tuck her in which is usually around 7p. Then my son and I will play togther for a few minutes before he takes his bath. After his bath, I read him two books and tuck him in which is usually around 8p. Then I clean the kitchen, prep for the next day, do a load of laundry and eat my real dinner in front of the tv. Then I do any work that I brought home and go to bed as early as possible.
We live in a suburb of Boston, and Milo is about to turn 4 while Amalia just turned 1. We are dorm parents in a boarding school, so our Wednesday evening routine will depend on whether the shoot happens during the school year or not. If so, we may be on duty in the dorm and this is how our night will go: I get home from work just after 4 and the kids are just waking up from their naps. We will do crafts or play until 5:30, when we will get ready to go to the dining hall on campus for dinner. My husband meets us there when he gets home around 6. We will try hard to wrangle some food into the kids who mostly want to play with the other campus kids. We will have a little campus walk after dinner to the mailroom and get home just in time for Milo to help me do study hour check ins. He will knock on all the girls doors and say goodnight to them while I make sure they are ready to get their homework done. Once that’s done, I’ll throw my two kids in a bath while my husband tidies the kitchen (similar to your hubby, he prefers that to bath wrangling.) My kids love the bath and have such fun together. I’ll take the baby out first and tag my husband into bath duty so he can supervise our older son getting a bit more bath play time while I get the baby into pjs and read to her. Then while my husband wrangles my son into pjs and teeth brushing, I’ll nurse the baby which currently involves climbing into her crib with her. Once she’s asleep, I stay and sneak a few extra minutes of snuggles to make sure the tooth brushing of Milo is done. 😉 Then one of us reads to Milo (we also love Iggy Peck…do you have Rosie Revere, Engineer too? Also great!) while we snuggle in his toddler bed. Then it’s lights out, white noise on, and he starts the story on his clock.
By then it’s around 9:00 and Milo will almost certainly pop out to go potty again before 9:15, but then they’re in for the night and my husband and I will crash with a tv show on a good night. On a less good night, I’ll go back to doing more work before doing laundry, bills, etc. Then more dorm check ins at 10:00 and 11:00. A little more dorm paperwork, and then to bed.
If you’re shooting during summer, it’s way calmer since we don’t have to organize our life around the dorm schedule. There’s lots more playing and crafts and walking and maybe pinkberry. Often a campus BBQ block party. But the bedtime routine is the same. 🙂
My name is Natalie. My family lives about 45 minutes west of Chicago, IL. We have 3 kids. A 4 year old girl who is quite the diva and twin boys who are just about 2. We also have a dog who is a bit crazy and keeps things interesting. I am a SAHM and my husband works for an engineering company and has a consistantly crazy schedule. Most nights he makes it home just in time for dinner (convienent…). Usually the dog is pretty subdued at this point because she is busy catching the food from under the table. Our 4 year old is probably not eating much (but the doctor said her weight is perfect so who cares!) and the boys will start throwing food any second (I was not prepared for boys). We play for an hour or so (hopefully outside), we take a walk if the boys didn’t nap or we just trash the playroom. We then corral the kids up to the bathroom to get a quick. The kids go to bed at about 7:30. After baths we head into the boys room, watch some sort of naked dance show with the train table as a “stage” and the lights into a strobe light. Once finally dressed we say goodnight and head across the hall. The boys (who used to be so easy) now climb in and out of their cribs effortlessly and will probably fall asleep in the closet or sharing a bed. My daughter will beg for a few more stories and a long snuggle. Once the kids are in bed we split tasks (I get the playroom and laundry while my husband takes on the kitchen (thankfully we both agree happily to not have to do the opposing job!)) We end our night collapsing on the couch or maybe woth a drink on the patio depending on the night. We like to think of our night as organized chaos. Our children (much like Harlow) are quick and squirmy making corraling them very tiring as of late. Usually the dog is asleep somewhere, in the event that she isn’t asleep she is usually begging for attention by stealing toys and chewing them.
I love this series (and the Monday morning series (which is how I came across your blog!)) Cannot wait to read the stories choosen.
Xoxox
Natalie
I am Ellen from Cincinnati, ohio. My Wednesday evenings are precious with my daughter, I work second shift in a children’s hospital and miss most evenings with my daughter. We live with my mom because my husband needed to relocate due to military involvement. After this summer, we will be able to move and join him, so I am going to miss my evenings with my mom (who is my best friend) and my daughter. They have such a bond and it’s so special!
Because Wednesday is my last day before I start back to work for five evenings, we call it “Bree and Mommy night.” Bree is four years old, and loves our evenings. We usually cook together or do a picnic dinner at our local park. Bree loves the outdoors and I spend so many hours on a locked psychiatric unit that I love being outside when I can! In the summer, we spend most evenings outside and Bree helps my mom in the garden. My mom and stepdad are both retired and work almost full time on their yard- have even won awards and do garden tours regularly. Bree is so sweet, following my mom around and helping with the flowers, I will miss when we move.
Bree doesn’t go to bed easily for me, she misses me being gone in the evenings and often stretches bedtime out on my nights off. So bedtime can take up to two hours of cuddles, books, and back rubs. We sing and I put “sand” on her eyes to help her sleep.
Every day at work I put kids to bed that aren’t mine and it makes me sad some days that I see other kids at bedtime more than my own. My evenings off with my daughter are so special because I get to tuck in the most special girl in the world.
Mom of 2.5 year old, Kroy.
Sidney, MT
I am a portrait photographer with an all-over-the-place schedule.
Dad works shift work and is gone all week, every other. Routines vary immensely from when dad is gone and dad is home.
On the weeks we are alone. after daycare pick-up at 5, I feel like my day begins. Off to an adventure, almost daily, to pass the time. Kroy’s meals are eaten in dad’s recliner with a beach towel over his lap to catch the mess, and plate of food on top. Often a visit to or from cousins (2, 2.5) that live a block away giving us a terrifying glimpse into the world of moms with triplets.
We are probably…quite ordinary.
Hi, Ilana! I’m a full-time mom of a 4-year-old son and 16-month-old identical twin daughters. We live in the Salt Lake City, Utah, area. I also work from home as an editor and run my own website, healthylittlechanges.com, that’s all about helping families eat better together. I always have high hopes for Wednesdays because my husband Aaron gets home an hour or two early. I have visions of him relaxing with the kids while I run an errand (blissfully alone) or catch up on some work or crank out a new blog post. But usually he tells me at the last minute that he’s got to mow the lawn NOW or he’s got a church leadership meeting or something vitally important, so my hopes are dashed and I carry on as I do every night. But he’s a phenomenal husband and father, and our nights usually go like this: Aaron gets home and becomes a human jungle gym, playing with all 3 kids while I cook dinner. We eat as a family every single night, and I cook from scratch at least 4 or 5 nights a week because I am a firm believer in the healing power of wholesome food and the lifelong benefits of spending time together as a family unit. But, I also live in the real world with real children who don’t always get on board with mom’s agenda. Despite being a carnivore my husband is happy to eat all the healthy, hippie, plant-based foods I cook, my twins will eat anything (and how!), but my son is another story. Dinner usually entails cajoling, bargaining, and throwing down an ultimatum — and of course tears. So. Many. Tears. We’ve made progress, but the dinnertime struggle is real. After the rest of us eat my husband does dishes (halfheartedly, just sayin’), while my son continues to stall. Ideally the five of us play together after dinner, but my son takes so long that usually it’s time for bed right after dinner. The babies get new diapers, all kids get on jammies and get their teeth brushed, and we try to get all 3 kids sitting still long enough to read a story and say prayers. Then Aaron and I divide and conquer, one of us putting the babies to bed one at a time and the other putting the boy to bed. And I’m incredibly proud to say that all 3 get in bed and stay in bed for 11 hours straight. (Awww, yeah!!) At least we’ve got our parenting act nailed in one area. After that Aaron and I always have ambitious plans, but we’re usually pretty pooped so we park it on the couch and binge-watch “Chopped” and dream of the day when we can whip up exotic meals and have all our children eat happily without suffering a nervous breakdown. I’m am so excited for the chance to show that even though things don’t go exactly according to plan, we still do our best to eat well and enjoy our time together. Because that’s why we do what we do, isn’t it? So that we can have healthy kids and a happy life.
Hello Mommyshorts!! My name is Melissa and my husbands name is Sam. I hope that this doesn’t show up twice because I tried to submit on my phone but it gave me an error; so if it comes up twice I’m sorry!
Our weeknights are pretty consistent with a few variations here and there. My husband is a firefighter so every 3rd night he is not at home. I am also in school but do not start back until mid July.
We have 3 awesome boys ages 9, 2 and 2. So yes twins!! They turn 3 in a month and a half.
we usually eat dinner around 5-6. I’m the cook most of the time so the kids watch tv and play while mommy is cooking. If daddy is home I make a full meal but if its a night he is gone I will do something light like grilled cheese and soup or pancakes, bacon and eggs to change it up. We also might just pick up some fast food. Always a winner. After dinner my husband and I clean up and the kids play/argue. haha. after clean up we spend a few min downstairs together before everyone goes up to bathe. Our 9 year old showers in his bathroom and my husband and I usually tackle the twins together. If hes not there I do one at a time. One plays in his room while I bathe the other and then I put on mickey mouse when they are all done. My 9 year old usually finishes first so he is showing off his new ninja moves or star wars moves while I finish up with the twins. We all sit down and watch mickey mouse together until its over then its bedtime for the twins. If dad is home he usually puts the down so I can spend some time with our 9 year old. He likes to work on big puzzles, read together or watch funny cat videos on you tube. This is about 35-45 min then its time for him to go to bed too. I lay down with him and say prayers and then stay until he is ready for me to leave. after the hubs and I will usually watch something together if hes here and if not I will play on my phone and hang out in front of the tv for awhile until I feel like tackling whatever else needs to be done. If its a school night for me then im off to bed pretty quickly. So that’s our evenings in a nutshell so please come visit us in Fort Worth Texas and bring your cowboy boots!!!
My name is Amiee and I am a single mother to a beautiful, spirited, crazy, and colorful 5 year old. We live in a two bedroom apartment in downtown Sacramento, CA. I work full time as a therapist for a non-profit. Our Wednesday night routines consist of me picking up my daughter from my mothers house at 6:30, driving home singing along to Taylor Swift (our favorite artist). When we get home ou routine can vary from night to night but generally it’s play time with our new kitten while mama cooks some kind of dinner. This could be mac and cheese to something I put in the crockpot. No matter what is for dinner Sydnee won’t like something and our dinner time turns into a flea market negotiation. After the ordeal of dinner it’s about 7:30 and time for a bath or shower. Wrestling syd to get undressed, leave the kitten be, because no the cat does not want a bath, and actually wash herself takes a good 45 minutes. The time following her bath is my favorite because it’s cuddle time/brush hair/fall asleep time. Syd picks a book which we read together, then two songs which I sing. Finally we end or night we a little back scratch and she’s finally snoozing at 9ish….I spend 30 minutes by myself before I pass out from exhaustion and wake up the next day to start it all again.
I am a full time first grade teacher, married to my husband who works two jobs. We have a son with autism who is almost 7, a daughter age 3, and a son who is 8 months old. Our days are full here in Wilmington, NC. We are busy but blessed. I would love to share a snapshot of our life.
My name is Marci, we live in Sumter SC. Currently our evenings consist of daddy leaving for work by 3pm mommy stays home and we play outside with the neighbors till 5 then we come in for dinner. Go back outside to play with the neighbors at 6 and come in to get ready for bed around 7. My oldest is in bed by 8 my youngest follows shortly after. I spend the rest of the evening on school work as I’m completing my bachelors degree.
I’m a stay-at-home mom with a 3.5 year old girl and a 4-month-old boy. We live in Charlotte, NC. I’m normally very rigid with our schedule, but since my son was born and we moved a little further from my husband’s work, we are just lucky to survive a late dinner, 2 baths, Daddy play time, snack, song time, prayer, and bedtime. Sometimes we also work on our gardens (my husband grows veggies, I have a flower garden) for a little while if we have the time.
City: Chicago, IL
Kids: 4yo girl; 13mo boy
I love your Monday morning series…although, since hubs leaves at 6am for work (long before the kids are up), mornings are 100% my domain. There were so few Monday mornings featuring just one of the parents managing the kids, that it made me jealous of all those households with the two-parent mornings. Ahh…how much easier my mornings would be…!
Fortunately, our evenings are more of a dual effort. I work close to home, so I pick up the kids (from two separate locations) and get them home for some play time while I start dinner. Hubby gets home at 6:25 (commutes downtown via train), so I aim to have dinner on the table when he walks in the door. After what can only be described as a tornado of a dinner (with me jumping up constantly to get things we forgot to bring to the table and the 125lb dog leaping on anything the baby drops), we work I moving the kids toward bed. It’s generally a divide-and-conquer effort, with me getting the baby down (since he’s still nursing) and hubby managing the 4yo. The goal is to have both down by 8pm, so that we can meet up on the couch for beers, snacks we don’t share with the kids and TV time.
Wednesday nights are a whirlwind for us, though, because I’m in school for my MBA and leave for class at 6:15 on Wednesday nights. This means that I generally get the kids home and get dinner going, but drop everything when hubs gets home when he takes over. He takes being ditched with dinner, bedtimes and clean-up all on his own very well, rarely sending texts when I’m in class! Having two working parents and going to school takes a commitment from both partners, so he jumps right in and does his thing…usually getting both to bed and the house in order earlier than out usual. (Which I guess just means that mommy is more of a distraction and I should just spend more evenings out with friends instead of helping with bedtime! Haha) But I usually get a 4am wake-up call from the baby (who usually sleeps through the night) on class nights, so obviously he misses his nursing to bed session on those nights. 😉 All-in-all, this rock star dad definitely makes it easier for me to focus on my studies when necessary!
I live in Plainfield, IL (outside Chicago) with my husband and two daughters (4 and 3). A typical Wednesday evening starts with my husband, Matt, picking up the girls from daycare while I’m navigating my way home from work. I try to get home no later than 6pm on Wednesday evenings, so that we have time to eat dinner together before Matt heads out to softball. The girls and I then play games or take a walk around our new neighborhood (we moved in less than a month ago) until bedtime at 8pm. After that, I check work email and prep for the next day, hopefully finishing up with enough time to relax with an hour of tv and an adult beverage!
My name is Emma. Full-time working married mom from Cartersville GA, outside of Atlanta. Brandon and I both work 8-5ish, but brandon is always home by 5:15 and I struggle to leave by 6 or so. We try to eat dinner at the table together, but there is a lot of Bubble Guppies before and after to make it happen. Bedtime is loosely around 8:30, or whenever i can summon the strength to announce it. I’m pregnant and basically fall asleep in bed watching Bubble Guppies with 4-year old Drew after dinner. It’s a rushed evening on a normal night, and nearly impossible if we have reason to go to church on some Wednesday nights.
Columbus, Ohio
Daugher 7, Son 4, daughter 1
My oldest gets off the bus at 4. My husband generally gets home around 4:30 – we try to get homework done before dinner. We always sit down and have dinner together as a family. If there are “activities” (dance, swim lessons, etc) we usually divide and conquer – one driving while the other parent stays home with the other 2 kids. My husband and I share bath, and bed duty – getting all 3 kids bathed and to bed over the course of an hour or so
We live outside of Baltimore, MD and have two girls ages 3.5 and almost 6 (birthday in July). We just recently moved in with my parents so it’s a whole house full of crazy with 4 adults, 2 kids and 3 dogs! We all work full time so evenings are a rush of dinner, clean-up, homework, baths, packing lunches, and bedtime. And now that it’s warm out we sometimes throw in an evening dip in the pool! My husband picks up the kids around 4:30, and then him or my mom start making dinner. I usually get home around 6 and then we all eat together. As crazy as the evenings are we make a point to have dinner together as a family as long as everyone is home. After dinner we rotate finishing up homework, cleaning up dinner, and packing lunches for the next day. Then I usually give the kids a bath and get them ready for bed. Then my husband and I try to have a little snuggle/tv time with the girls before one of us tucks them in. Our evenings aren’t super special or unique, but I only get a few hours with the kids so we try to throw in a little bit of fun and lots of love!
I forgot to add, bedtime for the kids is 8/8:30. Then the hubby and I get to relax for a bit before bed as long as there’s no laundry or cleaning to be done (which there always is). 🙂
Hi! I am Kirsten, from Attleboro, Ma. My husband and I are 30 and 29 respectively. I am a work from home mom to two girls (4+6) and a boy (7 weeks). Although I mostly work from home, I do go into the office two evenings…one of which is Wednesday! I get home at 8:30pm so my husband has the kids all by himself those nights, which was challenging enough before throwing in a newborn! He makes dinner (normally heating up something I made during the day or chicken nuggets). Hopefully no one is overdue for a bath or has too much homework and they can just hang out until bedtime. Our oldest is loving and pretty independent. She is normally our easiest at night. Our middle is sassy, funny, but very controlling and can be moody. She is rough at bedtime and knows how to drag it out. Daddy always does bedtime since he is not home during the day. He starts it early (7pm) because our middle child likes to drag it out. She misses her daddy who is gone 12 hrs per day. Mommy bedtime takes much less time since she is sick of me 😉 The baby can sometimes make evenings challenging but you never know. Sometimes he is sleping, other times he is awake. Luckily, he is normally a happy boy unless he is hungry or tired or not being paid attention….oh, wait…. Most days a think at least once about why being out numbered may have been a crazy idea.
We live near Pittsburgh, PA. My husband and I have two girls… 4.5 and 1.5. I am a SAHM due to the advertising field not liking my presence. Our evenings have somewhat of a routine. The girls start going into the pantry around 4 looking for any junk they can get away with, so I have to have dinner ready by 4:30-5 (normally 5). My 4.5 year old is a picky eater with a peanut allergy. Since I do not want to feed them their beloved pasta daily they have chicken, broccoli and either rice, a potato or tater tots. The chicken is baked and never breaded or the 4.5 year old with sit there and pick off every single piece of breading while complaining that her chicken is breaded and telling me that I know she doesn’t like that… Why would I bread the chicken when I know she doesn’t like it? Also, I cannot go too heavy on the pepper or she will throw a hissy fit about breaded chicken again. I am also pretty lucky if the 1.5 year old on a hunger strike eats one of the three options on her plate without pushing the plate off of the high chair when I am not looking. After they eat and I try to clean up what I can the girls gets baths. They both think it is hilarious to run around the upstairs and hide in the same spot while I get their towels and the bath water ready. As I try to wash them they flip out and scream for a towel when a drop of water hits their face. We then all go into my room where I put on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for the 1.5 year old so I can blow her sisters hair dry. If I point the hair dryer at her she screams and usually runs into the bedpost trying to get away. After baths they are allowed one snack and depending on what time it is one or two shows. Once 7:30 hits I tell them it is bedtime and never fail, my older daughter asks for 10 more minutes. Since she cannot tell time 10 minutes is not very long in our house. After their “10 minutes” I gather the water, they pick a story and we head upstairs. Brushing teeth includes stalling by washing our hands and face, throwing toothpaste everywhere and sometimes even washing the sink when we are finished. After the story I put my 1.5 year old in her crib with her Binky and she lays down and falls asleep. If you try to let her sleep with one of the million dolls/Minnie Mouse stuffed animals she carries around throughout the day she screams and throws it at you. On the other hand if the older one doesn’t have “baby” and bunny she breaks down flopping around like a fish until I find them and place them right next to her. Also, getting my older daughter to finally go to sleep is not easy. She is scared of the dark, lonely, hot, cold, needs a bandaid, needs more water, you name it. After a few times of going back up and tucking her in while she tries to talk your ear off with random stories to stall going to sleep she finally falls asleep.
Where is my husband throughout all of this? He normally comes home while we are reading the bedtime story or just after it. Timing is everything, right?
Hello, from Madison, WI. We barrel through each day at a time with our hyper duo of sons, ages 4.5 and 2. The the youngest plays straight man to his dramatic big brother, who believes he’s the star of his own sitcom. By evening we are all rather punchy, which regularly results in flying stuffed chickens and epic NASCAR races through the kitchen, among other things.
I am the stay at home social planner/chauffeur/referee for this circus while Daddy sneaks off to the office and gets to pretend to be a real adult. We have two tabby cats which the boys adore. They valiantly suffer through the kids’ displays of affection, accepting that they are atoning for the sins of a previous life.
We all sit down to have breakfast, lunch and dinner together at the table (sans Daddy for the first two meals during the weekdays). The impatient kids may be trying to pry the fridge open using a car ramp as a crowbar in the last seconds before dinner and one or both of us will inevitably be up and down, taking bites between fetching things for our ravenous boys. In the end, though, we are at least at the table at the same time.
While the eldest still napped, bedtime was at 9:30 pm and the little guy followed suit. Now we are in flux, desperately feeling out what “works best for our family.” We are failing. Every night is a complete crap shoot as to how it will go. Last night alone, our oldest found seven different excuses to get out of bed and come to the door. Tonight, his violent tantrum, banging on his door drowned out a precious moment where our youngest tried to sing along with his lullaby. By the end of the night I ditch all the grand plans I had for “us time” in favor of licking the emotional wounds of a rough day and the sweet release of sleep. Sometimes I secretly cross my fingers that my husband will pass out instead so I may grab a bottle of wine and indulge guilt free in the latest period drama on PBS. Guess what I’m doing tonight…
A typical Wednesday, do we have those anymore? It’s been a rough year as I went back to work in July just over two weeks after my husband, the boys’ (aged 8, 7, 5, and 3) father died. Big adjustments, lots of headaches and tears, daddy pictures, goodnight songs, and prayers to find more patience. Generally I will rush home from work (just 15 minutes outside of Grand Rapids, MI) at 5, stopping at the grocery store along the way if I need anything, to my boys who have been wrangled, three just after school, by my mom while I was at work. Send grandma, home and try to decide what’s available for dinner while remembering that two don’t like red sauce, one hates potatoes unless they’re fried, three refuse to eat cooked vegetables, and don’t forget to make sure that something, high in protein, is cooked for the diabetic dog who has become picky about what he eats. Conquer dinner, tackle homework, scour the house for dirty laundry, bathe as many as possible, negotiate dessert, impromptu dance party once pj’s are on (if they haven’t squandered too much time), and then making the rounds into bed, remembering to check on the tortoise. Sometimes we accomplish that all by 8 pm, other days it’s 9 pm which I still see as a victory. Feed the cats and fish, switch or start laundry (depending on how cooperative everyone was), and do the dishes. Take out the recycling, clean up the bathrooms and living room, and take out the trash. That’s my Wednesday, actually that’s most of my days, for now at least. We are moving soon, I’m quitting my job and moving south, hoping to find more peace and to live a life that focuses more on the moments we have together.
Greetings from fabulous Pittsburgh, PA! I’m a part-time social worker and a full-time mama. I live with my tech writer husband Don, 3 y/o Charlie, 5 y/o Mila, and an aging pug named Brutus. Our evenings are generally pretty hectic, though slightly less so in the summer months, since we get a temporary reprieve from homework and after school activities. Summer Wednesdays will likely include picking up the little one from daycare and the big one from camp. Dinner is generally a hot mess and then we move on to bedtime, where we like to employ a divide and conquer strategy (dad takes one, I take the other and then we switch the following night). The flavor of the evening depends heavily on everyone’s mood and how much sleep we all got the night before, so you never know quite what you’re gonna get.
Hi my name is Emily. I am from Leesburg, OH. My husband and I have 1 daughter, her name is Kirra, and she will be three in July. Our Wednesday nights usually vary. I often work late and my husband is left to do dinner (whether they go out or not), bath, and sometimes bedtime. If I’m lucky enough, I’ll make it home in time to clean up and watch Finding Nemo for the 367th time as Kirra falls asleep on the couch.
Come to MINNEAPOLIS to document our Wednesday nights; I loved the Monday Mornings series! My husband and I have a 3 year old daughter and a 6 month old baby boy. The kids and I kick off every evening by waiting in the porch for my husband to get home from work (we wait outside if it’s been a *really* long day ;)). We eat dinner together, try to fit in an evening walk or run, and then tag-team baths, baby bedtime, toddler bedtime, and dishes. There is usually some Facetiming with the grandparents thrown in and on good nights, some quality time for our toddler with us without the baby stealing any attention. Come to Mpls! I promise you a totally mundane Wednesday night (!) and some great food recos! 🙂
I am a single mom of an awesome little guy who turns two this July. We live in Sacramento, CA. I am 25 and also work full time trying to build a career to support my son, so I am not able to spend as much time with him as I would want. Evenings are special because it is the only quality time I get to spend with my son during the week. We currently live with my parents, who are an amazing help since I am raising a little man on my own. I am purchasing my own home and am in escrow currently so have to fit the craziness of a new house purchase & plan our first big move somewhere in between working full time and raising a toddler.
Our life is busy to say the least, but I work very hard to give my son stability and tranquility at home. Our nightly routine is outside play or a walk with our dog, bath time, story time and in bed by 7:30 every night. Oh did I mention I am attempting to potty train a little boy? That always keeps our evenings exciting! I would love to get selected because I am an example that you can do anything you put your mind to. I didn’t expect to be raising a child on my own by the age of 23, but he has given me so much motivation to take on the world!
How about an outdoorsy family in northern British Columbia? My husband and I live in Terrace, BC with our 2.5 year old daughter, River. We eat salmon and halibut that we catch, and moose that we hunt ourselves and we snack on berries and prepare salads in our back-yard garden. We pick fiddleheads and mushrooms in season and spend as much time outdoors as possible, before and after dinner. We’re a wonderfully typically small northern town Canadian family.
orange county, ca. I am a single mom of a 4 year old precocious boy. He is SUPER high energy! Like 2 boys in 1….lol I sit down to eat at 5 with him. 5:30 play time and an attempt to wind down. 6ish bath together. toothbrush wrangling. then he has to kiss my folks goodnight. back to the bedroom for PJs and another attempt at winding down. Then cuddles with books and a few songs. songs have waned lately because he may be over tired and just need to go down. covered up and off to dreamland. so you think. then ensues calls for water or being covered up again. or he crashes. no 2 nights are the same. they keep us on our toes.
BLOOMINGBURG, NY.
My wife and I are a same-sex couple raising 4 kids….6 year old and 3 year old boys, and 15 month old twin girls. We co-parent the boys with her ex-husband and Wednesday nights are drop-off nights in our house so they’re crazy!
I’m a teacher and my wife works at a college so during the school year I’m usually the only one home with all the kids on week nights (Michele works 3-11 when the college is in session so that we don’t have to put our kids in daycare). During the summer I’m off and she switches to days so that makes life much easier!
On Wednesday nights any number of things could happen! I usually try to hold the girls off from dinner until the boys get dropped off at 6:30 so that everyone can eat together…sometimes it works and sometimes Wednesday dinners in my house happens in shifts! If our oldest has a practice/game that gets over with after 6:30, I pack the girls up (cooler in tow) and head to wherever the practice/game is so that I’m there for 6:30. We wait for the practice/game to be over and I then pack all 4 kids (along with a clothing bag, book bag, and any number of other things that are coming back from the boys’ time with their father) and we head home. If we don’t have a practice/game the boys are dropped off at our house and the craziness begins! The twins are usually waiting at the door for their brothers and are screeching and waving and pounding on the glass door the second they see the car pull in our driveway! Our 3 year old runs out of the car and into the house, throws his socks and shoes wherever he pleases (he’s a shoe warden and insists no one is allowed to have shoes on in the house) and is tormenting his sisters within .0345 seconds of being home. Our girls are usually trying to get away because they don’t enjoy being smothered and HATE having their brother in their faces so I’m trying to balance letting him say hi to his sisters whom he missed, and giving them their space. Our 6-year old says his good byes to his father while I am handed belongings and make sure that everyone came back with what they went with…and that we have book bags and homework/projects that would need to be turned in the next day. Our girls (who are still annoyed that our 3 year old is in their face) are clammering to get to the 6 year old and say hi, with my 3-year old chasing behind and crying because the girls would rather be with the 6-year-old than him. The whole time our 3 dogs are barking from the garage (where I have to keep them until drop-off is finished) because they know the boys are home! It’s insanity.
If the girls haven’t been able to wait for dinner, I sit at the table with them while they eat. Their dinner usually consists of me cutting up food for them, which they throw on the floor for the dogs to eat (I have the most considerate children…always looking out for others hahahaha). If they aren’t throwing it on the floor for the dogs, they’re eating it off each other’s placemats instead of their own. Inevitably one baby gets pissed that her sister is eating her food and throws a fit, complete with dramatics. If they are eating nicely at the table, they’re holding hands while they eat (this happens .0983636 percent of the time!).
If the girls have been able to wait for dinner, everyone eats together (sometimes this also backfires if the boys have already eaten before they’re dropped off…you win some, you lose some!). If the girls have already eaten, sometimes I’m finishing up my dinner with just the boys while the girls play, and sometimes if the boys have eaten already I wait until everyone has gone to bed and enjoy dinner on the couch in front of the TV around 9:30 lol
Before bed, I try to clean up from dinner and feed the dogs while everyone plays for a bit…which translates to “Mom gets to be referee” because the 3-year-old is still following the girls around when they want to be left alone, the 6-year-old is trying to be the boss and tell his brother what to do, and the girls may or may not be playing in the toilet. Needless to say, dinner doesn’t usually get cleaned up and dishes don’t usually get cleaned up until AFTER bed.
Bedtime routine usually starts around 7:45, if everything is going well…which is rare lol! I change the girls into clean diapers and pajamas. Our oldest can get his pajamas on himself and our 3-year-old is working on it, so sometimes he can do it and sometimes he needs help (usually when I’m in the middle of changing a baby and he comes into the room with his head in the armhole of a shirt and his pants on backwards).
The kids FaceTime Michele around 8:00 every night so that the boys can say hi and tell her about their day (even though they get dropped off Wednesday night she won’t see them until Thursday morning). The girls start their nighttime bottle while the boys talk, then when the boys are done the girls get a chance to say hi. Everyone is actually good about taking turns and having a change to talk, with the exception of the girls who just want to play with the iPad, but do get a kick of seeing Mommy on the iPad! Depending on what is going on with her at work, Michele will sometimes read the kids a book via FaceTime since she misses out on this during the week.
After FaceTime, the boys either lay in my bed and watch cartoons or go into their room for a quiet activity (reading or coloring) while the girls finish their bottle. Then I read a quick book to the girls and put them in their cribs. The boys get a quick book and then it’s lights out for everyone and dinner time for Mom! Usually I’m delivering “water with a top on it,” my 3-year-old’s nightly request. Most nights the girls are good about going right to sleep, but at least once a week one or protests sleep (sometimes they both do, but that’s rare). When that happens, they end up with me in the living room while I’m finishing my dinner. More often than not it’s just my “Baby B,” who isn’t as much of a fan of sleep as her sister. We get some quality one-on-one time…rare when you have twins…and she’s usually only out in the living room for 15-20 mins before she’s ready for bed (who needs a hot dinner anyway?!??).
After I eat, it’s time to pack lunch for my 6-year-old, clean up dinner (Finally!), do dishes, let the dogs out, start laundry, and clean up the mounds of toys from the living room. If I have time, I try to do some work for school the next day and MAYBE watch some TV. I wait up for Michele to get home from work around 11:45 and then we head to bed! It’s an exhausting and busy Wednesday night, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I usually hit the snooze button an extra time on Thursday mornings lol
I live in Whitehall Montana, a town with MAYBE 2500 people. I am a full tome nursing student with my 2 year old handsome son. My husband works in the oilfield, when he is gone and When I have class a typical night I pick Payton up from the sitters or relieve “granny” we play outside with the dogs and chase the chickens. He helps me do simple things like feed and water the baby chickens. I make dinner while he plays or stands and fusses because I cant play or he wont be patient. We eat(sometimes). Then more play time. Some bath time if he wants, then bedtime… Bedtime can take anywhere from 10 min to 2 hours.. Which is fun.
Now when my soon to be husband (Wedding is August 8th!!) is hOme, almost everything changes! But thats why we love this parenthood thing. No day is the same!
My husband and I live in Gastonia, NC (right outside of Charlotte) with our two boys, a 6 1/2 year old and a just turned 1 year old. Wednesdays are better known as “Chick-fil-a Nights” not to be confused with Monday McAlister’s Deli Nights 😉
Wednesdays are usually a mad dash for me. I work at an elementary school an hour away from home and usually have faculty meetings right after school on Wednesdays. I must leave my school by 4pm (meeting finished or not!) to drive all the way home, pick up my oldest from his after school care and then the little one from day care, then drive to meet my husband (who runs his own business in Gastonia) at CFA. My husband sings in our church choir and has practice Wednesday nights. We are lucky to get 20 minutes to eat together as a family before he heads to Charlotte and I take the boys home. Bath is sometimes optional, depends on if I have the energy and if they really need a bath. I feel like it’s more important to have fun, play time for an hour before bed. The boys have late bedtimes, always have in our house. I try to get the little one down around 8 pm and then it’s the older brother’s turn but everyone is not asleep and settled until after 9pm most nights. I rarely have time to myself at night or with my husband, so I try to enjoy the thirty minutes on Wednesday nights that everyone is in bed and my husband is still not home from choir.
Our household is unusual in that we eat out Monday – Thursdays because of our extra-curricular activities and my husband doesn’t have a normal 9-to-5 job. Dinners are often at 7:30 or 8pm, with bedtime following. I would rather eat late as a family than have the kids not eat with their dad. We make it work somehow.
Hi my name is Amber, and I have a 4 year old daughter and 2.5 year old son. We live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Our Wednesday evening routine consists of my husband cooking dinner for our kids which is tough because our daughter has life threatening food allergies (nuts and dairy) and our son has no allergies at all! Cooking dinner for them is often challenging enough but this happens when he has been home with them all day!! (Since 7 am typically) as I often work 12 hours on Wednesdays as a mental health therapist. I get home just after 7 completely emotionally exhausted from the day and try to help as best as I can with soothing over tired kids who don’t want to eat what my husband has made or who simply don’t want to listen at this time of the day! I usually ask my husband which duties he would like (kitchen clean up or bathtime routines), and we get to work. After all of the nighttime stuff (supplements, vitamins, baths with a crazy routine for our daughters allergies, stories and winding down) our dog jumps into bed with our daughter and we cross our fingers that we will finally get to eat around 8pm (if we are lucky). By this point, we sit down and eat cold or reheated food and say hi to one another after a very long day. We usually linger at the table for a long time and dream, make plans, or talk about our days. It’s a challenging life but we wouldn’t have it any other way! My husband works morning shifts in a coffee shop and on typical weekdays (M, Ts, Th) we work split shifts and switch cars at 4pm in the parking lot of my work! Wednesday is my only full day at work and his day off during the week. We both get to pursue our dreams and our kids have two fulfilled and happy parents!
Placentia, CA. My daughters are Nora, 2 & Eleanor 1. They are 13 months apart. Monday through Thursday I attend Paul Mitchell cosmetology school at night. So after working from home during the day and tending to the girls my husband and I meet in the parking lot of my school. He comes straight from his office. We exchange car keys, give a quick sum up of the day and trade cars. I go to class until 10pm. He takes the girls home and prepares dinner for them, bathes them and does the night time routine. As soon as he gets all this done with no doubt lots of push back from the girls he starts studying for the LSAT. He is going to take it in December. We don’t get nearly enough time together but the sacrifices we are making now are to give our daughters a better life. By the time I get home from class everyone is asleep and snoring. I’ll study or do some work and then pass out.
Hi there! I’m Whitney, and I live in San Diego with my husband JD and our three year old (well he’s still 2 until Wednesday 😉 ) in San Diego, CA. I’m an entrepreneur launching a startup, so my days never look the same and my husband stays home with our son at the moment. You can find me on Wednesday evenings cooking a simple dinner for me and my husband and an even simpler one for my son (he will never eat what we eat…unless we’re eating lucky charms). With the weather warning up and the days getting longer, we’re eating out in the backyard more often. No matter where we’re eating though, our son is never sitting down next to us enjoying his meal. Instead, I’m usually chasing him around with a full fork begging him to “just try one bite!” Then we watch tv and play good guy/bad guys with all his action figures before finally getting the bedtime routine going around 8:30. Bath, brush, books, and bed. Nowadays I’m laying in his bed until he falls asleep. It is pretty dang sweet!
WAXAHACHIE, TEXAS (SOUTH OF DALLAS)
2.5YR OLD BOY AND 8MONTH OLD GIRL
WEDNESDAYS ARE DEFINITELY THE HARDEST DAY OF ANY WEEK. I WORK ABOUT 1.5HR AWAY SO BY THE TIME I GET HOME, THE KIDS HAVE HAD DINNER, BATHED, AND USUALLY JUST ABOUT TIME FOR BED. MY INCREDIBLE HUSBAND WORKS FROM 6AM TO 2PM THEN PICKS THEM UP FROM THE SITTER’S AROUND 3PM AND HANDLES IT ALL UNTIL I MAKE IT HOME. AFTER I GET HOME, WE TYPICALLY FINISH NIGHT TIME ROUTINES, DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH DADDY WAS ABLE TO GET THROUGH RUNNING SOLO, AND THEN HAVE SNUGGLE TIME WITH PAW PATROL. WE TRY TO MAKE IT ONLY ONE EPISODE TO UNWIND, BUT USUALLY MY SON WILL ASK FOR “JUST ONE MORE MOMMA” ABOUT 3-4 TIMES BEFORE WE STAND OUR GROUND. AND MY DAUGHTER IS SCOOTING/CRAWLING EVERYWHERE GETTING INTO EVERYTHING BC SHE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO SIT STILL ANYMORE. 🙂 AFTER WE HAVE PUT BOTH THE KDDOS DOWN, HE AND I HAVE A GLASS (OR 2) OF WINE, SNACK ON THE KIDS LEFTOVERS, AND TALK ABOUT OUR DAY, WHILE CONTINUOUSLY TRYING TO GET MY SON TO STAY AND BED AND CLOSE HIS EYES FOR NIGHT NIGHT.
I WOULD LOVE TO BE A PART OF THIS PROJECT, BC I OFTEN FEEL LIKE WEDNESDAYS HAVE NO REAL SPECIAL TIME WITH THE KIDDOS. AND I KNOW FROM YOUR MONDAY MORNING SHOOTS, THAT THE PHOTOG TENDS TO BRING OUT THE QUALITY MOMENTS THAT WE MISS IN DAY TO DAY LIFE. I ALSO WOULD LOVE FOR MY HUSBAND TO SEE IN ACTION WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHES WHEN IM NOT THERE. SO OFTEN MOM’S GET ALL THE CREDIT, BUT HE DESERVES IT JUST AS MUCH, ESPECIALLY ON WEDNESDAYS.
I’m a mom to 4year old Lucy and 4 month old Crosby. I’m an art teacher so our Wednesday evenings will be a bit calmer (maybe) with me being home this summer. We live in the suburbs of Denver,Colorado, near Golden. Our evenings include walking on the bike trails with mountain views as we try to squeeze in a catnap for Crosby so he can get to bed time without getting cranky. Lucy and Crosby hang out together after while I make dinner, and Daddy gets home sometime while Lucy and I are eating and Crosby is squealing away on his play mat. Then, at 6, it’s like magic timer went off and the whole family heads upstairs to wind down for bed. Each of us takes a kid and does their routine with them, and we alternate kids/nights. I’d love to be able to capture those sometimes frantic, special moments that our kids get one on one time with either myself or their daddy. Around 6:45 we head down, might try to clean the house, but usually start up a tv show were in the middle of. Thanks for considering us!
Katie
Minneapolis. I would not normally respond to such a public request, but a co-worker suggested our family would be good. I see great value in focusing on the beauty in what we do everyday. We have three girls, 11, 8 and 3 and 2 dogs. My husband works in the construction industry and I am a lawyer for a large corporation. I struggle everyday (in a positive way) to do it all and have often thought that a mere categorization of the day’s various activities would be eye-opening. Why did you have to choose Wednesday? It’s jam-packed! Sprint out of meetings. Quick! Eat! My husband is a great cook. Track practice! Then double piano lessons. Walk the dogs. Promise my 3 year old to kiss her goodnight. Or, beg my 3 year old to kiss me goodnight? Read to her. Try to remember the cute thing she said, promise to write them down some day. Constantly monitor 11 year old’s electronics and wonder how to do that right. Read and snuggle wth my 8 year old. Move on to the oldest’s room. Kiss her goodnight. Ask her questions about school. Fall asleep in one or both rooms. Amongst all this, there is love and attention, sometimes bickering, and dancing, but not nearly enough reflection! BTW – my house reflects the chaos of our life – not nearly as put together as the one in the photos. Anyhow, would be excited to participate, as an effort on reflection, what it means to be an imperfect but loving mom of girls.
My husband and I live in Lincoln, Nebraska, with our 2 kids and our dog. Delaney is 5 and Cooper is 18 months. Izzy (the beagle) will be 7 in July. We spend our Wednesday nights at home. We have dinner together, which usually consists of Delaney “not liking” something that she had eaten many times before without issue and Cooper throwing his food at his sister or his dog. He thinks this is super funny! We clean up and then head outside to play assuming it’s not raining. Playing usually means Delaney is riding her bike up and down the street…thank God for dead end roads! Meanwhile, Cooper is throwing any and every object he can into the street and laughing hysterically. It’s a track meet for about an hour and a half or so, then it’s inside for baths, books, bed. Lately, this has lead to the most epic meltdown this side of the Mississippi by Delaney who “isn’t tired, and doesn’t want to go to bed!”. An hour later, we are finishing the books and tucking her in. A day in the life…
My husband and I live in small-town Iowa and have a 14-month old son. I commute 20 minutes home to work, pick up my 14 month old from the sitter (who practically lives in our back yard). Get home around 5:15. I try to take him for a couple mile walk. Get home around 6 pm, get the hungry boy something to eat. Sometimes I skip the walk or make it shorter, depending on what’s in the fridge, so that I can cook supper. Baby Boy loves meat, cheese, and carrots. My husband works swing shifts… sometimes he is home but sometimes he is at work. We will play or have a bath after supper. Around 7/715, Baby Boy is t.i.r.e.d! We give him his milk and rock for 20 minutes or so then lay him in his crib. He tends to put himself to sleep… he’s an awesome kid! Then, if my husband and I didn’t eat supper with the baby, we’ll eat on the couch while catching up on Survivor. Maybe we crack a beer to wind down. If my husband is at work, I eat supper or watch tv or workout. I usually then lay in bed and read until 1030 or 11 and regret having stayed up so late and make myself go to sleep! It’s a fast 2 hours between getting home and getting the baby to bed! (Sometimes too fast, sometimes not fast enough depending on the night!)
I’m Liz and I’m a full time working mom of 2 (ages 4 and 6) from the NYC suburbs. My husband and I get home from work around 7 and try to pack in a lot of activity in the hour and a half -2 hours before bed. We play outside (bubbles, basketball, soccer, whatever they want), take baths, do some homework and read books before bed.
Shirley, NY (Long Island)
Hello! We are a brand new family of 5! Liam arrived last week (05/26/15). He has joined the madness of older brother Nicholas (3) and older sister Jocelyn (20 months).
Mommy and daddy are Renee and Dan.
We are a hard working family. Dan works two jobs so I can stay at home to raise the kids and work as family photographer. You’d think there’d be photos of my family all over the walls but they’re lucky to get a photo taken from the iPhone.
We don’t see daddy 2-3 days a week which makes dinner, bath and bed time a different adventure each night.
For the most part, dinner is at 6 and bedtime is at 8:30/9:00. Liam is too new so we don’t know his schedule just yet.
It’s currently 6:30 and everyone is eating an uncrustable because I am breastfeeding…dinner for everyone else has to wait.
Hope we are chosen! We’d love to share our madness with the world!
Raleigh NC with one 3.5 year old and soon a new baby. My husband is a stay at home dad. Our evenings begin when I get home from work. We eat dinner together my husband cooks and then we bathe the babies. My son then usually watches tv or plays until brine. when he gets his two books on the bed with mommy.
My girls are 6 and 1, and we live in White Plains, MD (below Washington DC). My girls come home as if they haven’t eaten anything all day, so I first try to put together a kid friendly dinner that would give Ina Garten a stroke. Then it’s the countdown before my youngest, who never manages to nap at day care, begins to melt down. She goes to bed early and will literally take herself up to her room for bed! Then it’s the dash to finish homework, and see how long my oldest will take to get a bath, brush her teeth, and read her school
Book. She know we value reading and she uses this to debate her way into another book. Cuddles and kisses pave the way to needing to tell us one more thing, needing another glass of water ect… My husband and I take advantage of her sneaky bed exits to cuddle on our own bed until she finally gives up. Then we make a feeble attempt at cleaning (unless the house cleaner is due in which case it’s all hands on deck!) before collapsing in our prospective recliners. As two working parents it’s an exhausting day but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
My name is Allie and I’ve been married to my husband Mark for 5 years. We live in Northfield, NJ and have two human children: Norah, 4 (and a HALF!) and Henry, 16 months. We also have a dog-child named Noodle.
Mark is in IT and works from home, though his hours are always different. Some days he is done at 5:00 and other days I’m left to fend for myself! On Wednesdays we also try to get Mark out the door on time for worship team practice. While he’s out, I attempt to get the kids some outside time (on a good week). I get them a bath and in pjs and when daddy gets home I nurse Henry while he reads Norah stories and we both put the kids to bed. After that, it’s us time!
Family of 4 with 10 month old twin girls, Ella and Julia living in Flemington, New Jersey.
Wednesday evenings are probably the craziest night of the week for our family. Since I went back to work full time in January, I have been fortunate enough to work from home 3 days a week and only go into the office the other two days. This is all very well and lovely except that Wednesday is my first day in the office for the week and said office is an hour away from home.
My parents watch our daughters at our home on Wednesdays so when I finally get home between 5:30-6, both girls need to eat dinner, get a bath depending on what they’ve gotten into that day, get changed into PJs, nurse or get a bottle and then pray they go to bed without an epic meltdown.
At some point during all of this, we manage to eat dinner and then my parents get to go home, while my husband and I get everything laid out for the next day, times two. I had thought it was a brilliant idea to make their baby food and there are days (like Wednesdays) that I want to kick myself for this decision because it takes a ridiculous amount of planning. I miss purees, they were so much easier!
At this point, we both usually collapse on the couch to relax before heading to bed around 9:30. And sure enough, as soon as my head hits that pillow, Julia decides she didn’t want Wednesday night to end and I make a mad dash to grab her out of her crib before she wakes her sister up.
My name is Carrie, and I live in Wilmette, IL. I’m the mother of (almost) 21-month-old twins, Daniel and Diane. Our Wednesday evenings start when I get home from work. Now that the weather is nicer, I’m more likely to find them all in the backyard (the dog included), playing. We play until it’s time to come in for milk. Usually around this time is when they start requesting naked time. These kids love to run around in their diapers! (They’ve started attempting to take their diapers off, too, but fortunately they haven’t figured it out yet. I think they don’t realize that they have the power to take their own clothes off–the day that happens is going to be interesting!) Something about taking their clothes off makes them shriek like banshees (albeit happy banshees), slap their tummies and spin around in circles. They’re crazy! My husband gets home sometime during this chaos, and Wednesday is usually bath night, so we get that process started. They also have dinner in there, sometime between milk, naked time and bath time. After that, it’s pajama time, tooth brushing, stories and then bed by 7.
Hi! My family is based in the Charlotte, NC area (Huntersville exactly) and it’s currently my husband (Gerald), my 9 month old daughter (Blaire), and three dogs (Cash, Roxie, & Oscar).
With a 9 month old, 3 dogs, and a husband that travels a good bit, we thought our life was already a bit hectic.
SURPRISE! Baby #2 is due in early December. (We battled infertility to get Blaire so we never thought we would get pregnant naturally and quickly).
Most evenings are calm with a bit of chaos sprinkled in. I’m sure this is the calm before the storm though. Blaire loves to skip her afternoon nap which means some fussiness leading into bedtime or some snuggles depending on her mood. Dogs, baby, and pregnant mama all need dinner. Blaire gets bath time and a story. Dogs get a potty break (mama gets one too if she’s lucky). Dishes get done some times. It’s a crazy life at times and is only about to get more haywire but we love it and wouldn’t trade it for anything.
My name is Aubrey and I am a full-time accountant and mom to Samuel (15months). We live in Kansas City, MO. My husband is also an accountant. He takes to daycare and I pick up. Sam and I get home between 5:00 and 5:15. As soon as we get home, everyday, we go on a Little Tikes truck ride around the block. Neighbors come out and say hi to Sam (only kid on the block!). Then we have to stop and say hi to the neighbor dog Daisy. We get home and I try to get dinner started. My husband gets home around 6:00. We eat and then take a bath. Sam loves to splash around and daddy always tells funny stories during bath time. Afterward, it story time. Sam picks the same books every night- goodnight moon, the going to bed book and hush little polar bear. Daddy leaves and mommy puts Sam to sleep. Once Sam is down, the dishes are done, mommy might work out (??) and then we either watch the Royals games or catch up on tv shows. 9:15 bed time and read until 10:00!
My husband and I live in St.Louis, No with our 2 year old son(Tyler) and dog (Angel) in my MIL(Darlene) house. For the summer I am a SAHM, so our evenings start at about 5:30pm when Daddy gets home from work.
Our evening often begin with Tyler Daddy and Angel playing on the living room floor. While they are playing Dad and I chat about the day, waiting to see if Darlene is going to be home. At about 6 pm depending on what for dinner either Daddy or I will make dinner while the other parent entertains Tyler in the living room. When dinner is ready at about 6:30 we all eat. Then we spend a little time playing again and some times Wednesday is bath night which we start at about 7:15. He plays in the tub until about 7:30 When he gets washed dried and pj’ed by daddy. At 7:45 Tyler and I read a book in the living room chair while Tyler drinks a cup of warm milk. After his book and milk are done. Hugs and kisses are given to all and tyler is laid in his crib to fall asleep.
That being St. Louis,MO. Silly auto correct.
I am a mom of four: 7, 5, 1 year old girls and the newest addition to the household,my 14 year old nephew. IWork fulltime as a school psychologist which mean I am off in the summers. I vaccinate between over organized with dinner in the table by 4:30 and unprepared with dinner being drive thru at 8:30. My dining room is non functional and too small so we usually eat in front of the tv or on the patio outside in nice weather. Summer is a huge adjustment for our family but I aim to have kids in bed by 8:00. Then I soak in the tub while hubby runs his business. We live in Colorado springs.
We live just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas. We’ve got three boys, ages 13, 8 and 5, in a small, cozy house on a few acres. My husband and I both work and we usually get home around 6pm. Wednesdays are usually dinner, sometimes baths, and always brothers fighting. At least in the summertime there’s still time to play outside and NO homework!! Bedtime is always a struggle. It’s usually pretty late before everyone is settled and often requires a little Netflix. We also have a few pets, including 2 chickens and a Flemish Giant rabbit.
My name is Stephanie, and I live in Columbia, MO. I have a 9 month old, and two big boxer dogs (because they totally count as children in our house). My husband is a cop, so his schedule never is consistent. I work until 5pm. So our evenings always seemed rushed until bedtime. I pick up my son around 5:15, then we head home to let the dogs out and get ready for dinner. If my husband is home he makes dinner while I wrangle the “kids.” Since our son is in the messy eating stage, dinner is a production. He eats slowly and like a tornado all at the same time. If my husband isn’t home, I usually make myself a smoothie and microwave an egg, make toast and defrost some blueberries for my kid’s dinner. Once the dinner hoopla is done, he moves straight for the bath. If hubby is home he takes over that while I either do other chores or work on my blog for a few minutes. Then a take the squeaky clean babe over and do the pajamas, read a story, bedtime routine. Which brings us to about 7:30pm when he is finally down. Sometimes, it takes several attempts to get him asleep because he has learned how to sit himself up in his crib and wants to put on a performance behind those bars before he actually goes to sleep. After this depending on the week, I may take the dogs on a run, or I have a bible study over Skype with two old friends of mine once a month. All during this, one of my dogs starts going nuts after the sun goes down and any noise or flutter of a leaf sends him into a barking frenzy. So we are taking him outside every 30 minutes so he can “check” the perimeter and ensure that his family is safe. If we are lucky, my husband and I will watch a quick show together before we do our own bedtime routines around 10ish.
Cuppertino California, kids ages 4, 2 and our third due in August.
We’re leaving the suburbs in Minnesota and moving to cuppertino California! (My husband just got a job offer for Apple that he couldn’t refuse!) we just found out we are moving the week of June 15th and will stay in a furnished apartment for up to 90 days while we look for a new home and settle in the new city! Everyday is going to be a busy fun adventure and would love to feature our family!!!
It’s 5:30 and I still haven’t been fed. The female human has just gotten home. Unfortunately the little boy human, whom they call ‘Miles’, is also home. He’s already off and screaming, tearing through the house. The female is rushing around too, getting dinner ready for the little one. Meow I say over and over, rubbing up against her leg. But she just ignores me while she prepares one of the five meals she has in constant rotation (chicken, meatballs, turkey corndog, tuna, macaroni and cheese, repeat) Now Miles watching his daily TV allotment, which is almost always Thomas and Friends. If I have to hear that theme song one more time I may just leave and take my chances on the streets of Chicago. This Lakeview neighborhood isn’t bad – plenty of rats in the alley. Oh wait there’s the door! It must be 7 and the male adult is home, maybe he’ll feed me! Too late he’s already playing trains with Miles. You know before he came along three years ago I had it made, all the attention I ever wanted. Female says its dinnertime and everyone troops to the dinner table. Our newest housemate “Lola Ruby” comes up from her room in the basement to join us. I wait patiently for some table scraps, and sure enough Miles drops some of his tuna while he’s listening to the Mickey Mouse book the male is reading and I sneak in and gobble it up. Dinner’s over and the male and boy head up for a bath while the female says she will clean (but usually she just sits and goes on her phone). Bath time done and I head upstairs to listen to the two bedtime books and for the male to play a song on his guitar as a lullaby (my favorite is Thunder Road, but tonight it’s Here Comes the Sun, which is pretty good too). The adults shut his gate, but leave the door open and head downstairs and quietly clean, fold laundry, or once in awhile watch this creepy game show about a throne. It’s 8:30 so I have about two hours until my favorite time of day – when I get to sleep in their bed and be the center of attention once more. Still no dinner, but at least I had that tuna snack.
Hi! My name is Kristin, I have 2 beautiful little girls. Aubrey is 4 years old, she’s silly, sassy & wise beyond her years. Ava is 2 years old, she is wild, adventurous & a super snuggler. Wednesday nights (and every night) for us are crazy & fun. I am lucky enough to stay at home with my girls so when my husband gets home the girls go crazy and they jump on him immediately, ready to play. He is always ready for them too. After they play a bit, we set the table and sit down to eat & talk about our day. After dinner it’s back to playing then sometimes we’ll have a movie night complete with popcorn & snacks. Then it’s off to bath & bed. They each get to pick a book then we pray & I sing to them or tell them a story of my own as the fall asleep. We try to make the most of every night knowing they’ll only be little once and want to love and snuggle on us.
Chanhassen, MN (suburb of Minneapolis, MN)
I have one son, Milo (6)
Our Wednesday evenings are usually spent at one of our cities recreation center sports that I sign Milo up for as often as possible. Currently, we are doing T-Ball. After the game which is from 6:15 – 7:15, we usually go with a couple of the other kids & their families out to eat somewhere near by. After dinner we head home while I attempt to get Milo’s bedtime routine done without a total meltdown, as his usual bed time is 7:30 pm. We do bath, brush teeth, read stories, snuggle for a few minutes & then it’s bed time. After Milo is to bed, I usually watch a show or browse on my phone before going to bed myself.
All of this goes down with or without my boyfriend Matt, who also lives with us, as he is currently in school & working part time so his schedule is always changing… I am usually on my own. : )
My name’s idil and we live in Columbus, Ohio. I have 5kids ages 15,13,11,9 and 1.5 we both work full-time. I am an assistant Secretary and Somali interpreter, my kid’s go to 3different schools and a daycare and I take them and pick them. Our Wednesday is pretty much tge same as every night except the 1 load laundry extra and the ice cream night. My night starts me clocking out at 4pm and picking the High schooler and the elementary, since I work the middle school my son is with me and we go ti the daycare to pick up the baby and run any errands that need to be done come home and is dinner,baths,books and bed…In that order and I star cleaning up my husband doesn’t get home till 10:pm so that gives me a little bit of time to work before he gets home and we eat together and talk about our day. And again do it again the next day:) we would love to participate and show our crazy Wednesday evening, between my teenager daughter and my almost teen daughter, my son who has no none to play in the house except the other boy who’s BTW is 1.5 and 9yrs old daughter who is not the baby, yet not old enough to play with her other sisters 🙁
My name is Jennifer and my family and I live in Sykesville, MD, outside of Baltimore. My husband is a stay at home dad to 3 kids – a 5 year old daughter and 4 year old boy/girl twins. I work an evening shift as a K9 officer so my husband has the kids at night. I leave for work around 2:30 pm, which means that he has to do the dinner/bath/bed time gauntlet each night by himself. (Pretty sure my job is WAY easier…)
On a “good daddy day,” my husband plays with the kids outside, climb trees or rocks, or go to the park. Sometimes when he’s feeling overwhelmed, the kids play in their room (if you’re lucky, it’s with the door shut) or park in front of an episode of Paw Patrol, or 12.
Dinner may or may not be preplanned – the kids eat hotdogs or cereal for dinner more often than I would like, because he forgot to take something out of the freezer. My husband and I are late night people, so often the kids don’t go to bed until around 9 pm, but they sleep late in the morning so it makes up for it.
It would be nice to feature a SAHD in your lineup. (And also, it would let me “spy” on what REALLY happens when I’m not home…)
We are also about 45 min north of Washington, DC (just to put it in your map)