A Day in the Summertime Life of Ashlee & Kids
When I was a wee lass of 20, I went on an 18-month-long mission in Montréal for my church. For the duration of my mission, I was paired with another young woman whom I was assigned to work and live with as a companion.
About once every 6 weeks, we would swap companions with other pairs of lady missionaries for 24 hours. It was so fun and interesting. We would basically shadow the new companion for 24 hours and see how they did missionary life. We would learn new tactics just by seeing how they approached their day and it was so novel, fun, and insightful.
I wish we did that with other women! It could be so helpful to shadow another woman for a day to see how she shops, plans, keeps house, works, handles kids, picks out outfits, etc.
With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to take you on a virtual ride with me through my summer schedule! I’ll walk you through daily life, show what’s working well, what I’m trying to optimize, and the lessons I’m learning about being a mama when school is out. So if you’re looking for some fun schedule ideas or ways to switch up your routine, this post is for you!
I wish I could see your schedule too, so please feel free to share in the comments below!
Daily life in the summer
Morning
Wake up, usually to the sound of my kids asking for breakfast.
This is not ideal. I am at my best when I get up before my kids, but my two-year-old’s sleep is still precarious and I haven’t got into the groove of getting up before her yet. I have learned that I absolutely need at least 7 hours of sleep. I am a bear if I don’t get that so that always takes priority if my toddler was up in the night.
In the mornings when the kids don’t have immediate needs, I make my bed and open all the windows to let the sunlight in.
In general, we take our mornings slow, which I really like. The kids usually have some toys they want to show me or something they want to talk about (my four-year-old loves to describe his dreams, which usually involve Star Wars or the Emperor Zurg).
The kids seem to be nicer once they are dressed so I help them get them put on their clothes, change my toddler’s diaper, and head downstairs for breakfast.
The kids love breakfast time, and they are usually quite hangry until they get some food in their bellies (aren’t we all?) Our favorites are a peanut butter banana protein shake with some cereal on the side for the kids (none for me usually, just a shake), banana chocolate chip muffin, or simple toast and chocolate milk.
And sometimes we just have cereal. This isn’t ideal from a health perspective but sometimes fed is best and that’s the best we can do! Since I’ve discovered cow’s milk hurts my stomach, I use oat or almond milk
Next, I take a few minutes to read scripture. I keep my scriptures and a highlighter in the kitchen so it’s really easy to flip them open and mark them up when I come across something I want to remember. I also like that my kids see me doing something that is in line with our family values.
It’s not like this major ideal moment, because usually my kids are chattering and there is a bit of chaos going on, but starting my day by reading scriptures has been honestly so helpful.
And even if religion isn’t your cup of tea, there are so many sources of inspiring literature that can start the day off right and broaden your perspective.
Next, it’s time for some exercise. I turn on a show for the kids, but they know they have an open invitation to join me for my workout if they like. I set up my workout equipment in my office, which is near the living room. Even though it’s not very conventional, turning my office into a quasi-gym has worked great because I can keep an eye on the kids while getting my workout on.
My two-year-old usually does join me at some point. She even tries some of the exercises. Sometimes it can be a bit of a hindrance but I do like her to see me exercising and (usually) having fun. I hope it will instill a love of exercise as she gets older.
On a good day, I’ll then hop in the shower and get ready for the day.
If it’s not a hair-washing day (usually I wash my hair every 3-4 days), I’ll end my shower by turning it all the way cold for the last 30 seconds. The cold is death but I love the feeling after. It is really refreshing and helps me get out of my head and resets me if I’m feeling anxious.
After getting all cleaned up, I tend to get impatient about fixing my hair and putting on make-up, but I also feel better when I do that. So I turn on an audiobook or something uplifting to listen to which gives me the patience to get ready.
After we are all ready, we head to the park (I’ll be honest sometimes I just go sans shower after my workout).
Morning trips to the park have been really great for me and the kids. We are lucky enough to have several nearby so we hop around to different playgrounds. Sometimes, if it’s a low-key park, I can sprawl out on a blanket and get some work done while the kids play. Most of the time, they need more supervision so I’ll bring headphones or just be present with them.
It’s great for the kids to get some wiggles out, interact with other kids, and just play. And it’s really good for me to get out of the house in the morning and get some sunshine.
On rainy days, we go to McDonald’s and I buy something cheap basically so the kids can just play however long they want. I bring my laptop along while they play in a contained area. Or we go to the indoor playground at the mall.
Afternoon
After playtime at the park is over, we head home for some lunch. I usually eat leftovers and the kids have something like buttered toast, nuts, fruit or veggie, milk because they are picky as heck and while I do really work on getting them to try new foods at dinner, lunch is kind of whatever.
Next, it’s naptime for my two-year-old and quiet time for my four-year-old. Cue the angels singing.
I brush baby girl’s teeth after lunch instead of after breakfast literally because I always forget in the morning and so lunch has become my cue. I turn on her white noise, change her diaper, and read her a story. And then she quietly drifts off to sleep.
PSYCH! We are actually in a weird phase because she has started taking off her diaper and relieving herself (to put it politely). She’s also in the middle of transitioning to a toddler bed, so we are navigating that. Send help.
While baby naps (or does her best to not nap) My four-year-old does quiet time. Sometimes he fights it, but it’s the best thing. It’s good for him to decompress and relax, not to mention it’s good for me!
He also brushes his teeth before quiet time (again because I forget in the mornings and it’s just become our routine) and then we read a story together.
During his quiet time, I pull out any toys he wants and he literally just plays in his room until his echo glow light (best purchase ever) turns green.
Last Christmas, Santa gave us a Yoto player so he can also listen to audiobooks during quiet time (without access to the internet) and it has been so perfect.
During nap time I work on creating content or figuring out the logistics of running a business. After 1 pm I get some caffeine in me, usually in the form of Dr. Pepper Zero. Not recommending per se but sometimes it gets me through.
Baby girl usually naps for anywhere from 1 hour and a half to two hours and quiet time lasts about an hour and a half.
And then the nap is over… and that’s when things are most likely to fall apart.
Post-nap-time
Post-nap is usually the hardest part of the day. It’s the biggest pain point.
I usually do chores after nap time and try to keep the kids occupied in some way while I do that. I’ve been trying to follow the advice from Hunt, Gather, Parent and have them help me or play independently by me but some days that strategy works better than others. But more often than I’d like, my patience is low and I turn on Dino Ranch. So this is the part of the day we are still ironing out.
Between 4-5 pm, I usually start to make dinner.
Evening
Typically Brenden gets home in the early evening. He greets the kids and we usually eat dinner around 6. (ideally 5 but 6 is reality). I do the dishes while listening to an audiobook hopefully before bedtime, but sometimes after.
If we have an earlier dinner, the kids hang with Brenden, or sometimes we all go outside.
Then it’s time to get ready for bed. Brenden and I divide and conquer. This consists of a tick check. Since we live in a densely wooded area in Virginia, we check daily. We help the kids brush their teeth, have prayer together as a family (ideally), and then each kid usually gets two stories.
After the kids are in bed is a sacred time. I usually work on some kind of project or chore for a minute, and then Brenden and I watch a show together or play the Nintendo Switch.
We pop into bed around 11 (I’m working on getting to bed earlier, in bed by 10:15 is my ideal) and I read at least one page of a book. Reading before bed has been great for me because I actually look forward to bed whereas I used to have major FOMO and stay up way way too late.
Other things that are optimizing summer life:
Flexibility
For the most part, I do well on a routine, but some days, I sometimes feel the itch to switch things up and I allow myself to do that.
Additionally, I didn’t sign up the kids for any extracurriculars, classes, or camps this year. I’ve also stayed away from any kind of scheduling commitment.
I’ve loved this because it keeps us really flexible to say yes to many playdates, lots of time at the park, allows us some spontaneity and just gives us time to hang out.
Letting the kids be kids
One night, I sat with my kids as they watched the Bluey episode called “Takeaway.” In this episode, Bluey and her sister Bingo really want to play in a water fountain next to the Chinese restaurant where they are picking up takeout. Bluey’s dad asks them to stay away from the fountain until he opens his fortune cookie and reads the proverb inside that says, “Flowers may bloom again, but a person never has a chance to be young again."
He then lets them play in the fountain and they have the time of their life.
I’ve been thinking about that a lot and try to keep that in mind. I now bring a change of clothes for the kids pretty much wherever they go. I try to say yes as much as I can and allow them to get messy, wet, or dirty if reasonable.
We’ve made some fun, spontaneous memories as a result.
Getting the kids to bed on time
Getting the kids to bed on time, around 7 (their actual bedtime) makes the evening so much better.
When we get them to bed on time, we avoid their tired breaking point, avoid tantrums, and the whole getting ready for bed chaos flows a lot more smoothly.
Additionally, I get a lot of much-needed rejuvenation from an early bedtime. I feel like I have time in the evening to actually unwind, instead of gasping for air and then staying up super late to try to compensate.
Adjustments & changes I’m trying to make:
I’m trying to plan more deliberate fun activities - ideally, I’d like to get to the point where I’m planning a quarter in advance
Camping with kids is so hard. I want to camp with them but need a better system. It takes so so so much. work. Just the packing, unpacking, packing again, unpacking again is difficult, not to mention chasing around kids in an uncontained space with wildlife, creeks, fire, and poison ivy.
I would love to start running again, but it’s tricky with kids and I’m not sure where it fits into my schedule. My husband leaves pretty early for work and by the evening, I am spent with no desire to exercise.
Having a snack and lots of water post-kids nap. I think part of the reason it’s the grouchiest part of the day is that we are all a little dehydrated by this time and low on blood sugar. I’m going to make afternoon snack time a part of our schedule.