I’m often asked what it’s like to have four children. Having a big(ger) family is something my husband and I wanted, and overall, it’s very rewarding. It’s not without challenges, but no parenthood journey ever is! There’s a lot to juggle with four kids, and the days often pass by in a blur of chaos, noise and constant busyness. We learned to embrace the chaos, though, because childhood is fleeting!
When my children were young, I thought life was so busy, but I had NO idea what was coming. Those were the days before school, sports and activities took over our lives. I MISS those days! Now, I barely get the chance to breathe. I often forget to eat, I spend most of my time driving kids around, I multitask all the time, I often have to be in two places at once, and I gave up on sleep!
Add in a husband, a new puppy, four rabbits, a child who has a special needs, a blog that’s a job, and daily volunteering, and there isn’t enough time in the day! But we wanted a big family, and I wouldn’t trade this chaos for anything in the world. My days may be overly busy, but I get to spend them with five people I love more than anything!
Without further ado, here’s a glimpse at a typical day in the life of this mom of four!
6:10 AM The alarm goes off, and I leap out of bed, because my oldest son has to catch the bus in 25 minutes. I wake him up, move Liam out of his brother’s bed and into his crib, and rush the puppy outside. I spend the next 20 minutes half asleep, while Dylan gets ready for school.
6:40 AM Dylan catches the bus. I play with the puppy, and drink my first caffeinated beverage of the day while writing my to do list.
7:00 AM I wake my husband up for work, take Ella outside, read emails and check off a few blogging tasks.
7:20 AM I wake the girls up for school. Lexie usually jumps out of bed, but it’s a battle to wake Lily up. The next half hour passes by in a frenzy of morning rituals.
7:50 AM We wait at the bus stop with the puppy, and my husband heads to the office. By this point, everybody is (usually) in a good mood!
8:00 AM After waving goodbye to the girls, Ella and I play in the backyard, then go back inside. I clean up the morning mess, reheat my hot tea, and get some more blog work done.
9:00 AM Back outside for a potty break! (I forgot how much work puppies are at first!) Then, Ella naps, and I escape for a shower. I clean the house while my hair partially dries, then finish getting ready.
10:00 AM Liam wakes up! He sleeps until 10 AM most days, which is awesome. We all go outside for a few minutes, and Liam burns off some energy. When we go back in, it’s time for Liam to use the potty. (Did I mention that I thought finishing potty training a child who has special needs and training a puppy would work out well?)
10:30 AM Liam and I eat breakfast. After he’s done, I read a chapter in my book while he plays, then clean up breakfast, and get him dressed.
11:00 AM Potty break for Liam and Ella, followed by a drive to a nearby park to walk/run the 1.3 mile trail. Ella’s not quite ready to join me for my usual 3 or 4 laps!
11:45 AM We drive back home, Liam gets a snack before school, and we both get changed.
12:15 PM I gather up Liam’s backpack and lunchbox, and drag the dynamic duo and all our things back to the SUV.
12:30 PM Liam runs down the hallway to the preschool classroom without looking back. I am so happy he loves school!
12:40 PM Back at home, I clean up the path of destruction from my Tiny Tornado, let the rabbits out so I can change their bedding, then clean the floors.
Are you tired yet? Because I am!
1:10 PM Potty break for Ella, then I get more caffeine and get back to work. I take advantage of the quiet house, and power through with writing and sponsored content until Dylan arrives home at 2:45 PM.
2:50 PM We leave to pick Liam up from preschool, and take Ella along with us.
3:00 PM Liam runs toward us with a big smile on his face! His reaction is always one of my favorite moments of my day!
3:10 PM We arrive home, there’s a potty break for Liam and Ella, then the boys run off to play. I go through Liam’s school work and notes from his therapists, and pack his lunchbox. I fold a load of laundry and put it away, and take pictures for sponsored social media content.
3:50 PM We all go outside to wait for the girls’ bus. Everyone is so excited when the girls get off the bus, and they all spend a few minutes playing in our backyard.
4:00 PM Potty break for Liam, then I read to him before he takes a short nap.
4:15 PM The girls and I go through all their papers from the day. They do their homework, then Lily and I go over sight words, spelling words, and vocabulary, before she reads me a book. They pack their lunches for the following day, choose their outfits, and get their backpacks and coats ready. I check everything, then they run off to play.
{Our evening routine varies by day. Some evenings, I take Lily to 2 ½ hours of dance, Lexie has 1 ½ hours of soccer practice, or Dylan goes to basketball practice. We juggle schedules to make things work! This day just happened to be a rare one with NO evening activity!}
5:00 PM Lexie takes Ella outside. The excitement of having a new puppy hasn’t worn off yet, so she and Dylan take over Ella’s care when they get home from school. They play with Ella, and I start preparing dinner while editing pictures and writing a blog post.
5:30 PM Liam wakes up and goes potty, then we do some therapy. It usually involves flashcards to work on speech, an OT activity like cutting scraps of paper or playing with playdough, followed by a fun toy that helps build fine motor skills.
6:00 PM Dylan does homework while Liam plays a speech app or letter recognition app on the iPad.
6:15 PM Grant arrives home from work after a long day without him! I run a few errands without kids. Usually I go during the day with a child or four, but I don’t want to leave the puppy home alone just yet.
7:00 PM Back home, I unpack a few bags while finishing dinner. Liam yells because he has to pee, the puppy whines because she has to pee, Grant is dealing with work emails, and I still have half of my to do list and an unfinished blog post waiting for me. This is the point when I start to feel VERY overwhelmed!
7:15 PM We finally sit down for dinner, then watch something on TV together. It’s a brief, but much needed break from the chaos! Afterward, I clean up from dinner, the kids do chores, and Dylan gets everything ready for school.
8:00 PM It’s time for our chaotic bath/bedtime routine. The kids take turns bathing or showering, youngest to oldest. As soon as Liam is done, he eats a snack, goes potty one last time, we read a few books, then I put him to bed. I clean up the aftermath of Hurricane Liam, straighten up, and make sure everything is ready for the following day. I sit down to do my daily online volunteer job, then check my own social media accounts, and share a photo from our day.
9:00 PM The end is near! I read a chapter to Lily, the kids take Ella out one last time, we talk to the kids about their day, Lexie practices her flute, then everybody goes to their bedrooms. Grant and I attempt to watch a few episodes of Veep, but nodded off during the first episode!
10:45 PM I wake up in a panic. We usually stay awake through our entire 1-2 hours of our weeknight dates with Netflix, but not tonight! The house is silent, and everybody is where they should be, with the exception of Lily, who walked out to cuddle with Ella, and fell asleep on the dog bed. I immediately get back to work. Five blog posts are scheduled for this week, and they aren’t going to write themselves! I would MUCH rather go to bed, but my days are so busy that I have to take advantage of the quiet time after everybody is asleep!
12:30 AM Ella needs to go out again!
2:30 AM I’m getting ready to submit this post, then I’m going to bed to get a few precious hours of sleep before I wake up much too early and repeat! Good night!
In my experience, the popular saying “the days are long but the years are short” is not completely accurate. For me, the days are very short and the years are even shorter! My kids are growing up far too quickly, and the days are flying by. In the blink of an eye, these chaotic moments will be long gone, and I have no doubt that I will be left desperately wishing it all back!
You can keep up with Stefanie and her family on her blog, and follow along on her family’s daily adventures on Instagram and Facebook.
