What a daily routine with 3 kids looks like. This is our daily routine with a toddler, a preschooler and an elementary school kid. It’s a busy day with three kids but there are ways to simplify that I share below. Note: It’s been the longest time since I shared one of these posts and it seems like as good a time as any. Here’s a typical weekday for us.
Daily Routine with 3 Kids: Morning
6:30 a.m. Baby and I are awake in bed. I avoid getting up for a bit until eventually I acquiesce as the rest of the family is waking up.
7:00 a.m. I’m up and in the kitchen- finishing packing up lunch for 6 year old N, then going to make sure he is going to be out the door on time. We use this morning routine chart.
7:15 a.m. Daddy M takes N to the bus stop. I continue in the kitchen- filling water bottles, packing 4 year old B’s lunch, then making breakfast for Little B, Baby A and myself.
8:00 a.m. I eat, get myself and Baby A dressed, finish packing up the stroller with snacks, diaper bag and whatever else we need for the day, and sometime in the next half hour, leave the house.
8:50 a.m. Drop off Little B at school. This time is highly variable, based on whether we walked/scooted/drove. Then I’m off for my morning activity: errands, play date, story time, PTA meeting etc.
Afternoon with 3 Kids
12:00 p.m. Also highly variable, but I try to return home around this time. If I’m lucky, Baby A fell asleep in the stroller and will stay there for her nap. If not, I put her to bed at home. I get myself lunch and try to do some (quiet) stuff around the house or relax for a bit.
1:30 p.m. Baby A is awake and hungry. I get her lunch and sit with her while she makes a mess.
2:00 p.m. I start to get ready to leave the house. I grab snacks for the kids, and often a scooter to take to N. We make our way down to the bus stop and wait anywhere from 2 to 20 minutes.
2:40 p.m. N gets off the school bus, and we head to the car or if I brought his scooter we start walking toward Little B’s school.
3:10 p.m. We arrive at Little B’s school, but he’s not done for another 20 minutes, so we do some homework, or go play in the gym for a bit. (This only really happens twice a week, because the other 3 days are all different- soccer, afterschool, and early dismissal change it up).
3:30 p.m. B is done and we have to go home. The 20 minute walk takes us a minimum of 30 minutes and usually 40!
4:10 p.m. We are finally home! Kids are hungry! Baby A is the only one happy; she’s excited to play with her big brothers. After two intense hours out of the house I’m ready to sit down, but to no avail. I rush into the kitchen to get dinner ready while fielding requests for snacks, breaking up fights, and generally being distracted every other minute.
Evening Routine with 3 Kids
5:30 p.m. Daddy is home and we have dinner…this is sort of an average time because I will push it up to accommodate the kids or back if M is running late.
6:15 p.m. The chaos that is post dinner is finally put to an end (sort of) with bath time.
6:45 p.m. Books!
7:15 p.m. Kids get in bed. M stays with the big kids for a little while, and I nurse Baby A and get her in bed.
8:00 p.m. I’m ecstatic if all are asleep at this time! I have a snack, prep lunch stuff/put away dinner stuff if I haven’t already, and plop down on the couch!
10:00 pm. Bedtime for me. Baby A is hit or miss at night so I give myself a buffer to get enough sleep
What does your daily routine look like? Does it feel as crazy as my day seems?
Psst- If you are interested in older routine posts, you can check out this one from when we only had two kids, or this one from when B was just born, or head over here for a list of all the routine posts!
Or how about this routine, from once we decided to start homeschooling!
