An Average Day as Momma Braga Part I
By: Melanie Braga
I am truly grateful and thankful for all my fans and supporters of Momma Braga. I truly enjoy writing and all of you have been so great to me – thank you!
So when I heard that I had an article request, I was extremely excited!
I have been asked to write about what an average day looks like in my life as a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) and my first thought was that there is no real average day as each day depends on my daughter and what work shift my husband is on. So I decided the best way to do this piece is to make it a three-part series on, An Average Day as Momma Braga.
So here we go……..Part I
My husband has three rotational work shifts that change every two weeks which are days, afternoons and the night shift. His work shifts affect our routines and our daughter requires adjusting to each as well.
Today’s piece will be an average day on the night shift. This shift I would honestly say is my very least favourite shift of them all. This shift starts on Sunday night and ends Friday morning.
Our average day starts normally at 7:30 am and the first thing my daughter says, “Hi mama. Hi dada.” She usually keeps saying this until we get her from her crib. This is usually me as my husband already arrived home from work by this time, showered and now is fast asleep. Of course my daughter knows that dada is home and requests to see him very loudly. To avoid a tantrum as she only wants dada cuddles, I bring her to him and she hugs him tightly.
Now this part is the toughest as she feels that it is time for all of us to get up together. Therefore, part of our morning routine is to explain to our daughter that dada has to sleep as he worked really hard all night for us. Of course this is hard for her to comprehend since she is under 2 years of age but eventually she lets go of dada so that we can start our morning routine. *Some days are easier than others.
Our morning routine first starts off with changing our daughter’s night time diaper and getting her all dressed for the day. Once she is ready, we head to the kitchen where we start our breakfast. After breakfast and the clean-up, I try getting our daughter settled with some toys so that I can quickly get ready.
Since it appears toddlers love being an audience, she tends to follow me to the bathroom to see what I am up to, which is great as she brushes her teeth when I do. It really doesn’t take me long to get ready and I know many moms can relate to this. So our turnaround time is quick!
We live in a condo and it is hard to keep a toddler quiet to allow someone to sleep. So usually on my husband’s night shift, I schedule errands and things to do outside of the home. This way it gives him the opportunity to get some quiet rest and I get all our errands done during the day. When I do go out, I am always packed with back-up clothes, snacks and water for our trips as we never know what we are going to need.
Once we do our errands or outside activities, we return home to eat lunch which on an average day is about 1pm. After lunch, we usually have play time in our daughter’s play room. The play helps bring on nap time which on average is anywhere between 2pm and 3:30pm. Once nap time arrives, it is the time where I can schedule my social media, write some articles or clean up the tornado toy mess that has been left before nap time.
Nap times vary as it depends how my daughter is feeling and it could range from 30 minutes to 2 hours. If I’m lucky I get the 2 hours which are great as I get a lot done during that time. But of course the chores that I do are usually quiet ones as I want to be mindful of my sleeping husband.
Once our daughter is up, it is usually time to make dinner. Since our daughter is a bit older now, I get her involved in the kitchen as she likes seeing what I am doing. Usually by the time dinner is ready, dada is up and our daughter is super excited to see him again. I think by dinner time she forgets that dada was even home which is great for me.
We eat dinner together and then my husband gets ready to go back into work. While he does this, the bed time routine begins which is usually around 8:30 pm to 9 pm.
Our daughter loves bath time as she gets to play with all her bath toys. While in the bath, dada has to leave and says good-bye to our daughter. This usually results in tears so this means a lot of distraction is needed. So I go into full distraction mood and since she is still in the bath tub, it is easy! Bath toys and singing are great distractions!
After bath time, we get into our pj’s and are ready for story time. Our daughter picks out a few books to have read to her (usually I read about 3 to 4 books). With story time comes a bottle of milk which she usually finishes by the time the stories are done.
Since we are nearing bed time, our daughter remembers that dada is gone and starts to call for him and cries. This is the heartbreaking moment for me and I need to make sure that I keep myself together. So I start talking to her about how dada has gone to work and that he will be back but first we need to go to sleep so that we can see him again. After lots of hugs and cuddles, our daughter eventually falls asleep which can be anywhere from 10 pm to 11:30 pm. Our daughter is a night person since the first day she was born so this time isn’t uncommon for her.
During the night, I am always on duty as our daughter wakes up a few times for a bottle and more recently has been asking for dada when he has been on the midnight shift. Of course I stay consistent with my response and comfort her until she goes back to sleep. On an average day I could get between 3 to 5 hours of sleep which has been the norm for me. It is ok as my first concern and priority is to ensure that my daughter is getting her 8 hours of sleep.
The next day arrives and we start again with cold coffee on hand always.
Since my husband finishes work on Friday morning this is the start of his weekend and this is when we can do most of our cleaning, laundry and family time. All other errands such as groceries have already been done throughout the week by my daughter and I which makes our time together a little longer without those activities in the mix.
Our next stop is the afternoon shift, stay tuned!
Until next time….Happy Parenting!
- Momma Braga
