Adventures in Fatherhood: The daddy routine

Once or twice a week I get to spend the whole day with my boys – just me and my boys.

At times these days have been full on stress, as I’ve tried to get other things done while watching them – I’ve learned however to just put my task list aside, focus on them a things will go a lot smoother for everyone’s concerned.

So what does an average day with daddy look like?

Well let’s see if I can type this out before afternoon naptime comes to an end.

To begin with, my boys are starting to wake up earlier and earlier. What used to 8 am is now turning into 7 or even 6 am.

On the days I’m at home with them, I do my absolute best to keep them in bed as long as possible. They may wake at 6 and lay in bed and talk to themselves, or they may wake at 7 – but either way I do my best not to get them up until there’s full on crying involved.

And even then, I try simply giving them a pacifier to hold them over as long as I can.

If I’m lucky, I can keep them both in bed till at least 7:30. Lately, while both of them may wake up early, it’s usually only one of them that’s ready to play by then (at least one of them tends to fall back asleep). If that’s the case, I’ll bring him to my bed to play until his brother wakes and wants to join us.

After they’re both awake I’ll be sure they’ve both had their morning meds and then the timer begins.

We try to wait at least 30 minutes between morning meds and their first bottle, so it’s a race against time to be sure I can keep them happy and entertained while the timer counts down.

Usually by 8:30 the feeding begins.

An 8 oz. bottle for each of them… and they both eat at the same time… this just makes things far easier in the long run if possible.

After their bottles they enjoy a bit of fruit baby food and then they’re usually done by 9:15 or so.

After that it’s playtime till 10.

Often by 9:45 they’re both starting to show signs of sleepiness but I do my best to keep them awake until the magical time of 10 am. I don’t know why, but they seem to do really well if I can keep them awake till then.

If I’m lucky, they’ll sleep for at least an hour – but usually at least an hour and a half. This is when I can focus on my to-do list – which may include freelance work (a few sites I helped take live this week: Rowlett Glory Automotive, Faith Hope and Seoul and FaceChurches), blogging, mindlessly surfing the web or household chores.

By 11:30 they’re awake again – but just like in the morning, I don’t rush in to get them up unless there’s full on crying.

11:30 till 12:30 they’re all about playing. Most days they do well if I set them and their toys on the floor in my office and they’ll play while I continue working. But some days I throw all that aside and the three of us play.

By 12:45 their hunger pains begin so I start warming bottles to get ready for their 1 pm feeding.

Same as the morning. One 8 oz bottle for each – both at the same time (so glad Ian’s started holding his bottle now with a little encouragement), followed by a jar of baby food (usually veggies instead of fruit).

By 1:45 feeding is all done and you can tell their sleepy signs are coming on as well.

I usually like to take them to their nursery to play for a little while longer and change their diapers and such. This seems to make the transition to nap time a bit easier.

At 2 pm – the boys get their naptime and I get back to my to-do list.

Today it was laundry, dishes, make the bed (I missed making it this morning! DOH!) and a little more freelance work.

Often times Ian will wake around 3 or so, but with a little help from a pacifier (or sometimes just leaving him alone) he’ll drift off to sleep (usually).

By 4 pm one of them is most always awake and not so happy to be left in their crib. I think Ian started getting waking up around 3:45 today – but there’s no full on crying yet – so what do we do? We let him stay in his bed :-).

Usually after 4, I transition them to their Johnny Jump Up and their sweet ATV Combi walker and they each take turns in them at roughly 30 minutes a piece until it’s time for their 5 pm feeding.

At 5, the both eat their 8 oz bottle and then I usually let them play while I fix dinner.

And after that, mom’s home, dinner’s served and (hopefully) by 7:30 they’re getting their baths and evening bottle (9 oz) and in bed by 8:15 or so.

And that’s how I do it.

Now granted, it’s hard to say there’s really an “average” day. Morning naps may only happen while we’re running errands or heading to a doctor’s appointment – but it’s keeping the routine as close as possible that helps keeps things running smooth.

So what does your “stay at home routine” look like?