Thank you Ivory, for sponsoring this post.
As a full-time working mom of two young children, I get a lot of questions about our routines – from getting out of the house in the morning to weekends, evenings, etc. Today, I thought I would share our evening/bedtime routine because I love seeing how different families approach this!
We’ve always kept a really consistent evening/bedtime routine because I think it helps create healthy sleep habits and associations. Once the kids were on the same sleep schedule, things became a lot easier for our family because both kids do everything at the same time – from eating, to playing to bathing.
We eat dinner as soon as we get home from work/picking up the kids and then we head to our playroom for family time. We play with toys, read books, play airplane or watch a show sometimes. It’s a time for all of us to unwind and decompress from our days…though sometimes the kids still have so much energy that I wonder how they’ll ever go to sleep – haha!
At about 7:15 p.m., we head downstairs and give the kids a bath – they always have a bath together and love playing with all of their mermaids, dump trucks and other toys. Harper also loves creating “recipes” with the bubbles in the tub.
We have always done nightly baths – with both of our kids in daycare full-time, it’s important to “wash off the day” because there are so many germs and they get so sweaty from playing outside twice a day. I know that some people don’t like to bathe their kids daily, but for us, it’s not only for hygiene, but also because it’s a relaxing way to get the kids ready for bed. A warm bath always feels good and calms everyone down.
Our kids both have fair and sensitive skin — Lincoln’s is especially sensitive – he has eczema, so we always use gentle products when we bathe them together. We’ve been using Ivory Original Body Wash which cleans skin gently (doesn’t over-strip) and it’s very subtly scented, not heavily perfumed, so it’s gentle enough for your little ones, too. We also use Ivory’s Original 3-Bar (with a new, gentle formula) which I’ve literally used since I was a child. My family always purchased Ivory soap as I grew up with the familiar, gentle scent. For 138 years, Ivory has provided products with thoughtful ingredients that families (including mine!) trust. Their products are 99.44 percent pure which is a win for our family.
We’re also enjoying the Ivory Free & Gentle Body Wash with Pear & Sandalwood which cleanses and nourishes the skin and smells great, too! This product contains the #1 Dermatologist-Recommended moisturizing ingredient too!
Side note: I’ve always used bar soap in the shower to clean my underarms and feet. I don’t know why, but I have always felt like bar soap is the best way to get those sweatier areas clean and to remove antiperspirant. I like to use a nail brush with a little bit of bar soap to clean under my toes and fingernails too, since that can be a breeding ground for bacteria.
After baths, we each take one child, dry them off and help get them into their jammies. Lincoln enthusiastically picks his own jammies…we go through the list…dinosaurs, trains, race cars, cookies, etc. until he says “yeah, that one!”
Then, we head to Harper’s room and the kids pick (or argue over) which book we’ll read and we all sit in Harper’s bed and read a couple of stories. A few of our favorites are here, here, here and here.
Sometimes, we take a little (crazy) pillow fight break before the kids really settle down…
After books, one of us will go rock/sing/say prayers with Lincoln in the glider in his nursery and the other will stay with Harper to say prayers, talk and cuddle. Usually both kids are asleep by 8, give or take. That gives us a few more hours to pick up the house, watch a show, work out, work on the blog, etc. Kevin and I are usually asleep by 11…not ideal (it’s a little late), but it’s what works for now.
What is your family evening/bed time routine? Share with me in the comments!
Have a great week!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Ivory. The opinions and text are all mine.
I thought you used Aveeno for their sensitive skin?
We use several different bath and body products — I would say we have about 4 brands we use on a regular basis for the kids and I use several myself as well. I rotate through a few options in my shower 🙂
I thought Harper was in school? Surprise to see no mention of homework, that usually takes a chunk of our night time routine…
She’s in preK 4…so no homework yet!
How are you able to eat as soon as you get home?! How do you find time to prep dinner make dinner? That is my biggest stress at night, and stopping to get any groceries for that nights meal I may have forgotten..
Hi Sarah! I’ve shared on my blog before that my in laws cook dinners for us for the week that they drop off over the weekend, so we just heat up the food they lovingly prepare.
Sometimes we make a quick dinner at home or do breakfast for dinner but most of the time it’s chicken, turkey or beef with some kind of veggies.
If we did not have my wonderful in laws helping us, we would be doing some meal prep on Sundays and purchasing rotisserie chicken which is so easy to make meals with.
Check out if there are any grocery services near you that allow curbside pick up! You order online and it stores your order so you can re order anything you want and pick it up without ever going in the store. Such a great time saver!
Wow! No wonder you have so much free time and such a low stress routine! My husband and I spend a material amount of time each week meal planning, grocery shopping, prepping, cooking, and cleaning. What a time saver for you that you don’t have to do those weekly routine chores and errands! Although in lots of ways I do enjoy that but of care that I take for my family. Something materna and nurturing about it for me.
Hi Lauren!
I’m a little bit confused by your comment? Free time and low-stress routine?
I work a full-time job and on top of that run my blog, which has the hours of a part time job, at least, if not more, every week.
So while we have help with meal preparation, I still clean my house, do tons of laundry, go grocery shopping, take our kids to their activities and have a lot of other errands related to our family life.
Every family has different circumstances, and it takes a village, but I don’t think our night time routine is very different from other working families.
Lauren’s comment does come off as passive aggressive, but I don’t think the sentiment is completely off. I am also a working mom, and I agree with you… It takes a village. However, your blog is something you choose to do. Instead of cleaning (I saw you mention you have a cleaning lady), and cooking meals (your in-laws), you blog.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading your blog and I’m guilty of buying a few pieces you have recommended, but blogging isn’t something you have to do. You choose to blog instead of cooking and cleaning. It isn’t right or wrong, but it’s a choice I think you need to acknowledge.
My husband and I both work, meal plan, clean, shop, take our daughter to evening activities, etc. Personally, it’s hard to relate to your mom posts – I don’t think you fully understand what most working parents do every single day because a big part of parenthood (maintaining a household) you don’t do.
Shelly- I clean every day. I have a cleaning lady that comes once every two weeks- so the 13 days in between each of her visits, I clean, do laundry, etc.
While we are fortunate not to have to cook our main meals, we still grocery shop every single week (we still need produce and snacks and other household items) and make breakfast for our kids and on weekends we always cook breakfast and/or bake for fun.
Yes, I choose to blog but my blog is also a business that takes a lot of time to create content for and to manage. So while it’s a choice, most working parents also don’t know what it’s like to work full time, have kids and on top of that work another job. I don’t choose to blog instead of cooking and cleaning- as I mentioned, I do some form of cleaning every day and I often spend a chuck of time on weekends organizing our home to make it work better for our family.
We do everything other parents do except for cook dinner every night. I have friends that are SAHMs that never cook. I don’t judge anyone for it- do what works for your family. I also have friends that don’t work and have a cleaning lady come multiple times per week- great! Do what works for your family/ what your budget allows.
While I don’t think I should have to justify anything to anyone, it’s frustrating that someone says I “never clean”/ don’t maintain a house hold because I have a woman come to our house every 14 days. I don’t know about you, but my house requires cleaning maintenance between her visits.
Here’s the thing- ask your MIL how many hours she spends shopping for 5 meals for a family, preparing the food, cooking it, packing it up, then cleaning all the pots/pans/baking sheets/dishes/etc for making 5 meals. Divide that number by 5 and there is a huge chuck of your “designated free time”. No one is saying you float through life fancy free but you’re being quite obtuse to say “I don’t see how out nightly routine is any different from any other working family”. Come on now. And saying you make breakfast and snacks, I’m 99.99999% certain the other parents do that too. They aren’t only making dinner on a daily basis. Yes, you seem grateful that your in laws help you out, but you clearly don’t understand how much free time that affords you.
We are very grateful for all my in-laws do — and to be clear, we do pay for it, but of course the labor and love that is put into it is something we can never repay, and why we continue to be so thankful they do this for our family.
While it’s wonderful to not have to cook our dinners, I use my “free time” to run a business that greatly benefits my family. I would argue that most parents don’t also run another business in addition to working a full time job, like I do, so they’re using their “free time” each day in ways that I don’t get to either — and that’s okay! It’s not a competition of who is “doing life better.”
Do people who use meal delivery services, make frozen meals, eat out all the time or have a nanny prepare their food all get this same criticism?! My goodness, it’s tough being a parent today!
It is tough being a parent, all of the time. Actually, I think a lot of parents know what it’s like to work two jobs and maintain a household, and to say otherwise is incredibly naive.
Coming from a place where I have worked with parents in crisis, I’m probably overly sensitive to your comments. I don’t mean to be judgmental, and I apologize, because I am, but it’s just incredibly frustrating that you’re completely disregarding how much help you actually have, and you have the audacity to say you just don’t have enough time in the day. Yes, you are thankful, but to make comments about how your second job (that you choose to have, but don’t need) takes up so much of your time is infuriating.
Again, I enjoy reading about your style and clothes – but perhaps parenting advice isn’t your forte.
I say all of this as a reader/follower of your blog, not just trolling.
Shelly,
Perhaps there are many parents that do work two jobs and also maintain a household — I am one of them and to suggest anything otherwise, is, quite frankly, astounding. Having a cleaning lady that comes twice a month and having help with our dinners doesn’t actually, as someone suggested, mean that I “don’t maintain a household.”
I’m actually a litle bit stunned that anyone has the audacity to tell me that my blog and the work I do here is something I don’t need to do — how do you know that? Most importantly, it is something I want to do, just like I want to do my full time job.
My full time job is just as much of a choice as my blog is and yet it doesn’t seem to “infuriate” anyone that I choose to spend a large chunk of my time at that job. It’s not up to anyone outside of myself to tell me what I choose to do versus what I need to do.
There is no point in further discussing this. All parents are tired, feel they don’t have enough hours in the day, etc. Instead of nit-picking people’s lives and trying to find every possible way to diminish everything they do and see it in the worst possible light, I choose to try my best at being compassionate, supportive and understanding, especially to women and mothers around me because it’s hard, for everyone, no matter what their circumstances.
I do apologize if you are interpreting my frustrations as insulting you as a parent. They are most certainly not. Your children seem happy, healthy (and impeccably dressed!). I agree parenting is exhausting and scary, and the thought of someone questioning your parenting style is beyond scary. I don’t know about you, but I start every day with my kid questioning, “is this right?”
I guess we are just not going to see eye to eye on this – but essentially my frustration comes from the complaining of not enough time in the day when you get more assistance than most parents.
I think we’ve both made our points, and have different viewpoints on what this argument is. I’m happy to leave it at that, or you are welcome to email me. Perhaps there can be some understanding.
Shelly,
Thanks for your note – I think we are on the same page in that we both feel parenting is challenging and are always asking ourselves — am I doing it right? I think that’s a sign we ARE good parents.
I didn’t see my post coming across as complaining that I don’t have enough time in the day — I just meant that there is a lot to balance and I wish we had more hours in the day to do it all/be with our kids more/get all of our tasks done, etc. (don’t we all).
I know parents who have way more help than we do and I know parents that have less help than we do. It’s just not my place to make any kinds of assumptions about someone’s life and challenges. There is so much we don’t see when we see bits and pieces of someone else’s life on social media.
Sarah, I know what you mean. It’s exhausting to keep up with feeding a family while working full time. Back when i cook daily after work, i’d do it while fighting with hangry toddler and baby. EEK!
So i’ve moved to meal prep on Sunday. I groceries shop Friday night. Cook 3 different recipes, doubled up. This way I have 6 refrigerated meals for the week that i jus thave to heat up during the week. Makes for much more peaceful mealtime and happier family.
Lately, I’ve done this 20 slow cooker meal prep in 1 day thing with my friends. Where we get together one day of the weekend and knock out 20 freezer-slow cooker meal to eat for the whole month. https://www.laurengreutman.com/slow-cooker-freezer-meal-plan-10/ – on days i forget to put food in the slowcooker in the morning. 1 hour in the pressure cooker afterwork saves the day!
There’s also some frozen pizza and spaghetti material for emergency.
it’s been great not having to worry about dinner every single day. I hope you’d find some relief in feeding the family – a rewarding and exhausting task.
I love all of these tips – thank you so much for sharing 🙂 I think meal-prep is probably the best solution to make a work week go more smoothly and not having to cook as soon as you get home. Have a great weekend!
Just read the above comments and I must say that I really appreciate how much you love and are grateful for your parents in law and how they help you out with dinners. They are lucky to have you as their DIL. I’m curious to find out why you don’t have a cleaner?
That is the first thing that I organise for my family in periods when I work a lot. I’m not going to sacrifice family time or my energy to clean, hah. We’re all different. I like cooking for my family too but sometimes (often) it is a bloody chore and I would have loved to have in laws who dropped off a meal or two every now and again. Enjoy what you’ve got V 🤗
Hi there! We do have a cleaning lady — she comes once every two weeks and she’s fantastic! We still clean daily though whether it’s the floors, wiping down counters and other tasks. But she does a lot of the deeper cleaning and that’s definitely an expense that’s worth it for us to have extra time with the kids.
We are very appreciative of my in laws and we are very lucky that they continue to give us this incredible gift for our family. It’s hard to put into words just how much we are thankful for it, but I tell them all the time 🙂
Thanks for this. Will try to apply some of your sleep time routines here. I really pray it works for us too.
My 2 boys are much older (17 & 20) but my favourite part of bedtime was story time. A memory I’ll always cherish! I as well always had evening bath time, agreed it’s so relaxing and whats better than a sweet smelling, damp hair little one to cuddle with during story time! I too as a single mom relied on my parents for babysitting and helping out, we should NEVER be ashamed or have to explain ourselves to anyone when it comes to our own family and what makes OUR own personal story work!! My folks are generous in so many ways and I’m in awe of it every day. You are blessed as well! Keep up the great work with your little ones!!
Ahh yes– the sweet smelling damp hair… I love it 🙂 thank you for your comment. I’m not ashamed at all by the help we receive which is why I’ve talked about it so openly, especially on social media. I’m honored and so thankful that my in-laws do this for us and express their love for our family this way. It takes a village and I’m happy to accept help where I can get it. It seems like that is sometimes frowned upon these days, but I think having a supportive network of family and friends is a blessing and I will forever see it as such.
I agree 100+% !! Women need to stick together and support each other and be HAPPY for each other! Comments of love and support and shared stories are all that’s needed to be truly supported.
I agree! Everyone’s lives are different and so we make different choices for our families based on what works for us. We can support others even when our circumstances are different 🙂
Well, this has been an experience, this is the first time EVER I’ve commented on anything! Really!! I just felt very strongly I had to jump in and defend a fellow woman. I honestly don’t know how you do it, dealing with comments I mean! It just amazes me how women can be so quick to judge and make comments without truly knowing you like your closest people. I have a very good friend whose in-laws do the same and have them over every Sunday (and I’m sure send them home leftovers!). My one and only comment to her is ‘Good for you GF’! If one gal in my life has it a little easier, I’m happy for her! Me just sitting here sending 3 comments takes over half and hour with the editing. Running a blog, adding pictures, links, etc so other people could read and enjoy and have a support system is not an easy endeavour. Funny how the woman that only want to complain and be jealous and ‘not relate’ to you are on your blog commenting!! LOL I suppose they should make their own if they could do it better and see how it feels to be judged for every little word you type. My parents have flown my whole family to Hawaii, paid for my and 2 siblings laser eye surgery, secondary education, etc and I won’t apologize to anyone for it. We, like you obviously appreciate our parents and as such are appreciated right back!! I feel partly responsible for initially commenting (did I mention first time ever?!) that it has spiraled and you’re welcome to NOT post this if it is too aggressive but It just makes me so angry for you and all women who are treated like this. Hopefully you can block these spiteful women and build only a support system of REAL women. I feel sad for those women who are so bitter, jealous of what other people have/receive that they can’t accept/appreciate what they have and in turn be happy for others. I can guarantee these types of women complain to anyone who will listen (husband, friends, family) about how HARD they have it. Perhaps they should be the ones never commenting again, but sadly this was MY FIRST and LAST commenting experience because it was too emotional for me! I will continue to read your blog and silently be happy for everything you say and do!! As I tell my boys when I’ve heard enough, “This conversation is over”. At least for me. Good Luck!!
Hi Karen! I’ve faced my share of criticism over the years, but I’ve come to learn that someone who wants to find fault with you will make reaching assumptions about almost anything…like that having a cleaning lady twice a month means I never clean. Or that having dinners cooked for us means we never cook or grocery shop or run a household.
In today’s world, I feel like I’m seeing more and more jumping to conclusions and more “her life and circumstances are different than mine, so that is something to attack/find fault in!” It’s unfortunate.
I hope you’ll continue to read and comment and don’t let this experience discourage you!
You are a good parent! I teach kindergarten and I feel we would have less problems in our schools if more parents were invested in their children the way you and your husband are. Keep up the good work!
I admire what you do and how you do it! It takes a village. You’re blessed and I think it’s wonderful. ❤️
Thank you Tiffanie – that means a lot!
Veronika, I have to say something, but I’m just not sure what. I guess that I’m stunned that some of your blog readers/followers are so rude and critical. Please ignore them! I read your entry and thought what an amazing way for an extended family to interact and support each other. It’s encouraging and inspirational! So many working parents rely on nannies to cook or take-out or easy prep food, that it’s great to hear of another alternative. It’s all good and all fine. I know from reading your blog since Harper was a baby that you’re an amazing, hard-working, big-hearted person–a wonderful daughter/daughter-in-law, wife, mother, friend, professional, and blogger. Keep on doing what you like and what works for your family. Of course you already know that they’re the audience that counts! WIshing you all the best. And thanks for sharing your evening routine. It reflects health and happiness!
Marie — your comment made me smile…and it actually made my day! Thank you for your support and for your incredibly kind words. It is so appreciated.
Hi Veronika,
I’m applauded at some of the comments below and I’m sorry people have nothing better to do than Mom sham other moms without even a glimpse into other challenges they may be facing. Yes, it’s wonderful that your in laws make you dinners each week (and you’ve openly admitted that!) but I’m going to go out on a limb and said if you didn’t have that helping hand you’d figure it out and be just as fabulous as a mom as your are today! I just rencently starting following you and I think you’re doing a fabulous job! One of my new fav bloggers. Thanks for keeping it real 100% of the time – regardless of the negativity – here’s one of my favorite quotes ….
Those who spend their time looking for the faults in others usually make no time to correct their own. –Art Janak
Xox
Kate
Kate- your comment means a lot to me 🙂 That quote is so impactful- thank you for sharing it! The thing is, everyone has challenges, whether they’re visible or not.
Holy moly! Not sure what some of these ladies would think of me having NO kids AND a cleaning lady that comes every 2 weeks!
And regarding the help with dinners.. who cares? Meal kits and balanced meal plan delivery is so popular now. It wouldn’t be popular if you were the only parent that needed creative and helpful ways to feed the fam. Even better that yours is coming from your in laws with love and not a delivery truck!
Good for you for hiring out what you can’t or don’t want to do 🙂 I think the best thing we can do in life is to respect that we all live differently and not immediately attack anyone who has a different routine or circumstances than you.