A Day in Parenting Blogger's Life - Pondering Parenthood

Morning you lovely lot. It has definitely cooled down this morning and the jacket needed to come out again. It doesn’t look too promising for the upcoming weekend either. We planned to explore another local farm but we may have to postpone and do something else.

This week I have Jules joining me who blogs at Pondering Parenthood.

First of all, tell me a bit about yourself.

I’m Jules, I live in Norwich with my husband and daughter, Little M, born in May 2016. I started writing my blog in September 2015, as a way to process my thoughts on trying to conceive. Little did I know, I would be pregnant by the end of the month! As a result, my blog soon turned into a pregnancy, then parenting and lifestyle blog. In addition to writing my blog, I work part-time as a supply teacher.

How many times were you woken last night?

None! Little M is an amazing sleeper. I know that we are VERY lucky that she loves her sleep, and will usually sleep from 7:30pm until around 7am the next morning.

Do you co-sleep?

Until Little M was around eight months, she slept in her Snüzpod, which was fixed to the side of our bed. So I suppose you could call it co-sleeping, although she was never actually in our bed. At eight months she moved into her cot in her own room.

What time do you normally wake up?

Whenever Little M wakes up! Usually between 6 and 7:30am, but most often around 7am.

How much average sleep do you get a night?

I should get a lot more given how good Little M is at sleeping, but I usually end up working on my blog when she goes to bed, then get carried away and invariably don’t go to bed until at least 11pm, sometimes midnight. So I guess I get about 6.5 hours per night. It’s something I really need to improve on, as I doubt I’m as productive as I could be, if I had more sleep!

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

Have a quick drink of water, then go through to Little M’s room to say good morning and get her out of her cot for a cuddle.

Tell me about your typical morning routine.

Once Little M is up, we go downstairs for breakfast. I usually have a bowl of cereal while she has fruit and natural yoghurt. Once we’re finished, we go up to the living room to play and read books together. By the time it gets to 9am, Little M is usually asking for her milk and goes down for a nap, usually for around two hours. While she’s asleep, I get myself showered, dressed and presentable, then do some blog work. Once Little M wakes, I get her changed and we pop out to the park or play in the garden. She’s usually only awake for about an hour and a half before she’s starting to ask for her lunchtime nap!

When and how often do you prepare the family dinners? Give us a few examples what you would cook.

Now that I’m not working full time, I prepare dinner for us every night. At the moment we’re eating a lot of salads, usually with chicken. I also make a mean salmon risotto, which goes down well with everyone. In the winter months I try to use my slow cooker as much as possible, as I can prepare dinner during Little M’s first nap, and it takes the stress out of waiting for hubby to come home for dinner!

What’s on the menu for lunch?

I always find lunch super boring. I’m gluten free, and I’ve never been much of a sandwich eater. Lately I’ve been having gluten free toast with hummous. Little M often has toast with peanut butter, scrambled egg or avocado, and some fruit.

What activities have you got planned for the day for the kids?

Little M is a little bit young still for full on crafting activities, so we usually go to the park, play with her toys or read books. She also has a Tiny Talk class every Thursday, which is a singing group incorporating baby sign language.

Do you generally eat dinner together as a family or get the kids fed first?

We eat dinner together almost every night. Fortunately hubby usually gets home at around 5:30pm, so we are able to eat together as a family.

What do you do after dinner?

After dinner we usually spend around half an hour together as a family, before hubby reads Little M a story and takes her up for her bath.

What is your bedtime routine?

After her story, Little M has her bath. We do it this way around as Little M would be all chilled out from her bath, then get over excited by her story, so it works better for us to do story, bath, then milk and bed. Hubby does Little M’s bath, then I take over and give her milk, put her into her sleeping back and down into her cot after a quick cuddle.

Before Little M goes down to sleep, hubby comes in and we each share our favourite thing from that day. Obviously Little M is too young to join in at the moment, but I’m looking forward to her being able to share her favourite memories of the day when she’s older! It’s often little things like something that made us giggle, or a nice moment that we’ve shared.

Most importantly, when and where do you normally blog in those 24 hours? Do you have a schedule?

I don’t really have a schedule, but I tend to get on my laptop and do something blog-related during each of Little M’s naps, then again once she’s gone to sleep in the evening. I feel like I’m constantly doing something to contribute to the smooth running of the blog. My to do list is still longer than my arm, though!

Thanks Jules for joining in and giving us a day in your life. It sounds like you have a very chilled out day with Little M. The baby sign language class sounds interesting. I never got into going to baby groups.