You know what day it is? It’s Wednesday! (A Day In A Life Blog Train)

6 o’clock in the morning and I’m just in a middle of a dream, when my phone alarm reminds me that it’s time to get up for another school day.

The Barn Owl is already up and I can hear him clanking around making his sandwiches in the kitchen. I waddle down the corridor, stopping to open the door to the children’s room and turn on their room light.

The Morning Routine

In the kitchen, the Barn Owl has already put the kettle on the boil, so I tip some hot water out into two mugs, just enough to dissolve a packet of 3-in-1 Milo powder. I top the rest of the mugs up with cold fresh milk, give them a quick stir and deliver the drinks to the two zombies who are making moaning sounds in their bedroom.

I used to try to convince them to worry down some breakfast as well, but it seems that their little tummies aren’t awake at this ungodly hour of the morning and they would rather have a few more minutes sleeping instead of blinking uncomprehendingly at their bowls of soggy cereal.

Whilst the kids are getting themselves ready, I quickly get washed and dressed for the day, then I prepare their water bottles and school snacks before dumping a load of laundry in the washing machine.

Now, I get a few moments to have a quick breakfast and check my email. This is usually a glass of juice, taken in front of the computer.

The kids are now dressed and whilst J brushes his teeth, I do Little E’s hair. Today, Little E wants to wear a special hair bow that was given to her by one of the little boys in school to show him how much she likes it. When her hair is done, she flounces off to clean her teeth.

By now it is around 6:30am and everybody bundles into the car.

First, I drop J off at school just before 7am, and then the Barn Owl gets off at the nearby MRT station. It’s still too early for Little E to go to school, so I stop by the Aged Ps house for breakfast.

Little E takes her breakfast at school, so during this time, she sits next to me as I eat and either looks at a book or does some art-related activity. This week, she is working on a personal project – to weave a blanket for one of her stuffed animals.

I send Little E off to school at 8am, then head home to do some light housework – laundry, cleaning floors, general tidying and doing whatever washing up is leftover from the morning. I do miss the days before Little E started nursery school, but I cherish the time I have to myself. In any case with Baby #3 on the way, I have some extra tasks to complete which I can get done much quicker without the older kids around to distract me. Today, it’s time to get the infant carseats out of storage and get them cleaned up.

I try to finish all my chores by 10am, so that I have an hour to myself. I’ve been getting very tired lately and if I want to be in a good mood this afternoon, I have to make sure that I rest for a short while in the morning. I’m going to read an old book by the pool downstairs.

Little E’s after-school personal project

At 11:30, I pick Little E up from school and head to the Aged P’s house. Little E changes out of her school clothes and washes her hands before sitting down for lunch.

After lunch, she does a little bit more of her weaving, then practices her penmanship – at the moment, I write out sight words for her and she copies them. I have to leave around 1pm to collect J from school, so I pick out a few books for her to read together with the Aged P.

When J and I get back to the Aged Ps house, Little E has successfully put the Aged P to sleep and is playing with Duplos on the floor. J washes his hands and sits down to lunch. He usually takes his time over lunch because he chats with Little E at the same time, so by the time he is done it is nearly 2:30pm and we need to rush home for violin lessons.

At home, Little E goes straight to her room for her afternoon nap, and J gets his violin out and runs through his music before the violin tutor comes. Whilst J is having his lesson, I start preparing the ingredients for dinner.

Once J is done with his violin lesson, he takes a short break and then sits down to complete any homework assigned by his schoolteachers. I try not to hover around him, but I’m nearby in case he needs help. When he’s done, it’s time to wake Little E up from her nap.

The two of them have a cup of milk (or Milo, depending on their mood) each, and then they play together until dinnertime. Before dinner, J has a shower and changes into PJs. I bathe Little E and whilst she is changing into her PJs, it’s my turn in the shower.

The Barn Owl usually gets home around 7pm, and we have dinner together at the dining table. If it’s a particularly hot day, we’ll eat dinner together in the study which is the smallest room in the house (and therefore is the most efficient when it comes to using the air conditioner).

If the kids have been behaving well that day, they get a special treat before bedtime – usually this is in the form of an episode of Batman: The Animated Series or My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic…or maybe even a couple of minutes playing puzzle games on the Barn Owl’s phone.

Taking turns to solve puzzles on the Barn Owl’s phone before bed

The Barn Owl is usually in charge of the bedtime routine as I do the washing up before stretching out to rest on the study couch (although this week, he’s taken over doing the washing up as well, since my arms are now not long enough to reach across the bump into the sink – or so I claim).

He inspects the children’s teeth after brushing, makes sure they have water bottles topped up in their room, and then says prayers with them before bed. As usual, they come out of their room to give me a kiss and cuddle before going back to their beds to be tucked in.

Now it is around 8:30pm and this the time that the Barn Owl and I have together. Sometimes we play games on the Playstation 4 console, or watch shows together. I usually fall asleep on the couch after a while and then we both stagger to bed.

You know what day it is? It’s Thursday. And it’ll soon be time to get up for another day.

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Tomorrow, the ‘A Day in a Life’ blog train continues with Vera! Vera is a don’t-stay-at-home Mum of two who loves exploring new places with her kids in tow, cooking up a storm and planning theme parties. During her downtime, she writes at Life is in the Small Things sharing little adventures, parenting misadventures and everything in between.