Groundhog Day

When you have a toddler and your husband works full time taking your only car to work leaving you stranded, you settle into a very predictable routine. Sometimes I'm dying to get in the car and head somewhere new and sometimes I love being able to count on our routine. Either way, there are few dull moments in the life of a stay at home mom. Here is a glimpse of our daily routine.

5:30 - daddy wakes up and gets ready for work
7- daddy leaves for work :( 7:30ish Madi wakes up - she plays quietly in her crib until I get her.
8:30 - mommy showers and starts to get ready
9am - go get Madi, change diaper, sit down for breakfast (while Madi eats mommy finishes getting ready for the day.
9:30 - time to watch Mickey mouse club house - mommy downs 2 large cups of coffee :)
10am - dress Madi and brush her teeth. From here we have playtime. If it's nice we go for a walk, play outside with the neighbors or go in the kiddie pool, play with bubbles or chalk, or drive her car.
11:15/11:30 - Madi has a snack and milk
11:45 - nap time (asleep from about noon - 2) During this time mommy does laundry and/or dishes, eats      lunch, returns phone calls, on rare occasion I get a nap.
2:30 or whenever she starts to fuss - get Madi from nap and give her a snack/lunch. Mommy drinks another coffee - need to refuel for the race to the finish. More playtime until dinner.
5- Madi eats dinner - she spends a while at the dinner table.
5:45 or whenever she's done eating - pj's and teeth brushing. After we snuggle and watch a few minutes of TV
6:15ish - we read a book, say a prayer and go to sleep.
6:30 - mommy picks up the house and starts dinner or heats up leftovers lol. We do not have daily gourmet meals in this household. :/
7 - daddy comes home, we have dinner, spend some quiet baby free time together, go to sleep to wake up the next day and do it all over again.

 I realize this may not sound glamorous, but the schedule leaves out all the sweet moments. Like when I open her door in the morning and she jumps up and says, "morning" in her sweet voice. Or the giggles throughout the day and her telling me I'm silly. It's her evening phone call with da da on his way home from work. She has the sweetest back and forth banter with him. It's her begging for a cookie and if she gets one her giving me thank you kisses. It's me giving her some dried Cheerios in a snack cup and a sippy cup of milk, only to walk in 3 minutes later and here her say "cereal" and see that she poured her milk into the Cheerios and all over the couch. Can't blame a girl for trying. Everyday she learns something new and I get to see it happen. I'll take groundhog day routines any day because even though the schedule falls the same, she makes each day new and exciting. And while she rarely sees da da Monday through Thursday we make up for it on Friday afternoons and weekends by going special places and trying new things together as a family. I wouldn't trade my life for anyone else's.