A Day In The Life Of... - Kristin Sterk

I am always intrigued by what other people’s days look like. Why, I am not sure. I don’t feel the urge to be like them or have my days like their’s, but maybe it’s because there is a lot to learn about someone by how they live their everyday life.

I guess that is why I feel the urge to share with you what a given day looks like for me. Not that it is anything special (by ALL means). The reason for sharing is so you know what real life looks like.

The other day, Dan and I were talking about when I do the “Around The Home” posts, that typically it’s pictures of Mazy smiling, doing crazy things, and just being crazy Mazy. But I suppose what those pictures don’t show, is that she has rough days, just like we do. She has meltdowns. She throws her food. She hits our faces. She is strong-willed. As trying as those times can be, it is our everyday life and it is normal life for anyone who raises a child. Our life is no different!

Even though those days happen, real life for us is just filled with the pure enjoyment of being parents. Oh my goodness, we could not imagine our life without her. She has us giggling, in shock at what she learns, and just even more in love with her everyday. Oh that everyday life is just such a blessing.

So this is what a given day looks like for me:

7:00-7:30

Wake up (earlier on Mondays and Tuesdays). If Mazy is not up before me, I will do my devotions, start laundry, pick up the house if needed, and get things ready for the day. That means getting my grocery list or errand list finalized, taking out all papers needed to run to town, and pack Mazy’s diaper bag. Though I do try and spend some quiet time with God. I find my days can be classified as “didn’t do or did do” my devotions. When I don’t, I seem to be more stressed. When I do, I am more calm and find more purpose in what I am doing. Funny how that works, huh?

7:30-8:00

Mazy wakes up. Though this time can vary between 7:30 and like 9:30. Usually she needs to snuggle for a bit, then we attempt to give her breakfast. She doesn’t always eat it, but toast with peanut butter, a homemade waffle, or french toast is usually our best bet with some fruit. If I haven’t eaten breakfast yet, this is when I will sit down at the table with her and eat. She usually tells me about her night and what she plans to do for the day, so we both enjoy that conversation.

8:00-8:45

Finish prepping to leave if needed. Can’t get to town before 9 because Aldi doesn’t open until then. Yes, I plan my day around that – I love that place that much. If going to town is not needed, I will go for a walk or bike ride with Mazy.

I know, it sounds like “going to town” is such a huge thing, but it is 20-25 minutes away, which isn’t ridiculous by all means, but it does take some planning, especially if I am going to be gone all morning. When we don’t go, Mazy seems to get cabin fever quickly, so that is why going outside is essential for us!

8:45-11:30

Run errands. If we don’t, we will play outside, get some things done around the house. If we went for a walk or bike ride, she usually wants to play in her sandbox, swing, or ride around in her little car for awhile. I love these few hours because Mazy is generally very happy (though she is typically happy now all the time!) She also is really into her water table so she also plays by that and gets completely soaked a few times a day. Though now that it’s getting a little colder, we do not always put water in it. Sometimes I change her clothes, sometimes I don’t depends if she is soaked all the way through to her diaper. That girl sure loves her water!

11:30-12:00

Lunchtime. I find it hard to know what to feed a young toddler. We have our go-to meals like mac n’ cheese, pb and j, hot dogs, and though they are the healthy versions, I feel she needs to expand her repertoire a bit. But I have learned, choose your battles. Plus, meals can be very fun to watch her eat – have you ever sat and just watched a toddler eat? Ever wonder what goes through their head? Sometimes it just makes me laugh!

I try and throw some food down too, before she says “uh duh” which means “all done” with her hands in the air. She is VERY good at telling us what she needs. We are also trying to teach her manners – she is very good at saying please if we say “what do you say?” Her “thank you” is adorable – ah dooo. Toddler talk never gets old!

12:00-12:30

Time to slow down. This is when I will turn on an episode of Daniel Tiger so that she quiets down. She knows that it is then naptime. Sometimes she wants to cuddle, but sometimes she just wants to sit in her own chair and play with a few toys. She is a routine girl and I LOVE that because so is her mother!

12:30 – 2:30ish

Naptime! Time always varies, but she usually takes a 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hour nap. This is when I take time to blog, get some things done around the house, etc. Naps used to be SUCH A STRUGGLE, but now, all we have to do is give her her wubs, blankies, turn the fan on, lay her down, and she goes right down, everytime. She sure has made our life pretty simple!

2:30 – 4:00

Play time! We usually go on another bike ride or walk, play in the sandbox, with sidewalk chalk, or on the deck. Mazy just LOVES to be outside!

4:00

Oh wait, it’s close to suppertime! I would love to say that I always have our meals planned out. I certainly don’t. Some weeks are better than others. I do my best each week to make plans, but even the best sought out plans can be thwarted! Nevertheless, I start to think about supper.

5:00

Call us grandpa and grandma, but we eat early. It all started in college when the cafeteria opened at 5. For some reason, we always went down then. When we got married, we seemed to have something every single night youth ministry-wise, so we continued the 5:00 trend so that we could get to our next event on time. Then we had a child, and really for us, it’s the perfect time to eat because by the time we are done and get everything is cleaned up, it’s close to…

6:00

Dan usually takes Mazy for awhile and I am able to clean up supper, do the dishes, and do a few things I didn’t get a chance to do during the day. Then we usually head out for a bike ride or walk if it is nice out (again, as you can see, we just love to be outside!) We really treasure that time we have between supper and Mazy’s bedtime to just spend together as a family! Those few hours are so precious to us. If we ate later, we wouldn’t have that time. We also have been going to many sporting events for our youth group kids, so we usually head out to a game if there is one.

7:30

Time to get Mazy ready for bed. We give her a bath if needed, a snack, milk, turn on Praise Baby or Daniel Tiger, brush her teeth, change her diaper, put her pajamas on, and then it’s about…

8:00

Read Mazy a book and put her to bed. We do give her melatonin (no worries, doctor recommended), so she does sometimes fall asleep in our arms, which we milk a bit :).

8:00-10:00/10:30

The rest of the night is spent just the two of us and trying to get Mazy to stay asleep. We are still trying to let her cry it out and YES, things ARE IMPROVING, but she had quite a past 6 months with various things, so we are hoping we are creating a new normal for her – one of good sleep!

During this time, we usually pick up the house, play a card game together, or just get caught up on the little things in life like emails, conversations, and maybe even a show we watch together. We have been known to turn on Fixer Upper a few times and dream about fixing up an old farmhouse!

10:00-10:30

Bedtime! I wish I could say that I am a night owl, but I never really have been. I fully admit, I need my 8 hours of sleep. I don’t know if that is heart-related or what, but from what I understand, I always slept a lot as a child too. I am not a napper AT ALL, but I do enjoy my nighttime sleep.

Our life is much like everyone else’s and it consists of the same things that we all do on a daily basis. We do the dishes by hand, our house needs cleaning (and sometimes I wait too long in between cleans), and we have laundry that needs to be done. That is real life. As a blogger, it is easy to paint a picture of an “ideal” life, but we are just Dan and Kristin. Loving the life God has given us and trying to live it to it’s fullest!

I feel so blessed to be able to stay home with Mazy (minus 2 days during the school year). I love being a wife and keeping up our home. I truly just love our little life. We have had some difficult moments, but also circumstances that have blown us away with JOY! It is only by His grace that we live the life we do!

And I want to reiterate, Mazy is SUCH A DIFFERENT kid than when she was a baby! She is so much happier and though a few weeks ago we thought maybe she had some food allergies, we are now realizing she may have some acid reflux issues yet, but are just trying to watch her diet instead. Also, her teeth are IN, except the 2 year molars, so hopefully we are teething free for awhile too. Woohoo! And that has all caused us now to have a different kid. Mazy is incredible happy like I said and is so easy going right now! LOVING IT and going to milk it for all it’s worth! Plus, she is sleeping better too, which that is a whole blog post in and of itself!