A TYPICAL DAY IN MY LIFE (NOW THAT I’M A MUM)

A TYPICAL DAY IN MY LIFE (NOW THAT I’M A MUM)

I think this might be my most requested post (ever), so it’s about time I shared it with you guys! Albeit, a day in my life right now, is quite radically different from a few years ago… A lot changes when you get a baby. I mean, EVERYTHING changes. Where even the smallest, simplest and dullest task, like going to the post office, needs to be planned and prepared for. Sound crazy? Fellow mum’s: if you know, you know! Anyways, I have tried my best to stick to structure and some kind of routine in my days, a long with some work here and there (and running errands and popping to the gym, when time allows it). But as you can see, on a day-today basis, it all pretty much revolves around Rio’s schedule (which I obviously wouldn’t change for the world), and although no day is ever the same, from Monday to Friday, it pretty much looks like the below. So here goes – a typical day in my new life as a mama!


6/7am – Wake up (or rather Rio wakes us up)
7am – Milk feed, snuggle time in the bed
7.30am – We head down to the kitchen and Rio has some light play time, while I make myself a pot of herbal tea or lemon with ginger (it used to be coffee up until last week, but I’ve decided to quit as it was making me so anxious). I start preparing Rio’s breakfast, and start throwing together my morning smoothie (almond milk, frozen berries, banana, flax seeds, chia seeds, bee pollen, walnuts, Super Elixir Greens powder and Vida Glow Collagen powder).
8-9am – Rio has his breakfast (usually scrambled eggs & avocado, porridge or banana pancakes), and I have my morning smoothie, followed by some light play time downstairs.
9am – I put Rio to bed and I make my main breakfast. I sometimes just have the smoothie, but as I often start flagging a few hours later, I’ve recently started having a more substantial breakfast, which is either 2 pieces of chia rye bread (I get it from a local baker in bulk, slice it up and freeze it), together with poached eggs and avocado, vegan oatmeal, porridge topped with fruit, seeds and nuts, or some of Rio’s leftover pancakes. Fortunately, I have a good appetite in the morning, but I also find because I’m still exclusively breastfeeding, I need the extra fuel and calories! I always take my morning supplements with my breakfast, which is currently BioCare BioAcidophilus (probiotics), BioCare Pregnancy Multivitamin, and I’m just about to start taking Wild Nutrition Breast-Feeding Complex.
9.15am – I sit down and make a plan for the day. I’m BIG on to-do lists, and cannot function through a day without one; if I don’t have some kind of goal/mission for the next 10-12 hours, my head starts to feel all fuzzy and I’m a bit all over the place. A to-do lists gives me a sense of structure (even if it’s just popping to the dry cleaners and post office!). When that said, having a baby, throws a bit of that structure out of the window, so I have definitely become a lot more relaxed if things don’t always go to plan (which is more or less all the time).

9.30-10.30am – I catch up on my e-mails and reply to as many unread/flagged ones as possible, do general blog admin such as replying to comments, invoicing, content planning, and then a bit of writing if I have time. I also quickly jump in the shower (I’ve learnt to be super speedy and only wash my hair 1-2 times a week, max!). When I do wash my hair, I alternate between the Kevin Murphy purple range (to cool down my blonde highlights) and the Pureology Strength range – followed by my morning ritual skincare & make-up routine, which although changes all the time, currently consists of the Avène toner, Caudalie face mist, Estée Lauder cooling eye creamSkinCeuticals vitamin C serum (I also use the Anne Semonin serum if my skin feels extra dry), La Roche-Posay SPF 50+, bareMinerals tinted cream, Nars concealer, Maybelline mascara, La Mer lip & cheek glow and Guerlain bronzer.
10.30-12am – Rio is awake and I give him some water and a little snack, usually a homemade energy ball/bar (dates, apricots, almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds and coconut oil, blended in the food processor and stored in the fridge for 5-7 days). After this, I pop Rio in the pram or the sling and we head out for a walk, either to his weekly swimming or music class, running errands to the post office/the shops/a little stroll in the high street – or we stay at home and have some more play time, which includes exploring in his soft play area with all his toys, or crawling around the house with me running after him!


12-13pm – Lunch time for Rio (either some kind of meat & veg stew, lentil patties with broccoli, sweet potato chips with salmon flakes), which we either have out or at home, finished off with some play time.
13pm – Rio’s main nap, which means this is my main opportunity to get stuff done in the house, and finally get some work done! But first, I make sure I have a proper lunch to keep me going for the rest of the day (as I know it will be all-go when he wakes up again), which is either a large salad (I usually throw in cucumber, tuna, chickpeas, feta and hummus), or smashed avocado on rye bread with some eggs (depending on what I had for brekkie). I grab myself a large glass of water with lemon, and get to work! As Rio can sometimes sleep for nearly 2 hours during this nap, I usually give myself an hour to work on the laptop, and another hour to do general house chores/life admin.
2.30/3-4.30pm – Rio wakes and he has his afternoon milk. We have some playing around, and then I either head to the gym with him (around 2-3 times a week), and pop him in the crèche, or I take him to the local playground (he loves the swings), I run errands, or I meet up with some other local mum’s for a baby play date.

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4.30/5pm
– Back home, and I start preparing Rio’s dinner (and I also start our dinner for later). I’m usually hungry at this time, so I have a little late afternoon snack, either one of Rio’s energy bars, some hummus and pitta, or fruit and nuts.
5.30-7.00pm – Rio has his dinner (either bolognese, lentil stew, roasted veggies and chicken), followed by some light play time up in his nursery and then his bath (Sam is home for bath time at least two times a week). Closer to 7pm, I give Rio his final milk feed up in the nursery.
7.30pm – Rio’s asleep, and it’s (finally) some mummy and daddy time. I finish off our dinner which is either something with fish or vegetarian, such as grilled salmon with vegetables and grains, prawn stir fry, veggie wraps with chickpeas and sweet potato.
8-10pm – Relax and unwind time on the sofa. I also sometimes use this time to catch up on work (if I have the extra energy and I haven’t had the time during the day).
10pm – I try to be in bed by 10pm the latest, as I never know how Rio’s going to sleep during the night, so I like to bank as much sleep as I can! Before bedtime, I always (and I mean always), prioritise my evening skincare ritual, which currently consist of Previse face cleanser, Bioderma miceallar water, Veneffect calming mistEstée Lauder cooling eye creamSkinCeuticals night treatment, and if my skin is feeling extra dry, I use the Elemis overnight cream. 2 times a week I use a face mask (I alternate every time, depending on how my skin feels). I make sure I have a large glass of room temperature water before I go to bed, have a little read on my Kindle with either a Jo Malone or Neom scented candle on, and when I’m ready to sleep, I spritz some Ren pillow spray on my pillow, pop on my Slip silk eye mask, and fall asleep within seconds.

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8 Comments

    • Anneli Bush
      Author
      August 23, 2018 / 08:31

      Haha, yes!

  1. Lottie
    August 17, 2018 / 15:34

    Hi Anneli, Could you please write down the Breakfast Smoothie quantities that you use? Thank you so much.
    Lottie x

    • Anneli Bush
      Author
      August 23, 2018 / 08:28

      Hi Lottie! To be honest, I am not so great with measuring – I just throw it all together really :) I always have more greens than the sweet, and 1-2 cups of the milk (depending on how hungry I am). A small handful of the berries too. Then with the powders, I just the follow the recommended dosage on the packet! x

  2. Jane
    August 19, 2018 / 16:42

    Hi Anneli, a great post! I’d like to know what Rio does when you’re prepping food and what sorts of things you do for light play? I find it hard to do anything when my 5 month old is awake so my husband and I end up eating really late. Also what do you do between the final feed and sleep? My little ones final feed is around 6:30-7 but then not asleep until 8.

    Thank you,

    Jane x

    • Anneli Bush
      Author
      August 23, 2018 / 08:34

      Hi Jane,
      I have been doing a lot of food prepping in advance (batch making and freezing it down), so when it comes to food time, I just take it out 5 min before to de-frost it. Now that we’re doing more baby-led, there is more preparation needed, probably, 10-15 min before food time. Light play is often up in his nursery, where there is less space for him to run around it. Reading more books and some light exploring. We are fortunate that he always goes straight to sleep after the final feed, so it’s straight down after final feed. Ax

  3. Lucy
    November 1, 2018 / 20:52

    Where did you get those gorgeous snake flats?

    • Anneli Bush
      Author
      November 6, 2018 / 19:18

      They’re old Massimo Dutti ones!

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