a day in the life with 2 under 2

I want to do an entire blog post talking about life with 2 under 2,...

I want to do an entire blog post talking about life with 2 under 2, since Luca will soon be 2 years old (I cannot believe it!) and I want to remember this challenging but fleeting time in our lives. But for now, I want to share what a typical (ha! typical!) schedule looks like for our family. Of course, every day is very different based on Roma’s naps (how long they last, when they start, etc) and when she nurses (sometimes she goes 4 hours, sometimes she’s hungry around 2.5 hours.) So, take everything with a grain of salt, but I know that many find comfort in seeing what other people’s day-to-days look like who are in the same boat.

But basically, in terms of a loose schedule, I’m following the lead of Taking Cara Babies‘ newborn sleep course, which has been so helpful for us to create somewhat of a routine and just to know when to feed, play, and sleep the baby. The idea is that a baby is awake for 60-90 minutes and feeds on demand, or no less than every 3 hours. That’s our guideline, but of course, it’s totally unpredictable, because it all depends on how long Roma naps at each “nap time.”

our daily weekday ‘schedule’

5:30am: Right now, Roma’s waking up at this time. I put a paci in her mouth and she goes right back to sleep.
6:30am: Luca wakes up and Lu gets up to go get him. He changes his diaper, gives him his vitamin, gets him some water, and usually plays with him in the living room.
6:45/7am: Roma wakes up and I change her diaper and feed her. After her feeding, I pump whichever boob she didn’t nurse on. Roma’s only nursing on one side 90% of the time, due to my oversupply. I pump for a little less than 5 minutes. Then, I come out into the living room and pour that milk into a straw cup for Luca. I usually give Roma to Lu so he can have some 1-on-1 time with her and I play with Luca, prep his breakfast, and tidy up/organize the kitchen for the day.
7:30am: Luca sits down for breakfast and Lu goes and gets ready for work. I play with the kids until our nanny arrives at 8am.
8:00am: Our nanny arrives and at this point, Roma is usually ready for her first nap of the day, so I go and put her down.
8:15-9am: Roma usually takes a super short nap first thing in the morning and during this time, I usually play with Luca a little bit and make my breakfast. He usually eats some of my breakfast, too.
9am: Luca usually leaves for the day with the nanny. He has music, gym, and art classes or they go meet up at the parks with friends. They go to the library, go play by the waterfront, or go to our playroom in our building for playdates. They might have a swim lesson in our pool or just swim around for fun. They love playing by the waterfront so Luca can run around and play with his balls.
9-10am: Roma wakes up around this time and we play for 30 minutes, I feed her, and then we play for another 10 or so minutes before I put her down for her next nap, which is usually a nice, long nap, about 3 hours.
10-10:30am: I make Luca’s lunch.
10:30am-1pm: After I make Luca’s lunch, during this time, Roma’s napping, so I’m either out of the house (making the most of her nap time!) or I’m at home. If I’m at home, I’ll do some work or household chores (laundry, cleaning, etc.) or if I’m lucky, watch some Netflix, but I’m usually too antsy and feel this need to be productive. I’m also trying to workout more now, so this will probably turn into my workout window.
12:15-12:45pm: If I’m home, Luca comes home during this time and we have lunch together. I love being home for lunch time and whenever he walks through the door he always says, “Mama!” (and he can’t yet see me), so it breaks my heart thinking that sometimes when he comes home and says Mama, I’m not home!! He’s just used to be always being home!
1-2:15pm: Roma wakes up from her nap and I feed her and play with her.
2:15/2:30-4pm: I usually put Roma down for a nap around this time but it’s always a really short one, so sometimes I’ll take a walk or run an errand, since she tends to hang out better in the stroller on the go and sleep longer. If I’m home, Luca usually wakes up around 2:30pm from his nap, so I’ll have snack with him. If I’m home, I’ll make him snack, but if I’m not home, the nanny gives him snack.
3-5:30pm: The nanny takes Luca back out for another jam packed afternoon!
4-5pm: This is a tricky part, because depending on how well Roma napped 2-4pm, she may be up or not and this is usually when I prepare dinner. If she’s up, I’ll put her in a bouncer chair and try to keep her ‘entertained’ while I prepare dinner. I’ll leave dinner on the stovetop with a lid or put it in the fridge for later, depending on what I made.
5-5:30pm: Usually around this time is when I’m trying to put Roma down for her early evening nap.
5:30pm: Luca gets home from his day and the nanny goes home. We usually call my mother on Facetime or the Facebook Portal and they chat for 15 minutes. He usually has a little “appetizer” while I warm up dinner (like part of his dinner.)
5:45-6pm: Dinner! I sit down and eat dinner with Luca.
6-6:45pm: During this time, Roma usually wakes up and so it’s me and the two kids until Lu gets home, which is sometime between 6:30-6:45pm. Lu plays with Luca while I am usually doing something with the baby or I’m tidying up with the baby, etc. Or, we’ll all play in the living room.
7pm: Nighttime routines start! Usually, Lu does Luca’s routine and I do Roma’s routine. It seems to work best this way, but if it works out where I’m not nursing Roma while it’s time to read Luca books, I’ll read Luca books and let Lu put the baby down or play with the baby until I’m done with books and then I put Roma down. Again, it all depends on when her last nursing session was and when her last nap ended. Usually, I feed her at 7pm, bathe her, put her jammies on, read to her, swaddle her, and put her down by 7:30pm. Luca is in his crib by 7:30/7:45pm.
8pm: Mama and Dada time! During this time, Lu has dinner (and I usually have seconds haha), we hang out, tidy up, shower, and just RELAX.

Of course, the weekends look completely different, but this is what a weekday looks like! We’re grateful to have a nanny that loves Luca and keeps him busy and challenges him with different activities and adventures. And I love the balance that having a nanny gives me to spend time with Luca during the day, even when I’m back to work!

with love, Ali

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comments

  • you are a joke ali, you don’t parent 2 kids at the same time, let’s get real. Get out of your bubble and wake up. You are not relatable at all to the average mom.when you are alone with both your kids for more than an hour at a time.. try a whole day, then rewrite this post.
  • Wowza...chalking your response up to having an incredibly horrible day, Ms. Anonymous. I highly recommend getting some fresh air! Many moms have help that comes in different ways...relatives, nannies, day care at their place of employment or perhaps none at all. It is why Ali says "take it with a grain of salt". So,go find a salt shaker. Moving onward and upward....thank you Ali, for sharing and enjoy your day!
  • Anonymous,I am so glad someone finally said something. Most of my mom friends have unfollowed because they were finding it hard to relate to someone who hasn’t dealt with any hard parenting issues like being alone with their kids ever and just in general figuring hard stuff out parenting multiple kids. It’s hard to watch someone talk about a day in the life of parenting 2 under 2 when there is no actual parenting going on. I know when I had 2 under 2 it was an actual shit show lol. Everyone has their own experiences and that’s totally fine but it is a little odd to see a parent who has never spent any alone time figuring shit out with screaming kids haha
    • That's why the Internet is a great place -- you are free to follow (and not follow) whom you please! I'm not for everyone and there are plenty of people I have unfollowed on the Internet because they are un-relatable and not in my situation. Therefore, I don't find them enjoyable to follow! I'm glad your friends did the same, who you follow should only bring you happiness and inspiration. However, don't shame me for being on maternity leave and being a working mother, that is unfair. I have help because I couldn't run this business without help, which I am very transparent about. I think anyone who follows me and reads this post is already aware of my situation? I'm not trying to hide anything, that was a surprising sentiment to hear here.
  • I think you hit a soft spot here with a lot of moms, hence the comments above me. I know you say you try to keep it real and in some areas you do and what you share might be real to you but to most of your mom followers it’s not their reality therefore it triggers some negative feedback. I think what these comments are trying to say is that life with 2 kids, regardless of age, usually looks a lot more messy with lots of crying(from mom and kids) lots of snacks just to get 2 minutes to pee alone without one or both sitting at your feet waiting for you to finish to give them a snack, lots of juggling 2 kids needs 24/7 or after work or alone some days or stuck at home on weekends bc they live in suburbs etc. everyone’s journey is different but I will say that I feel for other moms and dads who look at this post and feel jealousy or feel kinda ragey because no one is there to help them If their significant other is traveling or working late. No one is there for regular date nights, most of those are few and far between. I don’t think anyone is trying to tear your down I think they are just frustrated with some of the ease of having multiple kids that you portray in your post.
  • Okay I kind of understand why some of you are upset because having young kids is hard as hell no matter what your situation. I don’t think Ali deserves this much hate though. She has a great situation with good help, but she doesn’t act like she’s doing it all by herself. She is a work from home mom so obviously she has some childcare available, and every working mom I know continues their previously childcare situation during maternity leave. She’s a positive person and if you can’t relate to anything else she puts out then it would probably be good to stop following her anyway. Ali, keep doing you!
  • I do not know Ali except from following Inspiralized. I raised two daughters who are now in their 30’s, while teaching full-time (including summers),with a workaholic spouse who was seldom home, and parents & in-laws who lived across the country. Hard as it was, I couldn’t have done it at all without a wonderful, grandmotherly daycare provider in our neighborhood. Had I been trying to work at home, as Ali does so successfully, it would have been very stressful to keep a balance between family needs and work requirements. Every working mother — and Ali is indeed a working mother, even though she works from home!!! — has to find a schedule and a support network that meets the needs of herself and her growing family. Remember the adage “it takes a village”! Please don’t berate Ali and Lu for having the financial and human resources to pull together a support system that enables her to run her successful enterprise from home, while maintaining enough sanity and energy to devote to the children. Her way may not be your way, but in this post, she is merely providing a snapshot of one parent’s way, and she will likely change and adapt it as Luca and Roma grow and their needs change. Because she is so transparent willing to share, it’s apparent to me that Ali’s children are deeply loved and are thriving. If her way doesn’t resonate with you, then don’t follow her! All of the haters here and on a particular influencer-hating website might consider devoting less time to snarking in anonymity and finding more constructive things to do with their family or community.
  • Ali! I appreciate you being transparent about your situation. I was curious how it was going, and as I think about having a second, love hearing how other people do it. There’s a lot of anger (jealousy?) in the comments and I think the missing piece here might be acknowledging your privilege. Parenting is really hard, no matter who you are or how you do it. Ali has worked to create a career and schedule that works well for her and her family and she also is fortunate/privileged to have a college education, supportive family and successful career. She has worked hard to get where she is and I don’t want to downplay that either. Sure, there are parents in the suburbs who don’t have nannies and feel the physical/emotional toll of being a full time caregiver. There are city parents with nannies where both people work 60+ hour weeks and only see their kids on weekends. There are people who have some sort of blend of these (like Ali). There are folks in low income situations who have to put their kids in subpar childcare situations because it’s the only option they have. Ultimately Ali, myself, and I suspect the majority of people who read this blog have an incredible amount of privilege. Instead of attacking her for hers, maybe we could acknowledge it and move on.
  • Every working mom I know kept their childcare for their first while on maternity leave! You do you and ignore the haters! You are doing an awesome job mama!!
  • I never comment but some comments were so harsh that I feel the need to balance it out. Ali, I love reading your posts and appreciate you even bothering to post while on mat leave. Everyone’s situation is different and I personally don’t care about “relatable” whatever that means (it’s highly subjective, you are relatable to me). My kids will be 2.5 years apart and I’m due quite soon so I love reading about how you are managing things, even though I live very very far from any family (think 24+hr plane trip) and my husband gets several months of leave from work to stay home with me. We all have different situations and it’s wonderful of you to share personal aspects of your life. I hope you aren’t upset by weirdo, negative internet commenters and realize that lots of people who don’t comment still love reading your posts. All the best from Australia.