my typical day writer

My typical day – Bernadette

my typical day writer

This post is part of the “typical day” series from other mums for 2019!

We of course know that there really is no such thing as a typical day in family life, but these posts gives us a sneak peak into the daily life of another family. We can see what planning and organising strategies are working for them and experiment to see what might help out at our family.

Today’s post is from Bernadette another wonderful long time reader of the blog! I love how consciously Bernadette moves through her day and mindful she is of her own energy levels and how that affects family life! It is also awesome to see how her and her husband work together.


I have been an avid reader of your blog for about eight years now and a lot of the routines and structure we have in our day is down to you and your blog. Thank you!

Here is my day.

6:30am

I wake up (hopefully before my five year old) and do about ten minutes of stretches, I repeat an affirmation to myself have a glass of water and then put the kettle on for a herbal tea. Even if I only get ten minutes to complete all this I find having time to myself first up makes a huge difference to how I start the day.

7:00am

I get my five year old and nine year old breakfast which is usually cereal then head to the shower and my husband eats breakfast with them before heading to the train about 7.20am.

7:30am

My eleven year old gets up and I make her a hot breakfast. In here is when I tidy up, put washing on, unpack the dishwasher etc. I make lunches the night before so I set these out for everyone to pack in their bags themselves. Thanks to Planning with Kids everyone has a ‘Getting ready for school’ sheet which has become habitual for them now and they are pretty good at getting ready themselves. 

8:30am 

We are all out the door walking to school. My nine year old heads off fifteen minutes earlier as he likes to be at school as early as possible.

9:00am

 If I haven’t taken our dog for a walk to school I will take him now and generally listen to a podcast in here.

10:00am

I like to be at my desk at 10.00am as I know this gives me four hours of work. I am a fiction writer and I find on a good day I can really buckle down and get a lot done. I do stop for lunch and coffees but generally I like to work straight through knowing I will finish at 2.00pm.

2:00pm

I will prep an after school snack and sometimes make a start on dinner. If I’m honest though I find it hard to stop working when I’m on a roll and will push this out to 2.30pm which leaves me without enough time to do all the ‘housework/meal things’ I want to get done. 

3:00pm

I will pick up from school and either head onto sport or stay at school for a further play on the playground.

5:00pm

I try and make this ‘cooking dinner time’ as I can get flustered getting dinner on the table. I have to admit I find this the hardest time of day, when everyone is getting hungry (even though I was sure iIoffered plenty at after school snack!), wanting help with homework, and wanting my attention in general. I find it hard to multi task cooking and giving attention but my husband gets in about 5.30pm and can help with the load.

6:00pm

Dinnertime. We were having this at 6.30pm but have moved it back to 6.00pm as I find this means my five year old has more time for bath and books and in bed by 7pm instead of 7.30pm and everyone getting cranky.

7:00pm

My five year old goes to bed and my eleven year old and nine year old can then have the attention they want with homework etc. We have TV night on Wednesday night and they can both stay up and watch something the five year old may not be interested in. 

7:30pm

My husband is a part time artist and on Mon, Tues, Wed he heads out to his shed-converted-into-studio to paint.  This is when I prep for the next day, cooking, school lunches etc. On Thursdays my husband takes over duties at 7.30pm and I can jump on the computer to catch up on anything I have missed.

8:20pm

Both older kids have to start the toilet and teeth routine before 8.30pm as I find otherwise they are both faffing around until 9pm.

8:30pm

All kids are in bed and I either do a bit of housework or jump on the computer.

10:00pm

I have found I really need at least 7.5 hours sleep so I try and get into bed at this time and do a bit of reading before lights out.

The only thing I would love to work in here is some more exercise. At the moment that is walking my dog but i have some exercise goals i want to achieve and some time somewhere will have to give. 

All of this routine is purely from devouring your blog posts and websites over the years. I honestly don’t know what our household would look like if I hadn’t stumbled across your blog. Really, thank you. My husband and i are able to achieve a lot in our days because of the tips and routines you have suggested.


You can find out more about Bernadette and her writing on her website bernadetteeden.com.au

If you would like to contribute to the series feel free to email your typical day to me at nicole@planningwithkids.com  – I would love to read it and be able to publish it on the blog.

You can read about my typical day here. You can read more posts in the series here.