Do you think that having a proper Sunday routine is overrated? How do you get stressless on a casual Sunday when there’s so much to do and you’re home alone with a kid? How do you get ready for the week without having to feel the mom guilt because your little one spent too much watching the telly?

You don’t get stressless and you don’t get ready for the next week finishing the end of one without mom guilt. Unless you have a proper (mom and kid only) self-care Sunday routine.

Wake up before the kid!

Mom guilt is the worst. Especially when there’s so much to finish that you have to hire the telly to babysit the kiddo. And you know that your little one can never learn through technology as much as he will learn while interacting with people, nature and situations.

I usually go screen-free with my kid almost the whole day. We squeeze the technology in for no longer than an hour. Just because I know it’d be a bad idea to let him inside any group of children at the playground with zero knowledge about the technology.

To feel guilt-free on a mom and kid alone busiest day ever, wake up first and enjoy some time alone. Whether you need some time to relax and freshen up or finish tasks, do something you schedule for the day while you’re still on your own.

– Related: 10 things productive moms do before 10 AM –

I know it’s easy to not even set up the alarm on Sundays, but if tasks are waiting, trust me, it’s tip no 1. After you cross out laundry/cleaning/job/yoga, the Sunday routine won’t serve you any mom guilt. Because you’ll have a lot more time for quality play and learning.

Have the meals ready.

Have at least the main meal ready. For us, that is lunch, which is around 1 PM. I usually cook it for about 2 hours so I try to have it prepared the night before in my slow-cooker. You know, with a toddler who’s constantly growing, I need to make sure that he gets a proper amount of healthy food.

You can also try out the meal planning technique. There’s this great company called HelloFresh where you can order a meal kit that contains fresh ingredients and recipes planned for your needs. Ingredients are sourced straight from the farm, recipes are easy to follow and they state all the nutritional information very clearly.

You can choose between the Veggie plan, Classic Plan and the Family Plan. Then you’ll state the recipes for the week and number of people and wait for them to calculate the exact amount you’ll need. You’ll get a package delivered to you. 

We (well, I) plan two-three weeks ahead. This spears me a lot of trouble since running around the house multi-tasking is a nightmare. Take it from someone who used to rock at multi-tasking but put on some different shoes after she became a mom!

While you might bring a lot of smiles for the observers catching the carrots and everything else that slips away from your tired hands, it wouldn’t be that funny for you. You’ll also have to constantly entertain the bored one because the show is over and he became tired of playing alone.

Great if you can handle it all, but I strongly recommend that you leave cooking together for something easier to make. Especially if you are clumsy like I am.

Life percentage: 70/30

Here’s what works for me: 70% of the quality time together + 30% of him playing on his own. Quality time is your time to shine. Your chance to educate together and bond with each other.

Moms are soul creators. One wrong move is all that takes years of working on creating a good soul to slip away. That’s why it is so important to take your mom role seriously. 

Every other human in your child’s life have equally important roles to play, but yours is unique and you must not fail BIG. Because you kept the little one safe for so long. You carried around and gave food. You gave comfort.

Sadly, there are so many children I personally know (some grown-ups too) that experienced mom failure. When the one who’s supposed to care the most fail in doing so, it leaves a hole. Not everybody sees it, but it messes up with self-confidence.

I strongly believe that an hour of your time daily, if you cannot give more, is more than ok. However, if that’s the only time you have, don’t waste it watching telly or acting bored. Play like the kid, admire your children, give them a reason to be confident. 

That’s how you bond with them so they can trust you later when bigger problems appear. 

Self-care mom and kid Sunday routine ideas

So, when life gives you a partially cleaned toilet, leave it that way to play. And get for the round two back later.

Seriously the only way I survive the busy days is by holding onto the only formula that works. I get down on the floor and play, read, or whatever, for two hours. Then I work for an hour and so on.

Here are some things you can squeeze in during the quality hours. And also some ideas for work hours together. Hope you enjoy and find inspiration!

Quality hour ideas:

Playdate with a friend and her little one/s.

Visit a family or go to the playground.

Bike, scooter or skateboard teach lessons.

Read favourite books or make some funny experiments.

Hidden objects (ex. letters) around the house game or hide and seek.

Dance, sing or play instruments.

Here’s our favourite list of toddler toys! 

Work together ideas:

Clean windows together (ooh, bubbles everywhere!).

Grocery shopping.

Put the dishes away together and sing along.

Bake cookies or healthy snacks.

Jump on the bed in-between the sheets change.

Yoga or exercise.

What about you?

Share your stress-free, self-care mom & kid Sunday plan with us! Do you have your way to work with kids and how do YOU stay calm when there’s so much to do?! We appreciate your thoughts and ideas and also, find them helpful! 🙂