So, I wanted to start a blog. And this is it. Welcome to my breakdown of the daily routine of a working dad with a nine-month-old.
I’ve wanted to do this for ages, but I usually end up finding something else to do, mostly getting easily distracted by shiny new shows on Netflix. But here we are. I actually wrote something. Who’d have thought it?
Let’s do a quick introduction. My name is Dan. I’m from the North East of England, and in the real world, I’m a Digital Marketing Executive. But at home? At home, I’m just known as “Dad.” Which is strange because my daughter can’t even talk yet.
I have a nine month old daughter who has totally turned my world upside down.
I used to be a guy who liked cycling, climbing hills, walking my dog and having a few pints on the way back in the pub. I loved to go to the cinema watch a good film. Now? Well, I still love doing all those things, but they’ve been completely sidelined while we work our way though this brilliant, chaotic new chapter.
And that is exactly what this blog is going to be about: being a Dad and a husband and the absolute puzzle of trying to get anything done in between.
How My Day Goes
To give you an idea of the timeline I’m working with, I am currently frantically typing this at 9:00 PM. Why so late? Let’s look at my schedule:
The Dad Daily Routine
- 06:30: Awake, shower, get ready, feed the dog, empty the dishwasher.
- 07:00: Drive to work.
- 07:30 – 16:00: The day job
- 16:20: Get home, grab a drink, say hello
- 16:45 – 17:30ish: Walk the dog with my wife and the baby
- 17:30 – 18:00: Make tea
- 18:00 – 18:30: Eat tea (Though recently, “eating” has become a full-scale food fight. She throws at least half of everything I give her on the floor. The dog loves it.)
- 18:30 – 19:00: Clean the kitchen tops, tidy the chaos, wrestle the laundry off the washing line
- 19:00 – 19:30: Head upstairs for some playtime
- 19:30 – 20:15: The Bedtime Routine (Bath, hairdryer, brushing teeth, a feed, and stuffing her into a vest and sleeping bag while singing songs to attempt to keep her happy. Then we read a couple of books, blast through Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Incy Wincy Spider, and Hickory Dickory Dock and hopefully around the time the mouse ran back down the clock she’s asleep.)
- 20:15-20:30: Grab the baby monitor, chuck PJs on, make a couple of drinks while trying to be dead silent, and finally land on the sofa.
This gives me from around 8:30 PM until 10:00 PM to exist as a human being before go to bed, wake up at 6:00 AM, and do it all over again.
We’re Too Skint to Lie
If you’re reading this and in the same boat as me, you might have seen other Dad blogs that make you feel worse by reading them, they do crazy things like: “How to find time to ride 30km on your gravel bike in the evening, with a baby!”
Mate. I can barely find the time make it out the front door.
If I want to get an hour to myself on the weekend, I have to start carving it out and prepping my wife at least a week in advance.
Plus, because my wife has been on maternity leave for nine months, with another month and a half to go we are officially skint right now! So I can promise you, this won’t be the kind of blog where I try to sell you life insurance, meal prep boxes, or luxury bike gear. This is just real life stuff and I hope to keep it that way. Well, as much of it as I can give you in the limited time I have.
*Side Note: She actually woke up right at this point in the draft. I’ve just spent 10 minutes upstairs trying to get her back down. Teething absolutely sucks. Where was I? Oh, yeah.*
Sorry, Not Sorry
And yes, before anyone calls me out, I am absolutely using AI to help me sort out the absolute mess of thoughts I wrote down and give it some structure. Sorry, not sorry! A bloke’s got to use the tools available when his brain is fried.
So, thank you so much for reading this, and thank you for the support. I hope you enjoy reading about the daily chaos. Things might sound a bit mad, but honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.
In a bit,
Dan