My evening and bedtime routines

Due to popular demand, I’m sharing my evening routines with you guys! I shared some details on Instagram stories and had SO much feedback and requests for it more broken down into a blog post. I will start by saying that every single family is vastly different. There is a time and season for everything and our routine has been 10 years in the making. There were times when my husband worked late at night or studied into the wee hours of the morning. Times when I coached gymnastics til 8 or 9pm and my husband did the bedtime routine alone, times when my babies slept in our room when they were tiny and woke up several times at night. This is simply an example of what our typical night looks like right now and how I make every attempt for it to run smoothly.

Family evening and bedtime routine

6:30pm – Dinner clean up.  As a family, we clean up dinner and the boys get into their pajamas while my husband and I finish cleaning the kitchen and straightening up upstairs. Everyone chips in. Many hands make for light work and we have MANY hands.

We try to have the kids help pack their lunches at this time while we’re still in the kitchen cleaning up. I usually sneak off and put the baby (he’s 8 months old) to bed because he normally can’t make it much longer! There is officially nothing better than waking up to a clean kitchen to give you a fresh start for a new day, every day!

7-7:30pm – We have family scripture study and say our family prayers. This involves our children (and us!) taking turns reading from the scriptures. We also switch off taking turns saying our family prayer. The boys say their own personal prayers in their rooms.

7:30pm – Dad helps kids brush and floss – He’s their dentist after all. 😉

7:30-8pm – Get kids in bed and to stay in bed! You know how they always want an extra drink of water or to go potty just ONE more time. We’re not done with our kids’ routine until they are asleep as far as I’m concerned.

MY evening and bedtime routine

8:00 – 10:00 (sometimes 10:30pm) – This is one of the best times of day when I finally get a chance to catch up with my husband. We do tasks like put the packed lunch boxes into the fridge, lay out school clothes for the boys, throw a load of laundry in the washer / dryer or tidy up. This only lasts 15-20 minutes or so.

Next, we normally exercise in our home gym (which is right by the kids’ room so we can make sure they’re asleep and content) or we spend some time in the hot tub outside. We try to exercise like 3x per week. If my husband wants to work out and I don’t I’ll go catch up on emails, fold some laundry or relax and surf pinterest or instagram.

Hair Routine

I take a bath every single night. This is how I unwind. Like I said on Instagram, I only wash my hair once (sometimes twice – maybe.) a week. I have used Kayti from The BeYOUty Bureau’s tips for making my hair last a week or so. You can check out her post here. It’s basically keeping your hair dry and using dry shampoo at night on days 3+. I usually do it at night every other day until hair washing day.

I normally wash my hair on Thursday night so I can wear it down on Friday, Saturday (night) and Sunday for church. Monday and Tuesday are normally braids, 1/2 up styles or updos and Wednesday and Thursday I wear a high ponytail or messy bun. I didn’t realize how strictly I do this until someone asked the other day! It’s like clockwork! I mean, I totally switch it up but this is pretty typical.

Face Skin Care Routine

I wash my face (twice! This has helped my skin so much. No idea why but I’m just in a habit.) I use Rodan & Fields Redefine. I love Olay products or Neutrogena Oil free acne wash for a less expensive option.  I use EBL lash wash to wash my lash extensions. You can get it from your EBL lash artist (We use @saltylash and @thelashlabAZ for our lash extensions). I finish bathing and after the bath, I use the Rodan & Fields Redefine facial toner and face moisturizer, Rodan & Fields lash boost.

Teeth Routine

My husband is a dentist so I can’t get away with being lazy in my oral care. He’s on my case! LOL. I brush my teeth with my Sonicare toothbrush, floss and rinse with ACT mouthwash. Guys I was the WORST flosser (and not the dancing floss) until I got set in my routine. I skipped it more often than I did it. This has helped SO much.

Bedtime Routine

Aside from my bath, this time is my favorite. I start by turning off the lights in our bedroom and turning the lamp on. For my bathroom, I often turn the main light off and turn on the toilet closet and master closet lights so I can still see well but the low-light helps to wind me down. I also use the Calm app and put on relaxing sounds or music and start my diffuser with any essential oils that I feel like I need at the time. I love Doterra but anything will work!

Then, I sit with my husband and we read our Scriptures (you can learn more about our faith here) and write in my gratitude journal. I talked about it in depth on Instagram stories and you guys bought like a million of them. I swear by reading spiritually uplifting materials and taking steps toward your personal growth for your mind and spirit. If you choose to try ONE of my routines, no matter your faith, find something before bed that is nurturing to your spirit (I choose General Conference talks and reading my scriptures) and writing in my Gratitude journal. This has been a life changing habit. My friend Laura from @remarkable_now on Instagram is the queen of personal growth and she sells the Gratitude Journals. I think they are $15 but I’d pay over $100 for this little book. You can get your own Remarkable Now Gratitude Journal here.

Last, I check on my babies one last time, climb into bed and say my prayers and show my gratitude to Him for all things.

I know this is a little out of left field for a DIY blog but if there is ANY project that is worth working on, worth getting a return on your investment, that project is YOU. You, friend. Thank you for being a part of our little online world and remember that you are loved. You are here. You are doing you the best you can and THAT is enough.

xo, Mallory

If you liked this post, check out my Everyday Makeup Routine.