"I need to be in three places at once." A mum of four daughters shares her daily routine.

I can’t remember the last time I needed an alarm to wake up. It was definitely in my previous life, the one BC (before children).

These days my day begins with a thud. Literally. My three-year-old daughter bursts into my bedroom with more force than a hurricane and wakes me with a ritual body slam. It’s her speciality.

Fortunately, she’s learned to “sleep in”. And by this, I mean she now wakes at 6am, which is far more respectable than her first two years when she woke at 4.45am.

On the days when I wake up before the body slam (much to the annoyance of Miss Hurricane) I stealthily leave the house for a quick walk before my husband goes to work. Those 40 minutes of calm are a wonderful precursor to the chaos that ensues.

When you have four kids to wrangle in the morning, time is of the essence.

The morning routine: Operation ‘Get Going’.

Mornings in our household are fast and furious. Getting little people ready for school requires military precision.

After each of my girls has jumped into bed for a morning cuddle, I have a quick shower. Usually this involves drawing pictures in the steam on the shower screen to entertain my toddler. It’s been a while since I showered without an audience.

There’s no time for fancy skincare regimes or carefully applied makeup. I apply a hydrating skin lotion to my body, which Little Miss Hurricane helps rub in.

She likes the “more is more” approach. Fortunately, QV Skin Lotion is light, absorbs quickly and offers 24-hour hydration. My skin is naturally quite sensitive and dry, so this moisturiser is perfect for me and I can get dressed straight away.

Everything happens pretty quickly, and our routine is a well-oiled machine. Hubby makes the school lunches while I oversee the breakfast bedlam. Then he leaves for work, and the girls get dressed for school and I help my toddler do a Frozen puzzle, knowing we will do it again another 74 times that day.

My older girls (10, nine and seven) are self-sufficient and get themselves ready for school. They pack their own school bags and do their hair with minimal fuss. This frees me up to endure the daily battle that is getting Miss Three dressed for the day. Practical clothes are furiously rejected in favour of sparkles, tulle and wings. Pick your battles!

At 8.45 sharp we walk to school, which is conveniently close. After getting them to their various classrooms, I return home with Miss Three and immediately put Play School on so I can inhale a strong coffee. This helps fuel me for the puzzles, tea parties and craft that will fill my day, while juggling my writing work.

Afternoon routine: Multi-tasking while... multi-tasking.

My favourite part of the day is collecting the girls from school. I often wish we had longer to walk home as I absolutely love this daily ritual. Once home, we continue chatting about our respective days over afternoon tea.

It’s often brief, though, as every day at least one child needs to be taken to a ballet, tennis or gymnastics class. Sometimes I literally need to be in three places at once.

And that’s where my village comes in. I am very good at accepting help and returning the favour. I often have an extra child in the morning or after school. What’s one more?

The hours between four and six pass by in frantic fashion. In between drop offs and pick-ups I am a multi-tasking machine, often helping one child with homework, while simultaneously doing a puzzle (the Frozen one AGAIN) and madly prepping for dinner. It would be SO helpful if kids didn’t need to be fed every single night. Dinner fatigue, anyone?

Somehow I manage to serve dinner at 6.30pm every night, soon after my husband comes home. We eat together as a family and this ritual is really important to us. Depending on Miss Three’s mood, dinner can range from being calm and conversational to frantic and harried.

Once dinner is done, we begin the bath, books and bed routine. The older girls have showers and the younger two share a bath.

During this time my husband and I divide and conquer. He usually cleans up the dinner mess while I oversee bath time.

Two of my girls have eczema and so we don’t use soap. We use the entire QV range as it is soap free and works for the whole family, including the QV Gentle Wash because it's great for hydration, and suitable for use with skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis. After bathtime, we have QV Skin Lotion on hand to stay well moisturised.

Night routine: The wind-down.

My husband and I take turns reading to our three-year-old. The older girls read on their own for a bit. Often, we end the day with a meditation (Smiling Mind is one of our faves) which helps to quieten their minds and prepare them for a restful night’s sleep. I say goodnight to each of my girls, knowing I’ll see at least one of them during the night, sometimes more.

It’s close to 9pm when the house is quiet, and I can finally have some “me time”. I am a creature of habit and have the same “wind-down” routine every night. I enjoy a shower without an audience, then I cleanse and moisturise, hop into my pyjamas and watch an episode of the latest “Nordic Noir” my husband and I are bingeing on at the time.

I hop into bed and unfailingly read for half an hour every single night (as books are my meditation).

And then at around 11pm I fall into a deep, restorative, uninterrupted sleep. IN MY DREAMS.

Without fail, the body slammer is ready to do it all over again at 6am the next morning (unless I manage to sneak that walk in... wish me luck).

*Data sourced from IRI MarketEdge Scan MAT 01/12/2019 based on data definitions provided by Ego Pharmaceuticals

What do your morning, afternoon and night routines look like? Share with us below.

Michaela Fox is a freelance writer, mum of four and Founder of Girls Thriving – an online community for mums of daughters.