Dad and YouTuber Jamie gives us a sneak peek into his day with newborn Poppy and toddler Rupert
Hello, I'm Jamie! My wife Megan and I are proud parents to Rupert, 2, and Poppy, our newborn, who’s just 2 weeks old. We share musical covers and memorable family moments on our YouTube channel Jamie and Megan.
Our love for capturing life’s moments in videos started as a personal hobby, but this changed on our wedding day. Our Thank You song for our guests went viral online, marking our unexpected debut into the world of content creation. Since then, we've embraced this journey.
Here, I’m thrilled to share an honest, down-to-earth day in my life with you all!
Morning: nappy changing and strange toddler requests
5:30am: I wake suddenly to the cries of our newborn. My wife Megan, a real-life superhero, begins to breastfeed our littlest family member for the fifth time. In the quiet hours, I close my eyes again until it’s time to wind Poppy and change her nappy.
7:30am: My toddler's voice chirps through the monitor, ‘I'm awake, come and get me!’ I rub my eyes, not quite ready to be jumped all over, so I linger a bit longer under the warm covers.
7:40am: My wife and I forget to say good morning to each other; right now, we're lucky if we even remember a quick hug and a kiss. The kids are all consuming and we feel like we're in some real life “Hunger Games”, fighting for survival. Have a second child, they said. Second children are always easier, they said. Yeah… right!
8am: Breakfast time. I take our toddler’s breakfast order: porridge without blueberries but with sliced banana. He also wants a sprinkle of Cheerios on top. No problem, mate, coming right up. There’s one more request: his “breakfast sweetie.” He means a multivitamin gummy, but it doesn’t have the same appeal.
I also make my wife a cup of tea and some toast, while she rocks the baby to sleep for her first morning nap. We’re trying to implement a basic routine early on, in the hope our daughter will sleep better than our son did! At the moment, it involves feeding every 2-3 hours, with a simple bath and bedtime routine.
Jamie with Rupert and Poppy
9am: I'm supposed to start work upstairs in my home office, but our son isn't at nursery today, so I try to multi-task work and parenting to the best of my ability. A quick email gets sent, then I play pretend shops, build some Lego (which I enjoy way more than my son), then clean up an accident he just left me on the kitchen floor! Let me tell you, juggling potty training and a newborn is no joke!
10am: With a freshly brewed coffee in hand, I settle into my home office. Meanwhile, my wife juggles the delightful challenge of managing a baby and a toddler.
Afternoon: telly time and an easy dinner
12:30pm: Finally, we both get a bit of peace and quiet. The kids are napping, so we make some lunch and I get round to finally telling my wife how amazing and beautiful she is. She looks at me, still in her sick-stained pyjamas, hair and teeth unbrushed and just laughs!
2:30pm: My son wakes up and demands milk, a snack and ‘something on telly’. The milk must be cold, not warm, and the snack must be cake or cheese!
3pm: My wife turns off the TV, guilty that our toddler is watching far too much since the baby arrived and the weather outside turned cold. We both look at each other, the same thought crossing our minds – how do we entertain a toddler in the house for the next four and a half hours?
5pm: Panic hits me as I realise I forgot to sort something for dinner. As my wife bears the brunt of the sleepless nights, it's my job during the day to keep the family well nourished. I head to the freezer, hoping and praying there is something I can bang in the oven. Fish cakes – that'll do.
Evening: a bathtime incident and bedtime stories
5:30pm: Dinner time. My son takes one look at the meal I've just slaved over and decides to leave the table and ask for yogurt for his dinner. This time, I don't say fine, I battle with him until he gives in and realises that fish cakes actually taste delicious.
6pm: Quiet time. We take the kids into our room for stories and then bathtime. We’ve only just started washing Poppy, so we gently remind Rupert not to splash around too much while he shares a bath with his sister. He does however stand up and wee right next to her instead…
7:30pm: One down, one to go. Our son is tucked up in bed after making me read a small library to him. I walk back to our bedroom to find my wife asleep and our daughter in a milk coma.
Overnight: broken sleep and more nappy changing
9pm: As night falls, we prepare for the peaceful yet busy hours ahead, ready to embrace the joys and challenges of parenthood once more.
11pm: Poppy wakes up for a feed. As she’s chomping away, I hear a little eruption in her nappy and get ready for my first job of the night.
12:45am: Oh wow, that wasn’t even a full two hours. My wife peels open her eyes and dries off the postpartum sweat from her pyjamas, reaches for our daughter from her bassinet and starts the entire feeding process again.
4.30am: Oh no! I slept through a feed. My wife didn’t wake me and is now staring at me with a look of both disdain and jealousy at the three and a half hours of sleep I just had. I mutter, ‘Do you need anything?’ before we both doze off for another 40 winks.
6am: Poppy is wide awake, ready to start the day. I take her on my chest for some morning cuddles, while my wife gets a well-deserved extra hour, before the chaos starts all over again.
My final thoughts
It’s true what they say about the days being long but the years feeling short. Having young children is a wild rollercoaster of emotions! You never quite know what’s around the corner. One minute you are dealing with a newborn’s “poonami” or the mother of all toddler tantrums, the next you are howling with laughter at something your child said! Even though I feel like I’m aging at twice the normal rate, I wouldn’t change anything for the world.
