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The day starts at 6am, no one really gets a lie-in because the kids are just so used to waking up early in the week. But we’ll have a lazy start (as lazy as you can have at six in the morning, anyway) and potter about until one of us will get ready to go to the 8am CrossFit class. We’ve got two cars, so while one of us is at the 8am class, the other one gets the kids ready and drives over to the gym where we essentially swap cars and kids, so the other person can take the 9am class. It just means we both get a workout and a bit of downtime for ourselves before the madness of the day starts.

The kids are really acclimatised to gyms and used to seeing me and my husband working out, because we’ve taken them there since they were born. I got back into training quite early postpartum both times as I felt for me it was the right thing. They’ll watch us doing wall balls or lifting weights and sometimes my daughter will try to copy us. I think it’s important for them to understand Mum and Dad also have hobbies. Sometimes my daughter will see me running around in the warm-up and she just thinks we’re playing and hanging out with our friends.

We like that they are used to exercise and the idea that it’s fine to run around outside and lift heavy things – in a controlled environment of course! We’ve lived all over the UK and always joined a local gym. CrossFit is a good mix of everything, no two workouts are the same and they’re always so welcoming. Our gym, CrossFit Cramlington, is so family-friendly, there are lots of working parents and it’s nice to be surrounded by people who can empathise with you if you’ve had a rubbish night’s sleep or something.

As soon as we’re all home I’ll start manically making packed lunches and filling the boot with all the stuff the kids need for a day out, like clothes for every weather eventuality. Then we’ll head off to a National Trust site. We’ve got a family membership and it’s such good value, we use it all the time.

We love Gibside, near Rowlands Gill – it’s really big and there are lots of different routes you can take, a great playground and we love that there are all the facilities you need for the children, especially things like plenty of clean toilets dotted around. They have tons of activities for the kids and neither of them are ever bored there. They can scoot or bike around without worrying about cars and you can spend a decent four or five hours walking around.

We like taking a picnic lunch so we don’t have to rely on a cafe – we’ll have tuna wraps, some cucumber and carrots, crisps, and a few drinks. It’s a full day out and runs off their energy – whatever the weather, we just bundle them up and head outside, because the fresh air and a change of scenery is good for them.

Saturday for us is about making sure we all spend time together after we’ve had a busy week working full-time. I’m a programme manager for the Health Innovation Network and my husband is a radiologist. He works shifts, so sometimes he’ll work on a Saturday and I’ll bring the kids to a National Trust place by myself. So when we’re all together it’s definitely about having a family day.

On the drive home, we’ll put on K-pop very loudly to keep my son awake. He’s just dropped his nap and it’s crazy how even if he shuts his eyes for five minutes, it can completely ruin his sleep. So we’ll all sing along to make sure he doesn’t drop off, it’s a bit cheesy but it works.

We’ll do a family dinner on Saturdays, usually pizza and picky bits for a treat. The kids will have an early bath and then my daughter has this thing where she just loves chilling out in front of the TV in her PJs with some little nibbles. The snacks are fundamental. I’ll usually make them some popcorn and will put some kind of cartoon on Netflix that’s not too engaging to let them wind down.

The kids will go up to bed and we’ll read a book before they go into their rooms to listen to their Yoto Players and fall asleep. It feels really freeing being at that stage now where we can give them a cuddle then leave, instead of staying with them until they’re asleep. These little changes make a massive difference and mean me and my husband get a bit of time on our own.

We’re renovating at the moment, so we’re often looking at the next bits and pieces we need to do. But we also try to actually have a chat and catch up – it’s so hard to talk sometimes with life being so manic, you can feel like passing ships in the week. It’s nice to just sit down together sometimes and breathe.

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