How do you schedule your day?

I've figured out my problem/our problem. We have NO schedule. It just is. We eat breakfast whenever. They get dressed whenever-and that's not even everyday. We are in a horrible pattern of PBS. Addicts. BIG addicts. I guess it's better them some other shows, but still. I'm going to heck for admitting this, but they watch their PBS, I am on the computer, taking breaks here and there to do a quick load of dishes, or sweep the floor.

They'll play in the playroom, we go on errands. They do playgroup once/week but that ends in four weeks. Library will start up in October. Annabella is sometimes on two naps, depending on when she wakes. We sometimes go outside, but that can be a hassle with the three of them. I don't mind going places with them, because that means they won't be watching TV. And sometimes going places means spending $ we don't have-so I opt not to.

And I find when they are content in the playroom, etc, I don't interrupt and go and clean whatever it is, and then feel guilty for not interacting with them.

Does any of this make sense? Do you have some sort of schedule, for those who stay home? Or did at one point? They will be three in October, and Annabella is 15 months old.

And another reason I am asking is because I will be watching my good friend's baby in March(he/she will be 3 months old), for three days a week. I want some sense of "schedule" around here-and get me prepared!

 

Totally makes sense because you pretty much described our days, lol.

Pretty much when the kids wake up (before or after us, depends), they have breakfast and watch Dora while I have coffee at the computer... usually I can sneak in two shows but sometimes not. That's the only consistent thing here really. After that sometimes we go out (what we can do then is limited as it's usually 9am tops), mostly we stay in, we went in the yard for a while but now it's getting cold and wet... we mostly try to survive until 10.30am on speech therapy days twice a week, or 11am otherwise. So sometimes they play happily inside, sometimes they watch more tv, sometimes it's a whining fest...

I give them lunch between 11am and 12pm depending on their mood or therapy, and whether they had a late breakfast or a snack... heck sometimes if they're asking for food at 10.30am they just get a big healthi-ish snack instead of lunch. Then nap is at 12-12.30pm again depending on their mood... sometimes if they're really whiny they go to bed at 11.30am.

Then I just let them sleep until whenever so they're up between 1.30 and 3.30pm... they get a snack while watching tv again, then it's pretty much the same as mornings... today the tv was on but they didn't watch much and just played instead. Or we go outside. Haven't been doing afternoon errands much this Summer because of the heat but we might start that again too.

I still can't really find much in terms of free things to do so that's about it really. The events I've been to were story/sing times with probably over 30 kids and I felt like an idiot being alone in there when so many moms seemed to know each other (and my kids didn't care at all). So I have no desire to pack up the kids to attend those again.

Oh and if I interfere at all or start taking play'doh out etc, it ends up in tears every single time. So I rarely do it, they play much better on my own. Obviously I interact with them, draw for them on the doodle pad when they want to, cuddle etc, but that's about it.

 

At that age, we had a pretty good schedule. My kids dropped naps at 2, so waking and bedtimes were highly consistent.

I would wake mine up by 9, if they weren't up already.

Get breakfast immeadiately.

Get dressed.

Storytime if it was Thursdays, groceries if it was Friday. Play outside time for summer. Play inside by themselves with Thomas in winter.

Free play after that.

Watch a Baby Einsteins or some show while I fixed lunch.

A little bit of free play after lunch.

Around age 3 we started "Mommy School". They would sit at their little table. We'd sing the alphabet song. I'd show them a letter using the fridge phonics magnets from Leap Frog and we'd sing the letter sound song. We had lined dry erase boards and I would make letters for them to trace. They'd trace the letters on their boards and then we'd do an activity with the letter. Like "P", play the piano. We'd then snuggle up and read.

More outside time. Summer, go to the pool. Spring and Fall, walk to a park. Winter play on our huge porch (when the sun faced our porch, it was like having a heater). We'd count trains and semis. They ride tricyles in the driveway or play in their playhouse on the porch.

Quiet time- either in bed, or watching something on tv.

Snack time.

Free play.

A Baby Einstein while I fixed dinner or puzzles or drawing or playdoh on paper taped to the kitchen floor.

Dinner.

Play with daddy while I cleaned up. Usually constructing a new elaborate train track.

Reading or wrestling with daddy.

Baths.

Bed at 7:30.

This was a typical day at home. We had a pass to the zoo, so we went often. Sometimes we'd go to a friends house. Our old house was only about 1000 sq ft, so the key to staying sane was taking advantage of all the outside play areas (porch, multiple parks in walking distance, and back yard) and having a schedule. Hope this helps you.

Marissa

 

Thank you Fran and Marissa! That does help! The thing with "activities" is that they are soooo short! 10 minutes and we are done. And Annabella eats EVERYTHING, so I need to keep her happy while they play playdoh, or paint, and it's a pain! LOL!

My problem I find is that they are now waking at 6:30am. It was 7:30. At least then we all had 30 minutes to wake up and watch a show or whatever. 6:30 is too early for me. :laughing: And they don't go down for a nap until 1pm, sometimes later if I am trying to get Annabella(if she took a nap already) to go down with them. So sometimes it's 6:30am-2pm they are up! But-I realize now-at least they are still taking naps, right?

Gosh-no naps? I think I'd send them to school the next day! LOL!

Oh-and I think my biggest issue, personally, is that I was a preschool teacher. And I think that's what bothers me-like my kids should be doing all of these wonderful activities on a daily basis. From doing themed lessons, to nature walks, to whatever. They should be doing it. And I don't do it. That's my deep issue. Don't get me wrong-they know their letters/sounds(working on lowercase), can count to 20, know their shapes/colors, etc.

Thanks Marissa-I'm gonna maybe try to type something up so I have some sort of schedule to go by. I think definitely to start by getting them dressed first thing in the morning. That's a start. Because it's such a pain to get four of us all ready quickly if we have an impromptu playdate or lunch date with daddy.

 

I found that my limit was one mommy-intensive activity a day. If we did mommy-school that day, that was it. If we did by request sidewalk chalk drawings, that was it. Water-colors, that was it. In my imagination, I was able to do all these wonderful activities with utmost patience multiple times a day. In reality, if I could make it through one without getting a little frustrated, that was an excellent day. Once I accepted that that was me and that was okay, life was good.

For messy things, I would strap them in their boosters at the table. They would work at the table. Maybe you could do that for your older ones to do playdoh or something while you do something directed with your little one in her high chair with finger paints or something. I also had a roll of 4 ft. tall white paper that I would tape onto the kitchen floor and turn them loose with washable markers or paints. It was good because I could leave the paper down for about 2 weeks and they could do 10 mins at a time. Then come back the next day for 10 more mins without me having to set up everything again.

We lived in a small town with an old downtown by some train tracks. If you happen to live in such an area, it was the most fun for the kids. They LOVED Thomas and especially the movie about Lady. We found a park that we could walk to and sit in the play equipment and watch them shunt freight cars back and forth. They named all the engines that worked out of that yard. The tracks had been redone throughout that area of town, so when we went on walks, there would be random stretches with 10 ft of non-attached track by a sidewalk. They would pretend it was the Magic Railroad from Thomas and have a little adventure on this 10 foot of random track.

Can you tell, I really and truly miss some of the things about this age? It was such an age of discovery and figuring things out.

Marissa

 

Hi!
We have never stayed home. Once these guys turned five months, I got hip to the scene and started leaving every single morning at 9 am for my own sanity and THANKGOSH I did cuz it saves me!

Wake up at 6:30 am
Watch tv
hang out
eat
baths etc
9:00 am OUT THE DOOR
Monday: Music Class 9:30-11:30 lunch at 12 nap 12:30-3 right when they wake up we are out the door again until 6pm and then bed at 7:30 pm!
Tuesday: Preschool 9:30-3:30 we stay out until dinner time and then come home and go to bed.
Wednesday: to my dad's house all day! they come home at bedtime.
Thursday: Preschool 9:30-3:30 we stay out until dinner or bedtime and then come home and go to bed.
Friday: Early Childhood Class 9:15-11:30 am come home and have lunch or pick it up when out and nap at 12o or 12:30 wake up at 3pm and leave again until dinner/bedtime.

Saturday: nothing planned but DH works 7 days a week all day/ nite so I have to keep busy!! So we are still out the door at 9 am on this day too. Come home for naps and then out the door again when they wake up.

Sunday: Same thing!

You get the idea. We usually are not at home. I don't like sitting here and neither do they. We all get stir crazy! We keep SUPER DUPER BUSY and always have. It's been this way forever. I cannot imagine staying in. NO WAY! We do playdates, meetups, YMCA, MOPS, parks, mall play areas, you name it. Nothing is off limits!

 

We don't really have a schedule either. They usually wake up around 7-7:30. They get a new diaper, milk and watch a show. I usually make them something to eat around 9ish, unless they are acting hungry before then. I've been trying to get out in the mornings. We'll go to a friend's house or the playground. I'm lucky that a lot of my friends are either SAHMs, work part-time or are on maternity leave right now. Seems like someone is always around to play with. I'll be sad when that ends. If we are at home in the afternoons, I try to get outside, depending on the weather. They eat lunch around 12 and nap around 1. I'm not strict with it, though. Some days they'll eat later and nap later. I will admit my kids watch too much tv. Sometimes, it's the only thing that will make them stop whining. I also work part-time from home, so I need to keep them occupied at times, so I can work. A lot of times, the tv will be on, but they are in the other room playing. If I turn it off, they come in and starting whining, so I just leave it on. I'm not looking forward to being stuck inside this winter. Hopefully, I won't lose my mind.

 

We have a pretty regular schedule but we can always mix it up a bit at this age.
They get up at 7am and go to the playroom for breakfast and play very well by themselves for at least 2-3 hours. I then go in and do diaper changes and dress them and then we either play a game together, do crafts, or go outside or out of the house until lunch and then nap. After nap I let them loose on the house or we go outside and play.
I think if no schedule is working for you then stick with it! But if you want a schedule then I would start slow and just start with one thing scheduled a day like maybe for the first week breakfast and getting dressed.
Good luck!

 

It probably depends a lot on your kids too. Mine just love going out when they feel like it, and I really don't want to force them to if they're playing happily inside... same with activities, if I interrupt their free play for one, that will keep them busy 10 minutes but then they'll be whiny etc... forget it!!!! There's plenty of time for 'formal' activities and learning letters etc (they've still picked up a few so far). Plus trying to entertain them all the time is IMO not good as they don't learn how to keep themselves busy... their therapist is amazed at how good their imagination and pretend play skills are for their age.

I really wonder if it's a generation or country thing though... when I grew up my parents rarely played with me but we always found things to keep busy... it seems that now (or here, I don't know, I didn't grow up in the US), moms feel that they have to entertain their kids every single minute. Don't feel bad if you don't, they ARE developing important skills too when they play on their own or heck, watch tv (it's Nick Jr here with some PBS shows sometimes).

 

i'm a schedule lover, so yeah, we have a pretty strict schedule (unless we're not at home).

i don't "entertain" my kids all day long, but a few days a week we do arts/crafts/learning time in teh morning. i find that an hour of this (it's the perfect patch time activity)... and they play great by themselves till lunch

if i don't do an activity with them in teh morning, we'll do puzzles/games in teh afternoon (more great patchtime activities lol)

i do play with them throughout the day... we pretend cook, they play with my hair, i read to them, but i'd say most of the time they are playing independently. i don't spend as much time online anymore, because i'd rather watch them play i love their imaginations, i love their drawings... one day they'll be grown, and i'll miss these days!

(p.s. we do out of the house activities in the mornings... dance class, story time, etc) cuz my girls just more alert in the morning)


ETA: as far as tv goes, they watch an hour of pbs in teh morning, a 20 minute show before lunch and a 20 minute show before dinner (and sometimes Giada at 3:30 :laughing: ) of course, when daddy's in charge, there's a LOT MORE tv time lol <_<

 

I have twin three year old boys and a one year old "Annabel" too! One problem is that when they play with anything she has to be RIGHT in the middle of it, so if they are playing trains she is right there pulling up the tracks! Of course, they get frustrated and abandon their activity or start fighting with her or each other. I try to do an activity every day, playtime with other moms, the playroom at the community center or the park. Sometimes it is daunting to take all three places, but it does pass the time. I try to keep TV to two hours a day but honestly I feel it is hard to fill the days when indoors. They get bored with their toys too. Now the boys will have preschool every morning so I will have lots of free time with my Annabanana. I am excited to do activities with ONE child-it seems so easy.

Before preschool this was our schedule:

Wake up 7:30, eat breakfast
Get dressed (or not, LOL)
Free play or a video if they are already driving me nuts
Go out around 10 AM
Come home around 12ish
Lunch, then a hopefully long nap
3-5 PM-the absolute hardest time of the day! If we have already gone out it seems like a big effort to go out again. They are SO cranky and whiny during this time, I try to do an activity and then it is video time until daddy gets home.

Now that the boys will be gone every morning, I am going to try to do more after-nap outings with all of the kids. We will see how it goes....

 

Well, we've since dropped out of preschool!! They just weren't ready to be away from me all day so...
more time for mommy to find stuff to do!

LOL!

 

Ugh sorry Meredith that stinks!