Also, I've seen several themed days on blogs. Do any of you do that? For example- "Make something Mondays", "Take me out Tuesdays" and so on and so forth. Has this worked for you?
Here is an example of a schedule I found online that generally, I like. I realize with all parenting the key is to be flexible but...how do you do it at your house? And I want the nitty gritty down to the half our details!
7:30-8am Wake Up
8:30-9am Breakfast
9-10am Productiveparenting.com activity(s)
10-11am Free play with colors
11-12:30pm Naptime
1245pm Lunch
1:30 -2:30pm Screen time while I do chores
2:30- 3:30pm Play outside
3:30pm Snack
3:45-4:30pm Nap
4:30-5:30pm Free play
5:30pm Dinner
6:30-7pm Play outside
7pm Bath time
7:30 -8:30 screen time with daddy while I do dishes
9pm- bed
Elise only typically takes one nap these days around 11am for two hours. She gets two if she is being super fussy which is pretty rare. She typically goes to bed around 8/8:30pm. Her meal time for lunch is whenever she wakes up from her nap and dinner time is around 6:30/7pm.
Any tips, trick, or advice would be greatly appreciated!!
My sweet sleeping girl! So precious!
8 comments:
we get up pretty early in our house. the morning routine typically goes from about 6:30 until 10:00. in that time we get the following done: breakfast, clothes changed, running, showers (for those that are stinky).
then next block is from about 10 until noon. that's when we get out and do things. on monday it's park play day. wednesdays is sometimes library. and fridays are his speech therapy and mom and me preschool (when i'm prepared).
then from noon until three we have lunch and naps and/or quiet time.
three until dinner is maybe walking the dog, going to a playground, just free play outside, whatever.
after dinner we clean up, maybe have baths, read books, then go to bed! both boys are in bed by 7.
the end! not sure if that's helpful or not, but there you have it.
have you found library story times? play dates with others?
I'm always struggling with trying to keep my kids entertained, but one thing I've done in the past is doing letter-themed days to help teach Brekke her letters (maybe Elise won't quite get this yet, but it won't be long). So if we're doing a "B" day, we'll look for "B" things in BOOKS, play with BLOCKS, eat BANANAS, go outside and look for BIRDS, make BREAD for dinner, etc. You have to get pretty creative with some letters...
well i think any schedule is better than no schedule, but with that being said, i don't think a schedule needs to be down to what to do specifically for every part of the day. we have a set time for breakfast, snack time, lunch, snack time, and then dinner is usually at around the same time. we have something on most days of the week (gymnastics, mostly music, play group, story-time, i do girls on the run, etc.) that sets up the time for some "extracurricular" stuff. but i don't get too specific as to "coloring time" or "outside time." my kids just gravitate towards things and i'll go with that (but my kids are older. . .). in the summer i usually have something a little more specific to do - like wednesday is craft day, monday is poetry day (never done it, but planning on it for this summer), etc.
so there's my 2 cents that is probably worth less!
whatever feels right with you and elise is good. :)
I have the same issue. We really like to do activities like story time and other community activities. Now that it is getting warming we go to the park and like having picnics. Its free and fun.
You sound so amazingly productive and structured :). Good work! Yes Des still sleeps this much, ALWAYS (unless we do a long day activity like the zoo or D.C.), but on the flip side, he does not watch TV at all. He won't sit still for it:
7:30-Get out of bed/diaper change/play till breakfast is ready
8:00-8:30-Breakfast and clean-up (Des is now required to pick up every item of food he throws on the floor and throw it away, so this takes a fair bit of time)
8:30-9:00 Get dressed, play, read
9:00-10:00-Mom's exercise-go for a walk/jog
10:00-12:00-Nap time
12:00-12:30-Lunch
12:30-3:00-Play time, go outside, meet up with friends, go to park, library, run errands, color, nature walks, etc.
3:00-5:00-Nap time
5:00-5:30-Hang out while I fix dinner. Sometimes playing with pots and pans and silverware.
5:30-6:15-Dad home/dinner
6:15-7:15-Errands, play time with Dad or Aunt Katie, bath
7:15-7:30-PJ's, diaper, brush teeth, prayer, quick scripture in Spanish and dropped in bed.
Peanut seems to like to play with random stuff and do his own thing so I let him. He just likes to explore and he's usually self content so I fold laundry or read or whatever and talk to him and just try to be available while he's awake. But he does a lot on his own. I ask him to help me with all my chores and we dance a lot together. Maybe we'll work on focused activities more as I get ideas from all the responses you get.
I love hearing other people's schedules! The days can be long, so it's always great to hear others' tips. In general, ours is:
6:30 wakeup, breakfast, watch news, exercise, get ready, play a little
9:00 nap time
10:30 snack, some kind of activitiy/errand
12:30 lunch, play (usually outside)
2:00 nap time
3:30 more errands or more play
5:30 dinner, play with dad while I clean the kitchen, family activity
7:00 bath, bedtime routine, asleep at 8
We do have a weekly plan, Mon. is groceries, Tues. is playgroup, Wed. is story time, Thurs. we try to set up a playdate, Friday we clean. We're also so lucky that Bryan's work is nearby so we meet him at a park for lunch a lot.
No advice from me, but I just wanted to let you know that I think your little girl is darling!
Hey Lib, I haven't been very good at keeping up with blogs :( I've enjoyed catching up on yours, Elise is getting big and so darling!
To be COMPLETELY honest, I'm almost four years into this mothering thing and I'm still just trying to not burn the house down. Literally. I do my best to feed the mouths, bathe the bodies, clean the house, and play a little. Any extra we fit in is a bonus! I'm simply not a 'every half hour of the day is scheduled' kind of woman.
Good luck my dear!
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