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I am a cloth diapering, breastfeeding, cosleeping, baby led weaning, extended rear facing, eco conscious, married mommy to two beautiful children. They have changed my view on the world we live in. It is now my number 1 goal to make it the best I can for them to grow up in. I find myself always rethinking how I want to live my life and often feel like sharing my findings and thoughts with others. So I guess here's my chance :o) I will talk about topics that interest me. If you dont like them or dont agree, well... there's nothing much I can do!

Monday, May 12, 2014

Trying to create a daily routine

I really really would love to homeschool my children. Keegan actually brought up the topic to me one day so I know he isn't opposed to the idea. But part of my worries if it is something I'd be able to keep up with since I have never really been good at sticking to any kind of routine. We are very much a "go with the flow" kind of family and that's ok. Some kids thrive on routine. I think Abigail enjoyed that aspect when she was in daycare so I would really like to give it a try here.

How should I plan out my day? Since both kids wake at different times anywhere between 630-830, free play in the morning is essential. We all have breakfast together. Late morning would be prime time for some sort of structured activity. Then there's lunch. Then Zachary's nap time where Abigail would love to play with things that Zachary can't "ruin".  Outside play, supper prep, whole family play. Seems like a fairly easy going routine.

But I also need to fit in homemaking tasks. I would love for my home to run like a well oiled machine. Smoothly, calmly, less chaotic. So I need to "schedule" the time to take care of things around the home or else they will not get done. And then I would just complain about it later. Some things need to be done daily and others on a weekly basis. I see lots of lists and using my daily planner in my very near future!!

What do you do when you want to develop some sort of daily routine for your family?

5 comments:

  1. I am possibly the worst for a schedule. I have best intentions, but never the ability to follow through. We have a general outline for the day, but I find we don't always go with it.
    Ours is free play/TV time in the morning while I get some work done (housework or blog-related work), then we do school and chores, the lunch, then they get computer time while I do more work. I need to learn to be more focused in work time!
    Could you make a daily task list and aim to finish the list by the end of the day?
    GL finding a plan that works for you! :D

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  2. I am definitely a routine person, not a schedule person (routine has a general order things happen in, schedule has specific times attached.). Our routine looks like this: We get dressed before breakfast, we eat breakfast, and have devotions at the breakfast table. My boys do their chores (clearing the table and collecting the laundry for me to start), then they have free play until "teatime". I try to get some housework in during that time (usually about an hour and a half or so). Sometimes I waste it on the computer. Yep. However, no matter what I've done with that time, we start our "school day" at teatime (usually about 10:30, but sometimes as late as 11:30). We read aloud, usually poetry, at teatime, then do our fifteen minutes each of math and reading afterwards. And that's all the school we do. (My oldest is five.) We do lunch, and try to have quiet time (I'm not the greatest at keeping that up, though it's awesome when I do!). Screen time is 4:00 (our only specific time in the whole routine), and for the rest we just wing it. The best thing I did to hold myself to a routine was to post it on the wall. My kids seem to really love having an order to the day, and they make sure it happens.

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  3. We have flexible routines. I don't schedule specific times because they never work for any of us. If we're on a roll with something, then I like to go with it and not tap my invisible watch because the time is up. I have a to-do list for myself and my kids. Over the years, I've gotten them really involved with chores so my homemaking list is shrinking.

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  4. Schedules and planning are one of those topics that homeschoolers never cease talking about. I struggle with this myself. We follow routines of things that have to be done every day and strive to do them. Most days they get done, other days are less than successful.

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  5. I switch things up a lot as I get bored if we stick to the same routine for too long... and I see how changing it up makes my kids feel more alert and they get excited when things change ... but it is nice to have some sort of routine or plan :)

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