Friday, March 18, 2011
Routines
I am not very good with having the kids on routines. I like to be flexible, mis it up, and allow for the unexpected, like potty accidents, sickness,and teething. I try not to stress about having it together until baby is one. Well we are at 9 months now and I am still getting up twice a night with him. I realized this week that because we don't have a good routine, the things I don't want to be routine are becoming our routine. Most mornings we ditz around and watch TV or play computer games because I am still tired. So my goals of scripture study, chores, and "school" don't happen. Has anyone been successful with routine who could share some ideas that work for them?
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5 comments:
I have hard time making sure I get the important stuff in too. When steve is gone I do scriptures with their bedtime stories. It's the first book we read. I also have peter read me a book, thereby getting his reading in for the day too. I have found it's hard to get my kids to move to do the important things. Therefore, I combine things they want to with the important stuff. I have Peter do his homework right after lunch because he's already sitting at the table. I hope some of this helps. I'm interested in what other do too.
You may already do this but one thing that really helps me is to always get dressed and make the bed before I leave our room. It's so easy to feel sleepy when you're still in your jammies and an unmade bed is calling your name. :) I shower at night so I can just hop up and get dressed. Something about that gets the day rolling and keeps me from dragging my feet about getting other things done. It's a little thing but it helps me a lot. Good luck!
I felt the exact same way in January! Life still shakes us up and we lose our routine, but here's what works for us. I want to do "school" too, so every night I make sure my kitchen is clean before going to sleep. Then the minute the kids wake up in the morning we do our "school" work at the kitchen table (I tried other rooms in the house but this is the most motivating one). The kids are perky and happy at this time of morning, the the thought of a big breakfast keeps them so. After breakfast is when I lay down again if I had a bad night and am exceptionally tired. If not, we play outside and I start housework. Afternoons, especially in Ariona, drag on and on so I push myself in the morning to get my "list" done wo we can veg in the afternoon instead when it's so hot. Either way, it's nice to say "It's 10 o'clock and I got the essentials done!"
Thank you for all your comments. at lunch today I had jeff read us a book. We had some school time while baby was napping. One thing I do is write down my expectation of them in the morning. The language is "Love and logic"
Name
after you get dressed, make bed, empty silverware, and take out trash(with my help) ...
You may have a snack and watch a show.
This stops the begging and whining and I refer them to the list if they do start begging. Have you ever noticed that kids will never play with their toys unless they are told to Clean them up?
I feel the same way! The only things we do for sure as part of our routine that I absolutely love are: while the girls eat breakfast I do a mini lesson from the nursery manual with them. Then I sit down and eat with them too. And at night we have a great family routine of reading a chapter from the scripture story books, singing a primary song, and saying family prayer.
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