Creating a rhythm to the day

[LiLStar]

So, both dd and me have way too much screen time She's having lots of accidents (or, "on purposes", I believe) and hitting/pushing her brother (which I believe is to get ME upset) and we're getting into a nasty cycle. I think setting up a nice flexible daily routine will make a HUGE difference, and make everyone much happier. routine not "Schedule". The clock doesn't have much to do with it!

-wake up: I get dressed, put in contacts, change both kids out of their night time diapers. I do a morning email check, Allie nurses, River plays on the floor (this is basically how mornings already go!)

-Go downstairs and make/eat breakfast/clean up breakfast. River will be worn, play on the floor, or play in the exersaucer, however he's happiest! After, Allie gets dressed and has hair brushed.

-some kind of craft, painting, play doh, coloring

-outside for at least 20 minutes. Go for a walk, neighborhood playground, side walk chalk, bubbles, whatever!

-"free time" until River is ready for his nap

-While I get River down for his nap, Allie can watch some tv (necessary, I have to keep her downstairs and quiet or he'll NEVER sleep!)

-cleaning time for me! at least 30 minutes. Allie can help if she likes (she often does like to help!) otherwise she can play. dishes, laundry, decluttering, picking up toys.. whichever.

-since Allie doesn't nap anymore, we can have "quiet time" snuggling up and reading some books! story time until River's nap is over, or until we decide we're done, whichever comes first.

-lunch time/clean up lunch

-"free" time until River's nap. possibly more art or outside time, if we feel like it. if I feel like baking something, this is the time to do it!

-Put River down for his nap/Allie has tv time

-make dinner, Allie can help or play with toys. tv only as last resort (but I'm hoping that quality time spent earlier in the day will help me have some more cooperation!

-Daddy's home!!

tv must be off during free times.

Any thoughts? does this look good? i'm oddly nervous, even though its really not all that scary, lol. it would only apply when we are staying home all day. days when we have things scheduled in the day time we'll mostly fly by the seat of our pants

[Jackies Ladybug]

i really want to work on putting more structure into my day as well, especially since we will have a new little joining us in the spring!
i find that i have been relying on nearly 2 movies just about daily at this point and i am on my computer way too much.
this looks inspiring, maybe i will try this type of layout to improve our screen time issues.

[dantesmama]

I need to start a routine, too. It doesn't come naturally to me *at all*, but with #3 due any day, something needs to be done!

[LiLStar]

Yeah, seriously, I aspire to have a big family but I look at my chaotic house and think I'm nuts. And its completely my fault. I spend way too much time on the computer, let dishes and laundry pile up, don't make an effort to tidy up daily (its usually "oh crap! company's coming over MARATHON CLEAN!") so I need some serious buttkicking. I really want to get in a nice groove with 2 kids before I consider a third. I love being pregnant and having a newborn so much I'd happily pop 'em out over and over But I need to master 2 kids first! Come to appreciate the ease of a small family! So not there yet.

[lifeguard]

I'm glad I'm not the only one struggling with creating a daily rhythm. I just made up a poster for our house with our daily rhythm. I did put times on it but they are definitely more of a guideline than set in stone. I have set morning, afternoon & evening "activity" times & then made a list of potential activities so that I am more inclined to look at the options instead of getting caught up on the computer or just lazing around. I have also chosen one area of the house for cleaning for each day of the week (but not weekends).

This is what ours is like:
8:30 - Rise & shine, change diaper, nurse, go down & "wake-up"
9:30 - Breakfast, get dressed, put on one load of laundry
Morning activity
12:00 - Lunch, clean up from lunch
1:00 - Nap
3:00 - Walk dogs
Afternoon activity
5:00 - Dh is off work - one of us goes to the gym & the other stays home & plays with ds
6:00 - Supper, clean up from supper
7:00 - Evening activity
8:30 - Bedtime for ds (hahaha - he almost NEVER goes down at this time!)
Adult activities
12:00 - Bedtime for mommy

[LaughingHyena]

It sounds good to me.

One thing I have found helpful in cutting down the TV time was to record a few favourite programmes. We find it much easier to turn off when the show is finished that way. With live TV I find we are often sucked into the next show too.

I must get back into doing this as DS is wanting the TV on far too much at the moment.

I've also found it helpful to have a list of crafts/activities which I can then pull out fairly quickly. Even making a list of toys which we haven't had out for a while helps.

[mommariffic]

I love routine...

Okay, I love the IDEA of routine, but we rarely follow one strictly.

Here's my routine for TODAY to give you an idea

Woke up around 6:30 to DD coughing [she has a slight cold] and she wouldn't go back to bed so we snuggled until 7ish.

7ish-8ish. Had breakfast and shoved dishes in the sink

8-9 decorated for Christmas, did a snowman foam craft, read 3 books about Christmas/winter

9-9:45: She's having TV time. She has a cold and wants to rest and I'm okay with that, so she's watching a Little Bear and a 1/2 in my bed while I am here.

After she's done, we are going to take hot showers and than head out to the library and our favorite diner for lunch.

2-3ish: Come home and have quiet time. This means reading new books or having free play.

4. Free play. She can do what she wants!

5: Start dinner with DD helping or not helping depending on how she feels.

After dinner we have clean up, jammie time and we sometimes watch another Little Bear, or we just hang out with DH. Bed time is 730