Routines and rhythms, if you have them describe them

[sapphire_chan]

Particularly if your toddler isn't fully verbal yet.

How does your day go? What things do you do before and after other things (e.g. play after eat, eat after play) and why does it work for you?

She's working through a cold, which makes her clingy and me feel put upon, and I need some inspiration to get me out of the rut of doing nothing until she whines.

[kcstar]

DH is the one home with him most days, so this is far from perfect. He usually wakes to nurse somewhere in the 5 am range. About 6ish when my alarm goes off, he and DH go get breakfast while I try to catch about 10 more winks. I head out the door about 7 or 7:30. I think he usually watches a video first thing in the morning.

Lunch is usually about 11 am, and DS usually naps after lunch.

They have dinner about 4:30 or 5 pm, occasionally waiting until I get home around 5:30 or 6.

Sometimes he's up for an activity, or another video after dinner. Other times (especially when it's dark in winter) he wants to go straight to bed.

We usually asks if he wants a bath, try to get him one about once or twice a week. Brush teeth if at all possible (sometimes, especially when he's really tired, he'll refuse). Let him pick out a few books if he likes, or play with flashcards if he leads it. Nurse & cuddle to sleep, which usually takes an hour, sometimes two. In winter he's been going to sleep about 7 pm or so. In summer it's usually 8, sometimes 9. (I just realized that he may be sticking to his schedule despite daylight savings time.)

Monday we tried to make music night, where we pull out our recorders, pennywhistles, and percussion instruments to play and sing.

Wednesday night, DH goes out to the bookstore or library or such, while DS and I have some time together.

Friday night we pop popcorn and watch a movie if we can.

I've tried to make Saturday night a game night (board games when he's older. He can do a little Twister now, or we'll set up dominoes to knock down, or make shapes with the Connect Four pieces...)

Sunday morning is church, then lunch & nap, then library, and I've tried to make Sunday evening a read/recite fun time. Pick out our favorite poems, or short stories, etc.

Tuesday and Thursday if we can, we try to go over to the gym to practice. If DS is awake enough. This usually works out in the summer time, but not in the winter. I suppose in the in-between times we could set up the Wii Fit and play together, or do an exercise video. DS likes the Wii Fit penguin/fish game, occasionally will play soccer, and he has liked the bird game on Wii Fit Plus.

[ema-adama]

We wake up betwee 6:30 - 7am, with morning snuggles ad breastfeed.

Change nappy and clothes and then DS plays while we take turns making breakfast/exercise/computer time/make breakfast. Family breakfast most mornings.

Morning is my errand time/activity time, actvities being with other homeschooling families/group- errands being errands.

Lunch - 12:00

Two hour nap from 12:30/1pm until +-3pm

Freeplay - (Me some computer time) DS outside playing in our yard or inside standing in the kitchen with me while I prepare supper.

18:30 - 19:00 supper as a family. Bath, bed with two stories.

DS plays independently, which makes it easy for me to get on with something without him underfoot. Not always, but as a general rule. He is not really verbal yet, certainly vocal, but not demanding anything in full sentences.

[sapphire_chan]

Gosh, your little guys sound so grown-up!

[just_lily]

I run a home daycare, so our days are a little different. But I find if we keep eating times and sleeping times about the same every day the kids know what to expect, and the day flows smoothly.

I usually get up between 6:30 and 7am. My kids arrive between 7:30 and 9am. DD usually wakes up between 7 and 8. If she isn't up yet, she usually starts yelling for me as soon as the first kid arrives.

Breakfast is between 7:30 and 8:00. I feed DD along with my one daycare kid that arrives bright and early. Everyone else has breakfast before they come.

We usually have free play as everyone gets here. Snack is around 9:30. A couple of days a week we go to play groups, so we leave around 9:15, and have snack there.

After snack is usually when we do our outings, like going to the park or the library. If it is a crummy day outside, we will do crafts. Then the kids will play while I make lunch.

Lunch is usually around 11:30.

After lunch is naptime, usually about 12 until 2 (ish). After nap we have another snack.

After snack we'll usually do a craft if we hadn't done one in the morning (and sometimes even if we have). It is often when we will do more involved things, or sensory activities because I use the time while the kids are sleeping to get ready.

Then we will have more freeplay until the kids go home. They all get picked up between 4:30 and 5:30.

After the kids leave DF comes "home" (he WAH in the basement) and plays with DD while I make dinner. We eat sometime between 5:30 and 6:00. After dinner is either bathtime or DD and DF play together and have some daddy-daughter time.

DD usually goes to bed by about 7 - 7:30.

[redvlagrl]

DD is 17 mths old.

She wakes at around 7am. DH comes and gets her out of her room and brings her to me - we snuggle and BF while he showers (he gets up at 4am to work on research). I shower while he changes/dresses her and then we go downstairs to have breafast at around 8am.

DD gets pretty hungry in the morning, so she tends to graze all morning (not my ideal option). Then she goes down for a nap at noon and sleeps 2-3 hours. She has lunch normally when she gets up.

DH gets home at around 5.30. We have dinner at 6pm. At about 6.40 we go upstairs for a bath, diaper and pajamas then nursing and into bed around 7-7.10.

We go to a playgroup once a week and I try and get out with her as much as possible for playdates, etc. Though she's not a cabin fever kind of kiddo.

Because of the variability of her nap length, afternoon activites are not the best for us.

[mommariffic]

Our routine is totally flexible and changes as my pregnancy progresses and winter continues throwing us snow [DD hates going out in in the cold/wearing mittens and hats]

Right now:
8am wake up. Normally we snuggle as I struggle to get up and really put on my morning smile face.

After we wake up we do breakfast/night time diaper/potty time. Breakfast can be anything from eggs + fruit to cereal depending on how lazy I'm feeling. At least twice a week I try to make a "big" breakfast but mostly we do quick stuff like Oatmeal.

After breakfast I do a clean up of the kitchen. My house is normally looking like a bomb [or 10] went off, but I do try to get a little nesting-stuff done in the morning.

Now here's where our schedule varies: I'm a writer and so my babysitter comes over 3x per week for a few hours -- after breakfast if she's coming over we normally read/play and shower before that time. When she comes around 10am I hide upstairs and work until 2ish. At 2ish we either stay home and work on crafts and hang out, or sometimes we meet friends.

Most weeks we do "stuff.." we live 10 minutes from Manhattan so if the weather is cooperating we will go in and hit up museums/ play groups/ other stuff. Some days we run errands, some days we hang at the bookstore all afternoon..it varies.

Night time routine is simple:
Free play while I cook dinner, stories and clean up after, and sometimes a video.

[Baby_Cakes]

My DD is 17 months old. Our routine is really flexible, but generally this is how things go:

Wake up between 7-7:30 (sometimes 8 If I'm lucky). Roll around for 10 min, climb out of bed and go find the kitties. She has to greet them and wave to them both. Raise the blinds, put on the Backyardigans or some other show for DD.

Mama gets her first cup of coffee. DD gets a bowl with dry cereal, or raisins, and a sippy cup of soymilk.

b/w 9-10 - I get a shower/get dressed while DD plays/dances to some music. 2nd cup of coffee for me. <3

10-12:30 - We might run a quick errand, but most of the time we stay in - we clean the house, watch movies, play with the cats, etc.

11 am-ish - DD gets lunch. I find that giving her a solid meal at this time helps her wind down and sleep better for her nap.

12:30-3 - DD gets nursies and a nap. Mama gets computer time. Quiet chores, sometimes.

3-5 - this is our running around time. We'll do the food shopping, Target shopping, take a quick walk (in the winter I really hate taking walks when it's cold, so we'll see if we do more of this in the spring/summer).

5-6 DH comes home from work, so he might take the kiddo while I do a solo errand, or I'll use the treadmill while he entertains her.

6-7:30 - one of us makes dinner. Eat dinner. Watch some TV.

7:45-8:30 - bathtime, nursies, then bed.

9-10 DD goes to sleep. DH and I have some time together and then we go to bed.

Hmm. Writing it all out is interesting. We do watch a ton of TV! Ha - and I tell ppl all the time we limit it. LOL. Well, at least it's always the same 3 shows.