Waldorf in the home with a toddler and infant...

[holz]

Can anyone tell me what this looks/looked like for you? DS is 19 months and I'm due any day with #2- now that I'm seeing the light at the end of this tunnel of pregnancy exhaustion and zero motivation, I'm really looking forward to having a little more rhythm and structure to our days, and feel like DS is ready for some more focused activities, etc. I want to incorporate rituals and such into our days... Right now I feel like I'm enriching him the most when we're out and about (library, visiting farms, music classes, etc) but I know we're going to be cutting down on outings once the baby comes... We'll also be moving in a few months and starting over with a somewhat blank slate, so I'm excited to set up our new home to be more conducive to this.

I sometimes have a hard time reconciling my background in ECE and teaching at mainstream preschools with everything I'm learning and loving about Waldorf... I know we need more structure in our lives, especially with so many big changes coming up, but I worry about too much structure.

Any ideas for activities, an outline of what your typical day looks like, how your home is set up, etc. would be greatly appreciated! I need inspiration :)

Thanks so much!

[waldorfknitmama]

OoOOOhhhh good post! Wow, at various different stages our home has changed and changed and changed some more!

Currently we have three little boys under five, and we are expecting our fourth anyday now.  We Waldorf Homeschool and even though my eldest is only five, we still try to "do" school work.  Mostly I think the consistant thing we do around here is being close to nature. 

I think your going through some major transitions right now, and the best thing I think you can do is to just provide lot's of free time outside to play and explore outdoors. 

When your new babe comes and your little one and family have all adjusted and your in a good routine then you could introduce more complex things to your day like art and crafting/handwork time.

I think your in a good frame of mind and will probably adjust quite well to everything!

Goodluck!

Samantha

[annettemarie]

Holly, I was much in the same space, with an early childhood education/preschool teaching background and trying to reconcile it with Waldorf. I can't really give you an answer because my family looks different now, with big kids, a preschooler, and littles, but I will say that this is a season in your life to really get your rhythms and routines in place. I still use elements of the daily/weekly structure that I created back when my oldest was a baby... and he's now 13!

I started by focusing on something different each month... chore rhythms, meal rhythms, morning and evening routines. Best of luck to you!

[appalachiamama]

I was in the same place as you last year.  We started very simply.  Focused, quiet activities, like drawing or painting, when the baby was asleep.  More outward activities when the baby was awake.  We've only recently assigned themes to days (nature, painting, crafting, etc).  Keeping your outings to a minimum will likely help with the transition, but do make sure you have time for fresh air, even if it's just sitting the shade with the baby on a blanket.  I think a day/night routine would be good during this time.  I am starting to see fruit from the simple rhythm we began a year ago.  Now our nature table gets items added by my daughter and she insists we acknowledge the sun waking and sleeping.