Mama Monday Disclaimer: I am nowhere near an expert mom. I am on a mama journey just like all of you are. However, I'm more than willing to share my experience with you guys. If today's topic is something that you have an experience with then I hope you'll share too...either on your own blog (be sure to leave us a link) or in the comments section.
Wait, did I say "grind"? I totally meant "schedule". The daily schedule. =)
When I was a teacher I always wished I could be a fly on the wall in other classrooms just to see exactly what everyone else was doing and when. Of course everybody talked a big game (I did too) but I was intensely curious about what was really going on. Every minute.
Then I became a mom and I realized that that feeling never really goes away. At least not for me. Samantha and I used to compare notes about pretty much ever single minute of our day, starting from the time our girls were itty bitty. "The book says they should be playing independently for 20 minutes. Can yours really do that?" or "Okay, for real, how many times do you let her lay under her mobile a day? 2? 3? 10?". And even now it continues, "So...honestly...do you ever, sometimes, occasionally let her watch...um...more than ONE show???" (answer: most definitely yes. Well, sometimes...um...occasionally. =)
I digress.
I thought it might be fun for today's Mama Monday to compare notes on our daily schedules. I get a lot of emails that revolve around a central question: "How do you get it all in?". And my answer is usually: "I don't". I look at what other moms are doing and know that I let a lot of things go. There are things that are important to me that may not be important to the mom down the street. And vice versa. So there's really no such thing as getting it "all" in. Only getting in what matters to you.
So. Here's our day in a nutshell. I'd love to read about yours. And when you post be sure to note the ages of your kiddos. I'll start. :)
Ephraim is 8 months (almost 9 - heaven help me!) and Sarah is 2 years, 9 months (almost three - repeat - Heaven Help Me!). Starting in a week Sarah will attend preschool two mornings a week, from 9 - 1.
- My kiddos are early risers and we're all usually up somewhere between 6 and 6:30. Up until last week Brent was in charge of getting Sarah up, pottied, teeth brushed, and fed, while I was in charge of getting Ephraim up and going. We've decided though that it's a better use of Brent's time to get up at 6 and get a run in so we've now adjusted so I'm getting up with both kids. It's working great.
- Sarah is a looooong eater so she's usually at the table for at least half an hour. By the time she's done it's usually 7:15 or later. Ephraim plays while she eats breakfast and then when she's done they both get some time with Daddy before he heads off to work around 7:40.
- Around that same time the kids and I head out for a run. It's not a long one - around 20 minutes - but pushing both kids in Alabama heat it's enough for me.
- When we get home there's usually half an hour to an hour before Ephraim's nap so we play for a bit (I check email, etc. if they let me) and then when Ephraim goes down between 8:30 and 9:00 Sarah gets to watch her show(s) on PBS.
- While she's watching a bit of TV and having a snack I jump in the shower and get ready for my day. This will have to change starting next week when she has to be at school by 9:00.
- Ephraim usually naps until around 10:00 so after Sarah watches about half an hour (or 45 minutes) of TV she comes and "works" with me. My little desk area in our kitchen is set up so she has a work space too so she'll color or cut or paste or bug me =) while I squeeze in a few minutes of answering emails, sending out welcome packets, scheduling sessions, etc.
- When Ephraim wakes up we usually get him all fed and happy and then head out the door for errands or fun. Many days when we have nothing to do we'll just stay home though. This happens for two reasons: 1) the price of gas make me not want to run all over town looking for ways to entertain ourselves and 2) Sarah likes nothing better than to wear her PJs all day or, even better, go naked. So we stay home.
- If we do head out for groceries or errands or playdates we have about two good hours before both kids start getting hungry and tired. We start lunch here around noon with both kids eating at the same time. We're usually done around 12:30 which gives us about a half hour to play before nap time starts (HALLELUJAH!) at 1:00.
- Both kids nap at the same time (HALLELUJAH!) and thanks to some trickery by mommy Sarah is back to taking a consistent nap everyday. For a while there she would just play and sing and yell in her room for two hours and I thought I might lose it. We compromised though and I started calling it "rest time" and telling her that she could stay in her room and play or do whatever she wanted - she just couldn't call me. This morphed into her wanting a "pallet" on her floor to play on. And now she happily lays down on her pallet to read books until she falls asleep. I make a point everyday though to ask her what toys she wants me to get out for her and to tell her that she doesn't have to sleep. So now if she sleeps (which she always does) it's her choice. Works like a charm. =)
- I spend ALL of naptime sitting here at this computer. I blog, I proof, I email, I work on our family's finances, I shop for gifts, I organize our life...I spend two hours doing it all. The great thing is that I LOVE IT. So while, yes, I "work" during naptime it's stuff I enjoy so it's still a break for me.
- They wake around 3:00 which is when we have an afternoon snack and then spend some time getting the house cleaned up. I like for things to look relatively presentable when Brent comes home although he can attest that this doesn't always happen. If I cleaned in the morning it would be a disaster again by the afternoon so we save it for after naps. Sarah loves to help put things away and clean off tables and counters so I always enlist her help.
- Brent is usually home just shy of 5:00 and he immediately gets both kids and takes them outside or in one of their bedrooms to play. This gives me a chance to prepare dinner in peace.
- We eat dinner around 5:30 and are done around 6:00.
- 6:00 - 7:00 is hangout family time and depending on the kiddos moods we do bath and bedtime between 6:30 and 7:30.
- After they're in bed I'm back on the computer doing all the same things I was doing at naptime. I'm trying to get better about streamlining my work though and not flitting around the internet checking blogs and surfing photography sites as much so I can spend more time with Brent in the evenings. He usually watches TV, works on our business accounts, plays guitar, or reads.
- We head to bed around 10:00 and veg out to the Daily Show and the Colbert Report and then head off to sleep ready to face the Grind, er, schedule again the next day!
What about YOU?!
Buddy Posters:
Chris at A Little Love
Hillary at Million Dollar Babies
Heather at the Sarah Bear
Marilee at Mishpacha
20 comments:
Here's our schedule... Check it out
http://cdembins.blogspot.com/
Sounds like you have a good routine, with the kids. Not having any children around does not mean I have nothing to do. Time is surely a change that will always be here.
We now have a new puppy, in our home and that is a challenge. I do miss our beloved Abby, but now the pain is less, after having her for the 15 years, and having to let her go. Baylee, has come to us with much joy!!
Love you all...
Hi Erin! You already know how much I love your blog, but this entry is especially great!! I've always wondered how you do everything you do, so this was a fantastic read! Thank you!
We don’t stick rigidly to this schedule, but the farther I stray from it, the more frustrated I become. If I don’t keep at least our mornings fairly structured I find the day has slipped away and I haven’t accomplished a thing. So, at the risk of looking like a control freak:
6:30ish-kids are up and we start a video with milk while Mama makes the bed, gets dressed, does make-up (sometimes, wink) checks blogs and starts breakfast.
7:00-breakfast. I like to make sure all the kids eat together and at the same time, otherwise it wastes half the morning. I try to clean up the kitchen while they’re eating.
7:30-upstairs to get dressed, brush teeth, make beds. Start a load of laundry.
8:00-Freetime play. Mama plays and then tries to get a small chore done. (put clothes away, clean a bathroom, dust, etc.)
8:30-Table time with “education” in mind. (work on our numbers, colors, letters, puzzles, lacing cards, and sing songs or read books that help with these concepts)This in in preparation for homeschooling my life away starting in a couple years.
9:00-Snack time with a video. Mama tries to tackle a bigger chore, like cooking this week’s meal for our Meal Sharing, sweep, mop, or some project)
9:30-Outside play or something fun (bubbles, play dough, baking, etc) if it’s rainy.
10:30-Free time. Mama prepares lunch.
11:00-Lunch. Clean up kitchen.
12:00-Brush teeth, change diapers, story time.
12:30-NAPTIME! Doesn’t it feel wrong to enjoy it so much?! (: I spend almost my entire “nap” on the computer doing the same things Erin does. I usually get sleepy, though, and will lie on the couch for 20 minutes or so to give my brain a rest.
2:00-Gwyneth wakes up and quietly watches a video with milk while I get back on the computer if I need to, otherwise I’ll snuggle her and read a good book. She really enjoys (and needs) our alone time.
3:30-Both boys are usually up by now, (however, they have been known to sleep until 5:00 or later!) and will also have a cup of milk and snack while they wake-up to a video.
4:00-If we have time I like to do table-time with arts and crafts in mind. (Drawing, coloring, paints, markers, stickers, etc.) I’ll get dinner started and make the house presentable.
5:15- Daddy comes home! MY FAVORITE TIME!!! The kids can’t wait for Daddy to take them up to play, or outside to play with him while he grills our dinner. I finish dinner and set the table.
5:30-Dinner time!
6:00-Daddy plays with the kids while Mama cleans up the dinner mess.
6:30- Family time at home or we go visit extended family together.
7:30-Jammies, brush teeth, story, clean bedrooms.
8:00-Bedtime!
I then try to spend time on the treadmill, take a bath and do my devotions, and then wrap up the evening on the good ol’ computer. Lyle checks the news on his computer, works from home, does bills and sometimes plays his guitar. (When he’s not already at practice…2x a week) We also have Small Group (AKA Bible Study) one night a week in our home. On Fridays we like to watch a movie together.
I'm all about routine and schedules!!! You can see my daily schedule on my blog here http://milliondollarbabies.blogspot.com/
Kids...Brayden-just turned 6, Carson-3 and Delanie-2....summer schedule is completely different than school schedule. So right now before school starts....
8-8:30ish-wake up and get kids breakfast. After they eat, I get them all dressed (and myself) so I can go to the gym. This process can take awhile. I would say we usually get to the gym around 10ish.
10-11...I workout while the kids play in the gym daycare.
If we have any errands to run, we do this after the gym. If not, we come home and play for awhile.
12:30ish....I make lunch while the kids either watch TV or play. I either clean the kitchen while lunch is cooking or while the kids eat, depends on what they are having for lunch.
1-2....more playtime and I do more cleaning. I try to get toys picked up and vacuum during this time.
2ish....naptime. The babies take a nap and my 6 year old either lays down or hangs out with me. I play on the computer during naptime, scrapbook, do any extra cleaning,etc...I usually do laundry during naptime and do all of my "fun" stuff in between loads.
4-4:30...kids wake up and we hang out for awhile. I usually make dinner around 5ish and my husband is home around the same time so he can keep an eye on the kids while I cook.
I clean up the kitchen again after dinner and then we all hang out together for the rest of the evening....watching TV, reading books, or playing. During the summer, the kids go to bed late-about 10ish.
I totally condensed this so it wasn't so long. I like to multi-task and clean the bathroom while the kids take a bath and things like that. I didn't used to have a routine but I can't tell you how much it has helped me! I highly recommend a routine for any mom out there!
PS...I do shower....I usually shower when the kids have a nap unless I have somewhere to go before that (other than the gym-not showering before I get all hot and sweaty!).
I'm in again!
Great topic - even had a moment of self discovery - while I absolutely live a chaotic life I still found a smidgen of routine :)
Lawson is my baby (erin knows that but the rest of ya dont!) He is nine and a half months old.
Our day (generally) goes like this:
1. Wake up around 6:00 6:30 and have a bottle.
2. Play with mommy for a bit then play in exersaucer or play with daddy while mommy takes a shower.
3. Breakfast around 7:30
4. Take a bath and play a little more. (we do baths in the mornings because thats just what works for lawson, he DOES NOT like them before bed)
5. Nap around 8:30 until 10 or 10:30
6. Have a little snack, (Lawson wont take a bottle right now anymore!) maybe juice, or crackers or something.
7. Go out and run errands or play or whatever
8. Come home have a bottle and nap around 1:30 or 2:00 until 3:00 or 4:00
9. Have small snack, usually nothing more that a finger food type thing. (wagon wheel, piece of toast)
10. play outside (or inside if its yucky) with daddy.
11. Dinner around 6:00
12. play some more, read a story tell everyone good night and in bed by 7:00
That will all change soon though because he will have to go to school with me at 8:45 every morning...not sure how thats gonna go yet!
Yay...thanks for all the good info you guys!
"PS...I do shower...."
That TOTALLY made me laugh. =)
I like this one a lot because I love to know how other mothers do their days! So I thought I would join in too!
http://kristen2711.blogspot.com
Your post makes me realize how much more work 3 is than 2. And how much work my 11 year old is! LOL! My day used to be a lot like yours, but now it's pretty much chaos. I hope to get a better handle on it when school starts. We'll see. ;)
My boys are Adam 3.5 and Rowan 1.5 We really don't have much of a schedule unfortunately. This is something I am trying to accomplish as of late though because I will be homeschooling in a couple of years.
Our days usually go something like this:
I try to get up at 5:30 so I can get a walk in(yes, walk. I don't run) before my hubby leaves for work. Both boys are almost always up by 6:30.
We go potty\change diaper and then go eat breakfast.(I have been trying to get them dressed before breakfast lately as well because I have a tendency to neglect this sometimes.) My oldest is also a slow eater and we usually get done between 7:15 & 7:30.
When breakfast is done the boys play while I try to clean up the kitchen. I also try to start a load of laundry about now too.
Next I get on the computer for a bit and then we go outside. I make an effort to keep them out for an hour minimum because they have a *ton* of energy and playing outside helps them to burn it off. Sometimes we don't stay out that long because there are things to be done in the house and they are too little to play out by themselves.
We come in and by now it is about 10:30 or 11:00 so I put a movie on. My youngest only sits for about 15 minutes and I make lunch during this time. My goal is to have them eat at 11:30.
When lunch is over and done with they kind of just run around and play for awhile and right before nap we do the whole clean-up and go potty routine which just means that I help them pick up all of the toys. I try not to pick up too many myself because they are quite capable of doing it without me and I feel it teaches them to clean up after themselves. And no, my youngest is not too young. He knows exactly where everything goes and is quite cooperative most of the time. They just require my supervision or they get distracted.
Then it is story time and straight to bed after that. I am one of the fortunate ones that gets at least two hours to myself in the afternoon. I also spend most of it on the computer or reading. Sometimes I go out and mow the lawn or weed or so on. Lately it has been too hot to do this during the afternoon.
The boys get up about 3:00-4:00 and I let them finish their movie(about 30 min. worth is left of it)and have a snack while I clean a little. I wait until this time of day as well, because it just seems pointless to do it earlier in my house. Then it's on to dinner preparations.
We eat around 6:00 normally and I am trying to discipline myself to get it ready sooner(about 5:30) so we have more evening time.
Daddy doesn't usually get home until 6:00-7:00 and they like to go outside and "work" with him while I clean up the dinner mess.
At about 7:30 we start getting ready for bed. I only bathe my children every other night but I find that they need one almost every night in the summer due to the uncanny attraction to dirt and gravel that they seem to have aquired. So we bathe, brush, potty, and jammie-up. Then we read a story, preferrably a Bible story, and say our prayers and tuck them in. This is always between 8:00 & 8:30.
After they are down I finish my cleaning which usually consists of folding laundry or vacuuming and then relax. My hubby always has some project to do until dark and then he comes in and showers and we visit until around 10:00 or so. Then I shower(just a tip:showering at night works really great when you're a mom by the way) and we hit the sack at about 10:30 or 11:00. This we are altering as well because we're just tired dang-it!
I also try to get my devotions in before they get up in the mornings and all of this goes out the window on Thursdays when we go to my mom's for the day. Oh yeah, weekends are completely sporadic too.
How many times have I said "try" or "trying" in this comment? =)
As I mentioned a lot of this is subject to change very soon because I am going to definately get on a schedule so that schooling will be easier when the time comes. I am also *trying* to incorperate an afternoon walk with the boys as well.
Have a great day!
I love this topic, as I am a very "scheduled" person and live by my routines. Having said that, I am longing for the day when my boys (6 & 4) start back at school because that means a return to our scheduled days. Summertime means that we get to lounge around in the mornings unless there is somewhere we *have* to be, and mealtimes are pretty flexible too. They spend most of the day either playing (or fighting) inside or outside if it's nice, swimming at our neighborhood pool, or at a nearby water park. I am blessed enough to have my husband home for the summer since he is a teacher, and it is a blessing.....however, having him home also adds to the unstructured-ness (not a word, I know) of our day. I find that I am LESS productive over the summer when there are two adults in the house than during the school year when it's just me with three kids!! How can that be?? We do make an effort to get the kids in bed by 8:00 during the summer, and they are usually asleep within 10 minutes after a long day of playing. I do love summertime, but I'm ready to get back to my routines!!
I have two boys ages 2 1/2 and 14 months. Here is what my day looks like.
7:30- We wake up and eat breakfat.
Seems like breakfast is the longest meal of the day. By the time they eat I have my coffee it is after 9.
9:00ish (sometimes later sometimes sooner)
PBS comes on and I unload and load the dishwasher and straighten up from breakfast. Unfortunatley, my 2 yr old is not a big TV watcher. Hubby thinks it is good, but if you are home all day with the kiddos, 5 minutes to get things done is bliss.
9:30 Getting Dressed
We all head upstairs to get dressed. Me first (I shower at night) I put the boys is my oldest room and they play together while I primp. When I am done I get the boys dressed.
10:00 Get Out
I try and get the boys out of the house everyday, even if we just play in the yard. We usuall play till lunch. If not we have play group or errands.
11:30 Lunch
12:00 Go back out or paly in the house.
1:00 Naptime
Not much rest for me I clean up toys and kitchen and other odds and ends to be done around the house.
3:30 Outside
We play outside before dinner.
4:30 Daddy's Home
5:00ish Prepare Dinner
Boys come inside and play while I cook.
6:00ish Eat and clean up from dinner.
7:00-7:30ish Playtime with mom and dad.
7:30 Bath Books Bed
8:30 I Shower!!!!!!!!!
9:00 I watch TV, read or paly on the computer.
Tracy
Great topic, Erin! Buddy Poster at Mishpacha!
Great topic. I'm in the middle of setting up a "new" schedule for us due to homeschooling first grade this year with my daughter and also having my son who's 4 and needing to keep him busy/occupied. We've been pretty fly by the seat of our pants this summer and that's all coming to a halt! I have nothing set yet and have loved looking through what others are doing. I'm going through the MOTH~Managers of Their Homes from www.titus2.com, neat site with great info about schedules!
I'm not going to post our schedule...with baseball and traveling it would stress.you.out. But I liked hearing yours! You really have it together girl!!
I like what you have done with Sarah's nap, I may try that with my daughter.
Our schedule has been kind of out of whack since the summer (need to get back on one so they are ready for school to start!), but you can check us out at
http://asthecrazycroweflies.blogspot.com
I have 5 kids so they keep me hopping! 3 boys (ages 8,2 1/2 and 1) and 2 girls (ages 6 and 4).
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