Who does what when? moms of younger kids

[kathkath]

I'm curious to know your schedule for a typical day, as it includes school-related activities as well as non-school things such as laundry, meal prep and cleanup, chores etc. Please share who does what and when. Do you follow a managers of their homes schedule??

 

Thanks!

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

My ideal schedule looks like this:

 

7:30-9:00 - Work and/or get ready for school

9:00-10:00 - Get my girls up and ready

10:00-12:00 - School

12:00-1:00 - Lunch/cleanup

1:00-2:00 - Work

3:00-4:00 - Play outside

4:00-5:00 - Straighten up and start dinner

5:00-6/7 - Dinner and family time

7:00-8:00 - Work

8:00-9:00 - Bath/snack/show

9:30 - Bedtime/time for me to watch my shows and eat sunflower seeds

 

I try to loosely follow it, but it doesn't always work out. I don't work as much as I should, and my house is always messy. But I still try to use this as a general guideline, in the hopes that someday it will just be routine.

 

Good luck figuring yours out!

[2squared]

How much younger are you looking for? Mine are definitely young. :) Here's our general schedule:

 

breakfast

morning chores for kids (I monitor and help the youngest)

I shower & get dressed

morning chores for me while kids play (clean-up kitchen, laundry, dishes, other tasks screaming for attention)

10:00 Take dd to public school PE or art

run errands while waiting for dd

11:15 Return home

lunch

1yo puts herself down for nap

15-20 min quiet time for everyone (I need a nap now that I'm pregnant)

90 min of schooling for 7yo 2nd grader (5yo & 3yo play near us)

20 min of schooling for 5yo Ker (7yo reads silently, 3yo plays near us)

play time - usually outside for older two or three

4:00ish pickup entire house, prep beds for bedtime

dinner prep (7yo & 5yo take turns helping)

dinner

free time

7:30 1yo bedtime

7:35 I collapse in bed (1st trimester exhaustion)

Who knows what happens after this???!!!

 

I used to read aloud to the kids before bed time and then snuggle with each one before they went to sleep.

[Melenie]

Mine are 6 and 3. Here is what our typical day looks like.

 

7:00 mom out of bed and start making breakfast and lunch for DH - kids are normally playing already

8:00 The kids and I eat breakfast, I clean up breakfast dishes

8:30-9:30 back into my bed for Bible, phonics, science reading and memory work

9:30-10:30 The kids play while I make beds and straighten the house. Normally do a load of washing as well.

10:30-11:30 Handwriting, puzzle or game and some computer time for mom. (play for the kids in between) We eat lunch early.

11:30-2:00 We all pile into the kids room for read-aloud and then quiet time. My 3 year old naps and the 6 year old and I sneak out for Math, (history, science, FLL, geography or whatever subject we do that day - one per day)

2:00 If the weather is good the kids play outside or we go to whatever planned activity we have. Cold weather they do crafts or mess up the house!

This is my time to clean up some more, fold washing and prep the kitchen for dinner.

3:00 Do what we want to - I plan some school activities and they play with friends or each other.

4:00 I make dinner

5:00 we eat

6:00 bath

7:00 girls go to their bedroom, tidy it, then we read stories and they have quiet time (6 year old reads and 3 year old looks at picture books).

8:00 lights out

This is my time to finish up prep for school the next day.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Melenie

[ChristusG]

:lurk5: I'll be watching this. Mine are three and almost six. I really NEED some sort of schedule because I feel like my days are passing me by in a blur and I have no idea what we do all day long because nothing seems to get accomplished.

 

My big issue is that I exercise....so I need to get up early to do it. However, I'm also a night owl and I love my time after EVERYONE has gone to bed when it is just me. But in order to get up early to exercise around 6 AM, I need to be in bed at a decent time. But I hate the thought of that! I love my night owl time. And I do not want to exercise during my night owl time LOL.

[BakersDozen]

Way back when I had just young 'uns this is what our day looked like:

 

Up, beds made, dressed, breakfast; Mom start laundry load

 

Walk (in warm weather) or indoor exercise (all together)

 

Devotion/worship

 

Basic school with older ones; younger ones have room time/play by me

 

Snack break; Mom hangs laundry

 

Play time while Mom cleans (one 20-minute chore/day); kids age 3 and up have their own chores

 

video/TV (this was when Mr. Rogers was still on so we usually watched that) while Mom gets lunch ready

 

Lunch

 

Walk (unless downpour or blizzard) or play time together

 

Mom read out loud (younger kid books)

 

Everyone naps/quiet time in bedrooms

 

Snack and chapter book

 

School if not finished in the morning with older ones; younger ones table activity (coloring, Play Dough, etc.)

 

Clean up house

 

Walk (yes, we walk/get outside a lot!) or to park

 

Get dinner ready

 

--------

Having this routine helped keep our days calm and peaceful even with 4 age 4 and under.

[kathkath]

Thanks ladies that is very helpful. I love the doing work in mama's bed!! awesome!! Mine will be 6, 4, and almost 2 in the fall. crazy times.

[hmschooling]

Mine are 8,6,3, and 3months (nursling!) I try to have school done by lunch. Now that the weather is getting warm, I'll likely try to have some play time worked in in the mornings as well. That will push some school until after lunch, but oh well. I have to keep the Wii fit time in the mornings b/c that is my post-baby workout! LOL

 

Here's our typical day:

 

I get up between 5 and 5:30 (ideally!) and get a shower, nurse baby and get him back to sleep, check email, enjoy the peace and quiet

6:30ish I start a load of laundry, do a quick tidy in the kitchen, living room, and school/dining room

7:00 some of the kids roll in, make their beds, dress, and we start breakfast

8:00 finish and clean up breakfast, anyone not dressed gets dressed, put clothes in dryer, then we start our Wii Fit together (I have the controls and balance board, they play along beside me :) )

8:30 I'm done with Wii Fit, two big kids have their turns on it, and I nurse baby and do Little Hands to Heaven with 3yo

9:00 I send 3yo to playroom with 6yo and do school with 8yo while hanging out with baby if he isn't napping

9:45 I put on a movie in the playroom for 3yo and 6yo while continuing school with 8yo

11 or 11:30 usually done with 8yo's school now and she goes to play with 3yo in playroom and I start school with 6yo

12:30 usually done with 6yo's school now and we break for lunch

1:30-2:30 (at least!) rest and read for kids, I rest and get online

2:30 we do some chores, fold/put away the laundry (1-2 large loads per day)

3:30 Indoor fun time b/c it's been cold here! I spread some chores out during this time as well sometimes...for myself and the kids

5:00-6:30ish make, eat, and clean-up dinner

6:30 quick tidy in each room, showers, free time for whoever is not showering

7:30ish kids read in bed

8:00ish lights out for kids

9-10 is when I try to be in bed

[lotsofpumpkins]

Mine are 8, 6.5, 5, 3, and 1.5, plus we have another one on the way. I have tried schedules, but I just can't handle sticking with a schedule! Our days look something like this:

 

8 am: wake up, make breakfast, eat, get dressed, make beds, brush teeth, etc.

dd8 is supposed to practice piano before we start school

I start a load of laundry, clean off the kitchen table, etc.

We TRY to start school by 9 or 9:30, but most days it's closer to 10 am.

We do a quick devotional and work on Bible verse memory first, then the 3R's. dd8 is at a desk in the kitchen and the boys are at the kitchen table. My 1.5 year old is in her highchair coloring. Since mine are all young they all need help to some degree, so I jump around between all of them. The toddler goes down for a nap by 10:30, so I really try to get most of our work done during that time (she usually sleeps till noon). When I get a few minutes free (usually when they are working on their math workbooks) I try to keep the laundry going, start cooking lunch or doing prep for supper.

I let the children pick which order they do their subjects in. dd8 knows that when ds6 is working on phonics with me that she should do something independent like handwriting.

We eat lunch at about noon. After that we finish up whatever is left, including reading for history and science (which we sometimes do outside now that the weather is warming up).

On nice days like today I spend way too much time outside (though I did walk a lot so I got some exercise!) instead of getting the house cleaned up.

My goal is to get the house under control in the evenings so that I can concentrate on school during the morning hours (except for meal prep).

We eat supper at around 5 or 5:30, but now that we are in ball season we either eat early at 4:30 or wait till later.

Our bedtime routine is pretty consistent; I get the baby to bed by 8 and then I read to the other 4 for a while. Then if I'm behaving i get some work done. If not, i get on the computer. :)

 

As for chores, I do have a simple chart that assigns setting the table, doing dishes, sweeping the floor, and cleaning up our mudroom to a different child each day. I've been very slack about enforcing those assignments though. I'm tired from being newly pregnant so I've been quite lazy lately! We save all the other chores (cleaning bathrooms, changing sheets, vacuuming, etc) for Fridays and Saturdays (we school 4 days a week year round, so we take Fridays off). I tried to schedule the chores throughout the week but they weren't getting done. I prefer to do lots on Fri/Sat and then just do the basics Mon-Thurs.

Edited March 11, 2010 by lotsofpumpkins

[Mergath]

My dd is almost 2. We just have sort of a rough schedule, nothing set in stone and planned down to the minute, but a typical day would look something like this:

 

8:30 - 9am DD and I wake up, have breakfast

9:30 As close to school as we ever get- reading alphabet books, counting, playing with shapes

10:30 I try to get some cleaning done while dd plays

11 Snacktime, then we usually go and run our errands or go to the library

1pm Lunch

1:30 I lay dd down for her nap, then I finish cleaning and have a few minutes to myself

3:30 It varies, but dd's naps usually last a couple hours; after that, we play, do more "school," maybe go on a walk

4:30 I usually get started on dinner while dh entertains dd

around 6pm Dinner

After dinner, I clean up the kitchen a bit, then we all hang out in the living room and read, or talk, or very occasionally watch a little tv. When its warm enough we'll go to the park or on a walk

8:30 dh lays dd down for her nap; I clean up the kitchen, do dishes, play on the computer

 

I work every other weekend, so those days, dh and dd's schedule looks something like: watch tv... watch tv... snack... watch tv... watch tv... Aaaargh. Men.

[alpidarkomama]

My kids are 6, 4, 3, and 2, and here's our schedule:

 

8:30, up and get dressed, morning prayers

9:00, breakfast, then play time while I unload/load dishwasher, shuffle laundry, make coffee

10:00, ALL KIDS: late morning davening (prayers), torah stories, holiday study (passover!!), Hebrew songs

SNACK

11:00, kodesh (religious) studies for DD6 (Hebrew language and grammar, reading, and spelling; Jewish laws; torah and siddur (prayerbook) study)

12:15, DD4 has Hebrew, reading, writing, math

1:00, LUNCH

2:00, DD6 has secular studies (spelling, grammar, Writing with Ease, handwriting, reading, math, and alternating days of history/science)

4:00, usually an outing to a park and throw something into the crock pot, or prep a dinner and stick around the house

5:45, leave to pick up DH at work

6:30, dinner

7:30, 10-minute pickup (work like maniacs!)

then baths and more clean up

9:00, readaloud

9:30, lights out for everyone but ME! WHOOPEE!

12:30 (or 1:00, or... oh, never mind!), reluctantly to bed (I usually spend 9:30-10:30 doing household chores, then 10:30-11:30 planning the next day, then doing whatever I feel like!