NotSoObvious Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 What about non-school days? If your kids have a structured day, what about you? How much structure is in your day? Does everyday have the same routine? Do your days provide for a lot of down time, or does everyone in your family keep moving with a "to do" list? How much free time do your kids have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Our non-school days are not at all structured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 We're very structured. Or rather I'm very structured. I really need a routine or I lose momentum. School days are very, very structured on the whole. The boys also have quite a lot of activities over the weekend too, so we mostly feel as though we're on a bit of a treadmill. The boys do have a bit more down time at the weekend, but not always as much as they'd like. This past week, with Christmas, we've had a big party and then family visiting, and I've really missed my normal routine; life has felt quite chaotic and I feel totally wrung out. It was fun though. I find that structure and routine help me achieve a lot without getting too worn out, but then life can get a bit boring. We probably do need to be a little more spontaneous and fun a bit more often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 We have no structure on non-school days. We may have things imposed on us from outside our four walls, but that's it. We eat when we're hungry, we nap when we are tired. We play; we do some chores. It's very soothing and healing for us. I've recovered enough to do some extra chores, and I think I will be ready to start school fully energized next week. Our school days are exhausting, and we all really needed this break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 We always have some structure. Our early morning routine is the same whether it is a school day or not. The only difference is that the routines might shift a bit later in time. We have basic chores - animal care, daily hygiene (which some reason I've lumped with chores), meal prep and clean up and to some degree laundry - which have to happen every day and some, like animal care cannot be put off too long. On non-school days I ask the kids to tell me their plans so that they don't end up in front of a screen the entire time. Just having to do that seems to help them to think up fun things to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshin Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I am very structured, that's just how I roll. I wasn't raised in a highly structured environment, but even as a child I made lists of routines and followed them. It must be an innate thing! I have a strict structure to my personal morning and evening routines and to our school days. I have a to-do list, organized by day, that I work through every day. I assign certain tasks to certain days. My children are not that structured outside of school, other than daily chores must be completed at certain times and every Sunday morning is cleaning/weekly chore day. My eldest is fairly structured on his own with his free time, my youngest is not. DH is not structured at all and doesn't follow any routine as far as I can tell! I even schedule down time into my daily routine. It is almost a fault with me. I even have a written-out "emergency routine" for when something comes up that messes with my daily or weekly routine. It's a bare bones routine I implement as needed, such as when my father was hospitalized for several weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 What about non-school days? If your kids have a structured day, what about you? How much structure is in your day? Does everyday have the same routine? Do your days provide for a lot of down time, or does everyone in your family keep moving with a "to do" list? How much free time do your kids have? Non school days are not structured. We do cleaning on the weekends, usually on Sunday. Dh needs down time from work, I need planning time for the next week and I catch up on my sleep. Ds stays up half the night and sleeps until noon or later. I usually go to the store on the weekends. We are boring. Right now it's 1:30 and ds still isn't up. I think he stayed up really late last night watching The Mentalist DVDs. We're pretty low maintenance, plus it's freezing outside and no one wants to go out. When it's not vacation time, ds goes to bed at 11 on school nights, later on Friday and Saturday. He helps with every dinner and has some chores throughout the week. He vacuums on the weekends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinivanMom Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I have babies, so all of my days are pretty structured. We get up and nurse by a certain time, eat meals and snacks at certain times, and have pretty firm naptimes and bedtimes. Beyond that we are pretty relaxed on weekends and holidays. Schooldays are completely structured, though. I couldn't get everything done and meet everyone's needs if there wasn't a plan and a routine. Plenty of downtime and playtime is scheduled into that routine, but it still happens within the framework of our overall schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justme824 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 We have routine, but it isn't too structured. We only school 3-days per week and on those days we are done with what I consider 'must dos' by 9:30 (in this order: breakfast, read aloud, Latin, dressed, chores for my olders, math, and copywork) - one day of the week we are out of the house for a class by 8:00am - and Friday is a catchup day if needed. Then we move into the rest of our morning, which is always different. Routine picks up with lunch/read aloud/nap (for the toddler), then routine again at the dinner hour through bedtime. I am not a stickler on the routine, but they do tend to be the same each day. I allow plenty of down/free time to explore their own interests, but I also use those pockets of time for projects, experiments, detailed math lessons, field trips, classes, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violingirl Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 On non- school days we often have outside things to do depending on the season- spring/summer/fall we have at least 1 soccer or baseball game to get to on Saturdays and church on Sundays. But a day like today- no school and nothing outside to get to, my day is structured around the baby. We do have a set lunch time, dinner time, and bedtime as a family, but otherwise the boys are essentially left to their own devises once they take care of their daily chores in the morning. DS2 paints and draws a lot, so he spends a lot of his free time in the studio. DS1 spends a bunch of time with legos on days like today. Depending on how much house stuff I have to catch up on I usually join DS2 in the studio while baby naps. Today is a little weird- DS2 has a sprained ankle so he's been playing xbox for way longer than we usually allow around here, but it's kept him off his ankle (which is ridiculously hard to do with a 5-year-old boy!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 We have a general routine on school days, but it's pretty flexible. Get up, dd has her screen time for the day while I wake up, drink coffee, hang out here, then we do school, lunch, errands/activities/therapies/etc, and free time. Our non-school days are pretty much the same, but with free time for dd/cleaning for me instead of school stuff. I have no issues chucking the routine on days when other stuff is going on, though. Dd has quite a bit of free time, which she usually spends working on her little art projects. We have a fair amount of outside stuff that we do, like speech therapy twice a week, gymnastics to help with dd's motor delays from her genetic disorder, a play group type thing at the school, but most of that stuff falls on one day of the week. So Thursdays we run around like crazy, but the rest of the week is pretty laid back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Structured most of the time. I don't do well without one, and my hFA son needs to know what happens for each day. So our days repeat for school from Sunday-Thursday, Fridays I work, Saturdays I work a half day. I do my housework at the same time depending on which schedule is in season, and exercise using the same seasonal routine. So my routines do change--but on a regular basis, and the basic school study on really doesn't change all that much at all. They are free to entertain themselves during the times I exercise or do housework, which is four hours of free-time a day, with a half-hour after lunch for lying down and reading and we have a poetry recitation and tea every day (except Friday and Saturday) that we look forward to. After evening chores they are welcome to play or read while I read, write or study for about an hour. I don't organize what they do in their free time, just set the times for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyinTN Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 When we are off from school...unless we have plans everyone does their own thing. School days are much more structured in order to get lots accomplished. I have a lesson plan for the week and by Friday evening I want everything checked off and graded. I like having my weekends to do fun stuff as a family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 We are very structured on school days. On the weekends, I am still pretty structured; dh also, but the kids are given more open time. In my regular life (not now - Christmas break), I have one child in private school, so I drive her to and pick up from, I work in dh's business two days a week and I'm taking college classes. We also have whatever sports or other activities any of the kids are involved in during a given season. With all of these necessary time constraints, it is quite important that we are structured in other areas or we would not be able to accomplish what we need/want to accomplish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Non-school days have zero structure. It used to bother me, but now I take the time to relax and get some things done I otherwise don't. Come to think of it, school days aren't nearly as structured as they used to be. THAT, I need to fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excelsior! Academy Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Structured. Nap times and meal times are the basis for our routines. Half my children are 6 or under and dh comes home for lunch, so those set our schedule. If we don't base everything around those two things fall apart or don't get done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 School days - quite structured. Saturdays - semi-structured. On Saturdays, the kids can't come out of their rooms for breakfast until rooms are cleaned. Then, after breakfast, they have their Saturday chores, which could take from 1/2 hour to.... well, all day depending on how much they dawdle. After chores are done, the day is theirs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoObvious Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Ok, thanks everyone. I am watching that stupid World's Stircktest Parents show and thinking I need to be more structured. But then again, I have super good kids, so maybe it's fine. But what if they start turning??!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawlas Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I have babies, so all of my days are pretty structured. We get up and nurse by a certain time, eat meals and snacks at certain times, and have pretty firm naptimes and bedtimes. Beyond that we are pretty relaxed on weekends and holidays. Schooldays are completely structured, though. I couldn't get everything done and meet everyone's needs if there wasn't a plan and a routine. Plenty of downtime and playtime is scheduled into that routine, but it still happens within the framework of our overall schedule. This is me too. I need the scheduled downtime, even now that my babies are a little older, to be ready to answer the next round of questions afterwards lol. When I let the routine slide completely, none of us are at our best. Meals, snacks, outside time, quiet time, bath and bedtime are all done evry day. Wnat we do in between that - structured or free - depends on the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Ok, thanks everyone. I am watching that stupid World's Stircktest Parents show and thinking I need to be more structured. But then again, I have super good kids, so maybe it's fine. But what if they start turning??!! :) Having routines is a tool. It can aid in productivity. It can aid in providing kids with security. It is a vitally necessary tool for some families who need that tool. It can be a "nice" tool for other families who appreciate it but don't require it. It may be detrimental for some, but I have a hard time imagining that. Use structure if you need it but it won't guarantee good kids or a clean house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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