What does your daily routine look like?

[MommaOfalotta]

What time do you wake up? How much time does this give you on your own before your kids wake up?

 

When do you do your household chores? Before/After school?

 

When do you have time for you? (Ex. read a book!?) :)

 

I woke up at 6:30 (about an hour before ds) and all I accomplished was a run to Tim Hortons and a shower. I really wanted to work on picking up and organizing our school stuff for the day, but even that little bit has helped so much. All last week when I tried to wake up before the kids, it didn't happen. I would set my alarm for 6:30 and ds woke up at 6:27 :lol: This kid usually wakes up 7:15-8am. He goes to bed late and wakes up throughout the night. So trying to enjoy quiet time at night or in the morning = me being more sleep deprived than usual.

 

Right now the only time I get to read (or enjoy quiet :) ) is after the kids go to bed.. Which I'm lucky to read one chapter before I fall asleep! I miss reading so much. I miss having my nails painted and my eyebrows done. I know you cant get it ALL done, but I definitely need to find a way to be more productive and also squeeze in some me time.

 

 

So... how do you do it?

 

ETA: I should add that I am an introvert, and I have discovered that waking up before my kids and giving myself the chance to have coffee and "get ready" makes a huge difference. Instead of fumbling around half asleep and changing diapers, cooking breakfast and scrambling to get dressed.. I can have a calm morning and be totally ready for them by the time they wake up. Which is why I asked Q#1. :)

[Ellie]

When the dc were young and at home, this was our regular routine:

 

We woke up together, 7:30ish. I would get up and get dressed and make my bed, then head out to the kitchen to fix breakfast. Dc would get dressed and come out; we'd have breakfast, and I'd clean the kitchen and wash my hair (yes, in the kitchen. My grandmother would be horrified, lol) while they goofed off. We were ready for Official School Stuff by 9. We ate lunch together around noon, then I read one chapter aloud from a good book. After lunch (and cleaning the kitchen) was free time, and I might vacuum (we bought new carpet right before we started hsing so I was all into vacuuming several times a week). Dinner prep started around 3.

 

We usually ate dinner around 4:30 when Mr. Ellie arrived home from work. As soon as we were finished eating, I cleaned the kitchen. Sometimes the dds had dance class in the early evening, or soccer practice; we went to church every Wednesday.

 

On nights we were home (which was most of them), we began getting dds ready for bed (baths, wash and dry hair. Yes, every night.) around 7, and dds were in bed by 8. That gave me three hours of adult time to do planning and whatnot, or just sit around with Mr. Ellie. I took a clogging class one evening a week one year. :-)  At 11, I took a shower, went to bed and read a book before turning out the light between 11:30 and 12.

 

Monday and Tuesday we stayed home; we went to the library on Wednesday, on a field trip every Thursday, and did major cleaning, including all the laundry, on Friday (one park day a month). That left weekends free for goofing off with Mr. Ellie.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

The single biggest game-changer in our house was getting the baby to sleep through the night!  LOL.  I used a relatively gentle night-weaning method, and once she figured out that there was no milk coming, she pretty much gave up on trying to wake me up.  :-)  The better a baby is sleeping at night, the earlier they want to go to bed (strangely enough...) and the later I am able to stay up since I'm getting good rest at night.

[dzingirl]

BlessedMomma, my situation is much like yours. Could not get little man to sleep til 11 last night , then was awake nursing from 5:30-7, slept til 9 and he woke me again. I'm tired. I find it very hard to get anything done and "me time" is a concept that has no relevance to my life. Wish I knew the answer,but you're not alone.

[Desert Strawberry]

I wake up when the 2 yr old does. between 5:30  :cursing:  and 7. 
I shamelessly park him ( and usually the 4 yr old as well) in front of PBS for an hour or so while I drink coffee and read. 

 

I shower ( if needed) and dress. 
 

If the older kids aren't up by 7 or 8, I wake them. They do chores, dress, etc. 
 

I cook breakfast and we eat while I start my morning chores. 

After breakfast, they start school. When I finish chores, I sit down and work 1 on 1 with whomever needs me. 

We have lunch, and the kids go outside for a break. I finish up whatever project I need to work on-folding laundry, painting a cabinet, cleaning something-or take a break. 
 

Naptime. I sit in the room with the little 2 and read until they fall asleep. Then I work with the big kids on whatever school is left to do. 

 

The little ones join us as the wake. 

 

The kids get another break when they finish all their work. They may have computer/video game time. I cook dinner. 

 

We eat. The little ones go to bed. I sit with them and read until they fall asleep. D watches a tv show with the big kids. Then the big ones go to bed. 
 

 

[mommymilkies]

I am not a morning person. I often wake after the kids, but also after dh. Dh and my 8 yo are the morning birds.

[MommaOfalotta]

The single biggest game-changer in our house was getting the baby to sleep through the night!  LOL.  I used a relatively gentle night-weaning method, and once she figured out that there was no milk coming, she pretty much gave up on trying to wake me up.  :-)  The better a baby is sleeping at night, the earlier they want to go to bed (strangely enough...) and the later I am able to stay up since I'm getting good rest at night.

 

Loving the replies. I'm waiting until after school to reply, but I HAVE to know Monica, how did you go about the night-weaning? My son is almost 13 months and has never even come close to sleeping through the night. The BEST nights he only gets up 1-2 times. Others its 3-5x a night.

 

I think I have the first child in the universe that doesn't require sleep to live.... He THRIVES on no sleep!

[pollo_la]

I wake up when my first kiddo wakes up - that is usually around 6:30, but can be slightly earlier or later (it's usually my 1 or 3 year old that wake first). I then start getting breakfast for them. It's just toast and butter, but I have to help the younger ones. In the middle of getting breakfast, I will check e-mail, forums, drink coffee, and print off anything I need for the school day. My oldest sometimes sleeps late. If she's not up by 9, I wake her up. Once my oldest is up, I take my shower. Our official start time for school is 10am, but sometimes my little ones who are up earlier do some with me before then (or do math seeds on the computer before then). My 9 year old starts math at 10 though. If the younger ones don't want to do any school in the morning, that's fine. They are free to play and explore, do crafts as well. After lunch, the 3 youngest nap. My older ones sometimes enjoy big kid play time, or big kid craft time, or we may do some read a loud time, or play outside for awhile without the littles. If the middle ones didn't do school in the morning, we will do that. It doesn't take long - only an hour max. My oldest dd will do some writing in the afternoon as well. It doesn't take her long. We have dinner. The kids play a bit after dinner. There is a movie time before bed (about an hour). In bed in the 8 - 8:30 range. I read a loud a picture book, and then a chapter out of a chapter book. The kids are then in bed. They all take books to bed. The older ones read (especially my oldest). My oldest also reads on and off throughout the day, as well as my 5 year old. Occasionally my 6 year old likes to read too in addition to her school reading. I will grab some quiet time or reading time in bits throughout the day, and in the evening after the kids are in bed, or during their movie time.  Oh, and chores are done on an as needed basis throughout the day. If I see something that needs to be done, I will ask whoever is available to help.

[AngelaNYC]

During the school year, I get up around 7am, take dh and dd(17) to the subway, come home, have coffee, and check emails.  Then I do less than an hour of cleaning.  Then ds gets up around 10am and we have breakfast.  Around noon we start on academics and (starting this year) finish up around 3.  I make dinner around 5 and we eat around 6 when dh gets home.  Several evenings a week ds will have either basketball or scouts.  Before bed I clean for about 20 minutes.  Once or twice a week ds and I go on a field trip.

 

Since ds is older (12), I have more ME time than I used to.  I read a lot, catch up on my shows, dd and I will be singing in the church choir together, and since I'm a new SAHM, it feels like I have even more time for myself.

[Heidi]

I wake up at 515.  I wake my big kids up at 600.  That gives me 45 min. in the morning.  I currently use this time to work on college assignments.

Kids go to bed at 9pm.  I have an hour from 9 to 10pm to work on college assignments again.  I also grab many moments throughout the day to zone out in front of the computer when the kids are busy doing other things.

 

I have an hour of quiet time to myself from 1pm-2pm.  Little kids are napping.  Big kids are stuck on the couch reading.  No one may talk to me.  I read and nap.

 

Chores happen before lunch/quiet time, before dinner, and then after dinner

 

Wednesday afternoons are a free time for me.  My husband works nights, so he watches the kids for a few hours while I go out.  I usually just run errands.

 

 

515: wake up, college assignments

600: big kids up/do school

715-800: breakfast/break

800: big kids do independent school work / I play with little kids, do preschool activities

1000: snack time

1200- 100: quick tidy up/ lunch break

100--200: quiet time

200-300: one on one school with Ker, then big kids

300+: big kids finish up school/play/free time

500: tidy up chores

530: dinner

630: chores/vacuum/sweep

730: get ready for bed/scriptures

800: little kids to bed

800-900: read aloud to big kids

900: big kids to bed

900-1000: college assignments

1000-1030: read, I go to bed

[julikins]

I get up at 5:30 to walk.  I'm back by 6:45, and shower, get dressed, make breakfast.

 

Wake kids at 7:15 and they get dressed and I change the baby's diaper, then we eat breakfast.  We do our family devotions and are done by 8:00 when we all have an hour of chores--going to the bathroom, making bed, feeding animals, cleaning off table and cleaning up kitchen (we don't have a dishwasher), putting in laundry.  Usually during that hour I go outside with the baby to give her some running around time.

 

We start school at 9:00 and work on mostly independent work, but I'm available for explanations, dictations, reading, etc.  We work until 12:00, but I'm making lunch (it's the main meal here), switching laundry and feeding the baby and putting her in bed from 11:00 to 12:00 usually.  We eat from 12:30-1:00 and then I read aloud (after putting the clothes in the dryer and putting in a new load) while the kids are finishing up and cleaning up the table and doing dishes.  That's my time with my feet up. 

 

Then we're back to school by 1:30 where we do our together subjects.  I'm done with the kids by 2:30 and my husband teaches science then.  If the baby hasn't woken from her nap yet, then I take some time to lay down and read or nap, depending on how tired I am.  They are usually done with school by 3:30, unless they've been dawdling, then they have to finish up what's left on their checklist. 

 

The kids can have free time, play computer, read, watch a movie, play inside or outside until our evening activities and supper.  Or we run errands, go to the doctor/physical therapist, orthodontist.  I take this time to change laundry, fold what's done and put it away, finish cleaning up the kitchen from lunch, and doing any other chores if we don't have to run errands. 

 

We have Monday nights for family night.  Tuesday and Wednesday nights we go out visiting (it's a very social society here).  Thursday and Friday nights my husband and I take turns taking care of the kids while we teach our classes.  And the weekends are just generally very busy, though we attempt to keep Saturday mornings to ourselves for cleaning and organizing.  Sunday, I try to take a nap. 

 

We try to be home from our evening activities by 8:00 but this is a very late-night society, so we have a hard time being consistent with this.  The kids take their showers and are in bed by 9:00, usually, hopefully.  I have an hour to myself or with my husband until 10:00. 

 

No wonder I'm tired...

[BoZeeCo's Mom]

I get up with the kids at 7, and make breakfast.  If I'm feeling it, I make them something elaborate. (eggs, french toast, something hot basically). Usually, my son gets the girls cereal while I throw in a load of laundry, get dressed, wash face and hopefully clean a bathroom.  We always start school right after breakfast.  Usually between 7:30-7:45.  I like to get the "bad subjects" over with first thing.  Math and spelling.  They are the most intensive for me in terms of instruction, and while my son is doing that I have my older daughter working on her letters and doing math.  My youngest has coloring books that she's not allowed to see until school time, or Playmobil or Calico Critters, puzzles, you know, that kind of thing.  I find that if we do the subjects that are more intense right when he gets up, he's less resistant, and more pleasant to be around.  It also helps that right at the end of this time (around 8:30-9) he sees all of his friends from the neighborhood headed off to school.  I do not miss an opportunity to point out to him that they are just getting started and he is finishing.  We do have at least one activity every day to go to, and I work the afternoon study around that.  My youngest still takes a nap, and that's when I do the Wee Folk Art (with 4 year old, but 6 year old joins in mostly), and science or history (whichever we're doing that day).  We also belong to a great homeschool group so I work in those extra activities, too.  My son reads to me throughout the day -- two pages every time he wants food, for example.  I also read to them for at least an hour every evening.  House hold chores are everyday.  Kids have to have their rooms clean before we go anywhere, and I require them to pick up their messes.  I usually spend about an hour total on chores--laundry, cleaning kitchen, etc.  The way I get my alone time is that they go to bed early.  Between 6PM-7PM every night.  It is lovely and wonderful and they are allowed to play quietly as long as they stay in their own rooms.  

 

Night weaning:  Have you tried giving a glass of water when he wakes?  

[Mom22ns]

This year, I get up at 5:00 and workout, then shower and ds gets up around 6:00. My kids are older, so if I need time to myself I can always have it and I go to bed when I need to. 

 

I just want to encourage you that being an introvert and having kids around 24/7 does get easier as they get older and more independent.

[Χά�ων]

Alarm goes off at 4am. I have the snooze set for 3 5 minute intervals. I hit it twice then I log onto my e-mail while I am still in bed and goof off on my phone for 5 minutes. Then I am up, fixing breakfast and getting DS up, dressed and fed. We hit the gym from 6-7am then depending on the day depends on what else we do DS does science and history on Sundays since they are his favorite subjects and he views them as pleasure vs work. I pack math and language arts for our long days and do them in down time. We live rural but go into town 4-5 days a week for activities and to help my grandma.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Loving the replies. I'm waiting until after school to reply, but I HAVE to know Monica, how did you go about the night-weaning? My son is almost 13 months and has never even come close to sleeping through the night. The BEST nights he only gets up 1-2 times. Others its 3-5x a night.

 

I think I have the first child in the universe that doesn't require sleep to live.... He THRIVES on no sleep!

 

Sounds a lot like my kiddo(s).  They would probably ALL still be nursing at night if I let them.  lol. 

 

Here is the article that really inspired me to work on this- http://drjaygordon.com/attachment/sleeppattern.html and gave me an idea of how to do it.  Even though the article is aimed at co-sleepers, she was long since out of our bed before I used the techniques.  I'm not going to lie and say no crying was involved, but all crying was in my arms, so that helped a little.  :-)  Also, the more involved dad can be during this process, the easier it is.  Remind him it's only for a week or two that you need the help. 

 

Good luck!!! 

[craftymama]

Loving the replies. I'm waiting until after school to reply, but I HAVE to know Monica, how did you go about the night-weaning? My son is almost 13 months and has never even come close to sleeping through the night. The BEST nights he only gets up 1-2 times. Others its 3-5x a night.

 

I think I have the first child in the universe that doesn't require sleep to live.... He THRIVES on no sleep!

Let me assure you, you are not alone. Bug is the same.

[MommaOfalotta]

Sounds a lot like my kiddo(s).  They would probably ALL still be nursing at night if I let them.  lol. 

 

Here is the article that really inspired me to work on this- http://drjaygordon.com/attachment/sleeppattern.html and gave me an idea of how to do it.  Even though the article is aimed at co-sleepers, she was long since out of our bed before I used the techniques.  I'm not going to lie and say no crying was involved, but all crying was in my arms, so that helped a little.  :-)  Also, the more involved dad can be during this process, the easier it is.  Remind him it's only for a week or two that you need the help. 

 

Good luck!!! 

 

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

 

 

Let me assure you, you are not alone. Bug is the same.

 

This helps. :) Sorry for your lack of sleep though, lol.

[MommaOfalotta]

 

 

I just want to encourage you that being an introvert and having kids around 24/7 does get easier as they get older and more independent.

 

Thank you :)

 

There is about 5 1/2 years in between dd and ds. So before ds was born things were totally different. I didn't realize just how much alone time I was able to have. I know now that I definitely wasn't appreciating it!

 

That being said I still want (many) more dc... but I know now that its okay to ask dh to let me have the house to myself every once in a while. I had a day like this back in.... May? I think? I might be due for another here soon :)

[Ellie]

Loving the replies. I'm waiting until after school to reply, but I HAVE to know Monica, how did you go about the night-weaning? My son is almost 13 months and has never even come close to sleeping through the night. The BEST nights he only gets up 1-2 times. Others its 3-5x a night.

 

I think I have the first child in the universe that doesn't require sleep to live.... He THRIVES on no sleep!

 

Butting in. :D

 

I didn't think of it as "night-time weaning," only that it seemed to me that if by the time dd was a year old or so and eating a good meal at dinner (6ish) then probably she could sleep longer at night. So I'd nurse her around 9 and put her to bed (which I had been doing since she was 8 or 9mo). When she woke up at midnight, I took her to bed with me and we went back to sleep. After a couple of months, when she woke up at midnight, I waited to see if she'd go back to sleep...which she did after about 15 minutes. And when she woke up at 2ish to nurse, I nursed her and put her back in her own bed. After a couple of weeks, I waited to see what would happen when she woke up at 2. She rolled around in her crib and snuffled a little, and went back to sleep. By the time she was 18mo, she was sleeping from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. (which is when I'd go get her and take her back to bed with me for a few minutes of warm fuzzy snuggling). She continued nursing in the morning, and maybe a couple of times during the day, until she was 26mo. I never refused to nurse or consciously tried to wean her (other than helping her sleep through the night in her own bed).

[MommaOfalotta]

 

Night weaning:  Have you tried giving a glass of water when he wakes?  

 

Sorry for so many posts.. somehow I missed your question when I was replying to the others.

 

We actually just tried this for the first time when we were vacationing over the weekend. I've thought about doing it more since I have been worried he's drink too much milk in the middle of the night. (Whole Milk, we didn't make it very long with breastfeeding after he was born. Ugh, still breaks my heart over a year later.  :( ) We took him off of formula a few weeks ago. He was drinking 8 oz bottles every 2 hours.... 24 hours a day. :crying:

 

ETA: He usually starts making little noises and flopping around in his bed. I wait to see if he will go back to sleep (Never does, lol) or I try rubbing his back or leg and humming... works but not very often. The ONLY thing getting this child back to sleep is a bottle. The longer he has to wait for his bottle.... the louder, and more mad he gets. The second he has finished his bottle hes out like a light.

[Guest]

(((((((((hugs, mama)))))))))

 

I've only got the one Ker at home right now and we're starting school late in the year with a very relaxed schedule, but when my olders were tweens and young teens, I used to set my alarm clock for 4 AM so I could have some "alone time", which i mostly used for lesson prep. I slept on the couch in the living room, so trying to go to sleep before the kids did was only partially successful.

 

As a twentysomething mom of young children, I took great pride in the fact that I didn't leave my kids with sitters. Now that I'm closer to 50 than 40,  I am so over that and grateful for all the "honourary aunties and uncles" in my son's life and more than happy to compensate them for their time when they watch him.

 

My olders were screen free, but they had each other to play with so that just isn't realistic for little ds.

 

In spite of toppling off my own pedestal, I sure am glad you had the courage to post this question because you're not the only one who is going to benefit from the replies.

[Hoot]

My day looks a little something like this:

4am - Get up and get dressed.  Feed the cats.

 

5am - Make sure DS is up, remove breakfast bags & water from the fridge and put them in the car.  Feed the reptiles.

 

5:30am - Out the door, stop at the park and walk a mile or two on the way to work.

 

6am - At work (1 hr. earlier than is necessary).  Eat packed breakfast and read while DS eats and starts on his school work.  This early, schoolwork typically consists of listening to an audio of his Spanish vocab., Biology vocab., or Biology textbook while he eats.

 

7am - 8:30am - Work while DS does school work.  He typically completes literature, vocab., grammar and Spanish during this time.  Finish and leave work.

 

9am - 4pm - These are our primary school hours.  We typically get school work done, go to co-op, do drum or karate lessons, run any necessary errands, and go to the library during these hours.  What actually happens varies from day to day. 

 

As soon as I get home from work (around 9am if I don't have anywhere to go immediately afterward) I make and pack the next morning's breakfast and lay out the next day's clothes.  I also pack lunches if the next day is a co-op day.

 

Showers are usually taken the night before so that the morning's go faster.

 

I clean, read, and do my own lessons while DS is doing his school work. 

 

DS is in bed by 9pm and I'm asleep by 9:30.

 

 

[I.Dup.]

I am not a morning person, so I will never be one that voluntarily tries to wake up at 4 or 5 am. The 2yo usually wakes up around 6am, I put him in his high chair with a bottle and turn PBS on for an hour while I go back to bed with the baby. The other kids come out between 6 and 7. I get up and get them breakfast at 7. It's easy stuff like dry cereal or peanut butter/honey sandwiches.

 

The older 2 start their math at 7:30. One of the problems with my initial schedule was that I tried to do something with the youngers while the olders worked on their math, and that didn't work out well at all since they (the olders) need quite a bit of instruction, and I was constantly interrupted. They have 1 hour to do their math, and then they start their chores at 8:30.

 

I start school with all the youngers (1st grader, K'er, preschool) at 8:30. We read for 30 minutes, then I work for an hour with my 1st grader, then I do preschool work with the younger 2. I do this while nursing the baby.

 

We stop at 11am, and I fix lunch. Right now we are done with schoolwork by 11am, but my oldest will be adding in history next week, and that will take her another 1-2 hours in the afternoon.

 

Nap for 2yo is 12:30. They get screen time in the afternoons while I rest with the baby.

 

Our evenings are outside play, work/chores for me, dinner, etc.

[Mom22ns]

Sorry for so many posts.. somehow I missed your question when I was replying to the others.

 

We actually just tried this for the first time when we were vacationing over the weekend. I've thought about doing it more since I have been worried he's drink too much milk in the middle of the night. (Whole Milk, we didn't make it very long with breastfeeding after he was born. Ugh, still breaks my heart over a year later.  :( ) We took him off of formula a few weeks ago. He was drinking 8 oz bottles every 2 hours.... 24 hours a day. :crying:

 

ETA: He usually starts making little noises and flopping around in his bed. I wait to see if he will go back to sleep (Never does, lol) or I try rubbing his back or leg and humming... works but not very often. The ONLY thing getting this child back to sleep is a bottle. The longer he has to wait for his bottle.... the louder, and more mad he gets. The second he has finished his bottle hes out like a light.

 

Have you tried removing dairy from his diet? My ds did the exact same thing. He drank a gallon of milk every 2 days crying for it every 2 hours. We switched him to soy milk and removed all dairy and he started sleeping through the night immediately. It was like a miracle!

[My3girls]

7:30 Wake - get ready for the day, take out the dogs, eat breakfast and read.

8:30 Clock into work-  enter comments from the day before and get kids daily plan ready between calls and emails

9:30 Wake Kids and let them watch TV, play on iPods, free read, etc...

10:30-11:30 Kids get ready for the day and eat breakfast

11:30-12:30 Kids do chores

12:30-1:30 Littles take turns reading level appropriate books to me (my lunch break)

2:00-5:30 Kids do independent work.  They each have a desk in my office.  They ask questions and get a little help when needed between my phone calls. (The littles only work about 1.5 hrs during this time, but dd11 works the whole time)

5:30-8:00 Dinner and Cross Country or outside play depending on the day. I do a few chores and/or piddle on the internet during this time.

8:00-10:00  Take turns with one on one time with mom.

10:00 Kids go to their rooms.  They get 30 minutes to read if they want or lights out.

10:00-12:00 Switch out a load of laundry and read to keep ahead of dd11.  If I am caught up on reading for HS, then I can read my book or piddle on the internet some more.

12:00 My bedtime

 

We school Sunday through Thursday.  This is our Monday - Thursday schedule.  Friday they wake up, get ready, and do chores at the same time, but the rest of the day is theirs.  On Sunday, they sleep til they get up and we start school around 2:00pm.  We usually do whatever we didn't get to during the week, any experiments or project work, and our nature study.

 

[Rachel]

What time do you wake up? How much time does this give you on your own before your kids wake up?

 

When do you do your household chores? Before/After school?

 

When do you have time for you? (Ex. read a book!?) :)

 

I woke up at 6:30 (about an hour before ds) and all I accomplished was a run to Tim Hortons and a shower. I really wanted to work on picking up and organizing our school stuff for the day, but even that little bit has helped so much. All last week when I tried to wake up before the kids, it didn't happen. I would set my alarm for 6:30 and ds woke up at 6:27 :lol: This kid usually wakes up 7:15-8am. He goes to bed late and wakes up throughout the night. So trying to enjoy quiet time at night or in the morning = me being more sleep deprived than usual.

 

I get up around 7, my 5 & 1 year old usually get up around 8.  My 3 year old wakes up early.  I taught her that the first number on the clock has to be a 7 before she is allowed to come downstairs.  If it isn't 7 yet, she has to stay on her bed.  When she wakes up really early, she'll go back to sleep.  If it's a little before 7 she usually looks at a few books before making an appearance.  The 7:00 rule was much easier to teach my 5 year old since he isn't a morning person, I'm still working on my 3 year old.  My 1 year old is in a crib, so when he wakes up early, he just plays or tries to wake up his brother until I get him, but I rarely get him before 7.  I don't want to start my day earlier than that.

 

Although I like my house pretty neat, I've allowed my standards to relax for now.  I focus on one big chore a day which I do while the kids nap/rest in the afternoon (bathrooms, mopping, etc.).  I run the dishwasher every night, even if it isn't completely full because it helps keep me on track with the dishes.  The 2 bigger kids unload it every morning after breakfast (as best they can).  I try to keep up with picking up throughout the day.  The kids all go to bed about 7:30, my husband usually does bedtime, while I clean up the kitchen.  Anything else that has to be done, gets done after the kids are in bed.

 

I only have one school age child right now, and he's just in kindergarten, so school isn't taking up as much of our day as it could.  I'm sure our schedule will change in coming years.

 

As far as me time goes, I don't have near as much now as I did even a year ago.  But the kids are usually finished with breakfast before me, so I'll read a bit while I finish breakfast.  Or I'll sit on the patio and read while they play in the backyard.  It may be just a bit here and there, but there is time.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

AMDG

6.00-- ALARM, press the snooze button

6.15-- ALARM, press the snooze button

6.30 -- ALARM RUN!

-- we get ready quick, take care of the animals, and walk out the door at 6.45

7.00 -- mass or adoration

8.00 home and straight to work. Daughter gets books, etc while I get brekkie.

8-12ish -- we do all the work we do together.

Lunch

1ish- 4ish-- she does everything she doesnt need me for.

 

I sew, read, work, whatever in the afternoon and some in the morning, too.

 

I cook pretty much all day. I often start the meal in the morning and tend to it off and on all day. I read periodically all day too.

 

What I dont do is clean the house. I hate housekeeping . . . With a passion. I do the minimum during the week and do more on the weekends with help from my family.

 

Sorry, isn't it.

 

6.30 or so-- supper, clean the kitchen, relax.

8 or so -- walk

9 or so -- get our morning ready.

9.30 or so -- prayers and bed.

10ish -- sleep

 

We walk earlier and go to bed earlier in winter.

[Coco_Clark]

6:30 I wake up. Shower. Pray. Drink Coffee. Check email/facebook. Maybe even read.

 

7:30 DS1 and DS3 wake up. They eat breakfast, get dressed, start playing. I'm still doing all of the above.

 

8:30 DS5 finally wakes up and we all pray together, then we do "morning time" which is 45 minutes of read aloud, poetry, memory work, ect. Then DS5 eats breakfast and gets dressed (he's incapable of such motion until he's been up for nearly an hour or so, so this works out well)

 

9:45 We leave the house almost every day. We are social bodies like that and extroverts every one of us. Monday we stay home to deep clean the house, but T/TH we have art and music classes and W/F we have a standing playdate and a standing park group.

 

12:15 We are home for lunch. DS1 goes down for nap. We do 45 minutes of the 3 "r"s at the kitchen table, DS5 by force and DS3 by choice. Sometimes DS3 plays with playdough or blocks instead. They are then released and I get to spend whatever remains of naptime on the computer or reading. Its usually a bit over an hour of "me" time.

 

3:00 Baby wakes up and we regroup for a final 45 minutes of school (History or Science). Fridays they get to watch a documentary or educational film.

 

4:30 Clean-up time for the kids. I direct while they put things where they belong and wipe down the bathroom. We do all the dishes for the day and put them in the dishwasher. I start dinner.

 

5:00 my husband gets home.

 

5:30 We have dinner together. Wednesdays we leave for church. Every other night we are home.

 

7:30 Bedtime. We all pray together and they do their "daddy" books. Lights out by 8.

 

Anytime between 9-12 I finally get the DS1 down and I get to go to sleep ;)

[Maela]

My ideal day (which has been actually happening often this year!):

6 - I wake up and have my coffee, mess around on the computer or read

7 - start breakfast, quick tidying, maybe a few exercises, plan for dinner

7:30 - kids' alarm goes off. Breakfast is ready. Afterwards they get ready. I get myself ready. I clean the litter box, feed the cats, do dishes, maybe start laundry, do dd's hair.

9:00 - outside time (this will change in October when it starts cooling down)

11:00 - school

12:00 - lunch

12:30 or 1:00 - finish up any school work we didn't get to

1:00 or 1:30 - quiet time

2:00 - chores. Kids clean up all their toys, books, and clothes while I do some deep cleaning

3:00 - tea time. We play a board game or read too.

4:00 - here's where I've been failing. This is supposed to be my time for blogging, practicing my fiddle or Spanish, and reading. Somehow we're usually a little behind in the schedule due to things that have just been coming up, so this time gets skipped.

5:00 - cook dinner

6:00 - eat dinner

7:00 - bath for kids or family walk

7:30 - start bedtime routine

8:00 - bedtime for kids. They gt to read for half an hour.

Sometime between 10 and 11 - I go to sleep.

[Embassy]

I wake up after my kids around 8 am.  

We have breakfast at 8:30 and start school afterwards.  

At our lunch break I have about 30 minutes free followed by about 20-30 minutes of work for my part-time job.

Then I resume school until 4:30.

I then go back to work until I make supper and get the kids to bed.

I usually do the day's dishes after the kids go to bed and have about an hour to myself/with dh at the end of the day.

The rest of the chores are done by the kids or wait until the weekend although I do try to keep up with washing clothes during the week.

I go to bed by 12:30-1:00.

I do things like shower and exercise at night.  

[MommaOfalotta]

Have you tried removing dairy from his diet? My ds did the exact same thing. He drank a gallon of milk every 2 days crying for it every 2 hours. We switched him to soy milk and removed all dairy and he started sleeping through the night immediately. It was like a miracle!

 

 

You know, I have wondered if its some sort of intolerance or something. I'm going to look more into this, thank you! We tried water last night.

 

3:00 - tea time. We play a board game or read too.

 

 

I really love this idea.

 

I'm also wondering if we are doing too much in 1st with dd. Either that or its just chaotic because its our first week. If our school time doesn't cut down some over the next week, I may consider replanning our curricula.

[Critterfixer]

I think the key to any routine, but even more essential with littles, is flexibility. Yes, it is "the way the day is structured" but the sure-fire way to develop disgust with a routine is to have it be your master. Routines are to help you run your day in a way that makes sense to you. They don't run you.

 

The routine that makes sense to me and my family won't be much good for a family that doesn't have 4 dogs, six cats, some very old and requiring medications, fourteen chickens and two hives of bees started from swarms going into a dearth right now. My routine now will not be the routine I use in winter. It won't be the same for late fall or spring either. We flex that routine with the rising and setting of the sun and the changes in temperature, rainfall and vegetation.

 

But, in the basic scheme of things I set it up like this.

Chores-I require an hour for morning and evening chores, and about 30 minutes at midday. Chores are defined as things that I have to do on a very regular basis, tasks that I don't have a lot of flexibility on. For instance, the chicken house must be cleaned twice weekly. It has to be cleaned in the morning. And it has to be cleaned every 3-4 days. Not too much flexibility on that. Laundry has to be done daily. It has to all be done, folded and put away by the evening. Again, no flexibility.

Meals-I know I need about 30 min for breakfast (I don't eat mostly but I have my tea) and I will need about 1 for lunch and 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours for supper. Prep time has to be streamlined. I have a menu plan posted by the sink to tell me what is for lunch and dinner every day. I try to minimize prep by cooking ahead, using leftovers in other dishes and sort of only changing the fruits and veggies for regular lunches.

School-Including breaks, all subjects, a half hour tea time and free reading, I allot the hours of 8-12, 1-4 for school. If we get done early, good for us. If not, I go to my next session, and the boys have "homework."

Housekeeping-about five days a week I do two hours of housekeeping. I base the two hours on the fact that I can do a certain amount of work in that time, and that I get very bored after two hours of cleaning and start getting sloppy.

Me Time- isn't about relaxing for me. It's about keeping myself fit to take care of the rest of the day. That might involve relaxing for some, but I'm not good at it. I just sort of need to be "doing" something all the time. Or I get bored and go sit in front of the computer too long. And our computer is very slow, so I waste too much time waiting on things to come up. I do better when my me time is sort of planned (reading, writing, exercise, gardening, movie night with the boys, etc...) I like to have one and a half to two hours for this me time. Sometimes I get it, sometimes not. But I do try to get an hour a day.

 

The flexibility of the routine is that I do get to decide the time per session, what I will do that day, and when in the day it gets done. I can even change the hours for school if it is going to be a nice week and we want to get out and do some nature study. I can happily drop one day of housekeeping work for the week if I need to go help with my father's bees, because I know that I'll get that done the next week. No big deal. I think that a routine should be liberating like that.

[happypamama]

*Right* now, my routine is a bit off, because I have a very new newborn, and my DH has been telecommuting this week (which is *awesome* because it's meant a bit more help, but it's also requiring some adjustment on everyone's parts), but in general, my ideal day looks about like this:

 

6:30 or so, I get up, shower, dress, check my email, read my Bible.  This is the hardest thing for me; I'm a natural night owl who also needs a ton of sleep (especially while waking at night to nurse an infant), so this very rarely happens, but when it does, as someone said in a previous thread, I'm a rock star all day long.

 

7:00ish, the older kids get up.  They are required to dress and do morning chores immediately (which means feeding pets, taking out trash/compost/recycling, gathering dirty laundry, putting away clean dishes), while I am making breakfast and dressing small people.  I often set up laundry the night before, putting it in the washer with the soap, and I leave DH a note to pull the knob when he gets up; this means that the first load is often washed and ready for the dryer/clothesline when I come down.  So we start the day with a solid breakfast, a tidy kitchen, and laundry well on its way to being done.

 

7:30 -- breakfast, with Bible memory work and a bit of reading (poetry, hymn study, etc.).  Then the kids clear their dishes, brush their teeth, and start their reading, while I take an hour or so to wash the dishes, vacuum/sweep, wipe bathrooms, switch laundry, and settle the small boys with something to do.

 

9:00ish -- I'm ready to sit down and work individually with each of the kids.  I would also like to find a way to schedule in a bit of a walk there, but I don't know if it'll really happen or not -- exercise is good, but keeping everyone focused and working is good too.

 

Noonish -- I've done whatever I need to do with the big kids, and they can finish working individually.  Lunchtime.  If we eat that early, we might need a snack or at least a glass of milk in the middle.

 

Afternoon -- naps for those who need it (including me), cleaning, my time for personal projects, folding laundry, whatever.  Outside play for the big kids if they've finished their work.  Snack sometime in there if they're hungry.

 

4:30ish -- I start dinner, and I assign a room or two to each of the big kids to tidy.  

 

If DH is at the office, he gets home around 5:30 (he leaves the house in the morning around 5:30 as well), and in theory, we eat then, but in reality, it's usually a little later.  This week, I've been using freezer meals that I prepared before the baby arrived, and that's been so lovely that I want to do more of that for busy school days.  In nice weather, DH often takes the three big kids for a bike ride after dinner, which is sort of a break for me, since I only have two kids at home, or they go outside for a while.  He usually does the dishes, while I do the bedtime routine (baths, teeth, jammies, reading, speech therapy exercises with the one child).

 

8:30 at the latest -- big three kids are in bed, or at least in their rooms (DD often stays up to read or draw for a while).  If the 2yo didn't nap, or if he napped early, he's usually ready for bed by then, but if not, at least I can hang out in the bedroom with him and the baby and knit or read or sometimes watch TV (depending on what I'm watching).  We adults go to sleep between 10 and 11, usually.

 

And that is rare.  It's usually later than that for everything, LOL.  But that's the plan.

 

Me time?  I go out about once a month or so to hang out with friends, and that's fun.  I also have meetings for our co-op about once a month.  I'm not really big on going out a lot, though, and what matters most to me is that I get to do the things I want to do, like knitting or reading or email/Facebook or sewing.  If I can do that stuff with the kids around, great!  DH is really great at taking 1, 2, 3, or 4 kids out for an afternoon or even the whole day if I need a real break.

 

Oh, setting up school for the next day -- I really prefer to do that in the afternoon or evening, so that it's ready to go the next morning, no matter what the morning looks like.  If I don't set it up ahead of time, we often default to just reading and math, which isn't terrible, but which also isn't enough for my older kids.

[MommaOfalotta]

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I have really enjoyed reading them and they have helped.

 

This morning I woke up earlier (while I hate the waking up part, I love being up alone in a quiet house.) Of course ds woke up 10 minutes before my alarm.. This child senses when my alarm is getting ready to go off or something, lol. But he fell asleep on the couch while I did my thing--relaxed then made breakfast.

 

The school day was completed in half the time it took yesterday. So I'm feeling great today. Still have a lot of cleaning to do, but since ds is napping I think I'm going to enjoy some me time. Since we finished early I have plenty of time for chores later.

 

Thanks to all!!!

[LindaOz]

I find my day goes better when I have a few set times for certain things and the rest of the things fit around those times.

 

So, we have a set breakfast time at 7:30.  Before that, I get up around 6ish, spend about 30 mins doing WiiFit (don't laugh, it's a good thing), nurse my baby, maybe read toddler books to my little ones, get dressed, have a shower if I'm lucky, and try to get my bed made.

 

7:30: breakfast, Bible time together, morning jobs time.

9:00: school work time.

12:00 - 12:30: lunch, then a job, then free time until......

1:30: read-aloud time. My littles go to bed and the rest of us have 'together time' for about an hour.  Kids then disperse to either finish work, or have free time, or do something extra with me.  Sometimes I get a little quiet time of my own here.

Later afternoon: I go for a walk once my baby is awake and I can pop her in the stroller.  I like this time because it gives me a lift before the evening onslaught of dinner, baths, etc. Sometimes a child will come along and it's nice to have a little one-on-one time with one of them (eight kids makes it a little tricky sometimes to do that so walking with one of them eliminates interruptions from all others :-) )

[Mom22ns]

You know, I have wondered if its some sort of intolerance or something. I'm going to look more into this, thank you! We tried water last night.

 

 

I hope it helps. For ds milk was like a drug. The more he drank the more he wanted. It also gave him "brain fog" and made his behavior more hyper and unfocused. Removing it was one of those decision I look back on as really good and so worth it!