Scheduling or planning for a "Steady Day"

 We have tried 2 types of schedules the past couple of weeks. The first used specific times and lasted only 1 day, if that, because I was getting to frustrated when things weren't done by the specified time or they were done way to early. The second uses blocks of time from 20 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, and depending on the day we move blocks around. For example today we had to go to "the meat store" and if you don't get there before 11 in the morning you could be there all day, so we only used two blocks, ran our errands and then finished the others this afternoon after nap.
 So here is what we have so far. :-)

7 AM ~wake up and breakfast, depending on what we are eating that day for breakfast this can last 20 minutes or 1 hour.

30-45 minutes ~ Momma: Bible Study and coffee, possible Internet time, Seth: video.

1 hour ~Momma: clean house and start laundry, Seth: help Momma, free play.

1 1/2 hours ~Momma: walk/run/exercise DVD and shower, Seth: Grandma's/Nana's or "exercise" and shower with Momma.

20 minutes ~Momma: stuctured play with Seth (color, flashcards, read library books, play dough, etc.).

20-45 minutes ~ Play outside if the weather is good or baking time.

45 minutes -1hour ~ Momma: lunch, clean up house and dishes, nap time routine with Seth. Seth: help Momma

 I try to have Seth down for a nap right around 1, that way if he decides to sleep longer than normal he has a good two hours before lessons start at 3:30

Striving for Steady Days

A few weeks ago I got this book in the mail. This isn't the first time that I have read it, but this time I wanted my very own copy.

I found out about this book through one of my favorite blogs. www.keeperofthehome.org at a time when I needed to read some books on time management/organization/mothering. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes from the author Jamie C. Martin.

"I am not a perfect mother. Often I struggle with impatience; sometimes I lack the enthusiasm I long for. I make many mistakes, just like my children. As they are maturing as children, I am maturing as a mother. In any career, experience allows us to grow, improve, and learn. But unlike many professions, many of us mothers have never had any training to prepare us for this new job filled with diapers, tantrums and sleepless nights. We need to equip ourselves with practical tools that allow us to give our best to our young children, helping us thrive is our strengths and overcome our weaknesses. We aim for professionalism in every other area of our lives; why should our children get anything less?"

Speaking of being a contagious mother: "I'm convinced that children also want to be around this positive type of influence. If we don't love what we do as mothers, our children notice quickly, Our attitudes, positive or negative, influence them in a matter of minutes. How can we convey our love for them? By choosing to enjoy the daily tasks we perform, embracing the moments that will never be back again. We can stop what we're doing when the need attention, letting them know how important they are..."

There are four parts to this book broken up into mostly single page chapters. Part one focuses on getting organized and that is the part that I have been focusing on these past few weeks. One of the first things that I wanted to do was to work out a schedule. My goal with this was to: "create a morning routine that will allow me to run or exercise and have the house clean, while also having playtime with Seth before lunch and piano lessons" 

 In the book Jamie gives two different ways of making a schedule: using specific times or using blocks of time. Our first schedule that we tried used specific times, we didn't make it through one day with that one. It felt to confined and I was getting upset when things werent' getting done in their allotted times

 Our second schedule has worked rather well. I used blocks of time ranging from 20 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. This is what we have settled on so far. I'll give you our complete schedule next time.