Before I get into this post, I wanted to remind you that I share this to help those of you who are struggling with organization in your life. If however, life is going smoothly for you or you just don’t need something else added to your life right now, just skip over this post, okay? The last thing I want to do is heap guilt or more things to do onto your plate!
Once you’ve determined your big rocks and mapped out the basic framework for your day, it’s time to plan the Time Blocks in your routine. Here’s how I recommend doing that:
1. Start With a Time Budget
Take your list of priorities and follow the instructions in this post to come up with a time budget for the 24 hours in your day. (See my time budget from 2010 here for an example of how this will look.)
2. Arrange the Order For Your Day
Once you have your time budget created, take those blocks of time and put them in a set order for the day. Do not stress over doing this perfectly, just think of how to order the time blocks so things would flow fairly smoothly in your home.
For instance, here’s what my current routine looks like:
My Current Routine
Up, Bible, coffee
Run
Shower, dress
Clean up bathroom/bedroom, start laundry
Blog
Children up, baths, hair fixed
Breakfast, Bible Time, clean up kitchen
Chores, switch laundry, dinner out from freezer
Homeschooling
Reading together
Lunch, read alouds
Afternoon Routine
Homeschooling
Blogging
Free hour
Dinner, Bible Time
Evening Routine
Time with Jesse, read
3. Make Sure to Include Margin Time
If you’ll notice, I have an hour of free time built into my routine. This gives some “padding” in the routine to allow for the inevitable interruptions and things that come up throughout the day. Plus, it also provides a time block for extra projects.
4. Keep It Simple
Don’t make the mistake of trying to pack your day so full that you end up overwhelmed and burnt out. It’s better to do fewer things and actually finish them, than to attempt a massively-long list and end up frustrated. Stick with the basics and don’t forget to focus on the big rocks first.
5. Don’t Worry About Following it Perfectly
We never follow our routine exactly. I view it as a guideline, not a strict slave master. It’s there to keep us moving in the right direction, but it can be shifted and rearranged somewhat depending upon how the day is going.
Now, if you start shifting things too much, you’ll defeat the purpose of having a routine, but do give yourself some grace and don’t feel like you need to follow it to a tee or you’ve failed. Good enough is always better than doing nothing at all.
6. Keep Tweaking It
A good routine is like a good budget: you keep tweaking it as your needs and life changes. If something isn’t working, change it!
Practical Application
1. Sit down and create a time budget.
2. Take your time budget and your big rocks list and develop a simple routine for your day. Type it up so you can easily tweak it, as need be.
If you create a routine or already have one, I’d love to have you share yours in the comments section.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about how to stick with your routine, now that you’ve created it! 🙂
Up, Dress
Bible
Computer
Kids up, dress
Breakfast
Bible time with kids
Clean up kitchen
Chores
Kid time (play room or outside)
Lunch
Clean up kitchen
Time with Trevor
Bible study time
Computer time
Free time
Dinner
Clean up kitchen
Bath
Play with kiddos
Bed Time for kiddos
10-minute clean up
I was just explaining to my friend who shared how frazzled she felt with her list of To Do’s versus her list of dones, about your love of Amy’s tell your time what to do, way of scheduling, you should have seen her face when she realized after sleeping and homeschooling she had 9 hours available to her. It was like a light bulb going off, as she realized she was trying to stuff 20 hours worth of stuff into 9. She went from feeling discouraged to feeling like she was pretty productive, she just simply had too much on her plate for her day.
I work outside the home part time (3 days per week) but the days of the week vary (this week M,W,F next week M,T,Th, ect). My husband is a fire fighter gone every other day for 24 hour shifts. We have one 6 yo in school and a 3 yo at home with us. I need/want routine (type A) but our varying schedules make this a tough concept to wrap my head around. I feel like I would be more content with more routine. Anyone have suggestions? Btw, husband is my polar opposite! Help!!! :0)
Beth, I’m like you in that I work outside the home part time 3 days a week, but my 3 days are consistently M,T,W. My biggest problem is I am a part time teacher (do a job share) so on my days at home I have a 14 month old with me and a 6 year old in Kindergarten. I still have to do school work like planning, grading, parent contacts, etc. while taking care of the baby and still drop off and pick up the 6 year old. I didn’t have a good routine the last year because the baby wasn’t sleeping all night and when he finally started he was constantly sick. I feel like just now I can get a routine and I don’t know where to start, especially since I have to have different routines for the days I work and the days I don’t work and I have to include time on my off days to do work from home. It’s a major struggle. I too have a husband that is a polar opposite. Plus, I’m a perfectionist which tends to cause me to not start on anything for fear I’ll mess up. I hope to figure this out!
I laugh out loud my children often would still be up talking to themselves in a crib at 11:30 wake up several times during the night and be up for the day at 5:45 AM at the latest I was lucky if they took one nap!
I guess everyone has had different experiences but mine always wanted to be awake!
I am a 9 hour kind of gal so this schedule has killed me for 28 plus years!
By the time the children are raised and gone we will likely have grand children with us.
Or more likely already hubby can not sleep at night due to health issues so
no rest for the weary as granny use to say!
Like many other with toddlers, they are up and wanting to eat. I *try*to get up before my 2yr old does, but that doesn’t always work. No matter how quite I am. Normally he wakes up around 645-7am, which I am completely good with, because that gives me almost an hour to get a workout in or work on my school work.
I keep a composition book as my to do list. I do not do time lines. The only time I put times on my to do list is if its an appointment. Looking at what everyone else has posted, my day looks very pathetic.
Up latest 645am
Take my meds
Maybe workout (wii or P9oX)
Ds is up around 7
Breakfast
playtime for him, morning chores for me (making beds, putting dishes away from the night before, general pick up)
Lunch between 1030-1130
Nap around noon (Ds usually sleeps around 3hrs that last couple days)
More homework time for me (3 college courses keep me busy)
Start working on dinner around 4-430pm (depending on is on the menu)
Dinner plated and sitting down by 5-6pm
Bath and night time routine at 7pm
General pick up, lunch prep for Dh
Bed for Dh and I around 930-10pm
-sometimes bed later for me depending if I still have homework to do or not.
I do run errands during the day. I try to run them between breakfast and lunch. I multi-task with laundry.
I’ve found that once I set specific times for a few things in our lives – lunch, nap, dinner, bedtime – everything else falls into place. Our weekly routine works this way too. I always work Monday and Thursday afternoons/evenings, go to the gym Tuesday and Thursday, shop on Wednesday and/or Friday, etc .. Of course, I don’t homeschooling and have only one child at home during the day which is much different than many of you other Mamas. I’m already thinking ahead to summer with both boys at home and next fall when the younger will start K3.
I’m a freelance musician and it took me almost four years to learn how to effectively manage my time. Then I had kids and it took me almost another four years to get back into the swing of things and have things running smoothly. Maybe I’m a slow learner. 🙂
What I would say about cleaninf is once your house is fairly organized and clean it doesn’t take much work to keep it that way. Again, I have a small family but other than dishes and laundry I only spend about 45 minutes per week.cleaning and two 15 minute decluttering sessions. And if I skip a few things don’t deteriorate.
I completely agree with your comment that it’s simple to keep the house clean once you’ve done the deep cleaning. i spend only a few minutes per day really keeping the house clean.
Example: Because I clean the bathrooms once a week, they aren’t very dirty when I do it. It takes me about 15 minutes to do both. Could I go longer in between cleanings? Maybe…but it would take me longer each time!
We tend to move once a year (someday that will stop…) and we rent currently, so I clean thoroughly before we move in and from that point on, I just do the light “maintenance” to keep it clean. 🙂
Thank you for posting on this topic. For the first time ever, I wrote down my routine. For reference, we have an 8 month old son, and I am a SAHM. He nurses 7 to 9x/day and eats two small meals (AM and PM). Only recently have I been able to wake-up at 6AM and start my day. Nursing 1 to 2x during the night is a bit tiring for me. My son normally wakes up between 6:30 and 7AM, and my husband plays with (or dresses) him until I return to nurse him.
Here it is (this is for weekdays only):
Workout (4 Days a Week)
Shower/dress
Start water for tea
Pray
Nurse/dress baby
Breakfast for mom/baby
Clean kitchen
Play with and read to baby
Nap for baby (1 hour) / Computer time for mom
Nurse
Household Task #1 or Run Errands or Start Dinner
Lunch for mom
Clean Kitchen (baby in high chair with toys)
Nurse
Nap for baby/mom
Afternoon solids for baby
Dinner Prep (solo play time for baby – he is with me in the kitchen, on a play mat or in his Jumperoo)
Nurse
Play with and read to baby (if time)
(Dad arrives home)
Mom/Dad dinner (baby is in our laps or in the high chair)
Evening routine with baby (massage/bath/book)
Nurse (Dad cleans the kitchen)
Baby sleeps
Mom/Dad together time – watch TV/read/talk
Nurse
Sleep
(Baby nurses 1 or 2x/night)
If the weather is nice, I will use some of my free time to take my son on a walk around the neighborhood, etc…he loves being outside!
I agree about the routine without timelines. It is more realistic for my household and feels more flexible. I have a good plan but I lack discipline. I am horrible at resisting going back to bed after I get my older kids sent off to school. It’s ridiculous really, I am up I just need to stay up! Maybe your next post will inspire me to change it.
I have a daily routine and it really seems to work well for our household. I have found when we stick closely to our routine we can get so much more done around the house. I have been able to start blogging which has been exciting. By having the schedule we can fit it all in. I have two kids and we homeschool, so I am teaching high school to one and then switch to K for the other. Now that we have a schedule set up and the kids know what to expect it makes our day go well or as well as I can expect it to. Sometimes we get caught up doing a project or something fun but that is what life is all about.
This is a great series! I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again you and your blog are such and inspiration! I recently started being about to be a stay at home mom again and I knew I was going to want a routine. Here’s what currently works for me:
Wake up at 5:30am
Pray, read my Bible
Work out
Shower/dressed
Wake up the kids at 7am
Breakfast
Ready for school
Leave for school at 7:35
Daily housework/start laundry
Read/comment on blogs
Lunch 11am
Ready for school
Leave for school at 11:35am
Computer work/Photography
Pick up kids
Homework
Dinner at 6-6:30pm
Bathtime
Nightly straighten up
Ready for bed
Lights out by 8:30
it works better for me if I don’t set to make time specifications but just use the same routine.
Keep up the awesome work Crystal!
I love this reminder. So much we can do in a day if we allot for it. Even just a few things to start with is a great place. I know for me I am still getting up in the middle of the night to nurse, so my list is short, but powerful! Thanks for the refreshing encouragement.
Katheryn
http://www.outoftheboring.com
I can’t believe you get that much done before breakfast!!
I’ve found that I can get a lot done in a very short amount of time if I get up early and really focus. Some mornings, if I get up later or am dragging, it doesn’t all get done and I just skip ahead. But I aim to get all of those things done by 8:30 a.m. It’s amazing what a difference a running start to the day makes for me!
It is impressive and not to dog what you do but if you get up at 4am and the children are getting up at 8, that’s 4 hours!! Oh what I could get done with 4 hours of uninterrupted time 🙂
I think I would choose to sleep a little extra though, I am a 9 hour kind of person, 7 hours I would be a zombie!
Thank you for this! I’m going to start homeschooling next year and I’m trying to figure out a routine that will work for us. What have you found to be a good amount of time for your two homeschooling blocks during the day? And what do you have your children do during those times you have to get something done (blogging or whatever else they can’t help with)? Thanks so much!
It really depends with each child and the subjects they are doing as to how long it will take each day. I allow at least 3 hours per day for focused one-on-one, one-on-two homeschooling right now and then they have reading, math, English, handwriting, etc. that they do independently. (I’m available if they have any questions, need help, etc.)
In the afternoons, once they have their chores and homeschooling work done, they can do whatever they like–so long as it’s not too loud or destructive. 🙂 Recently, they’ve been listening to audiobooks and building with Legos every afternoon after school.
This is something I have been working on. Here’s my downfall, I don’t see where anyone has put in time to clean! My husband helps alot, the kids help alot, we clean up during the day, but when do you clean the house? Maybe I am expecting to much but my standards are already low!
Have you tried assigning yourself one chore each day? I give myself a 15 minute (sometimes 20) chore for each day and that helps me to keep on top of the basic cleaning. I also designate one day for doing as much laundry as I can and that counts as my chore for that day. A friend of mine introduced this to me and has really helped me to keep our household running smoothly even when I am 20 weeks pregnant and have a 13 1/2 month old!
Hoping this might be helpful: http://www.askannamoseley.com/2012/02/how-to-fake-clean-house.html
Note: Your house really is clean! The fake part is that it looks like you have slaved all day 🙂
I second Suzette! I used to try to fit all my cleaning in on Mondays, but as life got more busy it just wasn’t happening.
I broke up all the weekly chores into 20 minute segments and wrote them on 3×5 cards. They’re prominently displayed in my kitchen and each day I (am supposed to) tackle one chore. If I skip a day, I don’t sweat it and do it the next day.
Using this method the house stays fairly clean and I’m not stressed!
I do what Suzette suggests. I have specific areas of the house I work on each week day so that no one day feels like ugh because I’m cleaning all day. Monday’s are the kitchen, Tuesday’s – the bathrooms, Wednesday’s – the kids bed and play rooms, Thursdays – the den, dining & living room, Friday’s – the master bedroom. Plus with a nightly pick-up the house usually stays pretty close to what I call company ready. =)
I think part cleaning time is part of Crystal’s routine time, for example her morning routine would involve making the bed, cleaning master bath something like that. That’s just how I took it, I could be wrong!
I run a strict schedule:
6:30 up and get ready myself
7 kids up, dressed, milk, books
8 breakfast, laundry started, clean up kitchen
9-11 play time, laundry dried, folded and away
11-11:30 kids clean up while I make lunch
11:30-12 eat lunch and clean up kitchen
12-3 nap time, I blog and relax
3 snack time
3:30-5 play time, vacuuming, and spot cleaning
5- kids clean up toys I make dinner
5:30-6 dinner and clean up kitchen
6- bath time
6:30 pjs and movie time
7:45-8 brush teeth,stories, bed time
8-10/11- free adult time, blog, TV, relax…
Thank you so much for showing us your daily routine! One of the biggest struggles I think I’ve had mentally since my child was born and I became a stay-at-home mom is the question of what my day should look like. We’re not ready for homeschooling just yet (he’s Silas’ age), but I tend to question myself way too much about what I should do and when I should do it. Am I spending enough time focused on my little guy? Am I keeping up the house as well as I should? Should we be doing more activities versus random play? Etc. I know God is helping me — the problem is definitely my self-questioning and not His answering. I’ll stop before I launch into a therapy session here 😉 but thanks again for giving an example of what a day can look like even if it’s a very different situation than mine (one child, no blog, etc.).
NO TIMELINES? Thank you, Thank you! I just realized that my biggest obstacle to maintaining a routine for my day with little ones is that I have enslaved myself to trying to fit it all in a certain “time frame” instead of concentrating on each activity itself. Crystal, if you had written that you are up by 4:00 a.m. (which you may very well be!) and spend so much time doing this and that -I would be tempted to think that is what I needed to do and then get discouraged because, quite frankly, I am an “A” type personality living in a “B” home right now and am having a very hard time getting it together! Thanks for helping me see that the Big Rocks are what is is all about and not trying to beat the clock.
A routine without timelines can be very freeing–especially when you have little ones and lots of interruptions in your day!
I do the same thing! I am type A and my husband and daughter are NOT! I love their since of easiness and peace and think that by fitting my routine around my daughter’s there is so much more peace! When I tried (and miserably failed) at creating a routine for her rather than following hers our house was madness for a few weeks. Much better to not assign times! 🙂
I am also inspired by the idea of not having timelines. The past few weeks I’ve been using Crytal’s suggestion of setting goals for each week. At the start of the week, I print out a sheet with all my weekly cleaning chores, then write in my goals for the week. I carry the sheet around for the week, checking off items as I go. Surprisingly, I have actually gotten much more done by picking and choosing from my tasks and goals than assigning a specific day or time to each one. If I am feeling ambitious, I pick something harder or more time consuming. If I am worn out, I pick something easier, but still know that I am making progress! Crystal, thank you so much for all of the inspiration and ideas to keep trying to improve!!
You are so very welcome–and great job!
Please post your weekly cleaning chores. I’d rather do NONE, yes none and like the idea of just having a list of ideas to follow. Thanks!
I’m single, don’t have kids, and live in a very small space; so my list might seem pretty small to some people. But I’m happy to share in case it gives you some ideas. I do some things like dishes, make bed, etc… daily. But for other stuff, I basically made this list by paying attention to what gets messy at my house on a regular basis. I’m still working on getting into a regular routine for deep cleaning.
Weekly:
* Wash towels/jeans
* Wash darks
* Wash bedding/whites
* Vacuum carpeted areas
* Clean toilet/vanity
* Clean shower
* Take out garbage/recycling
* Scrub one floor (kitchen or bath, alternating each week)
* Wipe down kitchen counters/cupboard doors/stove
* Water plants
* General pickup of accumulated clutter
* Sort through accumulated paperwork
Bi-weekly:
* Completely empty and scrub out cat’s litter box
* Take yard waste bin to the curb (this might prompt me to do some yardwork to fill the bin!)
* Wash a load of misc. laundry if needed (blankets, bedspread, etc…)
Hope this helps! 🙂
Who watches your children while you go out running?
I run on the treadmill. They are usually asleep during the time since I get up early.
Are you doing the couchto5K on your treadmill? I thought you went outside running!! Either way, it’s still good!
No, I run on the treadmill. It’d be too hard to coordinate a time to run outside right now on a regular basis since Jesse’s schedule is different every day.
I’ve been through c25k on the treadmill twice now… my hubby is gone by 5am and so it’s way to hard to coordinate outside runs with my 4 little ones. But it definitely still works, I just signed up for my first half marathon and he’s going to do his first full one! 🙂
I already had a basic morning and evening routine in place. This month I’ve been working on a lunchtime routine. It’s amazing how much more smooth and productive my day is when the important things are worked into the routines!
Now for the getting in bed on time part!
Oh, that is me – getting to bed on time. I even focused on it in January and STILL struggle with it.
I start with a morning routine. No matter what activities the day holds, these five actions get the day off to a good start. I wrote about it here:
http://theprudentpantryblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/habits-morning-routine.html
When do your kids do activities with other children? We are constantly ‘on the go’ around here, and my kids need a lot of social and active stimulation. Each day, they are at the playground, at friends’ houses for playdates, at Girl Scouts, at gymnastics, at soccer, etc. We live ‘in town’ so the driving around is minimal, and I have other children over here for playdates a lot to make it easier for me, but it still takes up a big part of our day. Just curious when you do those things in your routine.
We keep life simple, as we find that makes it run much more smoothly for everyone. They have ice skating lessons on Saturdays and we usually do play dates, field trips, get-togethers, etc. on Friday afternoon and/or evenings. We also have get-togethers with extended family and friends almost every Saturday and Sunday. In the afternoons, they often play with our neighbors. So while we don’t do a lot of running around, they have quite a number of different play times with other children.
You do not have time for errands. When do you do this? Sorry to be nosey just trying to work my schedule out. I would also like to know how you get them to eat breakfast later. My 2 year old wakes up asking ” where is my eat”.
On a side note my library has kindle books you can borrow for 14 days. Just wanted to share that.
I sometimes will use the free hour for quick errands. Longer errands are typically reserved for Saturdays.
My children have always been later risers and I’m okay with that since we don’t start our homeschooling until 9:00 or 9:30. But I’m not sure I have any suggestions on how to have them eat later–mine usually eat pretty well as soon as they are up & dressed.
My post tomorrow is actually about this very topic. Glad you’ve found a system that works for you. Enjoy the simplicity!
Funny you mentioned time budget. I was just talking with a friend yesterday at work. We were comparing outlook scheduler with using credit cards — we just accept appointments as they come in and all of the sudden our days are filled and we don’t even know how. I’m thinking I might go back to a traditional calendar because my time is just getting away from me!
I’m at that crazy stage of kids being older and needing to go outside for many lessons, yet we don’t have a driver yet, so I’m running around, driving here and there. I haven’t yet figured out how to keep a routine with each day so different and so much running around time, but I’m working on it! Thanks for your posts!
I love this! I just created mine. It goes:
Up, shower, dressed, blog, fix breakfast
Kids up, dressed, fed
Reba to school (my 5 year old)
Cuddle time with Ty (my 21 month old)
Snack, clean up kitchen
Playtime in playroom or outside
Lunch
Nap for Ty, work on chores, craft if time remains
Pick Reba up from school
Snack, playtime, homework
Dinner
Bath
Bedtimes stories and bedtime
Straighten downstairs, lunch prep, and blog
Work on crafts, spend time with Brad (my husband)
Prayer journal, Bible, bed.
I plan on putting this in my planner. Maybe I wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed. The great part is that I already have this routine (for the most part) this just makes it a bit more concrete.
I am amazed that you’re able to get so much done before your children are up, much less fed. My daughter is usually out of her bed before I can get to the kitchen, whether it’s 5am, 7am, or even 8. She sleeps until I wake, and the moment I wake, she’s up too. And how do you get your kids to bathe before breakfast? Like Jenni mentioned, my child is wanting breakfast right away. How do you change that? I mean, we feed her, she eats whole foods, and all that….
My son sometimes is really hungry when he wakes up, so I’ll let him eat a little snack, then take his bath, then eat breakfast with the rest of us. My girls like to get dressed ready first and then eat.
I’ve been getting up well before my children for so many years that I guess they are just used to it. 🙂
I think the important thing Laura, if I may 🙂 is to do what works for your child and family’s natural rhythms. What time works for them having a bath, eating breakfast awakening etc? It may look completely different from this routine, but it will be what works for you and that is the important thing!! I learned when I went with the natural flow of my family and set our routines in line with them, things went much smoothly and we were all happier. Just my 2 cents!!
I agree, Stephanie, and really, we do have a routine that works for us. I was just amazed by how much happens at Crystal’s house before breakfast! 🙂
Growing up, we always bathed at night. I didn’t start showering in the AM until I was much older. I don’t have kids yet, but honestly, I can’t imagine putting my kids to bed without a bath because kids get so dirty!! Of course, cleaning up throughout the day is essential, but still…
Just another great example of how everyone is so different!
We started the bath in the morning thing early on because both of my girls have curly hair and it would be a frizzy mess when they woke up. It was just easier to stick ’em in the tub and wet their hair down. And I guess the routine stuck. 🙂
However, if they are dirty from playing outside, they get a bath at night and then we skip the morning baths. I’m flexible, depending upon how the day goes–and that’s the beauty of a routine for me. It’s not set in stone at all!
{Oh and lest you think I have all of my parenting ducks in a row, there are definitely days when the baths get skipped altogether… that’s just life sometimes with three young children! :)}
Crystal – I gotcha! You know, I have terrible bedhead and to this day, I have no idea how my mom tamed it in the mornings! 🙂
I love this routine concept…I can’t really have one now b/c I substitute teach (no kids yet) and that means every day is different. But I am filing away this idea for the future, since I am definitely stayin home with our kids (hopefully soon – through adoption!). Now, I kind of have a weekly schedule and that’s wonderful! 😉 You’ve been such an inspiration to me!!
Well if she is getting up at 4am and they get up at 8:30, that 4+ hours, right? 🙂 I’d rather sleep a little later than 4am myself!! ha ha!
Life with a 13 month old baby/toddler and being 20 weeks pregnant has really helped me to find a routine. It really centers around the 13 month old’s routine, which makes it easy to predict when I can accomplish the most. Once the new baby (due in July) arrives, I know routine will change but my hope is to be on a great routine by Thanksgiving!
So similar to finances – more productive with a plan! 🙂
Love this series.
I like this. I recently made a routine for the day so I didn’t feel guilty if I didn’t spend enough time playing with my two boys or feel guilty that I didn’t spend enough time cleaning. I added hour long time frames just to keep myself on track but I never feel bad if I’m running behind, especially since my kids wake up at all different times (2 year old & 8 month old) and it varies by day. I was wondering, while reading your list, if you had recommendations for what you do for Bible time with your kids. I don’t always remember to pray before meals and as I’m sure you know, a 2 year old has a short attention span so I’m looking for fun ideas to bring Jesus into our daily routine. Thank you!
I will be in your shoes sooner than later! Good to hear insight on what I am coming into.
I’d also love some ideas for Bible Time. We just picked up a book called the One Year of Dinner Table Devotionals by Nancy Guthrie, and although I really like the format for dinner conversations, it’s not really a “bible study” which is what I’d like to find for my little ones.
We love The Jesus Bible Story Book. We’ve used different things over the years. We’re currently reading through an old Bible story book in the mornings and using the Grace & Truth Memory Book for our Scripture memory. And then we do our hymn of the month and read & discuss a few verses from Proverbs in the evenings.
Is this different from The Jesus Storybook Bible?
Whoops! I wrote the wrong title. Thanks for catching my mistake. That’s what I was *trying* to refer to in the comment!
I just finished creating a routine/schedule for the morning, but I’m a bit afraid to share it at this point because I already wonder if I even have the discipline to do the first half of it. It’s not crazy by any means, but I think that for each thing I would like to do, there is usually a bad habit that has kept me from doing it so far (like getting up before the boys, for example). What time do your kids get up? Ours sometimes get up at 5:30 or 6, and even though we put a baby gate up to keep them in their room, they stand at the gate and moan and groan about how hungry they are, looking all pitiful with their bed-heads. It’s kind of hard to imagine actually having a quiet time while they keep asking when they can come out :). Maybe I should just throw a banana or two in there ;).
Ours usually get up between 8 and 8:30–yes, we have late risers. 🙂
We found giving our kids a glass of milk and a hearty snack before bed helps keep them from waking up sooo hungry.
Jenni,
My kids aren’t up as early as yours, but on days when I really need them to stay in their rooms, I put a granola bar (or something light) in their rooms the night before. That way they can munch on something before breakfast. Maybe something that could work for you somehow?
I have done raisins or a banana for my kids!
Our children are early risers, but they know that I pray/read my bible from 5:30-6:30. They aren’t allowed out of bed until 6:00, can’t come downstairs until 6:30.
I think it has helped that they know we don’t eat breakfast until 7:00. I have never had any of them ask for breakfast or tell me that they are hungry in the morning. We also have taught them from VERY early on that they can play by themselves or play with their siblings. I don’t have to entertain them at all times. Every once in a while, I will have to tell my 3 year old that it isn’t 6:30 yet and go back upstairs and he does. After 6:30, I welcome them down, ask them how their sleep was, etc, and we start our day. We spend plenty of time together during the day that an hour of alone time doesn’t matter. Oh, AND my 9 year old wakes up and will spend 15 minutes in the morning reading his bible. They imitate what they see.
I think I would encourage a routine, stick with it and maybe not put up the baby gate? Maybe they feel trapped and would actually do better *thinking* they have freedom. 🙂
I have given both of my kids little digital clocks and taught them what it looks like when it’s time to get up. I have to say, it’s worked really really well!
great post. organization is my biggest weak spot. btw, I LOVE your mug! I mean LOVE, as in I must have one just like it! could you share where you got it?
It was a picture on Flickr–someone needs to design one like that to sell!