Getting Into A Routine

My third installment of my Back to School Series will focus on Getting into a Routine. It may be common in your household for the kids to go to bed anytime during the summer, stay in their pajamas until noon, and eat whenever and wherever you happen to be. This can make it difficult to get into a routine once school starts back up. My children are still young and wake me at the crack of dawn every morning ready for breakfast, so I don't anticipate them having a problem with getting ready in the Fall. It is ME I am worried about! In the summer some days I don't shower, the dishes don't get put into the dishwasher till lunch, and I haven't done a ton of meal planning. This school year, three days a week I will have to prepare up to 3 lunch boxes, shower and do my hair, and make sure we all have a decent breakfast. How will I accomplish this, you ask? By getting into a routine!

I recently typed up a schedule for how the school day will look in my Toddler class. It included diaper changes at a certain time, playground, and various learning activities. It was down to the minute! Not that we will be doing it by the minute, but having that schedule will keep us on track. I have never been a scheduling mom. I didn't feed my babies by the clock, but I have always been into routine. This happens after that, predictability. I think it creates a sense of security for children who have no control over their environment. I am considering doing a schedule for mornings during the school year, however. It would look something like this:

6:30- Mom wakes up and showers

6:45-7:00 Kids get up and we all eat breakfast

7:00-7:15 Clean up and pack lunches

7:15-7:30 Make beds and straighten rooms and living room

7:30-8:00 Get dressed and ready to go

8:00-8:15 Gather all supplies and organize backpacks

8:15- Leave for school

Of course I expect this to change as the year goes on. But its a good start.

HERE is an article about this topic.

I have always felt the key to getting your child to wake up fresh and in a good mood in the morning, is to put them to bed early. Our children have always gone to bed by 7:30. We eat dinner early and begin the bath/reading/snuggling routine at about 6:30. This prepares them to settle down. Now often they aren't tired this early but we feel it is important for the whole family that children retire early, so we put books on tape in their room for them to lay quietly and listen to. This has always worked well for us and we have never had to wake them in the morning. OF course the drawback is long gone are the days of sleeping in...ever! But it is worth it to have a couple hours of peace and free time to look forward to at the end of the day- and well rested kids come morning time!

Well that's all I've got on getting into a routine. Any tips out there would be greatly appreciated!!