For her birthday, I gave P a digital camera. The other day I downloaded her pics to my computer so I could clear up space in its memory. Basically, I got a view from my toddler's world in snapshot format.
Distressingly, the vast majority of her photos of me showed me staring intently at my computer screen. Ouch.
I am not the best mom about providing structure for my kids' day. In fact, I may be the worst mom EVER when it comes to structure and routine. Typical day:
- Hubby leaves for work. P drinks milk and watches some TV, possibly has a snack-like breakfast (banana or cheddar crackers). R crawls around on the floor. I check email and do Internet stuff for about 30 minutes while I drink my coffee.
- P demands attention. I insist she play with R. The two play for a while in our playroom or living room.
- More random play between the kids. Sometimes an errand, playgroup, lunch with my dad, or a playdate.
- Lunch is a haphazard affair if we aren't meeting someone else. If P says she's hungry, I pull out whatever is handy. This could be anything from a grilled cheese sandwich to leftover pizza. She may eat it at our kitchen island, or she may eat it while roaming around the kitchen.
- Feeding R is a matter of nursing on demand. If the kid is cranky, she gets nursed.
- More random play. I may actively engage P with something like paint, play dough or moon dough. Sometimes we'll do coloring pages or a learning activity (like putting magnetic letters on the fridge). If things are really breaking down, I'll turn on kid-friendly music and we'll all dance. We might do a craft, read some books, or do imaginative play (play house, picnic, etc.). If I'm tired, it's Dora the Freakin' Explorer time.
- Dinner is much the same as lunch. I do insist P eat at the island, but her meal could be anything from a conglomerate of leftovers or a can of soup. R gets fed solids at this time, too.
- After dinner, we clean up toys, wind down with more TV and a snack, and then have baths. Bedtime immediately follows.
I am not a structured person, but I definitely think I need a better routine.
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1 comments:
I'm not sure how old your kids are, but routine is incredibly important. There were certain aspects of our day that were routine even when my children were very young. Reading 2 books then an 8pm bedtime, for example. No exceptions unless it was a holiday or something really out of the ordinary...like the time they brought in huge equipment to clear our roads during a severe snow storm. That was too awesome to miss. Now bedtime is 7pm on school nights, 8 pm on weekends.
Lunch was/is always at 11:30. Once in a while we have a picnic, but otherwise it's at the table. No exceptions. And the kids always give Thanks. Snack is at 2:30, dinner around 5 and a light snack of milk, fruit, crackers around 6:30.
TV is turned off promptly at 9am and there are no more cartoons for the day with the exception of one hour of Tom and Jerry while lunch is digesting. If it's particularly bad weather and they can't get outside, they are allowed a little extra TV time.
The kids have lots of independent play...Legos, playdough, puzzles...and I play with them, but I don't feel compelled to entertain them. We work together outside in the garden, play on the trampoline together...but I'm not their plaything.
2-3 times a week during the summer, we did school work after breakfast and clean up. Just a few pages of basic stuff: writing, simple math, science. Just enough to keep them interested. Now that school has started, we'll be doing devotions/memory verses together along with homework and snack when they get home from school at 2:30 each day.
Of course, there has to be a little wiggle room in the routine, for emergencies/exceptions, but the kids just thrive on routine. They KNOW what's coming next and I think that just keeps everything flowing smoothly.
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