Well, it's been 5 months since we moved to North Carolina and thus far, we've all been acting as if we're on one long vacation. Since Parker was only in school 3 mornings a week, the rest of the time was pretty much just go with the flow. For those of you who have small children, you are probably already aware of the fact that "go with the flow" is not generally the best idea.
Kids loves predictability and stability and they tend to lose it if their plans change unexpectedly. So, we decided to sit down with Parker and hammer out a schedule, which was made much easier by the fact that he's now in school 5 mornings a week. This is what we came up with:
9-12p- School
12:15- Lunch and TV time
12:30- Board games with mommy or daddy
1:00- Quiet time in Parker's room
2:00- Go to Kung Fu class!
3:00- Snack time
3:15- Arts and Crafts
3:45- Outdoor play or TV time (depending on weather)
4:30- Quiet time in Parker's room
5:30- Dinner
6:00- Family time
7:30- Bath, books and bed
The picture above is Parker loving arts and crafts time on day 2 of his new schedule. He keeps running over to the clock and asking me and the Irishman what's next for the day.
You know what? Kids aren't the only ones who function better when they know what's coming up. I schedule most of my days so that I (1) stay on task, and (2) treat each commitment, including working out and leisure reading, like a doctor's appointment. There's a balance in carving out time for yourself. Schedule enough of it that you feel refreshed, but not so much of it that you start to take it for granted.
No comments:
Post a Comment