After two weeks of visitors, a week in the hospital, and now social distancing, the girls (and boys ) in this crib are ready for a serious routine overhaul! I'm a type A, 3 on the enneagram, work from home mama so YES I LIKE ROUTINES but I also have days where we ditch the whole thing, wear pjs, and stick to no schedule at all. Regardless, I find it very helpful to have a schedule running in the background so that more often than not, we all know what to expect. You are the boss of your home, and you set the tone. Make it work for you! This is an example of we do, and you're welcome to steal. 

My five year old also loves to see a visual timeline of how our day is going, so I use these little schedule cards. I've done them on my fridge, clipped them to some cute twine, anything works! I felt like they needed a nice refresh so here's a new design if you've used our old ones! 

Download here:

DAILY SCHEDULE CARDS

 

A little look at our schedule:

7:15 Wake Up and have breakfast. My 5 yo has a "ready to wake" clock that we love. I try to get up to shower and read before my kids are up. It doesn't happen but I have a 100000% better day when I do! I turn on the diffusers, sometimes get a good playlist going, and then the kids appear and we make breakfast.

 

Free Play/Mom Cleans Up: After breakfast, the kids go play on their own while I check a few emails, take care of anything I need to post to groups I run for my job, and clean up the kitchen.  

 

Get Dressed/Brush Teeth: After I've got the kitchen reset and some coffee in me, I round everyone up and get them dressed, brush teeth and hair, etc. 

 

Clean Up Room: Once P is dressed she straightens her bed and anything major out of place. It just feels good to have a bed made!

 

Morning Basket: This part of our day ebbs and flows but when we need a good routine reset, I bring it back. Basically we have a little basket of items to intentionally set out day off to a great start. Usually its a Bible story, a good book (maybe a chapter book) and some type of fun learning game. We've done Uno, Go Fish, a fun magnet design game, things like that. You can learn SO much more if you google morning baskets or search the hashtag on insta.

 

Walk: Since we are especially homebound right now, we're taking a minute in the morning to take a quick walk around the block or even just run around in the backyard. Fresh air, praise hands. During this time we'll take our morning snack with us on a walk or wherever we end up. When we're not undergoing social distancing, we'll run errands, go to the park, meet friends, etc.

 

Nap/School: My youngest takes a little rest in the morning. Sometimes that's just a time out in his crib with books, other times he actually falls asleep. During this time my older one and I do some schoolwork! Here's a list of some of our faves to work through! Click here!

 

Free Play: After school and naps, they have free play time. I usually do some sort of meal prep, household chore, checking messages, emails, a little work during this time. I'm around to say hi, respond to a "Mom, watch this!" and supervise but I'm not actively playing during this time. Permission granted.

 

Lunch: Halfway home. Lunch time! One thing I do try to do during lunch is read a page from "Everything A Child Needs to Know About God" or some other devotional type book. I'm usually wiped out by bedtime and am way more on my game to pour in spiritually at this point! 

 

Outside: After lunch we will play outside! We don't have a huge yard but its enough to kick around a soccer ball, chase a butterfly, etc. Sometimes I play and sometimes I read a book and eat my lunch in the sunshine. 

 

Reset: Inside and time to clean up! I love a tidy house so I'd pick up after them all day if I let myself. But then I would go crazy. So before nap, we reset everything to where it goes, and off to naps they go. 

 

Naps: My 5 yo just does quiet time, but she's expected to be in her room playing or resting. She has a CD player in her room that is so helpful too!

 

Snack/Show: When her quiet time clock goes off, she can watch a show if her room is clean! Sometimes Hutchy joins in and sometimes he sleeps longer.

 

Activity/Free Play: Its hard to turn off the show, so I have an activity already set up for my bigger kiddo (Days with Grey or Busy Toddler are awesome resources for these!) Sometimes she chooses to do this and other times she just wants to play. This is what they do while I prep dinner. I love putting on music or a podcast during this time too! God's Big Story is our current fave!

 

And that takes us into dinner, clean up, baths if they need, and a bedtime routine! (Some ideas for that here!)

 

Oh the days can be long, but I know the years are also short. Over here trying to make the very most of them!