Ok, so my little obsessive self made a list and a routine...

[SouthPaw]

And I thought I would share in case anyone wanted to tell me how wonderful I am, use any ideas, or add any ideas.

I've decided enough is enough! Of wandering all day doing something, sometime, when I felt like it, and feeling like nothing ever got done, house- or child-wise.

So I made a list of aaaaaaaaaaall the stuff DD and I can/should do. And I organized it. :shifty Then I made a routine so I can "fit in" any of the many "things" in their proper location during the day.

It's not complete so if anyone as obsessive as me wants to add anything, gimme some more ideas. A lot of the ideas are based on Charlotte Mason type ideals; I want to start introducing more of the arts and more nature & play and DRASTICALLY less tv.

It went *excellent* so far today! It has really helped now that the baby takes 2 solid naps, the first one very predictable :phew

Soooo for what it's worth: here is what we are going to "do" from now on!! I'm going to make DD a much-simplified chart, too :grin

8:00 Wake up!
Get Changed and Dressed
Breakfast
9:00 Dishes clean up
Living area clean up
Sweep
Feed Birds
10:00 Caillou, Pooky Nap, & Mommy break
10:30 Snack OR Foray
Outside(w baby monitor!) – Nature/Large Motor/Activity
12:00 Lunch
Clean Up Lunch
12:30 Free Play – Indoor Small/Large Motor/Sensory/Activity
1:00 Pooky Nap (1-3ish)
Reading
2:00 Pooky Awake OR Foray
Art/Music
3:00 Nap/Movie/Quiet Time
4:30 Outside – Nature/Large Motor/Activity/Sensory
5:30 Feed Doggies
Dinner Prep
6:30 Dinner
7:00 Clean Room
Bath
Bedtime Routine
7:30-8:00 Night Night

Forays
Library
Playgroup
Church
Groceries
Park
Daddy Outing
Children's Museum
Splash Pad

The Arts
Puppets – finger puppets, hand puppets, marionettes
Art – color, paint, draw, stickers, cut, paste, etc.
Music – listen, sing, dance, music games, etc
Classical Music – wdav, CDs
Folk Songs - Wee Sing
Hymns - "O Lord Open My Lips" available at cph.org. It is an excellent recording of hymns by a children's choir in Indiana. The kids are 8-13 years old and very well directed.



Reading
Poetry - A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson (illustrated by Eulalie, Jessie Wilcox Smith, or Alice and Martin Provenson)
Poems and Prayers for the Very Young by Martha Alexander
Books the classic Winnie the Pooh series, Beatrix Potter, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, The Little House, Ping, The Little Engine that Could, Blueberries for Sal, Millions of Cats, Ferdinand, Madeline, Andy and the Lion, and classic children's poetry like Robert Louis Stevenson, Christina Rossetti and Edward Lear.
Foreign Language – French/Italian picture books
Bible – child’s Bible
Nursery Rhymes
A nice Mother Goose collection, such as The Real Mother Goose illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright Mama Goose, a collection by Edelen Wille, or versions such as those by Rojankovsky, Marguerite De Angeli or Tasha Tudor


Indoor
Small Motor
Color
Paint
Paste
Cut paper
Clay
Building blocks
Puzzles
Stringing beads
Lacing Cards
Fingerplays
Pouring
Large Motor
hula hoops
treasure hunt
Dance
Chase
Hide and seek
Tag
Sensory
Playdough
Outdoor
Small Motor
mud pies
shadow tracing
bury/find 'treasures' in dirt or sand
garden/plant things/weed/water plants
sidewalk chalk
"paint" the house/fence with water & paintbrush
watercolor outside
fly kites
Large Motor
nature walk
Jump Rope
Skipping
Hopscotch
soccer (modified for just mom and kiddo--- basically ball chasing)
obstacle course (I make up silly ones and change them)
Bubbles
chase
running!
walk dog
golf
Sensory
Sand
Water

[Marielle]

ooooooh, I really really like it. We'd love to start doing that again (we used to have an indoor/outdoor routine and well it's just gone to pot).

[SouthPaw]

seeing it written out gives me willpower :giggle must....obey..the...list!

[Katydid]

And I thought I would share in case anyone wanted to tell me how wonderful I am, use any ideas, or add any ideas.


:giggle You *are* wonderful and I love your ideas! :rockon

[crunchymum]

i'm coming back to look when i have time... i am so in need of routine!! :blush

[abharrington]

thank you thank you thank you! i need to make 1 of these for myself and this is just the motivation i need. dd is only 7 mo, so ours will be much modified. i too am sick and tired of getting nothing done, and starting 5 million things.

[SouthPaw]

i think one important thing is scheduling for myself as well as kiddos "work" and "rest" and "play" times. if i spend all day doing chores, i feel resentful. if i spend all day doing nothing, i feel discouraged and useless. but it's hard for me to self-regulate because time slips away and because i just *have* to finish things to perfection :rolleyes so it is really helping to have to check the schedule and tell myself "better stop sweeping, time to go show kiddos how to garden!" or "better get off GCM, the dishes are calling" :grin

[Novella]

Katherine thank you for this!! :yes :rockon I made a modified version of this for our house now after reading yours!! It was so helpfu! :hug

[SouthPaw]

i'm glad it was helpful! :mrgreen

[apmommy]

.

[me]

:clap

[SouthPaw]

thanks rene!! i definitely could use some more outdoor "stuff"... it was easy as a little toddler, she would just roam around, but now she really wants to DO something and gets bored without some idea of an activity. :grin she loves hitting pomegranates with daddy's putter, and getting in her little pool, and The Hose - i wonder what i will do when it is too chilly for water though!

[waterfallraleigh]

Thank you for the list it has given me some wonderful ideas. Joshua is 2 and I have a 4 1/2 month old. How Any suggestions for large motor activities when it's 100 degrees outside.

[Oliveshoots]

That is a great routine and list!! :tu

[SouthPaw]

I need to add BUBBLES! and rene's ideas. We did Bubbles outside today, they didn't get too hot since we had the water hose on some and the baby pool out to cool off in, but there was lots of active motion. :tu

[ProudMommaof2]

That's awesome Katherine! :highfive I am not nearly as organized as you, but this same thinking has been on my brain lately too, because like you, I get frustrated if I only do chores, but feel worthless and lethargic if I don't get enough done. I used to do a Six Most Important Things list, and as long as I did those six things that I lined out each day I felt pretty balanced out. I was just thinking today how I need to do that again, and then I happened upon your thread. You have it going on when it comes to organization, girl! :rockon

[Sakura]

Cool Katherine!!!


Oh - and a random thought for indoor motor activities when it's hot or raining outside. What about buying a couple of hula hoops and doing various things with them. Have children "hop" from one hoop to another - or walk around the edge of hoops -- or you hold the hoops up spaced apart and they run/jump through them and run behind you, making a "circle" run.

[illinoismommy]

Ooooh I'm here and we're strictly TV limited and always have been. :tu Every time I've let it slide, sick or vacation he starts becoming less creative and more entertain-me demanding. May I share my little schedule here? Its not as fancy as yours because I rebel against this sort of thing. He may watch TV for a half an hour before breakfast if he wakes in time, or after dinner if he wishes

8:00 Breakfast then housework (the kids come along Montessori style ;) )
9:00 Reading Time (Maya usually takes her first nap about then so that's when it is time) / Tuesday/Thursday we have activities outside of the home
10:15 Art Time -- could be as simple as some paint and paper, and this is conveniently located in the kitchen so I can cook lunch :heart
11:00 Lunch

2:00 Snack
2:30 Walk to post office in town to get out

4:45 Clean up toys
5:00 Dinner (afer this we only get out one bin of toys at a time :shifty )
6:30 Bathtime
7:00 Teeth, Jammies, Stories, etc. then bedtime for both kids and I'm usually done around 7:45 .... I never mess with the bedtime routine, its just not a good idea or everyone melts down :)

[illinoismommy]

okay we just ate breakfast and now I have to turn off the computer but before I go I want to ask you-- Where is Charlotte Mason's Masterly Inactivity? ;) .... put that in there.... that's why my schedule has gaps :shifty

[SouthPaw]

illinoismommy- i actually have worked that in a la charlotte mason - if i finish something early (breakfast, clean up, lunch, etc) i "masterly inactivate" the rest of the time. but then i have the next 'thing' scheduled to let me know when i have to activate again. :giggle also, part of outside time i am reading, part of it i am actively 'doing' with them.

argh, time for dishes! see ya!

[illinoismommy]

illinoismommy- i actually have worked that in a la charlotte mason - if i finish something early (breakfast, clean up, lunch, etc) i "masterly inactivate" the rest of the time. but then i have the next 'thing' scheduled to let me know when i have to activate again. :giggle also, part of outside time i am reading, part of it i am actively 'doing' with them.

argh, time for dishes! see ya!


I want to put a quiet time in mine since David doesn't take a nap, but I think this is as structured as I can handle it right now :shifty

don't you love sneaking on the computer..... ugh I can't do it much though because it affects if the day is a good day or a bad day for D

[waterbaby]

Wow, Katherine. I feel really unorganized and inferior now. Must. Do. What. Katherine. Does. Now. :shifty You're inspired me! Of course, we have to get our sleep schedule back in order. Going to bed at 4am and waking at 1pm doesn't fit in that kind of schedule. :doh