I don't know about you but the mornings at my house definitely dictate the rest of the day (or at least the rest of the morning). If I wake up and jump up out of bed and get going it is so much better than laying around until the last possible second (or even late) and starting the day all frustrated.
My morning routine is all about how to make the day run smoother. There are a few things that I have to do before we start our day.
#1 - Start with a quick morning prayer (usually done in my bed or as I am doing a few tasks). I will say here that I do not get up hours before my kids and have quiet time for a few reasons. 1) I am not a morning person and need as much sleep as possible, 2) Luke wakes up the minute he hears me sit up in bed, and 3) I prefer to have my in depth quiet time when I can really get deep with my time with the Lord - afternoons and/or evenings after the kids are in bed.
#2 - Make our bed. I love the way a made bed looks and feels. I also have Luke make his bed.
#3 - Straighten up the master bedroom. I sometimes have a drink cup or can or late night snack box or books sitting around. I like to straighten it up in the morning so that I don't have to look at it all day.
#4 - Do something with laundry. Start a load, rotate loads, dewrinkle a load, and/or fold a load.
#5 - Straighten up the living room. Ideally we would have done this before we went to bed, but that is not always the case. It's amazing how putting pillows in place and picking up a few random items can really make a difference.
#6 - Straighten up the kitchen. Again, ideally we would have cleaned the whole kitchen up the night before after dinner or before bed, but that is not always the case. I like to unload the dishwasher if needed, load up dirty dishes, wipe down the counters, table, and high chair, and sweep the floor.
#7 - Make breakfast. I like to have breakfast made or at least started before Nathan wakes up. He is really fussy if his food isn't ready when he is ready for it.
These few things really make the day go a little smoother. Of course, it would be great if most of it was done the night before, but sometimes after dinner my priorities are to spend time with the kids and Lee and do my quiet time and relax before bed. I used to beat myself up if things weren't done at the allotted time, but now I realize, it will get done at some point. Why fret? :)
PS What is your morning routine?
Showing posts with label Routines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Routines. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Putting Babies/Kids on a Schedule/Routine
Let me preface by saying, I understand that there are a million ways to parent and not everyone agrees on every method (hence the reason there are so many). I also know that what works for one parent/family/baby/situation doesn't always work for another parent/family/baby/situation. All of that being said, everyone knows how much I love organization and schedules/routines, so naturally I try my best to schedule/routinize my babies/children.
I am a huge proponent for the method presented in the Growing Kids God's Way series (AKA Baby Wise/Toddler Wise/Preschool Wise). Basically they use parent directed feeding (PDF). It doesn't mean that you have to absolutely stick to a strict routine, but it helps you organize your baby/child's day so that they are fed, played with, have their hygiene needs met, get adequate sleep, and grow and develop properly. You use your parental instincts and listen to your child, but generally speaking you direct their day/life.
It starts when they are born. You make sure that they get a good feeding (which is difficult at first), change their diaper, and put them to sleep (most babies are already asleep). You wake them every 3 hours (give or take 30 minutes) and repeat the cycle. They generally eat 8 times a day. As they develop more and are more alert, you make sure that they get a good feeding, change their diaper, play with them for about 30 minutes (give or take), and put them to sleep (watch for sleepy cues - rubbing eyes, fingers in mouth, fussy). You gradually change to a 4 hour routine and they start sleeping through the night. As they get older, you drop naps, add food, and do different things, but the premise is that you aim to have a consistent routine each day (especially for waking up, going to bed, naps, meals, bathtimes, outings, specific playtimes, etc).
We have followed all of the books in the series with Luke and he has done so great. He generally knows what to expect each day and it really helps him. We are following it with Nathan and given that he was 5 weeks early and I didn't start the method until almost 2 months old, he is doing great. He is sleeping 7-8 hours each night and generally goes 3 hours between daytime feedings.
Here is what his schedule looks like (in case anyone wants to see):
Roughly 8:00am - Wakes up, eats bottle, gets diaper changed, plays
Roughly 9:00am - Goes down for a nap
Roughly 11:00am - Wakes up, eats bottle, gets diaper changed, plays
Roughly 12:00pm - Goes down for a nap
Roughly 2:00pm - Wakes up, eats bottle, gets diaper changed, plays
Roughly 3:00pm - Goes down for a nap
Roughly 5:00pm - Wakes up, eats bottle, gets diaper changed, plays
Roughly 6:00pm - Goes down for a nap
Roughly 8:00pm - Wakes up, eats bottle, gets bath, gets in sleep clothes, gets rocked
Roughly 9:00pm - Goes to bed
Roughly 11:00pm - Wakes up (we wake him up), gets diaper changed, eats bottle, gets rocked
Roughly 11:30pm - Goes to bed (for the night)
If he wakes at night, he just eats a bottle and goes right back to sleep
We let him nap in his swing during the day. After his bath, he gets put in his sleep clothes (onesie and sleep sack/gown), gets rocked, and gets put in his crib to sleep. After his last feeding of the night, he gets swaddled and put in his crib. I think these specific things help him to know day versus night and when he is supposed to sleep longer.
Of course if he wakes early (30 minutes or less), I give him a few minutes and see if he goes back to sleep, but if he doesn't, I will go ahead and feed him. If he wakes up sooner than 30 minutes early, I give him some time to cry and go back to sleep. I never let him cry more than 15 minutes. I figure he might be hungry if he wakes up. Babies go through growth spurts or could need a diaper change/burp or just some comfort. That's the part that is pure parenting - knowing (or attempting to find out) what your child needs.
You don't just blindly follow the schedule and not understand your child. I think that's why GKGW/BW has gotten negative feedback at times. People assume you have to just make a strict schedule and follow it no matter what making your child miserable all day. I don't recommend following any book or method unless it works for you. You are the parent and you should do what you think is right and what works for you. This has just worked for us and I wanted to share. I have countless friends who it has worked for as well. Hope that has helped.
In case you want to know Luke's schedule, here it is:
Roughly 7:30am - Wakes up, eats breakfast, gets dressed
Roughly 8:00am - Plays while I feed Nathan, plays with Nathan
Roughly 9:00am - Plays, does art, etc
Roughly 11:00pm - Plays while I feed Nathan, plays with Nathan
Roughly 12:00pm - Eats lunch, homeschools
Roughly 2:00pm - Plays while I feed Nathan, plays with Nathan
Roughly 3:00pm - Goes down for a nap (yes, my 5 year old still naps everyday)
Roughly 5:30pm - Wakes up, plays with Nathan
Roughly 7:00pm - Eats dinner, plays with daddy
Roughly 8:30pm - Gets ready for bed (cleans up toys, takes a bath, PJs, teeth, books, prayers)
Roughly 9:30pm - Bedtime
I am a huge proponent for the method presented in the Growing Kids God's Way series (AKA Baby Wise/Toddler Wise/Preschool Wise). Basically they use parent directed feeding (PDF). It doesn't mean that you have to absolutely stick to a strict routine, but it helps you organize your baby/child's day so that they are fed, played with, have their hygiene needs met, get adequate sleep, and grow and develop properly. You use your parental instincts and listen to your child, but generally speaking you direct their day/life.
It starts when they are born. You make sure that they get a good feeding (which is difficult at first), change their diaper, and put them to sleep (most babies are already asleep). You wake them every 3 hours (give or take 30 minutes) and repeat the cycle. They generally eat 8 times a day. As they develop more and are more alert, you make sure that they get a good feeding, change their diaper, play with them for about 30 minutes (give or take), and put them to sleep (watch for sleepy cues - rubbing eyes, fingers in mouth, fussy). You gradually change to a 4 hour routine and they start sleeping through the night. As they get older, you drop naps, add food, and do different things, but the premise is that you aim to have a consistent routine each day (especially for waking up, going to bed, naps, meals, bathtimes, outings, specific playtimes, etc).
We have followed all of the books in the series with Luke and he has done so great. He generally knows what to expect each day and it really helps him. We are following it with Nathan and given that he was 5 weeks early and I didn't start the method until almost 2 months old, he is doing great. He is sleeping 7-8 hours each night and generally goes 3 hours between daytime feedings.
Here is what his schedule looks like (in case anyone wants to see):
Roughly 8:00am - Wakes up, eats bottle, gets diaper changed, plays
Roughly 9:00am - Goes down for a nap
Roughly 11:00am - Wakes up, eats bottle, gets diaper changed, plays
Roughly 12:00pm - Goes down for a nap
Roughly 2:00pm - Wakes up, eats bottle, gets diaper changed, plays
Roughly 3:00pm - Goes down for a nap
Roughly 5:00pm - Wakes up, eats bottle, gets diaper changed, plays
Roughly 6:00pm - Goes down for a nap
Roughly 8:00pm - Wakes up, eats bottle, gets bath, gets in sleep clothes, gets rocked
Roughly 9:00pm - Goes to bed
Roughly 11:00pm - Wakes up (we wake him up), gets diaper changed, eats bottle, gets rocked
Roughly 11:30pm - Goes to bed (for the night)
If he wakes at night, he just eats a bottle and goes right back to sleep
We let him nap in his swing during the day. After his bath, he gets put in his sleep clothes (onesie and sleep sack/gown), gets rocked, and gets put in his crib to sleep. After his last feeding of the night, he gets swaddled and put in his crib. I think these specific things help him to know day versus night and when he is supposed to sleep longer.
Of course if he wakes early (30 minutes or less), I give him a few minutes and see if he goes back to sleep, but if he doesn't, I will go ahead and feed him. If he wakes up sooner than 30 minutes early, I give him some time to cry and go back to sleep. I never let him cry more than 15 minutes. I figure he might be hungry if he wakes up. Babies go through growth spurts or could need a diaper change/burp or just some comfort. That's the part that is pure parenting - knowing (or attempting to find out) what your child needs.
You don't just blindly follow the schedule and not understand your child. I think that's why GKGW/BW has gotten negative feedback at times. People assume you have to just make a strict schedule and follow it no matter what making your child miserable all day. I don't recommend following any book or method unless it works for you. You are the parent and you should do what you think is right and what works for you. This has just worked for us and I wanted to share. I have countless friends who it has worked for as well. Hope that has helped.
In case you want to know Luke's schedule, here it is:
Roughly 7:30am - Wakes up, eats breakfast, gets dressed
Roughly 8:00am - Plays while I feed Nathan, plays with Nathan
Roughly 9:00am - Plays, does art, etc
Roughly 11:00pm - Plays while I feed Nathan, plays with Nathan
Roughly 12:00pm - Eats lunch, homeschools
Roughly 2:00pm - Plays while I feed Nathan, plays with Nathan
Roughly 3:00pm - Goes down for a nap (yes, my 5 year old still naps everyday)
Roughly 5:30pm - Wakes up, plays with Nathan
Roughly 7:00pm - Eats dinner, plays with daddy
Roughly 8:30pm - Gets ready for bed (cleans up toys, takes a bath, PJs, teeth, books, prayers)
Roughly 9:30pm - Bedtime
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Morning Routine
One of the most helpful things I have found is having a morning routine. It can have one thing, say making your bed, or a few things. Either way, it is a great way to get your day started as it is consistent, starts your day with at least something clean and looking great, and gets you going.
My morning routine has a few more things on it as I am home most mornings and don't have to rush out of the house. Plus I really don't like doing a ton of stuff at night minus cleanup from dinner and help Luke clean up his toys. Since being pregnant and getting further along, I pretty much crash on the couch after dinner and just leave any clutter or cleanup for the next day.
Here is My Morning Routine:
Wake up, brush teeth, take a shower, and get dressed
Make our bed
Straighten up our bedroom
Start a load of laundry
Straighten up living room
Straighten up kitchen
Dishes/dishwasher (load/unload)
Wipe down kitchen
Make breakfast
It might look like a lot, but it really isn't. Making the bed takes all of about 2 minutes. Straightening up rooms takes a few minutes as we don't leave our house that cluttered. Starting a load of laundry takes a couple of minutes. There may be a few dishes to take care of (if any) and unloading/reloading the dishwasher takes a couple of minutes. Wiping down the kitchen takes a minute or two as there isn't usually a mess since we clean up after dinner. We keep breakfast really simple at our house - cereal, oatmeal, fruit, milk, so it takes hardly any time to make breakfast.
I would say the entire morning routine including a quick shower and getting dressed takes less than 30 minutes. The best part is it makes my house a little easier to manuever all day. When I go to the kitchen, there aren't dishes in the way or yucky counters. When I go to the living room, there are places to sit and room for Luke to play. A load of laundry is going and ready to be put in the dryer early in the morning. It's really nice.
My morning routine has a few more things on it as I am home most mornings and don't have to rush out of the house. Plus I really don't like doing a ton of stuff at night minus cleanup from dinner and help Luke clean up his toys. Since being pregnant and getting further along, I pretty much crash on the couch after dinner and just leave any clutter or cleanup for the next day.
Here is My Morning Routine:
Wake up, brush teeth, take a shower, and get dressed
Make our bed
Straighten up our bedroom
Start a load of laundry
Straighten up living room
Straighten up kitchen
Dishes/dishwasher (load/unload)
Wipe down kitchen
Make breakfast
It might look like a lot, but it really isn't. Making the bed takes all of about 2 minutes. Straightening up rooms takes a few minutes as we don't leave our house that cluttered. Starting a load of laundry takes a couple of minutes. There may be a few dishes to take care of (if any) and unloading/reloading the dishwasher takes a couple of minutes. Wiping down the kitchen takes a minute or two as there isn't usually a mess since we clean up after dinner. We keep breakfast really simple at our house - cereal, oatmeal, fruit, milk, so it takes hardly any time to make breakfast.
I would say the entire morning routine including a quick shower and getting dressed takes less than 30 minutes. The best part is it makes my house a little easier to manuever all day. When I go to the kitchen, there aren't dishes in the way or yucky counters. When I go to the living room, there are places to sit and room for Luke to play. A load of laundry is going and ready to be put in the dryer early in the morning. It's really nice.
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