In 2011 I organized my goals for the year through a new schedule. I was thinking about my schedule as I was writing my goals for 2013 yesterday. This is by no means set in stone, but here are my thoughts at the moment.6:00 - Either Oliver or Ian usually get me up sometime around 6:00am (today it was 5:00am, but thankfully that's not the norm). In 2011 I was planning to exercise at 6:00am. I have no such desire at the moment. I am not planning to fit exercise into my schedule until the weather is nice enough for us to walk to the park even though I'm trying to lose weight.
7:00 - Breakfast and calendar time - I'd like to start adding in a discussion of the weather. I put Oliver in his gym while the kids are finishing breakfast and this gives me a chance to get dressed and possibly do a little housework.
After breakfast, the kids get dressed. Except for Sundays and Wednesdays (when we're rushing out the door), I'd like to have music time and read some picture books in addition to the kids having some play time.
While Oliver takes his morning nap (which sometimes is his only nap such as yesterday he napped from 11am-1:30pm and then was up until 8pm), this is my best opportunity for "schoolwork" with the kids as well as doing crafts.Noon - Lunch and I'd like to start a habit of reading a chapter book to them while they eat
1:00 - Ian goes down for a nap, and Nadia has room time (yesterday she actually took a nap in her bed for the first time in months). It would be good for me to get a little housework done if possible while taking care of Oliver. Ian's naps vary greatly in length, but I'd say the average length is one hour.
If Oliver takes a second nap, that is definitely prime time for cooking, laundry, cleaning, etc. It's also a good time for me to do a puzzle or play a board game with Nadia and/or Ian.
5:00 - Dinner and after dinner we watch a DVD. Paul plays with the kids after the DVD until it's time for bed. The kids help clean up before we go to bed. At 7:45pm we head upstairs to brush their teeth, have Ian go to the bathroom, put pjs on, have devotions, pray, and read one story.
10:00 - I go to bed. I'd be going to bed sooner if Oliver wasn't sleeping through the night. Let me say it once again. I am sooooooooooo grateful that Oliver takes 1-2 naps in his crib and sleeps through the night. Bless you, my child!!!! I used to sleep an average of 9 hours a night, and the last couple of years it's been 8 hours a night. I rarely get more than 7 hours of sleep these days. If we have a fourth child will I be down to 6 hours a night? Sometimes I feel tired with only 7 hours of sleep, but most of the time it's fine.
On Sundays we leave for Sunday School at 8:40 and get home about 12:15. On Tuesdays we leave for ballet at 3:30 and get home at 5:15. On Wednesdays we leave for gymnastics at 8:30 and get back around 11:30. Nadia had Cubbies from 6:30-8:00 on Wednesday nights, and I have choir rehearsal from 7:00-8:30 that same night.
Although this might be the general plan, flexibility is KEY. Oliver only slept 9 hours last night. His norm is 10 hours, and the longest he's slept is 11 hours. Usually if he gets up too early, I put him back down after feeding him (which takes an average of one hour), and he'll sleep another 60-90 minutes. I don't count that as a nap. That was my plan this morning since he got up at 5:00, but Ian woke up at 6:15, and Paul had left for PSU a couple of hours before that. Ian needs to be cuddled when he first wakes up or he screams and cries. Normally it's easy to cuddle him because Oliver is in his crib. That wasn't the case this morning so Ian screamed to the point I thought he would throw up (even though I told him I was trying to put Oliver back to bed), and all that screaming made it impossible for Oliver to get back to sleep. Fun times! I finally threw in the towel, and kept Oliver up until 7:30am. That's very early for his first nap! Usually his first nap starts between 10-11am. In light of his Synagis shot appointment at 10:45, maybe it's for the best that he took a really early nap today. 
1 comment:
Sounds great! I'm just now getting to the point again where the word "routine" doesn't cause me to panic. :) I expect I'll nail one down in the next few weeks. And you're right: flexibility is key! You don't want your routine stressing you out, which is my tendency.
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