This whole new "schedule" of ours. (I have "schedule" in quotations because it still has a few wrinkles that need to be ironed out.)
I've already complained about how early Adeline's school starts. So I'll spare you from that gripe again.
The first 3 weeks were really tough. Remember - I'm a stay-at-home mom and Addie never went to preschool, so this whole "gettin' up and going somewhere early" thing is all new to us. Except for Sundays, of course. But then I have Chad's help, and church starts much later, so that's easier.
One of the biggest hiccups was Tate's napping schedule. Trying to fit both of his naps in before picking up Addie (yes, he still needs two naps a day or he's impossible to deal with!) and lining up his afternoon nap with Millie's, while still needing to get groceries and run errands and whatnot, was... hmmm.... how should I put it...... a suicidal mission! That may sound extreme, but I was running on fumes and tears trying to figure it all out while still keeping a happy, not screaming constantly, Tate. Plus, throw in the fact that this is football season and my husband is the head coach for the 8th grade team and isn't home until close to 7:00 Mon-Fri and even later on game-days, and I was a mess!
(It does help that they're so cute, though.)
6:30 - Wake up Tate and get him all ready so he'll go down early for his morning nap.
6:45 - Wake up the girls and start getting them ready. Well, Addie can do it herself, but Millie still needs help with the little things.
7:05ish - Breakfast.
7:20 - Leave for school (if we're walking), 7:30 if we're driving.
8:00 - Tate's morning nap.
10:00 - Run errands.
11:30 - Lunch.
12:00 - Millie's and Tate's naps.
2:30 - Leave to pick up Addie.
5:00 - Dinner (yes, we have to eat without Chad b/c the kids would starve or fill up on snacks if they waited 'til he got home!)
7:00 - Bedtime.
Why such an early bedtime? Well, one thing I wasn't warned about before Addie started school was how her full schedule would affect her at home. After her first week at school, we were sitting down to dinner and she was acting kinda "attitude-y" which is totally unlike her. I asked her why she was behaving that way and her reply had me fighting a huge grin:
"Mom, I had three recesses today and P.E. and I am just wiped out! Plus, I had to be good all day at school!"
Hence the early bedtime. And trust me, by 7:00, she's more than ready for sleep! And I've learned that when she gets home from school, she needs to conk out on the couch for awhile with a snack so she can just unwind before going out to play. That has really helped out the dinnertime 'tude. :)
So, have any of you had schedule woes too? Do you have any great tricks or ideas to help us all out?
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7 comments:
Girl, my heart goes out to you. If only those sweet things would nap on schedule every day, right? Mine never would. Of course, we've always been rebels when it came to schedule... due to church ministry when the girls were little. I'm trying more now. ;)
Three recesses and 1 PE would have me falling asleep in my dinner, for sure. Hehe... Addie with a tude? I don't know if I believe you. I mean, look at those cute faces! ;) Sho shweet!
Boy do I hear ya on this. For us this is week 2 of school - and I feel like we are JUST starting to round the corner of adjusting.
That first week *shudder* - we had 'tudes all over the place.
I haven't had to deal with too strict of a schedule yet with any of our kids, but you sound like you've got a good system going. I hear ya on the necessity of naptime: our 1-year-old turns into a monster if we miss his nap. Lots of screaming. Lots of agony.
Big, BIG pat on the back for keeping the home fire burning while your husband works such late evenings; it's definitely not fun doing things without your sidekick.
Oh, boy! Schedule transitions are hard! I'm not looking forward to the first few months of figuring out how to mesh Lily's schedule with a newborns (and just actually GETTING a newborn on a schedule)! Even though it sounds like yours is a lot more complicated than mine...I still feel your pain! Glad you got it all worked out!
Wow, you guys get up with the sun! Seriously, that is so early it makes my head hurt! We are so spoiled with school not starting until 8:50!
I'm adjusting this year to having two boys that don't nap! Whew, they are active!
The silly thing that seems to make or break our morning is having clothes laid out the night before. Things seriously go so smoothly when the kids can jump out of bed and immediately get dressed.
Just when it all consistently goes as planned...it'll be summer vacation! ;)
We've been having a similar set of troubles over here: Penelope's nap, Katherine's tiredness, my waking up every morning thinking "we have to do all this AGAIN??"; it all sounds so familiar!
We're getting through it with a very similar schedule to your own...except Katherine goes to bed even earlier! I realized that if I get her to sleep by 6:30pm she can make it through school and our evenings without too much trouble. (And even then, she falls asleep immediately, sleeps through the night and has to be awakened for breakfast!)
Good luck!
Glad you got it all figured out! Hope it keeps going smoothly!!
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