First, we set meal times and bed times. We then established a morning routine. Once our meal times, bed times, and morning routine were predictable, we continued by instituting a bed time routine. After much trial and error, this is what we found worked for us...
Establishing a Morning Routine: In the morning we found that we could rush around and get everything done, but we were grumpy by the time the morning was only half-way over, and our children were grumpy too.When fine tuning our morning schedule to where it worked smoothly without having children grumpy, we had to identify the things that were taking too long, or could be fit somewhere else.
We were able to identify one of those time consuming things as being Big Sis's meltdowns over early morning decision making. The solution: the evening before Big Sis has school in the morning, she picks out her clothes, makes sure her homework is completed and in her backpack, and her shoes and jacket are where they belong. She also describes the hairdo she wants for the next day. A waking girl in a rushed morning is much harder to motivate to make decisions and often has meltdowns trying to make them. However, a fully awake girl the evening before such a morning makes decisions just fine, and the same waking girl the following morning is perfectly content with whatever decisions were made the evening before. The morning is much more enjoyable without meltdowns!
Another time consuming event was micro-managing morning chores . The solution: an Achievement Chart and Board. It has worked exceptionally well (keep posted for the DIY instructions and how it works).
Another time-consuming culprit is clean-up after breakfast. Following the Happy Kitchen Hint of filling the sink with hot water and soap before beginning cooking helps fantastically, but if we are all leaving early in the morning, dishes don't get done. That's right, the solution is: DISHES DON'T GET DONE. It is so worth leaving dirty dishes and walking out the door with cheerful parents and children. We leave the dishes soaking in the sink, so when we do have time, it's an easy wipe and into the dishwasher.
Establishing a Bed Time Routine: Our evenings used to undo everything we had accomplished during the whole of the day because it was crazy trying to get children to bed. We would be so emotionally exhausted at the end of bed time that nothing more got done and we would wake to the crazy mess we went to bed with. Not the ideal way to start off an already hectic morning.
So we began establishing bed time routines. A fantastic super-slender book we recommend is "Sleep Tight" by Suzy Martyn. This book is ideally for infants from birth through children age 4, but she does have recommendations for children up to age seven...I believe.
Baby's routine includes being washed, coconut-oiled, put in a clean diaper and pajamas, fed, and sung to (the same three songs every time). By the time we're almost through his routine his eyes are closed and he's drooling milk. When he's laid down for the night he doesn't object even a little bit.
Big Sis starts her own bed time routine while Baby's routine is going on. She does her night time chores (using her Achievement Chart and Board again) until Mom is finished with Baby. Then Mom helps Big Sis finish up and we usually have about half an hour of Mommy/Daughter time before she has to be in bed. We like to read but sometimes we'll play Barbies or horses for just a bit. Then we finish up the last three "chores" of scriptures, prayers, hugs & kisses, then into bed she goes. I lay down with her for five minutes and tell her a story that I usually make up, but sometimes just re-tell. She loves when they are ended with "to be continued tomorrow night...." I suppose her bed time wouldn't have to be so lengthy but we both love it.
After kids are tucked in bed, dishes are done, the house is tidied, parents get to enjoy some quiet time before our bed time, and ideally we're asleep by 10:00 A.M.
We've found that if we stick to these general bones of our schedule, the rest of the day goes very smoothly and has the potential to be more productive.
Happy Family Hint: We've found success in different methods of keeping our home orderly and clean, but not all of them allowed for a clean home, happy children, and happy parents. If what you're doing doesn't have the desired results of happy children, happy parents, and a clean house, keep fine-tuning what you're doing using the method of identifying what is keeping you from achieving complete success and searching for a solution. Whatever you do Don't Give Up! There is always a solution, right Mom?
No comments:
Post a Comment