How much do you plan your kids' days? Our eating and sleeping times are pretty regular, but as for activities during the day, I kind of let the kids (who are 3 and 17 months) lead. Sometimes I think I should give more structure to their day. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Edit: I didn't mean to imply that I don't spend time with them. We read a LOT of books together. We just don't really have a set time for things (except getting ready to sleep and eat).
Well my kids are all in school. However, when they get home they have a snack, do homework, then play outside. Approx 6pm we have supper. Then they get baths at 7pm and get in the bed at 8. However, I read them all a story or just lay with each one and snuggle for about 10 minutes each.
Routine is good.....structure (at least too much of it at this age) is not-so-good. I've got 3 girls (5, 3 and 9 months) and I find that just the getting ready for meals, eating them, cleaning them up - 3 times per day, plus a snack - is enough routine for us!
I think you should let your children play what they want. If they look restless, take 'em for a walk. If they seem a little under the weather, then read to them. With kids this young it's important to take their moods and feelings into consideration.
As far as the kids' activities day to day, I may say that 'today we're going to do a craft after lunch' and then let them loose with scissors, glue, paper and random things to glue. Or play-doh.
But I don't march them into the playroom and say 'ok, it's time to play dolls for 20 minutes then it's on to blocks'. LOL
Good for you! Other than eating and sleeping (and chores and bedtime rituals) it's great that your children have so much unstructured time to play. It helps them learn how to play on their own, fosters their creativity, and lets them be kids. Keep up the good work!
Structure is soooooo over-rated. :) As long as they are happy, you're probably happy and that sounds like a great time to me!
Depends on the day.
Today we have speech and occupational therapy sessions and then the day is wide open. I'll be forcing a nap because I'm fighting a cold and don't want to pass it on to anyone else.
When the weather is nice I make sure to get my son out to do SOMETHING even if it's just grocery shopping for a few things. ANYTHING that burns off some energy helps later on in the day.
I have a routine kid and a non-routine kid. I think that the non-routine kid has a tremendous advantage in life because of this, both in school and home life. Let's face it, life is unpredictable and the more you can roll the better off you are. If they don't "need" it, I'd say you're lucky. As they get closer to school age I'd start incorporating some structure so it doesn't totally shock them... :)
geez its like our lifes are eating sleeping then turn around and its lunch then nap then snack then dinner then sleep! our kids go to moms day out on tuesday and thursday they have a very structured day. we go play on friday morning either at the park or recently our neighbors house. from 9:30 till 10 :30 after that its too hot. my kids watch pbs in the morning and after nap time 3 ish life is crazy that were just running around. a lot of other moms (usually of one child )go to the library or other activites for kids. my kids are 19 months and 3 1/2 its not fun to get out and about too much.
At three and 17 months, there isn't really much need for lots of structure. That's dictated by the morning rituals of toothbrushing, washing, dressing, breakfast, etc, then I'm sure they play, it's mealtime again, etc. That's all that really would be expected of small children. It wouldn't hurt, and would probably be pretty nice for them, if you did add a little Mommy time to the daily routine, like maybe reading a book before lunch. Another idea would be to have a walk after lunch time. We like to do craft time, but don't do it as often as we should. Just getting out crayons and paper after they've been running about would be a good transition to quieting down.
