Schedules

stop worrying. Just do, and it will all fall into place. I find that the more emphasis I put on what I don't like about myself or my mothering, the bigger a problem it becomes for me. I find that I need to accept that what I do, and "can't" do has to be ok. I need to just to let go of the control part.
I write lists for my kids and for me and post them on the fridge, in the bathroom, or wherever is appropriate. I have even set the timer, on occasion. Then I have a list and cannot forget, or have to change the rules.
Good luck!
It will all fall into place. You are doing the best you can with what you've got.

We never really seem to have a set schedule. We do similar things each day and approximate time intervals but it is never quite the same and not quite a "schedule". For instance, we usually eat breakfast within an hour of getting up. My 7 month old son has a bottle sometime between 7:30 am and 9:30 am. Our "schedule" depends on when my boys wake up. I kind of let them guide it for the most part. They are 7 months and 3 years old. My daughter has a set schedule. She is 8 years old. Her dad wakes her up and gets her to school in the morning. The only thing set about my day with the boys is when we need to pick my daughter up from school.

My advice is to be flexible. Write down what it is you want to accomplish each day. Write down approximately how much time you want to elapse between meals but know that it won't always work out that way. And remember that being flexible is perfectly fine. As long as you are getting your son fed and he is getting his nap time in and play time in, I'm sure you are doing fine.

Good luck.

I am like you. I don't do schedules and have a hard time remembering to get things done.
What I had to do was use my cell phone's calander.
Any appt. that was made at the Dr's or anywere else I put it in my cell before I leave to make sure I have a reminder.
I also discovered this works with waking me up to get my son to school and to give me a head's up when it's time to pick him up.
It's also great to progarm in a certain time and have it repeat every day untill like 2013 if you like so you have a reminder to take med's.
I also bought one of those calander's for the fridge that has not only the date but room for up to 5 people on a date so you can also try that and see if that works.
I hate to admit that I have to do this but hey that's what happen's with parent hood and cronic fatigue sindrome. You're mind turn's to mush.
good luck, tish who would be lost with out a cell.

What I do is I write down my day time by time. For example:

9:00- get up eat breakfast

9:30-clean up breakfast and do errands

10:15- Play time/ Tv time and make phone calls

I try to schedule things leaving enough time between errands or activities. If I go over time for one activity or errand I just allow extra time for the next task. It might be easier to make a weekly schedule, especially if you know that you have appointments or errands that need to be done on a certain day.

But anyway- I highly recommend writing everything down!!

Hi N. ~ I have 4 boys and I also have a hard time with a "set schedule", if it needed done I did it, which only lead to me being overwhelmed and trying to do everything at once and my husband is a huge make a schedule and stick to it as a construction superintendent. Someone suggested to me FlyLady.com they break things down to zones/hot spots/stuff for kids, etc. What a huge help it has been!!! Hope this is helpful. Blessings ~ J.

You have to do what works for you and your son. Just because your friends or other women have strick schedules with their children doesn't mean you have to. I'm a mother of three and we have flexible schedules. We eat breakfast before 10am but when we are ready and hungry. Somedays we sleep till 8am and others we are up at 6:30am. My daughter is in afternoon Kindergarten so we have to get her there on time but other than that we stay pretty laid back and flexible. My baby (8 months) naps well and sleeps at night. So you don't have to have a strick schedule for them to sleep well. If you and your son are healthy and happy thats all that matters! If you want a schedule try it out. But don't get frustrated if it doesn't work!
C. H

Personally, I would try to schedule you day around his naps and meals. Also, kids that age have little cncept of time, so it helps to give them notice of what's coming. Like, "In 10 minutes, we're going to get your shoes and jacket on and go to the store." It helps them to transition to the next activity. Good luck. At this point--your schedule will most likely be his schedule! But don't forget to schedule time for yourself and time for you and your husband, too. Good luck and enjoy that little guy!

I think as adults we think of schedules as being set times. I find that with my kids, our schedule tends to be more one of sequence than set times. There are some things like preschool and storytimes that happen at set times, but most of the other stuff follows a sequence which then generally puts us at a similar time each day, but I'm not exactly watching the clock. I think little kids can conceptualize time bettern by sequencing anyways.

In the mornings, we get dressed before going downstairs. Then we eat breakfast and brush teeth before moving to the day's activity. For naps.... we eat lunch (sometimes at 11, 12 or 1) and then we have a cup of milk, hit the potty and then it's nap time. So naps might be at 12, 1 , or 2 - just depends on what happened in the am. In the evenings, we eat dinner, do one activity, drink milk (sometimes while watching a show), take bath, brush teeth, pj's, book and bed. Usually it happens in the 7/8 hours but sometimes we are off and it's later, but the pattern of events helps their little bodies prepare and know what to expect next so that they are ready to settle when it's sleeping time (most of the time).

I kind of broke our day up into mini routines - that might make it easier for you to adapt and still with it. Then you don't feel like you've gotten off track and so the whole day is a loss for the schedule. If the morning doesn't happen, then let it go and get settled back down for the lunch/nap schedule or dinner/bed one.

Hi N.!
First, I have to admit, I grew up in a very scheduled home...to the minute! This is why I think I had no desire to “schedule” home life. It catches up with you though, believe me...so, what works for us is a dry erase board on my kitchen wall. Not the prettiest wall hanging, but who cares… ;)
There are 4 of us in the house, myself, husband, 12 year old daughter and 6 year old son. We each have our own color of marker for our "events" I am red, hubby black, daughter green, son blue, we draw a monthly calendar and leave 4 big blocks in our specific color marker at the top of our board for our " daily stuff" on the day by day blocks on the calendar we write things down in our specific marker color things such as… appt. 10 am, off from school, early school day, track, etc.
I am a realtor so my blocks will say for example… buyer appt. seller appt. settlement etc. so they will know if I am avail. or not and where I am.
It is an "in your face" so to speak daily reminder of who is where and doing what. The kids have simple things in the big blocks like set table 4:30 empty table, dishwasher, homework 6pm, take shower 8pm, bring down dirty laundry, blah blah blah which is an every night thing.
Sooo...Big blocks up top for everyday routine, calendar blocks for not so normal things and it all fits...we run smoothly again.
When the kids were small, we had a very relaxed schedule, based around the kids; they napped great, ate great and slept all night. Once they had "lives" of their own...the dry erase board was a blessing...the kids will do variations of their big block schedule too as long as they know bed time is at 9pm, day over...they can do their ancillary items whenever that day. Say it's a nice day and they want to ride bikes before and after dinner...that's ok but they still have to squeeze in homework etc. so maybe they give up some TV time that night. They love it because they never "forget" what they need to do and they teach themselves some discipline as well. We no longer have “forgotten” homework, and I do not get the 7am "Oh, Mom, did you bake those cupcakes for school today?" questions anymore...lol!
I hope this makes sense and you cannot tell that I have not had my coffee yet today…maybe I should write it down in my big block ;)

I agree that a lot of your schedule will be based around your son's schedule. I also make a list of all the household chores I need done each week and how often. Then I decide which days I will do those tasks. So every Monday, I know I need to do dishes, vacuum the living room, and sweep the kitchen. I don't make myself put it into a specific time slot because life with kids changes every minute. Some Mondays I have all my tasks done in the morning and I can invest the rest of my day in kid time and extra projects. Other Mondays, I'm still sweeping and doing dishes after the kids go to bed. But if I have my list, I know what needs to be done and I can work it into my day somehow. I also enjoy checking off the list and seeing myself getting it done.

Schedule? What's that? :D

In this house, we barely have a routine - it's more like a rhythm. Mornings are busiest - that's when we usually go out of the house to parks, playgroups, shopping, whatever. Then we come home for lunch and nap/quiet time. Afternoons are more relaxed w/ lots of free play or maybe some art. In warm weather we're usually outside all afternoon. Then it's time for dinner, a little quiet play (or a few laps around the house!), and bed.

When I need to feel productive, I write daily to-do lists each morning. (I love crossing things off a list!) My sons got used to seeing these lists and wanted to know what everything said. So then I started drawing picto-lists. Simple stick figures/sketches to show them what we were doing each day. They LOVED to follow this - definitely helps w/ transitions!

Check out flylady.net That is one of the best tools I have for getting things done and they don't have to be done all at one time. Highly recommmended.
Barbara