If You Are a Stay at Home Mom to a Toddler...

Technically I have a preschooler. But when he was a toddler, we followed a loose schedule, still do.

Wake up around 8am. Breakfast, often with a tv show. Get dressed, go out and run errands (*see more below*), eat lunch sometimes out, sometimes back at home, be home by 1 or 2 for naptime, then cook dinner when he wakes up, he can play while I cook, then bath, books, and bed.

*errands*
-once or twice a week - grocery store
-once a week - library (storytime on Wednesdays if we can make it)
-once a week - go to my parents' house, eat lunch, maybe hit up a store (I live in the country. The closest Target to me is 30 minutes away)
-once a week - playdate/playground/something fun for kiddo
-on the days when we stay home (no errands, tired of getting out) I'll do a load or two of laundry, sweep, clean up, etc. while my son plays with toys, or we play games, or we watch some tv.

I'm a SAHD - does my opinion count? :)

We have a schedule. We walk her older sister to school on nice days.

Breakfast - school - we work on letters and alphabets in puzzles. I let her watch Disneychannel while I clean up the house.

She goes shopping with me and helps hold the coupons (yes, Dad's use coupons too!) and we use that as teaching time too. Numbers and letter recognition.

We have lunch. We nap. I love the nap! Wife doesn't like that I nap too - but I'm here, she's not. I told her she was just jealous - she agreed.

We will walk and pick her sister up from school. Her other sister, the middle one, goes to pre-school for a few hours on M-W-F.

We have play dates too. it's been a little hard at first as some women thought it was a little weird having a man there. But like the movie Mr. Mom - it's working itself out. Darn it - I don't have any of them throwing themselves at me though. chuckles.

I do have somewhat of a schedule & we do have to get out once a day ( for both our sanity). I'm not overly strict about a schedule because there are days I can't get around changing it and I don't want to have to deal with a major melt down.

I absolutely have a schedule, and I'm finally getting into the swing of things with my two toddlers (3-years old and 16-months old). Mondays are play-date days, and if I don't have a playdate, I try to arrange something else fun like a trip to the park or to our local gym. Tuesdays, we go to storytime at the library, and then have lunch with my husband after, which is awesome. Wednesdays, my husband takes our youngest for an hour at work and I go to storytime together with just my eldest. Thursdays, I have a weekly sitter who comes for a couple of hours in the morning so that I can run errands, and then Friday I use to clean house, complete any chores I didn't finish during the week, etc. So I don't actually get out every day - I get out 3-4 days a week, and almost always stay in one day (although once the weather is nicer, my chores will include yard-work - does that count as getting out?)

On a daily basis, mornings are used for the activities described above, and afternoons while my youngest naps are used to straighten up the house, play with my eldest, etc. Every day, we have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks at exactly the same time so that I can keep us on a schedule. And no, my life isn't nearly as organized as it sounds. There is always laundry still in the basket somewhere, and one room at least is always a pit. ^_^ But I feel more organized.

My first objective everyday - keep daddy sane.

After that, yes - we follow a schedule. Lot's of 'free range' time. Lot's of time to explore and learn. More focused play time in the playpen or his room when daddy works out.

During at least one playtime per day, I will make sure that we play together. We also try to work in about 30 minutes of reading every day - usually the last 30 before morning nap.

We get out of the house a couple times a week. Walk if the weather's nice. Grocery shopping or errands otherwise.

But seriously - if you're asking about a schedule then you NEED one. It's the best thing in the world. It's like getting a Tivo for your satellite. Will change your life. Plenty of books on the subject, we prefer the Babywise series.

We do follow a loose schedule. We get up every day about the same time (7am ish) bc we have to get her big brother off to school. Then every day (unless we feel like staying home) we go out to either do a toddler activity or I take a class at the YMCA. Here are some of the things we do: The local environmental center has a free toddler/preschooler program one morning a week, we go to the local science museum, music and movement at the library or storytime at the library, meet up at our local indoor play area/family meeting center, go to the park, walk the dogs on a trail, meet friends at the pool (we use the little warm therapy pool), in the summer we always go to the farmers market. In the past we have signed up for a class...we have done mommy and me yoga and gymnastics. A few times we have just met a friend and her toddler and we ride the bus to our local downtown, walk around, go to a coffee shop, and take the bus back home. My toddler LOVES doing this! Every Wednesday morning I have a "run exchange" where a friend and I take turns watching the toddlers and each of us goes for a run. Most of these morning activities last an hour and a half or so....so we also fit in grocery shopping at times or before we leave home I start laundry or clean or whatever. After our morning outing we come home, eat lunch, and she goes down for her nap. When her nap is over it is almost time to pick up her brother from the bus stop. After overseeing him do his homework it is just about time to start dinner. The weeks fly by!

When he was 18mos-2 1/2 yrs old I would:
wake up at 7am
have milk & a tiny bit of breakfast (not hungry very early)
go for a walk in the stroller
run an errand
1-3 nap time
play outside
play inside
bath
9:30 bedtime

Now that he's 3:
wake up between 7:30 - 8:30am
breakfast
1/2 hr of cartoons
walk dogs in nice weather
play outside
go to park or run errands
back home
play inside and/or out again
(no more nap) :(
watch cartoons while I make dinner
we play outside & inside till dad gets home then we have dinner
7 til bedtime is family time, family play, bath, read a book then bedtime.
ahhhh :)

Thursdays are play dateswhen I watch his best friend
Tuesdays are science club or reading time at the library

Once a week I take him somewhere fun. Just the two of us: lunch, a different park, the mall if it ir raining for indoor play at the indoor structures

I kind of have a schedule .we eat and I work out at similar times...I get out 4 times a week or more with good weather .

Get out of the house...you will go nuts lol. I like schedule's for naptimes and breakfast,lunch,dinner...but get out of the house for play time every once in a while...a change of scenery will be good for you and your little one!

DEFINITELY have a schedule. I work from home, and have my 2 year old son home with me all day (every day).

Wake up, make my son breakfast, get the girls out the door to the bus stop.

Work while he plays independently (something I had to teach him very early on, not easy!)

Make lunch, then nap time. Work and do housework like a crazy lady during his down time ;)

He wakes up, he cuddle and play together, have a snack, maybe put on some 30 minute show he likes so I can bust through more work.

Around 3:30, he's my helper :) Helps gather dirty laundry or helps me fold clean laundry by handing it to me, helps empty the dishwasher and pick up toys. Then we sit at our big front window and watch for his sisters getting off the bus.

4pm, he plays, I cook, girls do homework. Husband gets home, we eat, THEY all play, I clean up after dinner and... work some more ;)

When it's gorgeous out, we'll take a walk around the block if I'm crunched for time, or if I'm not, we'll go the the river or the park. On weekends, we hang at the river until past dark :)

He's adjusted really, really well, but it was a long road to get to where we are now!

I have a 22 month old, and our schedule is primarily dictated by her big brother's school and lessons. Typically speaking, however, our ideal schedule is to have a playdate in the morning, nap in the early afternoon, and then another playdate in the afternoon. On some days, we can only manage one playdate (usually due to friends' availability), but yes, we try to get out everyday.

My son is older now, but when he was a toddler we had a loose schedule. We woke up around the same time daily, between 7:30 and 8:30 (depended on the night poor sleeper) and then cuddled a bit in bed to start our day (that was and still is part of our routine). We would have breakfast, watch some cartoons, and depending on the day was what we did. My son had EI (early intervention) at the time and Tuesdays @ 9 we always had the Family Councilor over (more for me) to discuss how we were progressing and allow me to get what I needed as well. The rest of the week we had the other therepists over around 10 or 11 for an hour or so - we kept mornings calm so he could focus on their activities and we could get the most out of their visits. Thurs @ 10:30 we had a play group (with other EI moms) at a Mc Donalds play center so he got a happy meal every week - he loved that one! The other times, days we had no EI or nothing major planned we would go to my sister's to have the boys play together. Her son was born a year after mine, and the boys were equal develpmentally with my son's delays so it worked well. I think my sister and I got each other thru some of the more rough toddler days by being together! So, we had a schedule to the degree that my son was not surprised by the next action but it was not thight and "on time." My son struggles with transitions (gotten better with age) so trying to follow a strict time table ruined out days but, him knowing that Today we have therepy, or play group or aunties house helped - we went thru and did what we needed to do to get to our "goal activity" for the day. But, my sister's daughter (diff sis) NEEDED an exact routine - egg timer and all or she got frazzled. She could not just "get lost in shaving cream shower painting" for a few hours each activity was 30 min then on to the next. I could not imagine the stress, but for my sister and her daughter it was ideal. So, we are all different! I think, even if it's just a walk getting out each day is nice, but so having a bunch of activities to do. If you want to find some creative ones that will get your toddlers senses flowing pick up a book "The Out of Sync Child Has Fun" the activities in there are geared towards kids with sensory issues BUT any child can easily enjoy most of these games/activities and get their senses going - good way to talk about them and help your toddler understand.

When I did not work, I had an outing nearly every day. Errands or the park or whatever. I try to get out a couple of times a week with DD. Weds mornings we have a standing gig at the library with friends. I have a loose schedule. We're up by 8, get breakfast, get dressed, do some activity, then I have to log in at work around 9 and that's punctuated with caring for DD while I move some electrons. Lunch is 12 or 12:30 when I take a break for about an hour. Then she might watch some TV or get out the play dough or dolls and it's back and forth time til about 3 when I finish my day. The afternoon depends on if I need to give SD a ride or if she has anybody over or if I have errands to run. Nice days we go out to play. DH comes home around 5:30-6 and the rest of the night is dinner, chores, family time, bath, book, bed. If you are looking for things to do, consider joining a Meet Up.