Friday, August 19, 2005
Our Daily Routine
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I really don't want to write what our daily routine has been because it isn't so impressive, but I know it will be good for me to set it down in 'type' so that I have to face how slovenly I have been! Plus, truth be told, I am an organizational nerd and I like making these kinds of lists.
Current Routine:
7am - Elise wakes me up and we stumble downstairs to eat cold cereal - she watches Sesame street and I check my blogs
8am - Hear Tommy shower, make coffee and his lunch, Elise still watching Noggin. ("It's like preschool on TV")
9am - Wake up Audrey, say goodbye to Tommy, feed Audrey, turn off TV and clean kitchen - Elise plays with puzzles. Short walk to mailbox.
10am - If we are going somewhere (play with friends, swimming or shopping) we will get ready and go. IF we are staying home we will start a project, go outside to garden or upstairs to the playroom/project room or clean something. I try to include the girls as much as I can and keep them from fighting with each other. Sometimes we will do a little 15 min. exercise video, either a leg one of mine or a Yoga kids video. It is so cute to see the girls do "squat-kicks"! They enjoy it or I wouldn't do it.
11am - If home, put Audrey down for nap, play "schoolbook" with Elise or a board game or an art project. Sometimes I work on a house project here that I can't do while Audrey is awake, like painting a room.
12pm - Make lunch, start bread if bread day. Check my blogs over my salad. Wake up Audrey and feed her lunch. Clean kitchen
1pm - Do whatever odds and ends I have to do while the girls play within sight, laundry, raise bread, more cleaning.
2pm - Try to play with girls, especially Audrey in a focused way, but I am not really good at it, I get easily distracted!
2:30 - Book time.
3pm - Nap time. Elise goes to bed with a pile of books, usually stays in bed for 1 1/2 hours, but rarely falls a sleep anymore. Sometimes I let her up early and I let her play educational games on the computer. I exercise durring this time - I read the Bible and pray for the first half and read a book of choice the second half (45 min. total).
4pm - Sometimes I take a quick shower and freshen up and sometimes I blog thoughts I had while exercising.
4:30 - Start dinner. I usually make a needed phone call while I prep dinner.
5pm - Tommy home and Audrey wakes up. Elise helps set table and we eat as soon as ready. This can be a bit of a hectic time if I blogged too much.
6pm - clean up kitchen (training Elise to start helping a bit) and bathe girls.
7pm - family play time, then read more books.
8pm - Brush teeth and off to bed. Finish up kitchen if necessary.
8:30 - parent free time
On average, this is really how our days go. I know that once #3 arrives, I am going to have to probably significantly adjust the schedule for a while. As I wrote our little routine it isn't so terrible, other than the very slow and lazy morning. I hate that Elise is watching nearly 2 hours of TV in the morning! I am so much more tired pregnant, I just don't 'feel' like I care at 7:30am. So the project for the week is to delay turning on the computer and try to begin the morning with Elise. I could visit with her while she eats breakfast, and then start her on drawing (we call it "playing pens" :-) or on one of her puzzles or schoolbook. I also want to try to dress her and have her make her bed before 9am! I just don't want to continue the habit of the girls zoning out before the TV while I zone out at the computer.
The second thing I want to change is the lack of interesting activities with the girls. We tend to do the same things; I am not very creative in projects and new games, etc. This is probably my greatest fear in homeschooling, I just get very overwhelmed with options (as I have said before!) and tend to stay safe with a few old reliable activities. By the time I reached high school, I had already developed my phobia of 'projects' and would much, much rather be assigned a paper to write or given a test. Especially a group project where you have to cooperate with imperfect, often lazy people!
I am completely comfortable and confident in the world of ideas, but in the practical, get your hands and house dirty world, I am pretty slow and timid. I have had material for valances sitting in my closet for 2 years, but because sewing is new to me, I haven't yet had the courage to dive in and start the project. The newness of it all and potential messiness overwhelms me. What if I cut the material wrong? What if it becomes a big consuming mess of a project? What if I spend days and they still end up looking stupid? I am just lazy about things that I don't have down pat. It has taken me 4 rooms in my house before I finally feel confident about painting. In addition, I am cheap and a bit of a clean freak, and neither of these traits lend themselves well to creative endeavors!
This resistance towards new projects and activities makes me apprehensive about home schooling, since I consider any good education full of new explorations. I still want to be the student with someone telling ME what to do and providing all the materials in a space I don't have to clean! I think that if I have a good co-op or community helping me get started, we will be alright. At this pre-school stage, I found the activity links on the left sidebar, which help me branch out a bit, and for the most part I cling to the hope that mainly the girls need me to just be with them and be joyful about it. Elise doesn't seem to mind coloring as her only art form . . . we use crayons, pens and sometimes even watercolor paints. Pretty adventurous eh?
Kind exhortation and suggestions are welcome! I want to grow as a mother and overcome my weaknesses.
Current Routine:
7am - Elise wakes me up and we stumble downstairs to eat cold cereal - she watches Sesame street and I check my blogs
8am - Hear Tommy shower, make coffee and his lunch, Elise still watching Noggin. ("It's like preschool on TV")
9am - Wake up Audrey, say goodbye to Tommy, feed Audrey, turn off TV and clean kitchen - Elise plays with puzzles. Short walk to mailbox.
10am - If we are going somewhere (play with friends, swimming or shopping) we will get ready and go. IF we are staying home we will start a project, go outside to garden or upstairs to the playroom/project room or clean something. I try to include the girls as much as I can and keep them from fighting with each other. Sometimes we will do a little 15 min. exercise video, either a leg one of mine or a Yoga kids video. It is so cute to see the girls do "squat-kicks"! They enjoy it or I wouldn't do it.
11am - If home, put Audrey down for nap, play "schoolbook" with Elise or a board game or an art project. Sometimes I work on a house project here that I can't do while Audrey is awake, like painting a room.
12pm - Make lunch, start bread if bread day. Check my blogs over my salad. Wake up Audrey and feed her lunch. Clean kitchen
1pm - Do whatever odds and ends I have to do while the girls play within sight, laundry, raise bread, more cleaning.
2pm - Try to play with girls, especially Audrey in a focused way, but I am not really good at it, I get easily distracted!
2:30 - Book time.
3pm - Nap time. Elise goes to bed with a pile of books, usually stays in bed for 1 1/2 hours, but rarely falls a sleep anymore. Sometimes I let her up early and I let her play educational games on the computer. I exercise durring this time - I read the Bible and pray for the first half and read a book of choice the second half (45 min. total).
4pm - Sometimes I take a quick shower and freshen up and sometimes I blog thoughts I had while exercising.
4:30 - Start dinner. I usually make a needed phone call while I prep dinner.
5pm - Tommy home and Audrey wakes up. Elise helps set table and we eat as soon as ready. This can be a bit of a hectic time if I blogged too much.
6pm - clean up kitchen (training Elise to start helping a bit) and bathe girls.
7pm - family play time, then read more books.
8pm - Brush teeth and off to bed. Finish up kitchen if necessary.
8:30 - parent free time
On average, this is really how our days go. I know that once #3 arrives, I am going to have to probably significantly adjust the schedule for a while. As I wrote our little routine it isn't so terrible, other than the very slow and lazy morning. I hate that Elise is watching nearly 2 hours of TV in the morning! I am so much more tired pregnant, I just don't 'feel' like I care at 7:30am. So the project for the week is to delay turning on the computer and try to begin the morning with Elise. I could visit with her while she eats breakfast, and then start her on drawing (we call it "playing pens" :-) or on one of her puzzles or schoolbook. I also want to try to dress her and have her make her bed before 9am! I just don't want to continue the habit of the girls zoning out before the TV while I zone out at the computer.
The second thing I want to change is the lack of interesting activities with the girls. We tend to do the same things; I am not very creative in projects and new games, etc. This is probably my greatest fear in homeschooling, I just get very overwhelmed with options (as I have said before!) and tend to stay safe with a few old reliable activities. By the time I reached high school, I had already developed my phobia of 'projects' and would much, much rather be assigned a paper to write or given a test. Especially a group project where you have to cooperate with imperfect, often lazy people!
I am completely comfortable and confident in the world of ideas, but in the practical, get your hands and house dirty world, I am pretty slow and timid. I have had material for valances sitting in my closet for 2 years, but because sewing is new to me, I haven't yet had the courage to dive in and start the project. The newness of it all and potential messiness overwhelms me. What if I cut the material wrong? What if it becomes a big consuming mess of a project? What if I spend days and they still end up looking stupid? I am just lazy about things that I don't have down pat. It has taken me 4 rooms in my house before I finally feel confident about painting. In addition, I am cheap and a bit of a clean freak, and neither of these traits lend themselves well to creative endeavors!
This resistance towards new projects and activities makes me apprehensive about home schooling, since I consider any good education full of new explorations. I still want to be the student with someone telling ME what to do and providing all the materials in a space I don't have to clean! I think that if I have a good co-op or community helping me get started, we will be alright. At this pre-school stage, I found the activity links on the left sidebar, which help me branch out a bit, and for the most part I cling to the hope that mainly the girls need me to just be with them and be joyful about it. Elise doesn't seem to mind coloring as her only art form . . . we use crayons, pens and sometimes even watercolor paints. Pretty adventurous eh?
Kind exhortation and suggestions are welcome! I want to grow as a mother and overcome my weaknesses.
2 Comments:
At 8/22/2005 9:40 AM,
Mrs. D said…
I love the names of your two little girls!
No suggestions, I don't have any kids :). But maybe something creative will come to my mind. I really want to do more creative stuff again, after beeing busy with books and papers for so long! But I don't really consider myself a very creative person ... my favorite at the moment is scrapbooking :)
At 8/22/2005 8:36 PM,
Anita said…
When I was baby sitting 2 little girls (they are not little any more), we planted sunflowers and green beans in a pot behind my apartment. They loved coming over to see how the plants were growing!
Don't feel intimidated about making valances or curtains. They can be very simple - all straight seams - and still be very nice. You could draw out on paper your curtain ideas before you cut. Just make sure to measure your windows carefully and it should go fine. :-)
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