Planning & Routine

I have been thinking a lot lately about the lack of structure our days have, then tonight I was catching up on some Tweets and noticed that a handful of my favorite bloggers, specifically Maureen, over at Spell Outloud, were talking about organization and scheduling.

 I realized recently that, while I am an obsessive planner, I am absolutely terrible at sticking to a schedule. Because of this I find that our weekdays vary from super-structure to go-with-the-flow, and on the weekends, (when daddy is home) it's basically a free for all. Needless to say, this is not working for anyone.  Unquestionably, Bubs and Jam, like most children, thrive on structure; but because I have not made it a priority to figure out and stick to a routine that works for us, every time we try to get back into it, it becomes a struggle. As for myself, I find that disarray overwhelms me to a point that I just throw my hands up and watch the chaos unfold for a little while, then scramble too bring some semblance of order back to our home and lives. This is the point where I find myself with an excel spreadsheet, scheduling out 10-15 minute intervals of the day. Again, not working.

I think I know that the biggest issue I have with juggling my responsibilities is over thinking. Life is not perfect, there is no perfect order, and I am far, far from perfect. I really need to learn to give a little before giving up when it comes to order and routine.

So, with this piece of mind, it's time to start fresh. I think I will take some time tomorrow to revamp my lists, (which I am notorious for) and come up with a flexible routine, free of expectations and full of room (for changes and mistakes)

Days of the week/Schedule

Bubs has been talking about letters and playing on Starfall non-stop again lately, so I decided to start our letter of the week over. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to throw in a shape, number or color, or just stick to a letter. I think we'll see how that goes today. (Tuesday is our Monday because he seems to have a hard time adjusting to Daddy going back to work.)

For the past week or so we have been talking about days of the week. The concept is pretty lost on him still, but he really enjoys putting the calendar together each day; and he THRIVES on a schedule, so I think it has been neat for him to be able to visualize what will be going on on a certain day
I made this for him out of construction and contact paper. We have been starting each day with putting the squares next to the day and talking out our plan for the day. i.e. Dad is home on Sunday and we always go on a nature adventure, Monday we go to the library, etc.
It is very much a work in progress.