"Don't agonize, organize.” -Florynce R. Kennedy

Ok, so When I was expecting my first child I was encouraged to read Babywise by:Dr. Ezzo! I LOVED LOVED LOVED IT!!! Now, just know when I read this book I was a master procrastinator, the Queen of sleeping in and I had no clue what time management was!?!?! (TOTALLY being transparent here!) I just loved the idea of the book and how you had your child on a routine so the baby knew when to expect it's eat/wake/sleep times! It also made it easy for me to know when to meet all of his needs as well! Let me tell you...it worked and I had two boys who both started sleeping through the night at 9 & 10 weeks old! To this day I kiss them and lay them in their beds awake and walk away. They go to sleep on their own and it is an amazing thing!

So, now that my son is 3 he is still on somewhat of a routine (with eating and sleep). But he is soooo much more awake and active than any infant would ever be. So normally our day consist of waking up, eating breakfast, watching cartoons, and then whatever, whenever! It makes for a crazy and long day with "Mama...can I watch a movie!?" "Mama...wanna play cars!?" "Mama...can I _________" It seriously drove me bonkers. I didn't know how to entertain him. I wanted time with him, but I also felt a pull from my daily responsibilities...there was always dishes, laundry, dinner or SOMETHING! Then what about my free time!? What is that!? Seriously!

Last week my dear friend Charlene came over for a visit. While she was here she was talking to me about how she would have done things differently with her girls. (They are all 6yrs+) Char is also a Christian pre-school teacher as well. She was sharing with me how amazed she is at what pre-schoolers are capable of. She went on to tell me about her day at school and how these kids would do pretty much everything on their own and what kind of a schedule they had. She shared that she wished when she was a stay at home Mom that she would have put her girls on the same kind of routine/schedule when they were that age! That totally got my wheels turning! Why had it NEVER dawned on me to put my oldest on a scheduled routine like that!? I did it when he was a baby. Everything was scheduled then.

So I started googling example schedules for stay at home Moms! I came across one that sounded perfect for us! I just started implementing this routine and I have to say it has helped everyone at home to know what to do when! I didn't have my 3 year old wondering around wondering what to do & It has also helped me to organize my cleaning & Internet/free time. I had the kitchen spotless & the house picked up all by 8:30am this morning!!! It was AMAZING! So here it is...hope it helps someone else out there like it helped me!

7:30-8 -Wake up & have breakfast

8-8:30 -Cartoons (educational TV or Video): P watched Veggie Tales today

8:30-9:30 -Outside play (Summer) or Inside play (Winter): P played with play-dough

9:30-10:00 -Singing time: Put on pre-school songs and danced and sang like crazy with P.

10-10:15 -Snack Time: Cheese and crackers today

10:15-11:15 -Arts & Crafts: Payton made homemade Thank you cards to mail out from his Birthday party! He also colored his Pixar Cars coloring book!

11:15-12:00 -Free play while I prepare lunch: He played with his trains and then I had him clean up his toys before he ate!

12:00-12:30 -Lunch Time

12:30-1:30 -Relax time/story time: Winding down before nap...we read some fun books!

1:30-3:30 -NAP TIME & Mama's free time!!! I'm blogging today :)

3:30-4:00 -Snack time: Apples wedges

4:00-5:00 -Playtime & clean up while you prepare dinner

5:00pm -Daddy is HOME!!!!!


It is amazing to me how we TRULY THIRVE on a schedule! When I get to a point that I feel out of control and haven't been getting everything done or not having that sit down time with my boys, it's ALWAYS because we got off a schedule or routine...or never was on one! :P Sooooo happy for this new revelation! It will give me the opportunity to get everything in and have those teaching times with my boys. It will give me that time to teach them about God, creation, life lessons, motor skills and I'll be building a relationship at the same time! LOVE IT!!! :)