Thursday, prepare for meltdowns
November 4, 2010 by Stephanie
308
Happy Thursday! It’s our meltdown day—what’s it like in your house? Anything you can do to prepare?
I received some great emails yesterday about daily schedules and routines. Here’s my morning— It’s not perfect, but it seems to work well right now for our weekdays:
somewhere between 4 and 5, I’m up with the baby. I always always always have a mental battle about getting up for the day or climbing back into bed. 96% of the time I climb back in bed.
6am alarm goes off for Adam; I usually get up about 6:15 and make the bed quickly so I don’t get back in. 
I do a quick master bathroom wipedown and gather laundry to start.
6:25 baby usually up by now, so I change and feed her. Big kids usually get up around now, too
6:30 Adam starts coffee and empties dishwasher. Big kids get breakfast—usually yogurt and fruit, rice cake with PB or cream cheese, or cereal
6:45 big kids get dressed, make beds, tidy rooms. I help if need-be, or stick to baby-wrangling
7:00 I put baby in highchair, feed her something and usually have a ricecake with peanut butter or something similar with my coffee
7:15 sometimes I get dressed now, or I start on big kid lunches
7:30 my grandma arrives to help with the baby. I use this time to finish getting dressed, clean the kitchen dishes, finish kid lunches. I’ll flip the laundry if it’s done with the wash cycle
the halfhour between 7:30 and 8 are a blur—the kids let the guinea pigs out (they have an outdoor run) and feed them, the baby poops around now and needs changing, I feed her again. If I’m waiting for an important email I’ll quickly scan the subject lines, otherwise I try hard to not succumb to the temptation to get online. Grandma listens to the kids read outloud, play instruments, or something along those lines. I’m not really “in charge” right now, Grandma is.
8:00 leave to take big kids to school; Grandma stays with the baby
8:25 I’m back, feed baby, change her and get her ready for a nap. I have coffee with Grandma
9:00 Baby goes down for AM nap, and Grandma leaves. I start work.
okay! so that’s my morning. What’s yours like?
Today:
plan fun for the weekend
PROM the Halloween decorations. Throw away anything you *know* you’re not going to use next year. Take down everything else and store properly.
Our bus picks up at 7:10 so if we did all you do before that, we’d have to get up at 5:30. Not sure we can do that (I know I can’t). Can you write out your evening schedule? It helps to see what others do and I can try and figure out our plan. Both of us working full time is harder on the daily 7 so I’m trying to find a daily 3 or 5, but some days are definitely harder than others. I’m drowning in laundry right now. Thanks always for your ideas! It gives me hope!
Hi Tash,
wow with a 7:10 wakeup, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t bother with any of the stuff I do, including getting dressed! xoox
A busy morning, but I love that you have that time with Grandma after things settle down. And, cool on the outdoor guinea pig run! I always love it when you say baby wrangling, Steph … what an accurate description!
xo,
Shirley
My mornings change from day to day. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays are my work days. My husband wakes me up around 6:15 am – I watch the news until my 16 year old is ready for school at 6:45. We leave to pick his friend up and I drop them off for an early morning class at school. When I get home, I wake up the 13 year old. He gets ready, while I look at my email and blogs. I take him to school around 8:00. I come back home and have about 45 minutes to get ready for work. I work from home, and try to sit down at my desk by 9:00 am.
Tuesdays and Thursdays, are about the same in the morning, except that both boys get up for early morning classes on those days. The 16 year old’s friend picks him up for school on those days, so that I can take the 13 year old at the same time. When I get home, I get on the computer for awhile, and then get ready for the day. These days seem to be filled with appointments, and all of my charity work, so they are busier than my work days.
Because I’m the mom of older kids, my morning don’t seem as busy as younger moms. It’s nice to not have to worry about fixing lunches, dressing kids, etc. Our house runs pretty smoothly in the mornings. It’s the evenings that are crazy busy with things – mostly homework!
-Kara
mystorymoments.blogspto.com
reallyincrediblewomen.blogspot.com
sistersurvivors.blogspot.com
I just recently came up with this schedule and it seems to be working for us for the past couple weeks.. Let’s hope it holds out!
5:30am Bible Reading – Mom
5:45pm Workout – Mom & Dad
6:30am Shower – Mom ; Get Dressed/Breakfast – 8 yr old
6:45am Wake/Dress – 4 yr old
7am Breakfast/Make Lunch for School
7:25am Car Pool P/U – 8 yr old
7:40am Leave for School Drop-Off – 4 yr old
8:15am Get Ready – Mom
8:45am Day’s Activity – Mom
-MON: Chiropractor @ 9am
-TUES: Volunteer at School @ 9am
-WED: MOPS @ 9am
-THURS: Commissary @ 9am
-FRI: Haircut, Pedicure, etc. @ 9am
11:45am Lunch – Mom
12pm Clean – Mom
-MON: Sweep
-TUES: Vacuum
-WED: Dust
-THURS: Bathrooms
-FRI: Sweep & Mop
12:30pm Pick-Up 4 yr old – Mom
12:45pm Laundry – Mom
1:45pm Pick-Up 8 yr old – Mom
2:30pm Snack; Homework – Kids
3pm TV Time – Kids
3:30pm Dinner Prep – Mom
4:30pm Dinner
5pm Outside Time – Kids
6pm Baths – Kids
6:30pm PJs & Stories – Kids
7pm Bed – Kids; TV Time – Mom & Dad
9pm Shower – Mom
9:30pm Bed – Mom & Dad