Jul. 15, 2008 - New Summer Schedule Woes
Last night I decided to pull together a summer schedule for my kids (and me), so we would have some sort of direction from day to day and I would hear, "Mommy, there's nothing to do" a lot less. Once I finished the schedule, I started planning out which activities we would do for today. It took me until about 11:30pm to finish (I'd been up since 5:30am). I wanted to get up at 5:30am again to pray for our day, because I KNEW that implementing this schedule would be a battle with Ben. Not that he doesn't like to do things, but because I was cutting TV out of our day. So I wanted to pray for wisdom, patience, all that stuff to deal with it all.
About a half an hour after getting into bed, and as I was just drifiting off, Jeremiah started crying. OK, no biggie, maybe he was thirsty or lost his pacifier. So I went in to give him both - he wanted neither. He tried repeatidly to suck on his pacifier, but kept pulling it out and crying. So my first guess was his teeth may be bothering him. But that morning he had also woke with a cough and runny nose....ear infection? I gave him some teething tablets and after trying to pray, cuddle and console with him for an hour, decided to try Ibuprofen - while discussing with myself whether I should take him to the ER. I don't like just running to the ER for anything - not to mention, it's not exactly a quick trip from where we live now. So I held him a while longer, waiting for the meds. to kick in, but he was still very fussy. At one point I put him down so I could go to the bathroom and he crawled to the bathroom door (which I left open) and pointed to his room (which is the door right across from the bathroom). So I asked him if he wanted to go "Nuh Night" and he complied "Uh" as in "yes". So I took him back to his crib and laid him down. He went without a fuss and slept the rest of the night. This concerns me because should I have given him the meds? What if he didn't need them?
This left me with about 4 hours of sleep - and I skipped my prayer time this morning. 
My battle had begun the night before.
I had big plans for today - including making a big batch of blueberry pancakes (even before Jon left for work). Didn't happen - well, I did make blueberry pancakes, but Ben wouldn't touch them and Jeremiah had lost his appetite. (He woke up with green snot ) Ben was whiney almost the entire morning - my best guess is because I wouldn't let him watch tv. This is my own fault for allowing it in the home again so freely. I know I need to deal with the consequences.
Although we are not "on schedule", we have certainly kept busy today and I haven't heard anyone tell me they are bored or there's nothing to do. We did devotions and the two older children did an activity with their devotion. Ben and I created a bird out of a toilet paper tube (his devotion was God cares for us more then the birds). Gabriella did a devotion from Keys for Kids about sowing a seed. She created her own story book on the subject. Then, we went for a nice walk around the block this morning. We enjoyed nature and just being outdoors. Now both boys are napping and Gabriella is having quiet time in her room.
Soon, a friend of mine will be over to do a school (college) reading project with Gabriella. I need to get the kitchen the rest of the way clean before she gets here, but I'm so zonked. I would rather nap. I just don't want to be groggy when she arrives.
So, needless to say, I have a wonderful schedule set up for summer and even if it doesn't wholly work out this summer (because I'm about to have a baby!), it will next summer! Here is an article I used to help guide me: A Summer Schedule and it comes from Titus2.com (excellent resource). I created my schedule in Microsoft Excel, but here it is without the gridlines. I also created a "Summer Schedule Activity List" that I don't think got saved (but I printed an extra copy so I could copy it). But basically I use it daily to write out the activities that we will do for each category (i.e. math, devotions, phonics, Read Alouds, etc.) I hope this will be of use to someone - please feel free to use the same or modify mine. :)
The violet colored font indicates that the activities are constant throughout the week. Anything in different colors are activities that change from day to day. The times are also centered, so after 8am, it looks like I have all these activities crunched into a 30 min. block of time, but the time actually starts at 8:30 and goes to noon. The time is centered with the activities.
| Summer Schedule | |||||||
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
| 6:00-7:00am | Mom: Coffee, personal devotions | ||||||
| 7:00-8am | Breakfast, morning chores, dress, devotions with children | ||||||
| 8:00am | Devotional Activity | ||||||
| 8:30am-12pm | Phonics w/Ben/Free Time | ||||||
| Story Time | Math Lesson | Story Time | Math Lesson | Story Time | |||
| Tidy Time/Free Play | |||||||
| Fine Motor Skills: Or work on current project | |||||||
| Gross Motor Skills: Playing with ball, gardening, outdoor play, riding bikes, praise music/movement | |||||||
| Free Play | |||||||
| 12pm | Lunch, clean up, afternoon chores | ||||||
| 1pm | Quiet Time: read, nap, quiet play in bedroom, movie (rarely) | ||||||
| 2pm | Time with Gabriella | Mommy/Child-ren Activity | Time with Benjamin | Mommy/Child-ren Activity | Time with Jeremiah | ||
| 3pm | Read Aloud/Free Play | ||||||
| 4pm | Table Time: Coloring, drawing, puzzles, simple arts & crafts, manipulatives, etc. | ||||||
| *During the children's free time, work from flylady schedule and work on "to-do" list. | |||||||
*Also, just as an FYI: this schedule is very flexible. For example, on the schedule it shows quiet time at 1pm - after lunch. However, this morning we all had a late snack and pushed lunch back. Right now we are having our quiet/nap time which start about noon. Gabriella will eat lunch here soon, and the boys will eat once they wake up (b/w 2-3pm). You can rearrange things on the schedule any day. This is just a guide - an idea. We have only done about 1/4 of this today - but it's kept us busy. There may be other days we'll fly through it faster, but there is plenty here to continue to keep us busy. 
Comments
Jul. 15, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Theresa
Hi Christin,
I like your summer schedule. I think having a flexible routine helps to bring about peace and order to our days. It keeps us on task and doesn't allow as much time for selfishness to set in and in turn that keeps strife down. At least I notice that in my home.
Have a wonderful summer!
Love,
Theresa
Jul. 15, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Theresa
Wanted to tell you that I'm blogging at
http://www.treasureinearthenvessels.blogspot.com
Love,
Theresa
