Mom"s Routines, Taking Control of Your Day Before It Controls You
Routines, if you don't have them, you need to establish some right away.
Don't allow the little people or others in your life to demand time and action from you without leaving some for yourself.
A routine, whether highly structured or less ridged will allow you to be in control.
You know in previous situations, be it work or school, you had structure to accomplish all that you needed to do.
That should not change now that you are caring for the important people in your life.
All of you can benefit from a structured environment.
Getting things accomplished in a calm manner can be very empowering and invigorating, a self- esteem booster if you will.
You will always get through your days, moms always do, the question is will you do it the hard way or the easy way.
Developing a routine for a certain daily occurrence is not difficult.
Take a moment and think about what you have to accomplish each day.
Setting a routine is not the same as setting your weekly calendar, however they will benefit each other.
A routine is what you will do in the same sequence and relatively at the same time each day.
A routine encompasses the obvious such as getting up, homework, naptime etc.
In order to have control of your day, you must take control of your day.
Now that you have identified the happenings of your everyday life, you are ready.
First things first, your own personal rush hour.
What works best for me in the morning is to give myself time before the demands of the family.
Try waking up at least 30 minutes before you need to wake someone else up.
That 30 minutes is golden, I make my bed, have my caffeine, take my shower, and get my thoughts in order.
Anything else that I may accomplish is a bonus! I am now ready and alert to tackle my day.
Consistency is key here, once others awake, you are able to remain calm and in charge.
Do not allow your morning to become frenzied, it will set the pace for the rest of your day.
To support this calm, morning atmosphere, some preparation should be done the evening before.
Simple tasks such as having everyone's clothing laid out ready for the next morning can save tremendous amounts of time.
The breakfast table should also be set and lunches packed the night before.
The kid's backpacks and bags should be in same place every day for a quick grab and go, their lunch boxes as well.
Fast forward to after school or after work time.
When school aged children return from school, they should wash their hands, have a healthy snack, and get homework completed.
Stay in the groove of getting "business" taken care of.
If you let them wander off for television, video games, etc.
you have lost their school "mindset".
After business is taken care of they can relax and have fun.
This is a real life lesson! Try to serve dinner consistently and at the same time every evening.
Everyone should sit down at the table.
If you know someone has an activity after school, have dinner prepared earlier so it can just be heated up when you are all ready to sit down as a family.
Bedtime and nap time are situations in which routine is imperative.
I cannot stress enough how important a consistent, reasonably timed bed time is! It amazes me when I hear that my child's little friends stay up until 10:30pm.
That is my bedtime as an adult, how do you expect a child to be successful and well behaved going to bed that late.
Not only that, when do you have time to unwind in the evening with yourself or the other adult in the house? Young infants, toddlers and even some kindergartners require naps! Develop a nap routine and stick to it in the beginning, flexibility can come as they get older.
This routine will result in well rested and well behaved children.
Not only does this help you maintain the calm in your house and your life, but if you are home, you also now have that pocket of time consistently every day to get "your business" done.
If children are in daycare, insist a nap routine is established so that it can carry over when the children are in your care.
As your child does becomes older, nap time is not the time for you to sleep when and as long as they do.
If you need a 20 minute rejuvenation once or twice a week, go for it, you know your body.
But, don't allow yourself to get lazy.
Whether it be 30 minutes or two hours, you can accomplish a great deal in that pocket of time.
Take care of your work, take care of yourself, just take care.
This is your time, use it wisely.
Schedule your fun time or outings around your child's nap, it will be so worth it for everyone.
To summarize, routines are imperative.
Your children are aware of what is expected of them, and of what comes next.
You in turn have a handle on your day, you are better organized and even have some additional time to yourself.
Remember, you can take control of your day, or have your day take control of you.
Once you get basic routines established, you are off to a great start! Now get going on your daily and weekly calendar, and please don't forget to schedule time for yourself!
Don't allow the little people or others in your life to demand time and action from you without leaving some for yourself.
A routine, whether highly structured or less ridged will allow you to be in control.
You know in previous situations, be it work or school, you had structure to accomplish all that you needed to do.
That should not change now that you are caring for the important people in your life.
All of you can benefit from a structured environment.
Getting things accomplished in a calm manner can be very empowering and invigorating, a self- esteem booster if you will.
You will always get through your days, moms always do, the question is will you do it the hard way or the easy way.
Developing a routine for a certain daily occurrence is not difficult.
Take a moment and think about what you have to accomplish each day.
Setting a routine is not the same as setting your weekly calendar, however they will benefit each other.
A routine is what you will do in the same sequence and relatively at the same time each day.
A routine encompasses the obvious such as getting up, homework, naptime etc.
In order to have control of your day, you must take control of your day.
Now that you have identified the happenings of your everyday life, you are ready.
First things first, your own personal rush hour.
What works best for me in the morning is to give myself time before the demands of the family.
Try waking up at least 30 minutes before you need to wake someone else up.
That 30 minutes is golden, I make my bed, have my caffeine, take my shower, and get my thoughts in order.
Anything else that I may accomplish is a bonus! I am now ready and alert to tackle my day.
Consistency is key here, once others awake, you are able to remain calm and in charge.
Do not allow your morning to become frenzied, it will set the pace for the rest of your day.
To support this calm, morning atmosphere, some preparation should be done the evening before.
Simple tasks such as having everyone's clothing laid out ready for the next morning can save tremendous amounts of time.
The breakfast table should also be set and lunches packed the night before.
The kid's backpacks and bags should be in same place every day for a quick grab and go, their lunch boxes as well.
Fast forward to after school or after work time.
When school aged children return from school, they should wash their hands, have a healthy snack, and get homework completed.
Stay in the groove of getting "business" taken care of.
If you let them wander off for television, video games, etc.
you have lost their school "mindset".
After business is taken care of they can relax and have fun.
This is a real life lesson! Try to serve dinner consistently and at the same time every evening.
Everyone should sit down at the table.
If you know someone has an activity after school, have dinner prepared earlier so it can just be heated up when you are all ready to sit down as a family.
Bedtime and nap time are situations in which routine is imperative.
I cannot stress enough how important a consistent, reasonably timed bed time is! It amazes me when I hear that my child's little friends stay up until 10:30pm.
That is my bedtime as an adult, how do you expect a child to be successful and well behaved going to bed that late.
Not only that, when do you have time to unwind in the evening with yourself or the other adult in the house? Young infants, toddlers and even some kindergartners require naps! Develop a nap routine and stick to it in the beginning, flexibility can come as they get older.
This routine will result in well rested and well behaved children.
Not only does this help you maintain the calm in your house and your life, but if you are home, you also now have that pocket of time consistently every day to get "your business" done.
If children are in daycare, insist a nap routine is established so that it can carry over when the children are in your care.
As your child does becomes older, nap time is not the time for you to sleep when and as long as they do.
If you need a 20 minute rejuvenation once or twice a week, go for it, you know your body.
But, don't allow yourself to get lazy.
Whether it be 30 minutes or two hours, you can accomplish a great deal in that pocket of time.
Take care of your work, take care of yourself, just take care.
This is your time, use it wisely.
Schedule your fun time or outings around your child's nap, it will be so worth it for everyone.
To summarize, routines are imperative.
Your children are aware of what is expected of them, and of what comes next.
You in turn have a handle on your day, you are better organized and even have some additional time to yourself.
Remember, you can take control of your day, or have your day take control of you.
Once you get basic routines established, you are off to a great start! Now get going on your daily and weekly calendar, and please don't forget to schedule time for yourself!
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