Schedules, revisited

Well I never did post the outline of my schedule. That's because A) my schedule left little to no time to sit and do such things on the computer and B) Girly Pie gave me all of three weeks on my beautiful schedule to enjoy it before she decided that she did not, in fact, need her nap from 9-11am as I had planned around, but rather that she would now be awake until 11 when I had planned on having free time for the boys. So instead of napping during school time, she decided to nap smack between the two planned school times in the day. School was from 9-11 and from 1-2:30. Little Miss Girly Pie suddenly found her toddler nap groove from 11am to 1pm. Not such a good fit.

So after a couple of weeks of fumbling around with the mornings with all four kids and trying to see what I could fit in and where, I finally sat down last night and put together a new schedule. It's a little tighter and a little more structured than my last one. But it does allow for some toddler-free school time, as well as some carefully planned one-on-one (or two) time with me and the kids. This newer version also leaves less free time for the kids, which means less floating time for me - but it adds a short window where I am free from all four kids, which the old schedule lacked. So hopefully it balances out.

And of course in about four months when Sweet Baby #5 enters the picture, I'll be back to square one anyway. But hey, hopefully I can get more than three weeks out of this one and find out just what I need to do to make a new one work out with our new needs.

So now our days (should) look something like this:

• 6-7a Wake, free, Mom dressed & downstairs by 7
• 7:00 Brushing & OT (mellow) w/F
• 7-8 AM chores, F set table, make & start eating BREAKFAST
• 8-9 Finish breakfast, P kitchen, Mom chores & laundry, L & F rooms tidied, all free when done
• 9:00 Brushing & OT (heavy work)
• 9-10 P Story of the World CD with Legos in his room, F free for quiet self directed play, Mom play/activity/early preK time w/G & GP
• 10-11 P independent school work, F school/work/games w/mommy, G & GP directed play or quiet free
• 10:45 SNACK for all
• 11:00 Brushing & OT (heavy work or mouth), GP nap starts
• 11-11:30 P free or directed play, F & G school/games w/Mommy
• 11:30-12 P w/mom for lesson time (language, spelling, other) or games, F & G quiet directed play
• 12-12:30 LUNCH, family devotional
• 12:30-1 P kitchen, tidy L & F rooms, F OT w. Mommy, rests start for all boys
• 1-2:30 all boys rest, Mom free til GP wakes up, then Mom/GP time til boys up
• 2:30-4 SNACK for all, then unit study time for Mom, P & F (crafts, activities, reading, some directed play), G & GP free/directed play
• 4-4:30 P play w/GP, F & G w/Mommy for kitchen helper or games
• 4:30-5 boys all free, GP w/Mommy in kitchen or doing chores
• 5:00 Brushing & OT
• 5-5:30 P tidy family room then read his book, F & G set table and help, GP w/Mommy
• 5:30-6 DINNER
• 6-6:30 Bed chores, P kitchen, G & GP baths or quiet play
• 6:30-7 G & GP stories & bed
• 7:00 Brushing & OT (calm, quiet)
• 7-7:30 P & F stories & bed
• 8:00 Lights out for any boys reading in bed

I know it looks like a lot in list form like that. But most of the directed play just means the kids don't roam free, I just get to direct them as to what game, toy or activity they are using during that time. Also, all of Finny's brushing and OT stuff we need to do about every two hours, so that's just getting to be habit and routine now. The big change is that instead of school being done before rest and afternoon, we now have a big chunk of school in the post-rest time. I will need to see how that works for us all. I admit I enjoy the free afternoons, but life with more and older children means changes need to be made. So we'll see how it goes. I hope that it will lessen the chaos and busy-ness of afternoons and evenings, while lending to a sense of direction and purpose in the play that they do have. And obviously there will be exceptions. We'll have play dates and outings and errands and field trips. In which case we just stick to the morning plan and keep Girly Pie's nap and let the rest and afternoon stuff slide. I'm all about flexibility, and with 2nd grade and under, I really have little guilt about having a day slide with only half of our intended school accomplished for a day. After all, I am comforted by the thought that in just our morning time alone we're likely doing more learning that a whole day of government schooling could accomplish. So really, in the big scheme of things, not a bad deal.

So there you go. Day 1 of Plan B has gone OK, but not right on schedule. Part of that is all the extra time put in with training and disciplining a certain Mr. Finny through his difficult transition period (how much time can one boy spend in a day whining and being sent to the stairs for YET ANOTHER time out!?). Part of it is helping all the kids learn that the new times are meant for something specific and not just play time.

But all in all, I feel the potential with this new plan is good. I'm sure there will be tweaking. And as I said I know if nothing else we'll need a whole new plan in a few months. But for now, I am happy to have a rhythm to my days again, and I hope that the structure brings us all back to that happy place we had for the few weeks we had the set times with Girly Pie's nap lining up with our school time.

In talking with Mary Grace on the phone this morning (only allowed between 8 and 9am, mind you!) she commented that she had noticed a change in my mindset and attitude towards our family's structure and what we do with our days. I'm paraphrasing there, but I have to say that I think she's right. I have felt a change and a commitment to finding a rhythm to our days that brings glory to God and accomplishes for us all in a day what He would like to see us doing. I no longer feel the freedom I once did in a day without boundaries. I feel trapped instead by that lack of structure. And knowing the person I have always been, I know for sure that I did not stumble across such a shift in perspective by my own doing. I do see God's hand in our days now, and I do feel His presence and His voice leading me in my attempts to make the most of the days I have been blessed with as wife, mother and teacher in this family.

So here's to a good day, not even over yet - and to the hope of a good tomorrow, as well!

VERY quick update

No time to write about our FABULOUS vacation right now.

But we're home and mostly caught up with laundry and unpacking.

And it's Monday and we're on schedule and it feels SO GOOD to be back in the groove of daily life.

I am telling you - I am so pleased right now with how our days are going and how great I feel and how smoothly everything is running. I know these great times are never permanent, but it's good stuff.

It's going to be a good week. I just know it!

Oh - and for anyone keeping track and wondering... I'm 19 weeks along today and feeling great and loving how often this little guy wiggles. I still feel "newly" pregnant, but I'll be half way to term next Monday. Crazy how time flies by when you're so busy enjoying the rest of God's blessings in life! I need to remember to sit down and enjoy the ride with this here baby, too, before my pregnancy is over and I miss the whole thing!

Time

Time.

60 seconds in a minute. 60 minutes in an hour. 24 hours in a day. 7 days in a week. 52 weeks in a year.

It is what it is and it doesn't change – at least it hasn't in my lifetime.

And yet, it can feel so very different from one day, one month, one season to the next. Some days you wonder how you will ever make it to dinner time, and other days suddenly it’s 20 minutes past your normal dinner hour and you look up and wonder in amazement, “Where did the day go?”

A few weeks back I felt like I had so very, very much to do and so very, VERY little time in which to do it all. I felt robbed of all that I wanted to do and overwhelmed with all I HAD to do. It was a funny mix of “Where did the day go, I’ve hardly done a THING!?” and “How can I possibly survive until my Hubby gets home? This day is taking forever!”

A few months from now, I may very well be back in that same spot. But right now, at least for the past two weeks or so, I suddenly see so much potential for my time, and suddenly it seems everything is falling neatly into place each day.

Suddenly, the time I have been blessed with each day seems perfectly matched to the tasks which lay before me.

Right now, in this particular stretch of time (and I can only pray this “stretch” lasts for a LONG time!) everything lines up. And each moment of each day, from my always too-early seeming wake up to my always too-late feeling plop into bed, feels rewarding, challenging, fun and... right where I want to be.

I know most of the difference is my own perspective and attitude. Honestly, since Girly Pie’s emergency room adventure a couple of weeks back, my eyes have definitely been on my Maker to take care of me and carry me through my struggles rather than on my own lack of ability to get through them. My eyes have also been back on Him with an attitude of thanks for the blessings I have been given, rather my view of my blessings being blocked by the obstacles of life and my own negativity and fears.

And I’m pretty sure that just that shift of focus has made the most difference in how I have felt since then. I feel God has blessed that shift in focus back to Him. I'm looking back where He wanted me to look, and I do feel He's pleased with that.

There is something else though, too. In addition to changing where my focus is (or maybe because of that change?) I’ve also felt more driven and inspired in working out a daily routine that better fits our family’s needs.

I’ve tried and failed so many times before at schedules and routinesmore times that I care to count let alone admit out loud. Really, to tell the truth, I hate schedules. I go into them kicking and screaming, and usually run right back out the same way. And there is absolutely no guarantee that this time will be any different.

But, at least for the moment, this time does feel different. This time, I really can feel God's hand in how our days are going. I actually feel like He gave me the the inspiration I have been desperately seeking and revealed to me how He knew our days would best be spent.

I can see my days in chunks and I know what will fill those chunks. I have been shown what has been lacking, and those gaps are being filled daily now. I feel guided and structured, but not restricted and confined.

Sure, I have much less “me time” than I did before, but somehow the time I do find to be free and mine is getting better used and I appreciate it more. Instead of sneaking in little snippets here and there at the computer or at finishing the smaller tasks around the house left undone, I see now how I was taking away from the more important things I want to do each day. I also see that while I was constantly multi tasking every moment of every day, I was never really fully in any given moment or task. I was always only semi-present. And so I missed the joy in most of what I did.

And now I am so very much enjoying my days, even though I am doing so much more than I was before! And yet, I feel like I have MORE time than I did before.

It's amazing really.

Maybe I’ll post the skeleton of my daily schedule/routine another day, but the meat and potatoes of the plan is not really my point today. My point is just that time never really does change, but what you do with it, and the attitude and perspective you have during the time you are blessed with, really does make a huge difference in how your time is passed, and in how you feel in each moment you have.

Or at least that’s my thought on the matter. For the moment, anyway.

It's working!

So I know many homeschoolers are in full school swing by this point in August, but we here are just starting to get slowly back into the groove. My biggest goal for the weeks I consider "warm up time" is to see what kind of daily schedule I can work out for us all.

I want to fit in the basic, and mostly independent, school stuff for Punky and have been trying out a few different methods to see how he can best know what he needs to accomplish during this time on his own in the day. So far, though we've had some days when he is clearly not all there and plugged in (he is a seven year old boy - I would expect no less!), he seems to be getting the hang of just setting to work and getting his independent work done quickly and efficiently, with much less tendency to be distracted than when we started.

During this time when he is productively occupied, I am also trying to figure out how I can best use my time elsewhere. Should that be a time to get all my household duties done? Would that make a good pre-k time for Finny and Goose? Should I make it a mommy-daughter time with Girly Pie before she has her nap? I'm not sure yet... but since GP's nap is in transition from two medium naps a day to one longer one, she's still not a concrete person to count on at any particular time in the day yet, so I am leaning towards chores or pre-k time.

I also want to make a time in the day (hopefully while GP is asleep) when I can dive into the fun stuff with P and F. We'll be doing some unit studies, though I do not want to make them super-duper academic. I want that part of our schooling to be fun, exciting, mentally stimulating but not overly taxing - and really the part of the day we all look forward to the most. So having one less distracting little one around is a good fit for that. That will be the time when we do related crafts, science experiments and any bigger games or activities involved with our topic of study. I might also do the reading on the topic then, but I'm not sure.

And of course I need to make sure I'm available every two hours to be heading up the OT exercise for Finny, so I'll need to fine tune what the others are doing during those short but important times when he and I work together. Distraction is particularly hard for Finny to work through, so I am learning way s to have others occupied so he and I can find those 5-10 minute times to just focus on our work (it's harder than it sounds in a house with four young children to keep the other three from distracting one in particular)

The other key to our new days is learning how to keep everyone directed, even when I am not personally involved with each of their activities. I am learning the art of assigning and rotating activities for all three boys - even just fun, simple stuff like Duplos, playdough, blocks and magnets. Instead of letting them roam freely in between set work times, choosing those same activites or others as they please, I want to have more of the day structured where they are focused on specific kinds of activities, though still mostly playing (since they are still so young!). The focus and direction is mainly for Finny, since his therapist has encouraged me to minimize his completely free-range time, as he tends to lose his self regulating ability when left to his own devices for more than a few minutes. This new kind of directing and rotation is not really my natural approach to things, so it's been a bit of a slow learning curve, but I am finding fruit in it for all of us, and as I get more accustomed to it, I think it will suit us well over the coming years.

So all this to say I have a lot to finagle into our days, and that's really not even including basics like meals, most household work, one-on-one time with any of the kids... and many other very important things. But it's a good start, and we're finding some ways that work - and some ways that don't!

But today, it really went beautifully for the morning, even though we got off on a late start. We had a false wake at 4:40 from Miss Girly Pie and though we all fell back asleep, we were slow moving when we did wake up. Then our aging dog surprised us with a nice smelly mess in his kennel this morning, so among other things, we just had a lot to do before we could really get moving this morning. So I was sure all the school/schedule stuff was going to be a wash this morning. But Punky, though late to start, cruised right through his independent work with not a lick of help needed from me, Goose happily spent his free time playing nicely with Finny, and I was able to finish the morning work later than usual and to put GP down for nap, again later than usual. But when I came down from GP's nap routine, I found Punky sitting at the work table diligently plodding away at his math book, and right across from him was happy, "just right engine" Finny, who had decided this looked like the perfect time to pull out his reading lesson and begin going through it on his own.

Normally we do that together, and it is not something I am at all looking to have him do independently. (what's the point of homeschooling if I can't even be the one to sit down and watch my kids learn to read!?) But I was just so tickled to see that with all the effort I've been putting into our mornings, it seems the idea of working and staying on task with productive efforts seems to be setting in. The fact that instead of coming down from the nap routine to find Punky distracted by Finny's play time with Goose, I found Finny drawn into the quiet table time. I guess it's time to find at least one or two kindergarten-ish workbooks so that Finny can have something to do for his own "work" time, since he clearly would like something of that nature to call his own.

And that is something I hope to see more of in the coming years, though I know there will still be many a day (month, year...) of finding the workers distracted by the players, I do hope that we will see more and more of the players joining in on the more directed learning experience.

So it is working. My children are learning routines and self direction. They still have plenty of time to play in the day, and much of their directed time is still spent in just doing simple activities that they enjoy, with none of the three R's covered through the process. But they are learning something through it all.

And so am I!

Check.

I just finished a new Occupational Therapy activity schedule for Finny that includes more summer-friendly activities. It also includes more activities that I think I will be able to stick with, and most of the choices that take a lot of time and energy on my part (the choices that often got skipped, in other words...) have been replaced by more Mommy-friendly activities. ;o)

Anyway. I just feel REALLY GOOD to have a new list of fun activities to do with my boy! And most of them I know at least Goose, and probably even Punky, will want to participate in. So that will make for some fun summer family time.

I'm excited. I hope Finny likes his new activities. And I am reminded how much better I do when things are new and changed up... I get complacent when schedules and activities get a bit stale. I need to take a mental note for the many years of OT and homeschooling ahead of us...

Time to get busy

Ok. I admit it. I've let my "maternity leave" go on a little bit longer than is probably necessary... after all, my baby will be a year old next week, and really, I still find myself using the new baby excuse when it comes to doing things I need to do but just don't feel like doing.

The house is still in less order than I'd like. I've never gotten much of the planning done that I had hoped to do to stay on top of life with four small children (such as schedules, meal plans and consistent housekeeping on more than just "the basics"). Quite a few projects have fallen by the wayside. The list goes on...

And I have the feeling that much of it is just that adjustment to priorities. I may not have a newborn, but I do have one more child than I did last year, so there is just that little bit less of me to go around. So I give what I have to the things that really matter. First my husband and kids, next the feeding and house stuff. School and projects trickle back at the end of that list of priorities. I mean, we of course do school (almost) every day. But the amount of planning and forethought that I have put into anything I've taught my children is pathetic, really. It's been just the basics.

But not all of it is priority adjustment. I know that some of it is just plain lack of diligence and self discipline.

So as we near Girly Pie's first birthday (less than 3 weeks away!) I am feeling the tug to get a little more diligent in my other non-Mommy duties. I still plan to put time with my kiddos way at the top of the priority list, but I need to set aside a lot more time for planning and keeping up with other jobs, too.

In particular, I need to work harder to make school a top priority, not just something I whip together last minute.

I’ve been super lax with school stuff this year. I want to get in gear and work towards more fun projects and outings this spring. We mostly do math and language arts, plus reading and a very small bit of spelling. That's the daily stuff. We have hardly done any of the real Sonlight this year, though we’ve enjoyed all the read alouds and have followed loosely and done a bare bones overview of history up through Greece. Rome is next, so I just need to put together a reading plan with all of the great books from our library plus throw in some videos and crafts. Then I think I’ll call history done for the year and we’ll focus on spring stuff. We’re all very excited to be finishing up the garden boxes that we started last spring. But last year it snowed in late April and then I went and had a baby, so we just never got around to finishing the beds. But that’s OK. I probably wouldn’t have planted anything anyway. I was too busy loving on my new baby girl and playing with my boys when I could! But this year we really want to plant some veggies and flowers. I also envision a couple of zoo trips and maybe some field trips to nature parks or something. So that’s the spring school plan. I just find it impossible to sit around in the house doing book work when the sun comes out. I hope I’m not forming bad habits for life in my kids. But really, when in their lives will the ever again have the freedom to really enjoy this beautiful world God created with such consistency? They’re young, it’s sunny, and there’s a whole lot to be learned out in the sunshine!

So there you go. A little glimpse into the chaos that is my brain. Lots to do. Not a whole lot of self discipline currently to get it all done. But I'm working on that. And praying on it. ;o)

And hey, my kids really are learning a lot and they really are growing and loving and living. So I can't be doing all bad. It's just that I think I can really do better...

But I have to go now. I have a super adorable 2 1/2 year old sitting here waiting for me to go out back with him and push him in the swings. How can I resist?

Update on Finny's Schedule

We're doing pretty well keeping on a schedule with Finny's OT activities. I plotted it out a couple of weeks ago, and we now have seven specific activities to do each day of the week, slotted about every other hour.

And I just had to write a quick post to say that I have seen a world of difference in Finny! Sure he still has his low days and his absent minded/space cadet days... but on the whole, he's really doing great. We have all as a family found that we can pretty easily identify when he's running "high" or "low" and even Finny seems able to recognize when he's not "just right," though he's still often confused about the details. When he starts overreacting to every little thing, or throwing fits over seemingly unimportant obstacles, we've learned that he's "low" and we need to do an activity. When he's not paying attention to his body or actions, apparently that's a "high" engine (Have I mentioned the whole engine thing? That's the program the OT has us working on with him that helps him learn better how to self regulate - like a car engine, our bodies need to be just right. If our "engines" run too low, it's like a broken down car. Too high is like a race car and can lose control. But just right is like a nice, average car in good condition - it can go where it needs to go but does not get so fast that it loses control. So that's how we talk around our house now - it's all about high, low and just right!) and he needs some attention with an activity, too.

I've definitely noticed that the times when I am not consistent with his activities through the day he has a much harder time regulating himself and flops from high to low depending on the day. So I feel very rewarded with the schedule in that I can see the difference it makes for him, so I keep at it, even when I have other things that feel more important at the moment.

But with the more predictable schedule, Finny does not fight the activities, even when one he's not in love with pops up. He is totally OK with whatever activity I have set for the moment, and he does it all virtually without complaint, which is a huge improvement from a few weeks back when I was the Big Mean Mommy and he felt so frustrated by ti all.

So, that's how things are going. A boy who is happier and healthier is a good sign to me that we're doing something right. And I am so happy to be seeing so much more of my happy, bright eyed and positive little Sunshine Boy!

War. Hngh. What is it good for?

Well, up until today I would have agreed with the chorus line and said, “Absolutely nothin’!”

But apparently Edwin Starr and I were wrong.

Apparently war is actually good for something. It’s good for sparking an interest in learning in young boys.

Go figure.

My home has definitely been suffering from the mid-winter fidgets. School has seemed fairly unappealing to all of us. History was fun enough when we were studying Egypt before the holidays, but I just couldn’t muster up a whole lot of enthusiasm as we closed that out and tried to sneak into Greece. Egypt just petered out very anti-climactically and then there was this pause as I tried to pull together a few fun Greek ideas.

But honestly, I can’t say that ancient Greece was one of my most beloved subjects in school, so I just haven’t been too terribly enthused to pull together anything to share with my boys. They like history, for the most part. And I really enjoy going from creation and working our way forward through time as Sonlight has us doing. I’m pretty sure history would have meant a whole lot more to me had I been taught that way, and I enjoy seeing my boys' budding awareness of history as God’s plan. The history books and the Bible going side by side through history. Really, it’s a neat thing.

But Greece. I dunno. It just didn’t feel much like a fun subject for four kids under seven.
Or so I thought, anyway.

We’ve been reading some Greek myths and picking Greece out on our map, and Punky has been following along well enough with Finny floating in and out of our reading time.

But today, I watched my children light up with an excitement that is generally saved only for Lego creations and toy weaponry. Today, I watched as history took on a life of its own in the eyes of my sons. Today, the Trojan War brought ancient Greece to life for two young boys.

And it was the coolest thing ever!

It started in the usual way as I brought together a few quiet activities for the big boys to work on while I read from our history books. Punky mostly played, but being the auditory whizz that he is, I could tell he was still absorbing enough to call it school. Finny sat coloring some pages from an Ancient Greece coloring book and Girly Pie crawled round chewing on the fallen crayons.

Punky was less than amazed as we talked about Homer and his poetry. He was not terribly impressed with the Greek accomplishment of standards for coins to increase their trading power and wealth. Really, I was about to call history done for the day and pull out Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for our read-aloud time.

But then I grabbed the Children’s History of the World book and noticed that today’s chapter was on The Fairy Tale War, otherwise known as the Trojan War. So I went ahead and read it.

I forget that raising little boys is a far cry from raising small versions of myself, only with different genitalia. Wars, fighting, trickery, battles over beautiful women – none of that really hits home for me. I read it. I absorb what I need to. I move on.

But my little men… WOW. That is the stuff dreams and passions are made of! Punky immediately lights up and recalls how his aunt once gave him a brief synopsis of the Trojan horse story. Suddenly he’s pacing in circles around the room as he starts spouting off quite a few details of a story she told him months or even a year or two ago. He continued the excited pacing (a sure sign for him that he's excited and trying to funnel all his excess energy and excitement into a somewhat productive activity) as I read the fairly dry version from the history book, and then when I pulled out the picture book with the same story written with a few more interesting details and full of pictures and color he was still and fully attentive. His eyes were glued to the pages of the book. Finny was scanning the pages picking up the colors, plotting out his Trojan horse coloring pages. Punky was scheming away at the multitude of play opportunities this story offered. We eagerly discussed the details of both versions of the tale and pondered over which parts could be true, which were certainly false, and whether or not any of it was really likely to have happened. Everyone participated. Everyone had something to add. Finny had his colors chosen and ready to fly on the paper. Punky was designing his own Lincoln Log version of the Trojan horse in his head.

Suddenly, Greece is a pretty darn impressive little spot on the map. Suddenly, this whole Greek history thing is really COOL!

As I worked on photocopying the coloring pages for Finny, Punky disappeared, only to reappear shortly to proudly announce that he had already begun his Lincoln Log horse. He was ready for their afternoon rest in their room to begin. After all, he had a horse to build, a walled city to erect and an exciting battle to recreate.

So there you go. War. It’s actually good for igniting the fiery passion of learning in boys. I can’t say I really get it myself. And I’m not personally looking forward to all the future historic wars yet to come in our homeschooling career. But luckily for me, there are plenty of those wars to learn about. So I’ve got a good chance at having at least three interested little souls in this house that will happily gobble up history over the next decade or two.

So take that, Mr. Edwin Starr.

Progress

Well, today we are starting our OT therapy schedule for Finny, and even though it is just one small part of our day, and only really aimed towards one small person in the house, I think it is already making a world of difference.

I feel more productive, I feel ready to direct Finny, and I feel good knowing that when the kitchen timer beeps every two hours(thank you Mary Grace for yet another useful idea) I have something written down and ready to follow.

And the funny thing is I have been dreading the idea of sitting down and writing out any sort of schedule forhis OT activities for weeks! It just felt like such a daunting and overwhelming task. But when I finally sat down and put the rough draft together last night, it wasn't a big deal at all. Of course it's not complete - I did just list seven activities for each day (one for every two waking hours) but did not put them in any particular order. That way I have the freedom to pick a more intense activity if he needs it, or a simple, short one if I do not have the time or attention to spare for him at that particular moment. I find I work better with a structure, but I still need flexibility or I tend to just quit when I fall behind or get overwhelmed.

So really, for Day 1, it's hard to say how good of a schedule it is. I can only hope that it will continue as well as it has started. Plenty of time to fall off the path of good intentions, after all. But I feel good today and I really enjoy having some direction in this area of my life.

Also, I started my first day of sneaking in one extra chore per weekday. Monday mornings will be the day that, in addition to the normal daily chores, I do a pick up and tidy in the little guys' rooms. Finny and Punky share a room and are responsible for keeping it clean. They pick up daily, but do a full clean every Friday morning. But Girly Pie and Goose are too little to pick up their own rooms, and I tend to fall behind when I set something on their dressers or someone takes a toy out and no one gets around to putting it away. Though their rooms are not terrilbe, they are often untidy and cluttered looking. And really, they will have years of havign messy big kid rooms. I'd like to enjoy them while they are still cute, little guy rooms. So Monday morning seems a good time to plan on a slightly more formal attempt at making their rooms look neat and sweet.

So there is a quick update on my progress as I make efforts to improving my own follow through and organization. I'm still looking forward to other helpful hints. The one I got so far was a great reminder to just take baby steps and try one thing at a time so I don't overload and give up. Thanks for the tip, Tree Climbing Mom! ;o)

Working out the kinks

Any suggestions from folks out there on how they keep on top of all that they need to do to keep a large family with small children running smoothly? Oh, and get them educated, too?

I can tell that some of my recent feelings of floundering are coming from a decided lack of organization. I have made efforts to do a few little schedules up this evening, though I admit I am terrible at following a moment by moment daily schedule. I am terrible at follow-through on many things in my life, and that is a personal weakness that I am working on and will continue to work on as long as I live here on earth, no doubt. But I would like to get a better handle on things around here.

I have mastered the laundry schedule, finally (which is no small task... so I'm really quite pleased with that one!). But I am really woefully inept at meal planning and chore scheduling. I am pretty good at getting my kids interested and learning each day, but I can't say it's because of my great school planning skills. I think much of my daily energy goes into figuring out things to do on the fly, especially with the younger set. I just put most of my thought into the first grade stuff for Punky, and the little guys just kind of float, or I pull out a quiet activity like play dough or diggers and rice. I do follow Sonlight for much of what we learn, but I still just pull stuff as we go through the day.

I dream of setting aside an evening each week and really planning out what we do for the week, so I have activities for all four of my children at any given point in the school week. Is that a reasonable goal?

But, for tonight, I feel pretty accomplished after having made a weekly schedule for Finny's occupational therapy activities. I'm supposed to have him doing some sort of sensory activity every two hours or so every day. And I have failed at that daily since we started it all before the holidays. So I hope that I can at least stick to this and maybe our days will feel a bit more smooth. I also got a little chart of an extra daily chore for myself. I do the daily stuff - kitchen cleaning, picking up, laundry, meals, all that stuff. But the bigger things like bathrooms and keeping our master bedroom clean tend to fall by the wayside. So we'll see if one bigger chore each day is doable.

It must be something about my baby getting closer to a year. I seem to recall getting back on schedule when Goose was closing in on one, too. Girly Pie is still not even nine months old, so she's not coming right up on her birthday, but as this second half of her first year of life winds down, I realize how much grace I have given myself over the past year (because of course I was less diligent as my pregnancy came to an end, too). Now, I can honestly say that I do not regret a moment of the "slack" time I've had. All that slacking in schedules and chores went mostly to welcoming our newest family member and spending as much time as possible with each of my children as we grew accustomed to that one new little soul in the house. I made a conscious effort to spend time daily just staring at her new little face, memorizing her features and soaking up all those fleeting but precious little newborn moments. I really tried to make time for Goose even though it was easier many days to just let him do his own thing. I put in the time to read the really memorable books with Punky and Finny, even if they were happy to play off together without me - I didn't want to lose touch with them.

So no, I did not get as much done this past year as I might have planned. But I got a ton of things done that really, in the long run, were much more important and worthwhile.

But still, this first year of life as a family of six is winding down, and I realize that it is indeed time to get in gear and step up my expectations of myself. I have memorized Girly Pie's features by now, and she's crawling and into everything, so I do not need to set aside so much time in the day to just sit and stare at her. She's going to bed at a very reasonable hour so I have free hands every evening now, so there is no excuse to just waste away all my evenings puttering and relaxing. I really can get practical things accomplished in the few hours between the kids' bedtime and my own. I can still get the fun stuff done, as well as push myself just a bit more in the down moments to get something useful done.

So, off I go to wrap up an evening of planning and plotting. Any suggestions for nice daily home managing techniques would be greatly appreciated. I love seeing how others do things and finding ways to tweak them to fit my own needs.

My Days...

Boy. It seems like it was so easy for a while there to find time for myself. And now all of the sudden it takes a whole lot more work to get everything just right so that all four of my kiddos are quiet and contained and I have moment alone.

Mind you, I'm not complaining. In fact I've quite enjoyed my busier time of really being in the moment with my family. We're doing more fun stuff with school as the year moves along, which I know my bigger boys both enjoy. Goose is starting little bits of preschool stuff, too. He loves numbers right now so I'm trying to take time here and there to go do some fun counting and manipulative work with numbers. He loves it when I can carve out the time. It's far from daily though. I'm working on that. And Girly Pie is at that really fun interactive stage at six months. she's still not crawling or sitting up on her own, but she can roll across quite a large space, and will soon (I'd bet within a week) figure out that she can span a room to get where she wants to go. So I'm just busier with her drinking in all the cuteness and fun of one of the most pleasant stages of childhood, I think. She really is in that "golden age" of babyhood. She's all smiles and sweetness, and she really can light up a room just by being in it right now. So when she's awake, it's much harder for me to just plunk her in my lap and type away. I just can't ignore that girl! She's irresistible right now!

And in a perfect world I would really be on top of keeping a better schedule. I've read Managers of Their Homes and while I agree that having a schedule is ideal, I have yet to manage my home as efficiently as the author of the book seems to. I think I am more of a routine person than a schedule person.

So are you curious about what our routine is? I'm happy to share it. It's a fluid thing, but we are beginning to see the real routine of life with four children 6 and younger take shape... Here's what a typical weekday looks like around here, barring any outings, sickness, temper tantrums, potty disasters, visitors or other such unexpected interruptions (so you can imagine that it's not exactly a constant thing! But we're working on it!):

6am: I wake (new to me... just trying the early rise thing... it works great when I have the will power to get out of my warm bed!) and heads downstairs for what Bible reading and quiet time with the Lord I can find. Girly Pie is often awake with me at this point, but sometimes she still dozes in bed with her Daddy.

6:30-7am: Boys start waking up and tumbling downstairs. They generally start the day off with free play time for a bit.

7-7:30-ish am: Big boys work on their daily chores while I prepare breakfast and tend to Girly Pie. Daddy is up and Goose is most likely following him around as he prepares for his work day.

7:30-8-ish am: We eat breakfast together and kiss Daddy goodbye as he heads out for the day around 8 (unless it's the busy time of year, at which time he's gone before most of the kids are up).

8-9 or 9:30am: Boys finish any lingering chores and Punky whips out two pages in both his Singapore Math book and his Spectrum reading comprehension workbook before their free time starts. Most days (when our ancient computer is cooperating with its failing sound card) Punky will do some online learning programs to supplement his math and spelling skills at this time, too. Goose plays on his own for the most part during this time and he flits in and out of my routine and the big boys' free play as I go about my morning chores. Girly Pie is usually in the Moby Wrap at this time or in her exersaucer or rolling around on the ground with toys. This is my work time and my free with the babies time of the day. Often, too, I will spend this time in the morning investing in the wonderful friendship that God has blessed me with in Mary Grace. I know it is a bit of a guilty pleasure to spend time on the phone in the morning. And we don't talk every single day. But more often than not we will check in with one another and talk about our day, our children, our faith, our husbands, our worries, our achievements and our failings... we support each other and laugh and cry together. And with nine kids between us at this point, all of whom are homeschooled, many of whom have various appointments for doctors, therapy, etc... it is just getting really darn hard to physically get together and enjoy each other's company. So that time in the morning I look at as fellowship and support. I do know that the actual routine and schedule of my days would go better if I spent that time more wisely... but I fear that my heart and my spirit would fade more quickly through the day if I did not spend that time with the friend God has blessed me with.

All that as a good excuse for chatting on the phone for an hour or so most mornings. Can you tell I feel just a little bit guilty for that indulgence? But it's worth it. ;o)

OK. Moving on.

9:30 or 10am: Girly Pie starts her morning nap and I get going on any handsfree school work I have planned with the boys. Often Goose does playdough or plays with his little diggers in a tray of rice at the table with us during any project time. On Fridays we usually bake something tasty during this time. Some days it's a craft, some days it's sit down lesson stuff. Some days we just play board games. Today I did some laundry and played battleship with Punky while a very cranky Goose watched a video and Finny floated between the two activities.

10:30 or 11am: Girly Pie's nap is wrapping up and the boys are revved up and ready for some free time, so usually Punky and Finny play Legos or dress up as knights or Egyptians or scuba divers... whatever we're doing in school or reading in our books at the time that inspires them... Goose will float with them or hang in the kitchen with me while I putter around and prepare lunch or tidy any messes left from our project or Goose's play time.

Usually we eat lunch around 12, give or take 30 minutes. up to this point in the day, the times really move around and some things take longer and others are skipped. I throw laundry in and out of the machines and fold in fits and starts when I can. Girly Pie is up or down at varied points, since I still have not pushed her to a strict sleeping schedule yet. Goose floats a ton in the mornings. I want to make the perfect time to have just mommy and Goose time... I'm working on that one.

12-1pm: At some point in here lunch is over, and I excuse Goose and myself upstairs while the big boys finish up their food and clear their places to have a few minutes of quiet free time downstairs. Goose still takes naps and we really enjoy the time of reading and snuggling while I get him ready for his nap. Girly Pie is usually with us, but she's happy to roll around on his bed and chew on his toys while we read.

12-1p: Still in the window of time but after goose is down for nap, I try to tidy the kitchen from lunch, but often just skip it for now. This is when we begin our Goose-free school stuff that really takes my (mostly) full attention. We read our Sonlight books during this time... We all enjoy this part of the day, though I admit it is definitely the most time consuming part of school for us. Often we'll skip basics even, like Punky reading his own books, for the sake of reading our Sonlight stuff. But many days he does get to read on his own to me, and I think it's OK for now that he's not reading books daily. He reads something in his morning workbooks daily and often will finds something on his own throughout the day. Right now we are reading Jack Plank Tells Tales together, taking turns reading paragraphs. It's a very cute book. I'd recommend it so far. For Sonlight right now we are still working on Egypt. Our projects have included building several kinds of pyramids and making sledges to see how simple machines aided in the construction of the real pyramids. I need to get a raw chicken leg so we can try to mummify it later this week. When I came down from putting Girly Pie down for her nap today, my boys were role playing something unfamiliar... it involved swords made of Zoobs of course... but the costumes were new as was what I could catch from the plot. They were playing Egypt. Only it was kind of like Tarzan and Swiss Family Robinson. Only not really. Anyway, take 4 and 6 year old boys, just enough knowedge of history to be dangerous, some plastic construction toy weapons, a bucket full of random dressup items and a healthy lust for certain Disney films... and voila! You get my family!

1:30-2 pm: At this point I am usually finished with our school reading time and Goose is still sleeping. Girly Pie is usually ready for her second nap now (if she's not already sleeping) and if I can manage just right... I can scoot the big boys upstairs to their shared bedroom and put on a book on CD for them and they begin their 90 minute rest (the CD player is set on a timer and clicks off after 90 minutes). They start out in their beds with a quiet activity (reading, coloring, resting...) and after a set number of chapters they are allowed to play quietly together in their room. They usually choose a combination of Lincoln Logs, Playmobil "guys," other characters and some home made wooden toys and play castles or pirates or Egypt... that sort of thing. I think it's one of their favorite times of day. And they have heard some great stories on CD, too. Usually something like a Little House book or one of the Freddy the Pig books, some Magic Treehouse, some A.A. Milne, a bit of Hank the Cowdog, Mr. Popper's Penguins... and a ton more. And if it's all just perfect... that is when I have all four of them happy, quiet and occupied... and that is when I get to sit here and post this (like right now.)

I also pay bills at this point, or make business calls or set up appointments, or plan some school or finish cleaning up the kitchen from lunch. Sometimes I will indulge in a catnap, but that is rare at this point.

by 3 or 4, depending on the day, everyone is up and moving from our daily rest time. The afternoons are mostly free, and I get to spend more time with Goose or play games with the bigger boys if we missed that earlier. This is when we go outside if weather allows.

4:30-ish: This is when I usually start dinner prep, or at least figure out exactly what I'm feeding the troops if it's a usual week and I've once again managed to forget to plan meals for the week. Tonight it's ranch chicken and stuffing. Unless my hubby tries to bring home Thai food for a grown up date night later in which case the kids get corn dogs while we have a family movie night. We'll see. I'm waiting on the call from him that will dictate when he's home and what plan he picks. His call, not mine. Finny sets the table for dinner. Girly Pie floats in the Moby or exersaucer, Goose plays with the big boys.

5:30 pm: Family dinner time. Daddy is home, food is hot and ready. We always eat dinner together and though it is something I take for granted at times, I do feel very blessed to be able to count on that almost every night for the vast majority of the year.

6-6:30 pm: Dinner wraps up. Punky clears the table, Finny and Goose run upstairs. If it's not a bath night, they all get in jammies and have some train table time in their rooms for a bit. If it's bath night then play time gets skipped.

7-7:30 pm: Daddy and Goose do bedtime routine together in Goose's room while I read with Punky and Finny in their room. Girly Pie rolls around on the floor and chews on their wooden train tracks or blows on the toy kazoo (it's so cute to see a six month old play a kazoo. She's brilliant, I tell you!).

7:30-10 pm: Kids are down, baby is still up until 9 usually, hubby and I wrap up work stuff (I will catch up on emails or organize school stuff, he will finish up business calls or emails that were missed in the work day) and then start whatever evening activity is in store for us. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I do my best to work at real school planning or cleaning up and organizing my desk and office (where all the school stuff tends to pile up and never get sorted out). Other evenings are pretty much free and we usually read a book together or watch a movie, or we just hang out. Some nights we fritter away wasting time on email or the computer. I don't like those nights as much, but my hubby and I are both putterers, so it does happen more often than I'd like.

So there is the basic rundown of my day. Like I said, it's all fluid still. But it's looking pretty consistent within that framework. My goals include making more school planning time, and making more efforts for one on one time each day with each child. But with four of them, I may not get complete one on one with each of them each day... but we get lots of little snippets here and there, and lots of Mommy and a couple of kids time.

So I've typed too long and Girly Pie is waking up. So up I go to rescue her from her nap. And then on to the afternoon of our day. I wonder what we'll do this afternoon... I'm thinking making something tasty. I'm hungry for a sweet something. Wonder if those boys are up for baking?