I'm sure we've all heard it: "children thrive in structure." I totes (yea, I'm cool) agree! I also change the word structure to translate into positive habits. Munchface is on a tight schedule and she knows it by heart. Let me clarify, I'm not talking about scheduling every second of their lives ALTHOUGH that would be awesome too :)... I'm talking about involving your children in their everyday lives. Structure and schedules ensures that everything gets done without me pulling my hair out! Some ways I keep our life straight:
Monday
Wash hair. Munchface knows and reminds me that, "MOMMY, it's Monday... we have to wash my hair!" She treats me like I forget every week (... and maybe I do?). We had to schedule because it makes bath time a little longer and used to cause massive trauma to my mind when she would freak out about water touching her face.
Mommy-N-Me day. We do something creative together. It might be as simple as baking cookies or helping with dinner or painting or going to the playground but, whatever we do, I announce TODAY IS MOMMY-N-ME MONDAY and she gets SO excited.
Tuesday
Teach Mommy Tuesdays. Munch is learning so much at school so I get dinner going then I sit on the floor and let her be the teacher. O she loves to boss me around and tell me how much I need to learn... Here lately, she's learning to read and, Ms. Reading Lady (her reading teacher name) has been doing an amazing job reading to me about Fall.
Wednesday - Thursday
Business as usual... I'm usually moving slow and just ready for the week to end so it's business as usual.
Friday
Family Night. Most Fridays, Hubby comes home early so we can all go out for either dinner or dessert and we make sure we do something as a family. Typical activities include: sushi dinner, shopping, dance party, park, or movies. It's like a family date night and we all love it!
Saturday
Family CLEANING. Now, for some doggone reason, Hubby tries to escape the clean machine... Ugh, nothing worse than keeping 2 of them on task! BUT I got him to promise he'll do better and we'll all make an effort to deep clean our spaces Saturdays until 1PM. Note: I had to set a cut off time because I will clean all day and miss out on my weekend... So, schedule a start and end time to ensure you get a chance to accomplish everything else on your list! Munch help by using our organic cleaners... It's amazing what warm soapy water does for children's independence! Hand over the rags and watch them go to work - LOL.
Sunday
CHURCH. Zion knows Sunday means church. We used to have a big family dinner every Sunday with Gramma and Pop-Pop and her uncles... but lately our schedules haven't permitted... We'll get back in the groove one day, though... maybe:/
Grocery Shopping. O how Munch LOVES to shop and pick out her lunch snacks... I plan our meals and section them out for the week and she counts her carrots/grapes for her snack time into baggies and helps to make her sandwich shapes for the week.
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| Munch at a farmer's market trying to convince me to buy her all the fruit! |
School Clothes. We deal with the little fashionista's outfits for the week on Sunday evenings and it saves a lot of time Monday - Friday.
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Scheduling seems to make Munch feel like she has control over her time (which is important when dealing with independent little ones). It also helps eliminate any fussing over things that MUST get done... We try to lead by example and her witnessing that mommy and daddy have to schedule for their tasks has really helped her understand the concept... The goal is to raise a well-rounded, responsible young lady and a structured home environment helps ensure we're doing just that!
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