Mod Apron

All the hours in the day

Lately, we’ve been experiencing some scheduling challenges here at Chez Apron. More accurately, our schedule has been in flux and I’m having some difficulty managing our time.

I am one of those mothers who firmly believes that kids thrive when they’re kept to a solid, predictable daily schedule. I’m not so militant that we can’t roll with the surprises that come up along the way, but I am pretty strict when I can be.

Henry is at an odd stage where he probably should be taking two naps a day, but will often take only one. The result is a kid with a seriously cranky disposition for much of the afternoon and evening. And, after a whole summer of attending day camp from 9:00am to 1:00pm every day, Maya is starting her second year of preschool at the end of the month and her new school schedule will be 1:15pm to 4:15pm. Basically, her day is turned upside down. We are a family in transition.

To top it all off, I’ve been making it a point to get to the gym almost daily. Which is great for my ass, but bad for our schedule. This means that somehow, I’ve got to fit an entire hour of gym time into a day that never feels quite long enough to get everything done in the first place. This has resulted in my dropping the ball somewhere - typically the laundry, the chores, my photography practice, or my blogging.

What’s a busy mama to do?

I wrote out a daily schedule today, which has helped to give me a picture of what an ideal day should look like. It goes something like this:

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6:30am - Mama wakes up, makes breakfast for Dennis

7:00am - Mama showers, gets dressed

7:30am - Mama wakes up the kiddos, gets them washed and dressed for the day

8:00am - Breakfast time for the kiddos (and coffee for mama)

9:00am - Kiddo activity (i.e. trip to the park, playdate, library, walk, or project at home)

9:45am - Kiddo snack time

10:00am - Henry’s first nap (approx. 1.5 hours)

12:00pm - Lunch time for mama and the kiddos

1:10pm - Walk Maya to school

2:15pm - Henry’s snack time

2:30pm - Henry’s second nap (approx. 1 hour) / Mama cleans, household chores

4:10pm - Pick Maya up from school

4:30pm - Prep dinner

5:30pm - Dennis arrives home; Family dinner time

6:30pm - Mama cleans up from dinner, Dennis plays with kids

7:00pm - Henry’s bath time, bedtime routine

7:30pm - Maya’s bathtime, bedrime routine

8:00pm - Adult time (reading, blogging, gym time, movie, etc.)

10:00pm - Bedtime

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I’d like to start implementing this schedule as soon as Monday. I hope it works as well in reality as it does on paper. The kids really need it. I really need it. Family life is so much easier (and everyone’s so much calmer and happier) when our time is well managed.

All the days in the week

Further to my last post, I thought it made good sense to set out a weekly schedule is well. Why stop at a daily schedule? Let’s look at an ideal week! You know I just love to be splendiferously organized!

Maya’s preschool schedule this year is a little funky. That is, she’s only in preschool on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she’ll be taking part in some extra-curricular activities (soccer and ballet/tap). Additionally, Henry is enrolled in a baby music and baby gym class once or twice a week as well.

Also, I’ve recently discovered that our local library has a ton of free activities that both Maya and Henry can attend together. The library schedule is posted the previous week and features activities such as puppet shows, story time, rhyme time, family movies and more. Most activities happen before lunch, and there is a delicious park behind the library so we can pack a picnic and have lunch in the park before preschool. Ideally, we’ll fit a couple of library mornings into our week as well.

All this, coupled with my housekeeping schedule, means that I’ve had to move my grocery shopping day to Sunday (instead of Monday) for the foreseeable future. Our family’s weekly schedule is looking like this:

—————

Mondays:

• Maya - preschool
• Henry - gym class
• Mama - cleans kitchen

Tuesdays:

• Maya - soccer
• Mama - cleans bathrooms

Wednesdays:

• Maya - preschool
• Henry - music class (either Wed or Fri)
• Mama - cleanse kids’ bedrooms

Thursdays:

• Maya - ballet/tap
• Henry - gym class
• Mama - cleans master bedroom

Fridays:

• Maya - preschool
• Henry - music class (either Wed or Fri)
• Mama - cleans dining room/living room/hallway

Saturdays:

• No scheduled plans

Sundays:

• No scheduled plans
• Mama - grocery shopping

This schedule will be implemented starting tomorrow. Which means that, going forward, you can expect to see my weekly meal plans posted on Sundays from now on.

If it seems like I am a little too crazy militant enthusiastic about keeping us on a tight schedule, I’d agree that you’re probably right. But, as far as I can see, it’s the best and only way to keep an organized framework in place. My family seems to thrive on routine and honestly, it makes my life a lot easier too. There will always be days where the schedule falls apart, and that’s okay; it’s to be expected. But, maintaining a schedule is my only hope to keep this machine running smoothly. And more often than not, the day flows effortlessly and naturally through our scheduled activities and when that happens, it certainly makes for a peaceful and happy existence for everyone.

Keeping a schedule like this is certainly not glamorous, but it’s real and it’s a slice of our lives right now. And it keeps this mama (somewhat) sane and balanced.

Change is good

Last week was a blur of disorganization, chaos and imbalance. Apologies for disappearing on you guys, I guess I just needed bit of a break; a week off to “sharpen the saw” as they say. 

I know a few of you kinda rely on my weekly meal plans for inspiration, and I’m sorry I didn’t deliver. Rest assured, I’ve got a new meal plan coming your way tomorrow morning. Stay tuned!

I’ve also been thinking about some of the features of my blog over the last few days. And I’ve decided that one of them - my weekly grocery shopping debriefing - will be discontinued. Believe it or not, it’s a lot of work, especially with 2 little kiddos afoot, to set up all my groceries for a photo and blog about the details after. I’ve kinda lost my zest for the process and I’m just not confident that anybody out there is truly benefitting from all that minutiae anyway. So, going forward, if you have any questions about my groceries, food budget, or how much I’ve spent, please don’t hesitate to email me anytime. I just don’t think I’m going to keep featuring my grocery shopping details on the blog anymore. That’s the bad news.

Here’s the good stuff:

• My meal plans will have a new and improved design, and a much healthier direction!
• You’ll see more recipes and food photography here, and on Mod Glo too!
• Henry is totally walking now! My baby is now officially a toddler.
• Hooray! We ordered a sofa* which is the first step to finally furnishing our currently empty living room. Who wants to see some homespun decorating, craft ideas and before and after room makeover pics? You do!

I’ve got lots of groovy stuff in the works. Stick around, guys! The fun is just beginning!

*Our sofa is set to arrive mid-September. We paid cash and are currently saving to purchase some more pieces for the living room. Slowly but surely, our dream house is becoming a dream home.