Summer

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Now that the kids are back in school I have been reflecting on this past summer. I seems to, in my mind, be divided into two distinct time periods. There is the “before the vacation” and “after the vacation”.
Before the vacation was from June until about mid July. It was wonderful. The kids were relatively well behaved, the house was kept relatively clean, chores and school work were done by 11:00 and the afternoon was free time. I really felt like I had it all together.
After the vacation was a different story. We were lazy, very unproductive, the house was messy and nobody cracked open a book. The kids were irritable and I was down right ornery. Nothing seemed to work, the days were long, tiring and tedious.

I have been mulling this over the last couple of weeks, wondering what changed. Were we just getting bored? Were we craving the structure that school created?….Structure….

…Sturcture….ah-ha

The first part of the summer I had a daily schedule. We were up at 7 and there was a plan for the morning, it included chores and some school work. Everyone (including me) knew each day what was expected. The afternoon were free times where the kids could do pretty much as they pleased (within reason). They played in the wading pool, with the bunnies, with friends. Sometime they watched movies or played on the computer. I taught them how to stitch and garden, we picked sweet peas and made daisy chains.


After the vacation it all fell apart. Part of the problem is that I can home really sick and it took me a good week of rest to get feeling better (ha, as much rest as you can get with 5 little ones around). I stopped making up a schedule for the day, there was no structure. The kids didn’t know what was expected, I would just give orders as I thought of them, it would be noon and the house wasn’t picked up and the breakfast dishes still on the table. They weren’t dressed and had been sitting in front of cartoons all morning. Everybody was bored, tired and irritable.

Conclusion: I am a better mother /homemaker /wife /person when I have a schedule. It keeps me on track, I am notorious for being easily distracted. I also think it helps the kids to know what to expect and what is coming next. When I do a schedule it is very detailed, sometimes down 10 minute increments of time. Also, I think that it is a good thing for everyone to have unscheduled time.

Now that the school year has started I have started up my scheduling again. So far (I know I am only a week and a half into it, but you have to start somewhere right) everyday the kids have gotten off to school on time and un-rushed. Beds have been made, house picked up and animals taken care of. I am optimistic that this will be a good foundation for a good year. I have started to schedule the evening too (after school is free time, the kids need a good couple of hours of hard-core play time!) and so far it is working, kids are to bed on time (for the most part, punk #1 is exerting some independence on this point) dishes done, homework finished and house picked up. I has worked so well so far that I pray it will continue, it makes such a difference in our home as was illustrated to me this summer.

7 thoughts on “Summer”

  2. I am definitely a schedule person. My kids on the other hand, like to change up the schedule fairly regularly or they get bored and start to revolt, so I have to get creative with my scheduling.
    *hugs*

  3. Schedules are vital. They make me literally “feel” better. I feel more productive and that I sucked every bit of life out of that day!

  4. I struggle with this with G and L during the day…I think it’s harder to stucture time with the littlest ones. I like to mix the busy days with the we’re going to lay around and play games in our pj’s days (that was today)! But before school and after school it is a must to stick to the schedule. I wish I could allow the kids to run around for a couple hours after school, but then they don’t have enough time (or insentive) to complete the homework and such. So we have 30 minutes of decompression time and snack, then it’s homework and misc quick chores. After that they have free time (hopefully!)

  5. Agreed with everyone else. I can attest to the difference in your house when you had your schedule at the first of the summer! Awesome!

  6. The more I read your posts, the more I think we are so much alike! I do SO much better when I follow a schedule. When I don’t have one I am in a fog all day. Vacations have a way of messing that up! I am still fine tuning our school schedule, no day is the same at our house so it is a little complicated. I think kids thrive on routine big time.

  7. I always have some sort of schedule I am following, but it has to be revamped every couple of months. I am waiting to observe the kids natural flow for a week after school to make the schedule as natural as possible.