Daily routine for your 3 yo

[becstarlitsea]

Following on from the 'toddler telly' thread I got a bit baffled by what people are doing with their kids all day if they don't watch TV with them. We paint, do playdough, bake, clean together, read stories, go to the park... But that combined only uses up about three hours of the thirteen hours that my DS is up and at 'em. Currently it's something like:

5am-7.30am - TV and breakfast (TV stays on for breakfast as DS eats 4 courses in the mornings at breakneck speed and TV seems to slow him up a bit...)
7.30am getting dressed and washed
8am DS watches more TV while I wash up breakfast things and do 30 mins cleaning
8.30ish Go for a walk, to library or park
11ish home, DS has elevenses, we usually watch 10-15 mins more TV
11.30ish Reading stories, doing phonics, puzzles etc
12pm Swimming most days, football in park if not
1pm lunch (TV off usually)
1.30pm DS 'helps' me wash up and tidy up his toys etc
2pm We lie on sofa and watch a movie together usually - Pixar or Disney
3.30pm More football in the park, or painting/playdough
4.30pm We play together with his toys (he will play alone for short bursts, but gets hacked off with me about it)
5.30pm I make his tea while he watches TV, 6pm he eats dinner watching TV unless DH is home in which case we eat together as a family with TV off.
7pm bathtime - he's in bed by 8pm latest

So what's your routine - whether it includes telly or not? I'm not planning to exclude telly, I'm just thinking of tweaking our routine.

[paranoidmother]

ok here goes for my DS ( I do have a DD who I have to take to school as well and some mornings he will spend at Nursery)

6.30am - gets up and goes with DH to get milk to drink
6.45am - me, DD and DS get washed and dressed
7.20am - go downstairs - DC's play, turn radio and dance around till breakfast
7.40am - Breakfast
8.20am - (It always takes at least 30 minutes for breakfast)
8.30am leave for school
9.15am return from school
Then DS plays with trains, toys, colouring etc whilst I do cleaning/tidying. Sometimes have tv or dvd on depending on what is going on.
11.50am go to collect DD
12.30pm return and have lunch
1.30-2pm (yes it can take this long as the dc's chat and discuss what they can see out of the window.) Homework for DD and colouring and tractors for DS
2.45pm - outside to feed chickens and water plants depending on weather or dvd/trains indoors
4pm - reading/tv whilst I make dinner
5pm dinner - no tv
6pm 30 minutes of tv whilst I tidy up
6.30bathtime and stories
7.15pm asleep

We live in the coutryside and if it's nice enough we go in the garden/field to play but we're on a flood plain so very wet and can be very windy and neither dc likes the wind.

We should get out more to parks etc but our closest park is 20 minutes walk away and everything else is a 15 minute car journey.

We always go to the library once a week, shopping once a week, Nursery twice a week going up to 5 times in Jan so along with normal chores the day passes quite quickly.

[mamaolivia]

my 3.6 dd has recently started pre - school. Before then it would have been a group instead.

7 - 8 up, dressed, breakfast. (TV used to be on all of this time, but also triggered by MN only now turn it on when she is totally ready as this seems to reduce the amount she watches,
8 - 8.45 TV. Me showering, getting DS ready, trying to tidy house a bit.
8.45 - 12.15 to/at/from pre-school
12.15 - 1.30 TV on, have lunch
1.45 - 4.30 out somewhere - either meeting other children for playdate, town, library, or park.
4.30 - 5.30pm. Normally do something quiet together - read, playdough, drawing, etc
5.30pm - 6.15pm TV on, me making tea.
6pm - 7pm. Eating tea, bath, ready for bed, story, sleep!

[becstarlitsea]

Thanks so much for those - it does help to see it set out like that.

Can I ask mamaolivia - when you're showering, getting dressed and tidying the house what is your DD doing? I guess it must be obvious, and that's why I'm missing it! I've always been good at complicated things and rubbish at simple things...

I'm really impressed paranoidmother that your DS can play alone with his trains etc for a period of time. I've managed to build DS up to a half hour max as long as I come back to check on him and 'dip in' to playing with him at least every 5 minutes or so. But that is his absolute limit, after that he'll sit and cry (not whinge, just silent tears that I don't realise are falling until I go in and check on him) and say that he 'doesn't have a friend' and feels lonely. I so wish he could have a sibling at times like those...

DS will be going to nursery 9am-3.30pm from mid-January which will do him a lot of good. He goes 2 mornings a week to a different nursery at the moment, but I did my routine for those days when it's just me and him all day because those are the days where I get a bit frustrated at what else I'm supposed to do with him.

Am reluctantly wondering whether his inability to focus on something other than TV for more than 5 mins (eg he will draw for 5 mins, then says 'Finished! Look at my picture! What shall we do now?') could possibly be due to TV or whether TV is actually a necessary crutch to deal with such a child.

I have never believed that it is due to TV - mainly because I was apparently exactly the same as a child, and there wasn't much TV on back then. So I think it is an inherent tendency. But I'm always willing to reexamine what I'm doing anyway if it helps DS.

Very grateful for any other thoughts or routines - especially from those who don't watch TV and who manage to get their 3yo's to play happily alone or focus on activities for more than a few minutes.

[hairtwiddler]

DD has also recently started pre-school. I'm 8 months pregnant so probably relying on the telly a bit much!

7:30 - gets up, often comes into bed for a chat and a cuddle
8:00 breakfast while I listen to the radio/potter around organising food for the day
8:30 the long drawn out routine of getting dressed/washing face/brushing teeth. Usually involved fashion show of some sort.
9am Episode of 'show me show me' while mummy checks email. Or will play in room/build a den/dance to music while I'm in shower
10am - friend over/go out to library/throw in garden/help me with hanging out washing/bake something/play with playdough/drawing/read stories/play with toys
11:45 start lunch routine (sometimes lunch on go if out and about)
12:30 walk to pre-school
3pm pick up from pre-school
3:30pm home and snack. Chat and stories
depending on how this goes, tv will go on between 4-5pm while I make dinner
5ish - dinner
6ish play/stories
6:30 start bedtime routine and in bed by 7pm.

Phew!

[MrsJohnDeere]

Routine for my 3.5yo

5.30ish he wakes - he is allowed to go into the spare room to read books (key aim is to keep him away from ds2 as I don't want 2 awake children at this time)
6.30ish he plays with ds2 whilst dh showers (I take dog for walk), and dh gives breakfast
7.30 more playing with ds2 while I have my breakfast
8 he gets dressed then watches a bit of tv while I have a shower, get dressed, dress ds2, and prepare ds1's lunchbox
8.30 prepare to take him to preschool (hunt for shoes, coats, etc)
8.50 drive to pre-school.
9-12 (or 1 or 3 depending on day) he is at pre-school
1-2.30/3 'quality time' with ds1 while ds2 sleeps - read books together, do playdough, painting, baking etc
3-4.30ish go for walk and to playground or play in the garden if the weather is nice. Dcs play together inside (playmobil, trains, cars, lego, etc) if not.
4.30 they watch a dvd while I make their supper
5-6 eating, tidying up
6-7 bath, stories, bed

8.30 dress

[DuchessOfAvon]

Not sure this adds much but for what its worth...

6.30 Up. PLays with DD2 until we go downstairs.
7.00 Downstairs for breakfast.
7.45 Get dressed, teeth, hair etc...
8.00 They play while I shower.
8.30 Get ready for nursery.
8.45 Leave to nursery
11.15 Collect from nursery
(Pre nursery we would have done a toddler group or played at a friends house in this time period.)
11.30 PLay in playroom while I prep lunch.
12.15 Lunch
13.30 TV while DD2 goes to sleep and I prep supper.
14.15 Play with me until DD2 wakes up. Craft, jigsaws whatever.
15.30 SNack as DD2 has bottle.
16.00 Out for a sccot or to library or chores like going to Post Office
17.00 Home, she lays her place at the table and "helps" get supper ready.
17.30 SUpper
18.00 Tidy Up Time and a dance in the clean playroom!
18.10 Bath
18.40 Stories
19.00 Bed with an Audio CD.
19.01 Wine for Mummy.

We usually have people over to play and/or tea in the afternoon 3 times a week Helps fill in the gap where DD2 is sleeping.