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Parenting

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Original poster

SAHMs, do you have a daily/weekly timetable printout for your toddlers? How detailed is it?

46 replies

BelfastBloke · 26/01/2011 12:18

If you're staying at home with the kids, how important is structure (for you more than them)?

What does your timetable look like?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

CharlotteBronteSaurus · 26/01/2011 12:20

lol

bratnav · 26/01/2011 12:22

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Memoo · 26/01/2011 12:23

Erm no, we just go with the flow

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MamaChocolat · 26/01/2011 12:24

?!!! See what the weather's like and make it up at the time. Meals are fairly regular to avoid energy slump tantrums. All the rest is see how the mood takes me/them.

lockets · 26/01/2011 12:26

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mylifewithstrangers · 26/01/2011 12:27

Sorry, but I proper LOLed when I saw your thread title. We don't have structure other than mealtimes, getting DD to her nursery class and DS has a nap roughly around lunchtime. Every day is different and I can't spend most of it pandering to the kids 'timetables'

seeker · 26/01/2011 12:27

Why on earth would you have a print out timetable? It sounds like setting yourself up for feeling like a failure rather than a success if you suddenly decide to spend the morning in bed together because you were both tired or baking fairy cakes when the schedule said that it was swimming day!

MakemineaGandT · 26/01/2011 12:28

er, no. That would be weird (and unworkable).

cece · 26/01/2011 12:31

No. My toddler has to fit in with school runs, my part time job, the other children's after school activities, him going to the CM, doing the food shopping, some housework (but not too much ) and having coffee with friends! He does do a baby gym once a week and we often do a toddler group too but if the mood takes us we don't go!

seeker · 26/01/2011 12:32

PLEASE let this not be a man checking up on his SAHM other half's suitability for the job!

cece · 26/01/2011 12:33

OMG seeker you might be right!

strandednomore · 26/01/2011 12:37

I certainly don't have a printed off timetable but I do like to have something to do most days. I find that people round here like to book up meetings/playdates a week or so in advance so we usually have things written in our calender for the following week. But we also have days like today where I had nothing planned for the morning at all and dd2 has played with her dolls, done some painting, dressed as Belle and watched TV while I have MNetted done some very important work on my netbook....

TheHeathenOfSuburbia · 26/01/2011 12:45

Printout

I have a calendar on the wall, with various cryptic scrawls...

The 3yo goes to pre-school every morning, and has a couple of activities in the afternoon so we basically work around those. Try to fit in a snack ~3.30 to avoid unpleasantness. Dinner at 6, bed at 7.

The baby gets a boob every so often, sometimes he poops, sometimes he sleeps...

to be fair, when DD was a baby I may have had an Excel spreadsheet to record her eat/sleep/poo activities. I think i'd read too much Gina Ford...

Original poster

BelfastBloke · 26/01/2011 12:48

No, seeker, it's a man finding that "going with the flow" with two kids all day is not really working. For me.

(although I'm sure DW would love to see a timetable of what we do)

OP posts:

Bonsoir · 26/01/2011 12:50

LOL

Having said that, I had an externally imposed agenda of constraints on my time when DD was with me all day - DP's work agenda, the DSSs' school/alternating residency agenda, the DSSs' extracurricular activities. So there was always lots going on on a regular basis before I got started on DD and me!

Original poster

BelfastBloke · 26/01/2011 12:50

Baking fairy cakes is yet to occur.

OP posts:

strandednomore · 26/01/2011 12:52

BelfastBloke - you don't need a print-out but you do need to make some plans. I'm not much of a "go with the flow-er", I do prefer to have activities planned in advance. It's not so bad with only dd2 at home with me as she is pretty easy but it was very hard when I had two. You can always make loose plans that can change on the day. So Mon- toddler group; tues - park/soft play; wed - cooking/painting at home; thurs - swimming; fri - meet with friends (etc).

putthekettleon · 26/01/2011 12:56

I try to have something planned most days and mealtimes/naptimes are at roughly the same time each day, but that's as far as routine goes.

Haven't got round to buying a 2011 calender yet and I've realised how valuable those 'cryptic scrawls' on the calender are, as now my noticeboard/changebag/kitchen worktop are full of various post-it notes and scraps of paper with random dates on and vague scrawls about parties/playdates/dentist appointments!

lukewarmmama · 26/01/2011 13:10

Belfastbloke - tell us what aspect isn't working for you and maybe we can help? How long have you been at home with them, and how old are they? It's taken me 3 years to work out how to have a reasonable day!

On my days at home with mine, I have a loose structure (below if it helps), mainly based around set meal and nap times, and one or two activities. But the activities can be as big or little as you like, I think the children just like knowing when their food and sleep is coming! I do try to make sure they have a good run around outside everyday if possible, and judicious use of cbeebies smooths the path....

'routine'
me dragged out of bed at ungodly hour;
milk for them/tea for me;
get dishwasher and washing machine on whilst sorting brekkie 8am;
get everyone dressed and me showered;
then a morning activity of some sort, including snack and drink, from about 10-12;
home for lunch by 12.30 and naps 1-3 - sort out some washing and a quick tidy;
afternoon, maybe just playing in the garden, or sometimes another outing (although two in a day is quite ambitious), snacks and drinks;
tea time 5ish, bath 6ish, bed 7ish and half an hour of persuading dd1 that she does really want to go to bed;
another quick tidy, sort stuff for the next day, dinner, brief nod to dh as we both collapse on the sofa

ProfYaffle · 26/01/2011 13:20

I've always found it useful to have structured activities/groups outside the house planned through the week to prevent general insanity. Add in consistent meal times and that's our 'timetable' (although it's a scrawly calender rather than a printed spreadsheet) Around those fixed points we go with the flow.

This is dd1's third year at school and obviously the school run has cut across our schedule. We're now much more tightly structured which I'm not terribly keen on.

MistyB · 26/01/2011 13:25

We have a small blackboard on the wall with the days of the week on and the children's activities on it in different colours.

It is for them primarily as they like to know what days their activities are on - not too many!! And it is useful for me too so I can remember what time Football is at - I have no brain and three children!!

mistressploppy · 26/01/2011 13:26

DS is 15mo so each day we have a morning 'thing' and an afternoon 'thing' with lunch and a sleep in between them. The 'things' vary from toddler groups to supermarket shopping (oh, the thrills)

The timetable is pretty predictable and it means planning things is easier.

suesfault · 26/01/2011 13:27

I think you're being a bit hard on Belfastbloke.

When I gave up fulltime work to look after 3 preschoolers I had little experience of doing it day in, day out and I thought a structured day would be the easiest way to work things.

I didn't have a spreadsheet but we did work to a fairly standard week and looking back I still think it worked well.

Mealtimes,nap times and bed times were always constant and inbetween those times we had playgroup, park vists, meet with friends, swimming etc.

What sort of things are you doing now OP?

winnybella · 26/01/2011 13:33

Meal times, nap times and bedtime are constant, other than that it depends on what I have to do, what the weather's like etc.

I don't go to any playgroups, though, so DD comes with me to the shops etc and we go to the playground.

What I find is important is getting out of the house early in the morning-gives you energy and tires the children. So getting out in the morning and in the afternoon is something I try to do every day.

porcupine11 · 26/01/2011 14:04

I don't have a printout but I like to start each week with a written plan, and nap times / bedtime are set in stone because I rely on this time to get some work done (I work from home). I also find facing the week / each day less daunting if I have a plan of how we'll fill the time... cute as they are there is only so much sitting around at home you can do with a 9 month old and two year old!

A typical day might be

7 am - wake up and breakfast; getting dressed
9 am - baby down to nap and I spend some quality time with toddler (or he watches CBBs while I check work emails...)
10 am baby up and everyone out of the house for morning activity, usually a local class or story group, or walk to a park
11.30 - lunch for them
12.30 - lunchtime nap, lunch and work for me
2-2.30 pm - they wake up and have a snack and drink
3 pm - out of house for afternoon activity, usually play date, shops, or park if we didn't do that in the morning, often trip to a coffee shop as toddler likes that

5 pm - supper for them
6 pm - bathtime, finish line in sight!

On a day when we do a longer trip out e.g. to see friends in a different county, I try to do the driving at their normal nap times. I also look out for special events we can go to and things to do, such as children's theatre.

If we're stuck inside the house, I plan tasks that my toddler can help me with, such as tidying certain rooms, hoovering, baking a cake, sorting the recycling - he adores housework. In the gaps between things, he often watches CBBs.

hth

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