I have a pretty good little daily routine with Rylee as far as eating and naps/bedtime go - however I've noticed that I need a stricter schedule during playtime. Right now - she just has general "playtime" in which she ends up bouncing from one activity to another -- coloring, going outside, playing with legos, coloring some more, doing puzzles..... everything we have for her to do she usually does it all. Which, in turn, destroys the apartment! We always try to pick up before we move onto the next major part of her day (the next meal, before a nap or bathtime...etc), however there's SO much to clean up - it never gets cleaned very well and I end up with a living room that looks like a small tornado just went through it. Add dirty dishes, general household cleaning/chores and a not-always-happy- newborn to take care of on top of it all - and I feel kind of defeated before I even start.
So I've decided that we need a more structured playtime routine during the day. This also means I needs to reorganize things so that I actually have stuff to do and to plan out. I've been thinking that maybe I'll create an activity card box. Inside the box will be cards (or something) with different activities on it. I'll let Rylee pull a card from the box once or twice a day. I'm hoping that this will create a structure but not a mundane playtime routine.
I have tons of ideas in my head, I just need to be diligent enough to actually put all the ideas into action. Which is normally my biggest problem. :) We'll see how it goes.
PS-- if you have any ideas, books or websites that might help me - I'd be VERY grateful for the tips! :)
I am not a momma, so I really wouldn't know what it's really like so obviously you should take my ideas for what they are (not all that experienced). But I was a nanny, so I have a couple of ideas. One of the kiddos had a hard time with transitions so he did the same thing: when he was done with one thing (lunch or particularly when he would get home from day camp or another activity) it was almost like he was overwhelmed and would just bounce around from thing to thing (often destructive things) and was kind of anxious. So when I knew he was coming home or was going to be finishing lunch or a movie or whatever I would have two or three things planned or set up for the day. I would tell him what they were and that he could choose any one of them. Like, having a craft or baking something (my personal fave). Playing with play dough, legos, or trains. Or going outside to the park or the yard to play ball or hockey. Obviously these things would have to be adjusted since Rylee's younger than Jack was. The when the next transition came up I would offer the other things that he hadn't done yet. If none of the things were suitable for him, he always had the choice to play quietly in his room or read. I don't know if that's helpful or not, but I love kids and my miss my kiddos so I like to talk about them. Haha.
ReplyDeleteTHanks Katie -- totally helped!!
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