sahm?? how do you structure your day??

[jrp0606]

Ok so I got laid off two month ago and I am now at home all day with my three year old son. I feel like I am constantly struggling to come up with ideas to keep him engaged and to keep me from going stir crazy. I feel guilty if I let him watch cartoons while I clean and do laundry. So I am asking how do you structure your day? What do you do with your kids? Any fun ideas of things we can do in a tiny apartment? There are only so many walks we can go on in one day.

[mrs.will]

I HAVE AN OLDER CHILD IN SCHOOL SO W ARE ALL  UP BY 7AM. HIS LUNCH IS BETWEEN 12-1 AND THEN NAP OR QUIET TIME IF HE WONT SLEEP FROM 130 -245 WHEN WE GO PICK UP MY DAUGHTER. WE USALLY FILL TIME WITH WALKS, GOING TO THE PARK, PLAYDATES, AND STORY TIME AT THE LIBRARY. I JUST ALTERNATE THEM ALL SO HE ALWAYS HAS SOMETHING TO DO INSTEAD OF SITTING IN THE HOUSE ALL THE TIME. CHECK YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY MOST HAVE A TODDLER STORYTIME. ALSO IF YOU HAVE A YMCA OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT YOU COULD DO TUMBLING CLASSES OR MUSIC CLASSES.  YOU MIGHT SEARCH YOUR AREA FOR A PLAYDATE GROUP THATS HOW I MET ALOT OF MY FRIENDS WHEN WE MOVED HERE THEN NOT ONLY DOES MY SON HAVE SOMEONE TO PLAY WITH MOMMY HAS SOMEONE TO CHAT WITH TOO. LOL. FOR THE DAYS WE DO STAY IN THE HOUSE WE DO SIMPLE CRAFTS KABOOSE.COM HAS SOME CUTE CRAFTS THAT ARE EASY FOR YOUNG KIDS.

[LilyGiannaMommy]

I have an 11 month old. And yes I do let her watch cartoons on Nick Jr when I am making dinner, we are in an apartment as well. She really wont sit through a whole show anyway she would rather play with her toys. I know it is different for me than you with the age difference of our lo's. Her toys I only bring out a few and keep a few in her closet, then throughout the week I bring some out that are "new". Also if we don't go for a walk, I try to go to the mall, or a new store, we have a great outdoor mall by us. Breaks up the day and she gets to be around more people because there really isn't any babies here. She likes to be in the kitchen with me when I am cooking so I give her a bowl and some spoons and she plays with them at the table. Maybe at 3 he can help you make cookies or something? If you go to nick jr.com they give a whole bunch of craft ideas which I will be doing when she is older.

[imthatgirl728]

I don;t really. My older 2 are in school and I'm home with my 4yo. In the mornings I clean and he plays, then in the afternoon we go out. Usually Ill ask him what he wants to do and I run errands.

Now thats an average day...but there are some days we go to the library right away in the morning for crafts or story time.

I'm also on the look out for any day time activities we can do together.

but for the most part its wherever the wind takes us that day.

[Braydens_Mama06]

Well, we eat breakfast in the morning and my son watches cartoons for a little while so I can have my coffee and feed my daughter.  While my daughter is taking her morning nap, I try to get my cleaning and laundry done and my son will either do an activity from his preschool workbook (just something I picked up at the store but he loves cutting, glueing, coloring and practicing his shapes, numbers, and letters) or play with play dough or some other quiet activity.  My daughter usually wakes up around lunch time, we eat, and Brayden has quiet time.  Usually during Brayden's nap, my daughter goes down for her afternoon nap.  When they get up, we go outside or take a walk, or go to the park, run errands, just get out of the house.  Then it's dinner, bath, and bed.  We joined a mommy and me group and do activities with them sometimes, but basically this is what our day consists of.  

[catk78]

I have 3 kids, 5, 3 and almost 2. I usually get them up around 8. Eat breakfast, go out for a walk or if it is raining paint, draw, hide n go seek(something all about them between 9 and 11 ish). Then they watch tv while I get lunch ready. Lunch around 12-1, nap for my youngest, that is my time. I either work out while the girls play or watch a movie or just veg with coffee. 3ish my son wakes up, we play again for half hour-hour, then dinner making time. In between that time, it is cleaning house. I would suggest with little space, just make it all about him during those times. Don't do anything else, just focus on him. Then when you do housework or whatever you know you have given him and you that quality time. 

[AlyssaRob1416]

My day is so unstructured!

7 am- hit the snooze button

7:09- alarm goes off again. wake up kids for school

7:30-8:00 play on pc until baby wakes up

8:00-8:30- feed baby breakfast then give her a bottle

8:00-11:00 ish- clean, play with baby, do homework, play on the computer

11-ish- feed baby and put her down for a nap

11-is-2 ish baby naps, I clean, play on the pc, do homework

2 ish- baby wakes up, I get baby, give her some milk and play with her

3- big kids come home from school

3-5 finish up homework, check cafemom, get kids and baby ready for soccer

4:30- kids leave for soccer with Dh

5:15- go to class

9-ish get home from class, kids get home from soccer. feed dinner if it hasn't been eaten (they do get snacks) baby usually eats at the soccer field. Get baby ready for bed

11- I go to bed.

[jmomma2003]

try the library for museum passes; free general admission for a week...i started taking my son to the library and museums at a very early age and this is something we still enjoy doing together during summer break or days off from school...art projects are a lifesaver; assemble a box filled with random art supplies, encourage him to play alone and enjoy his own company...i did and do not allow tv during the week even during summer breaks. on some days where the weather does not permit going outside, i might begrudgingly allow a movie or a couple of hours of noggin; i do not feel comfortable letting him veg-out in front of the tv.

my schedule varied depending on son's age but we always keep some routine...at age 3,

i woke at 7 bathed and groomed myself, prepared breakfast (along with any food if we were going out for the day) to be served to son at 8, cleaned kitchen while son ate...brushed teeth and placed into bathtub i made up bed (we co-slept) while he bathed, groomed and dressed him. during the summer months we went out practically every day playground, museum, go see a children's movie or just running errands; we both got a really bad case of cabin fever if we stayed in the house...i just found that we were each more pleasant to be around each other if we were active. my son stopped taking naps at 2 1/2 so, i was on a non-stop routine all-day everyday. we usually ate lunch and a snack outdoors so by the time we came home it was time to walk the dog, prepare and eat dinner, free play time for him while i am doing some tidying if needed, brushing of teeth, reading then have him in bed by 8...i usually stayed up even though i was tired; i needed the quiet time...plan the next day.

enjoy the time now...my son is 6 and in school full-time now...when he started kindergarten, i was initially thrilled thinking about all the 'free time; i was going to indulge in...*BUUUUUZZZZ*...wrong...i am still busy running errands, doing stuff around the house and the time goes by soooooo quickly...we have still kept a routine though...establish one it really does help...

 

[jrp0606]

Thanks for the ideas ladies. I just feel like I am doing him such a disservice he is used to being at montesorri all day with other kids and constant activities and now he's just got me. We just moved out of our house into a tiny apartment. Dh lost his job at the same time, he found a new one quickly but we had to relocate, so between moving, being at home etc I just feel lost.

[KokoJones]

we have on demand on our cable so in the am's my dd1 gets up heads off for the school bus, i start the laundry and tidying up the kitchen if it wasn't done the nite before. after that, i get my dd2 (4 yrs old) up and she eats breakfast, then she pix some shows off of the on demand and i go around gathering laundry and making beds.  after that we sit down and have play time which is usually puzzles, sometimes dolls, we color in coloring books and draw on blank paper... i am trying to get her into working on letters and such as she is already writing her favorite letters which seem to be P,F and W. lol  then we do lunch and after that she is down for a nap... round about that time my husband is usually home from work and so we will watch a movie or show or play vid games together... and then we work on planning dinner. i usually vacuum every two or three days and on the days when i vacuum i mop the kitchen and bathroom floors and do the dusting. usually this housework gets done during my dd's tv time in the am or after my dd1 gets home from school and can keep her sister occupied up in one of their bedrooms.

[i.heart.rachel]

We have a schedule. Every 15 minutes, it's something new. We don't have TV/cable because they'd sit in front of it WAY too much. We do have movie time once a day, and during free time they may choose a movie if they'd like.

We do "homework time" twice a day. We have meals, and then snacks, those take up quite a bit of time. We have "chore time" where everyone pitches in with chores. We have "puzzle time" like 3 times a day because my kids LOVE puzzles. We have "coloring time" with coloring books, and "drawing time" with pencils and pens on paper. We also have "craft time" where they can do a craft with me. Ummm other than that I don't remember, it's hanging on the wall around the corner lol. we just stay busy busy busy most of the time so nobody gets bored!