Scheduling Summer

I don't know about you, but I have found that my two little girls when they get bored of one another they will do one of two things: pick fights with each other or demand my attention. And that looks like gripping on to mom's legs while simultaneously whining either "mommy" or "up" which then turns into a jealousy battle between two toddlers, which usually ends in someone going to time out because they yelled at or hit the other one. And mommy gets nothing done around the house.

Summer is not hard at all really, but it tends to be hard for us only because it is such a change from our normal schedule. The good news is that it allows everyone to sleep in, get decent breakfast before heading out the door, and to spend more time with each other. The bad thing is that not one of us is used to spending so much time at home or with the others. So, this summer I decided to try and maintain a bit of a schedule for a few reasons:

1. To avoid those little arguments around the house over things like who gets the blue necklace and how many pretend cookies can someone carry around at a time.

2. To keep a shred of structure for the girls since they're used to having it 5 days a week.

3. To get us out and about and not stuck inside (which is wayyy easier than getting ready & out the door...)

4. To make sure the girls get appropriate attention from mommy (not that whining, crying, battling kind of attention).

5. To have some fun!

I kept it simple; one morning activity and one afternoon activity throughout the summer. I also am not holding myself to these things on a weekly basis. If they don't happen, they don't happen. That being said, here is the schedule I planned out for us this year:

Since nap times are a bit erratic and unpredictable for at least one of my toddlers, I tried to have something to go out of the house and do in the mornings. This not only gets us up and dressed but also is a more predictable time of the day. I left the afternoon activity to be something that we can do at home either before or during dinner prep, which I am totally planning on and excited for since my school year weekday meals consist of 30 minutes or less, easy prep dinners. Don't get me wrong - I still do easy dinners - but at least I can plan on cooking a chicken or something that might need more than 20 minutes in the oven or on the stove top.

I plugged in local library story times as well as our previously scheduled activities in the morning. We utilize two different local libraries which have two different opportunities for story time and such. We also have a summer pass to the movies on Wednesday mornings which is going to be perfect for hot summer days and something for us to look forward to! I left Fridays to be our opportunity to do the fun stuff like the zoo, the aquarium, the trampoline park, museums, and anything else that sounds like a fun place for a mama to take two little girls.

Using other suggested Pinterest ideas, I decided on the following schedule for the afternoons...

Make It Monday: make a simple craft
Tasty Tuesday: make a toddler friendly snack
Water Wednesday: do some sort of water activity in the backyard or possibly Splash Pad if the kids wake up early
Thoughtful Thursday: take on some sort of service project to just ingrain the idea of thinking about others
Free Play Friday: nothing specific planned

So, we're going to dive in this week and see what fun we can have!