Sahms - Do You Have a "Schedule"?

I'm in a Mom's club so we have a variety of activities to pick from every week. We have playdates every other Wednesday, Music Time on the first Friday of the month etc . . . If I have errands to run I usually do them right after an activity because its one less time I have to get everyone in their coats and carseats. My kids are 25 months and 10 months old. If we go out once or twice a week, that's plenty and still gives me time to get stuff done around the house.

We dont have a schedule really but I try to get out and pick up things from all the local stores that are having sales that week. I go to the malls with her and just putter around. We go to the book stores and toy stores. She goes for her nap after lunch so I try to get all that I need to do in the mornings because I never really know how long she will sleep in the afternoons so I cant plan for much with that. My daughter is 2 and I am due with another in a few weeks so I will be thrown for a loop real soon
Good Luck

Yes, we have a weekly schedule we stick to! Every morning we have something planned, then we come home to eat lunch and then naptime. Then after nap we pick up big brother from the bus stop. After that we are at home while he does homework and I start preparing dinner or driving big brother to piano lessons or soccer. Every morning after breakfast we first have to take my oldest out to the bus stop. Then we take the dogs on a little walk. But here is our later morning schedule (things start at 9 to 10 usually): Monday mornings I go to the YMCA and we go to the local environmental center preschool program afterwards. Tuesdays we go to music and movement at the library. Wednesdays we have a weekly playdate with a good friend and her son (and we moms take turns going for a run). Thursdays we grocery shopping and hike out on a trail with the dogs. Fridays we go to the pool. I change things around if needed. Every now and then we take a morning off. There is so much to do with your kids in this town - I don't have time to do it all. We used to do toddler music at this family center and toddler yoga but now there is not time. I wish I had time to do a mommy and me gymnastics class but then I'd have to give up my playdate/run swap. I clean a little bit each day during nap time or before dinner...I never wait and do it on one specific day. I am always throwing a load of wash in the washing machine or folding clothes. I do a little bit each day as well. I will clean a bathroom or two hear and there. I often just wipe down the bathroom as the kids are taking baths. I will sweep and mop during naptime. Nothing ever builds up, but I also don't really expect perfection out of myself.

I have a schedule for myself. Without it things don't get done. It is mostly for housework and college work. For example, every Monday I clean all the floors, and complete weekly quizzes for online college classes, and on Tuesday bathrooms get scrubbed, and all weekly assignments are due in college. I have two copies of it, one taped to the side of the fridge and the other in my day planner. After being on the same schedule for a while I don't need to look at it, but I leave it because it serves as a reminder to stay on top of things. Also, if I'm super busy or sick my husband and son can look at it and see what needs to be done that day to help out.

I also keep a calendar on the side of the fridge that is color coded. If anyone has something going on like sports event, doctor appointment, dinner party, etc., it goes on there. Each person has an assigned color. We write whatever it is on the calendar and then highlight in the color assigned to that person. It helps me to know at a glance if anyone has anything going on that day or week. Regular things, like our son's football games, go on there too. When my son was younger we had things like weekly trip to park, play dates, and things on the calendar too. Keeping a schedule helped me, but helped him too. He always had something fun to look forward to.

I am more on a routine then a schedule, since I have trouble staying on schedule myself. Living in Florida we can get outside at anytime of the year and in summer we use the pool often. Now that my daughter is in school I try to do things more like a schedule during the week, the weekends our time is not as organized.

I do have a loose schedule. We have 6 children, so our schedule is fluid. We have music lessons and swim lessons and one class out of the house each week. So, those pretty much are the same weekly. Other than that, I have a general schedule for laundry,shopping, and such. We all pitch in daily for cleaning. The mail comes at 2:30 everyday, so that stays the same. ;) It tends to be an exciting part of the day. We also homeschool, so we spend most of our days here at home doing school. We try to limit outside activities because we don't want to become enslaved to the schedule, if that makes sense.

ETA: I forgot to mention that my children are 19 down to 5, so a wide range of ages. The 19 yo is not really in the daily mix as he owns his own business and also works for another company. So, he is very busy on his own.

Schedules are lifesavers.

11mo

7am wake, eat
9a - nap
11a - wake, eat
1p - nap
3p - wake, bottle
5:30 - dinner
7:30 sleep

Generally we read at 8:30-9. Free toy time after lunch (by himself). And Daddy play time in the early evenings. (nap time is when I fulfill the W in WAHD)

I usually get out in the mornings:
Monday: speech therapy and grocery shopping
Tuesday and Thursday: preschool and errands
Wednesday and Friday: mall or McDonald's play area or something with mom's group
Cleaning and learning is in the afternoons. I may elect to stay home if I'm worn out on wed or Fri. Kids play with neighborhood friends in afternoon too. Will have to be on a strict schedule this summer. All the kids and commotion was CRAZY last summer!

I have a loose schedule for my 3 yr old since he's the only one at home
most of the time:

Tues: library for reading time or 40 mins science class (this is new & set
up for toddlers), park in nice weather, sometimes treat ourselves
to lunch @ the nearby cafe for soup, salad, juice etc.

Thursday: playdate (I take care of his friend)...park, ride the mini train
in town, once a month in nice weather go to the zoo, sometimes
the mall when it rains.

M,W,F Help take c/o my ailing mom, do laundry, light cleaning of kitchen
and bathrooms

Weekends: heavy laundry, heavy cleaning, grocery shopping, park.
Hope that helps!

I used to have a better schedule, but am now helping my husband with his own business, so my schedule is off. But it used to be that (with my 3.5 yr old son):
- Wednesdays we'd go to the grocery store and story time at the library.
- Thursdays or Fridays we'd meet a friend for a playdate.

Other days, we'd stay home about two days a week to do laundry and keep the house clean and play at home. One day a week we'd drive to Nana & Papa's house (30 mins away) and do something fun with them - hang out at their house, go out to lunch, Chuck E Cheese, Target shopping ......

We'd always be home by naptime (2ish). That's when I'd do dishes and get dinner ready and/or take time for myself and watch a tv show on hulu.

Now -- every day is different. I am running errands for my husband. The only thing I have going on is Wednesdays is Biblestudy, so my son goes to childcare and I get mommy-time.

I have a 5 year old..
-Mondays- I have my son and his friend after school from 2:30-5:30.
-Tuesday and Wednesday- my son goes to his friends house after school until 5:30.
-Thursdays-after school, we go over what he's been doing for the week in school and do "family" time.. IE: go to the movies, play on the computer, go out to eat, etc.
Fridays- after school, about 2-6 moms (depending on other moms schedules) meet somewhere with the kids until about 5.. Either the park or an indoor playground like Monkey Joe's...
-My son is in the bath every night about 6ish, book time, bedtime by 7:45ish...

For "ME"- every morning after I drop him at school, I work out, shower, play around on the computer, do my "weekly" to do list, (run errands, call appts, etc) eat lunch, relax..(Fridays- I pay bills after I get out of the shower)....

Yep, I'm pretty scheduled :)

I try to follow more of a "routine" than a schedule. I have a 9.5 month old boy. We're working on a new sleep routine so he learns to fall asleep on his own.
To keep it short, if he woke at 5:30am (which he does, ugh) then:
Bottle/snack depending on if how hungry he is
By 7:00am, back in bed for nap #1
Breakfast
Wash hands and face, change out of PJ's
Play time (mommy cleaning time)
12:30 lunch
1:00 nap (mommy takes a Grey's Anatomy break)
Play time, mommy is free to play too
Possible nap, depending on length of prior naps
Daddy's home, plays with baby while mommy makes dinner
Dinner together
7:30 baby's bedtime snack, starting bedtime routine
8:00 in bed sleeping
8:30-9:00 mom's in bed too

As far as activities, we don't do much other than visit grandma and get groceries. Partly because we're pretty broke, but also because my baby was very sick around Thanksgiving and we need to keep him away from germs while his lungs heal. That said we are going to try the reading group for babies at the library (free) and look into swimming lessons and hope to find other free activities. With him being so young his world opens up when I let him dig in the tupperware cupboard. :P

not much of one and its all up for grabs on strange days.

weekdays go as follows
~~breakfast is roughly at 7 for my oldest 9 for my youngest
~~i work out at 3
~~lunch is 4 (for my youngest) my oldest eats in school
~~dinner is anywhere from 7 to 8
~~bed time for all of us is 9 except on thursdays it is 10

~i try to schedule things like the park, rollerblading, shopping, game night, trampoline playing, play dates, yoga, painting, crafts, puzzles, etc... in those in between times.

weekends are anarchy

Yep, absolutely. Check out your local library for storytimes, see if any of your local gyms have free-play times for kids, enroll your kids in a Mommy & Me class! We do storytime at the library twice a week, go shopping once a week, and I'm trying to get into the habit of going to the gym twice a week. Looking forward to that kind of thing keeps me from sitting home feeling lonely. ^_^

Before my son was in Preschool, we had swim on Tuesday, Mommy and me on Thursday and Playdates on Friday. The other days, we would either stay home, do some shopping, or go to the park or whatever. Now that he is in preschool he is in school Tues-thurs. So friday is usually our day to go run errands or do something fun. Monday, for some reason we usually end up staying home.
My 5 mo is still too little to have too many activities with, but I do plan on taking him to mommy and me and probably swimming or story time at the library. Haven't decided on that yet.

I've been a SAHM for almost 4 years now. Just in the last few months have a realized that I struggle so much because I didn't follow a schedule. I was negotiating snacks constantly and running around in circles and for a few years never felt like I accomplished anything. I JUST figured out that my kids needed a schedule as much as I did. This is our first go at it so I may be tweaking it.

7:00 wake up (I never let the kids get out of bed before 7. If they wake earlier they are expected to stay in the bedroom areas quietly til 7.)
7:30 breakfast
8:00 should be dressed and teeth brushed by now
10:00 snack
11:30 lunch
12:30 nap for 1.5 yr old, quiet time for 3.5 yr old
3:00 snack
5:00 I start preparing dinner. If kids want a snack it has to be a fruit or vegetable at this time of day.
6:15 dinner
7:00 pjs, books
7:30-8:00 brush teeth, bed

This is a loose schedule because we have a different schedule every single day of the week. This helped me to remember that snacks and meals are at certain times so I can explain that to the little kids and expect them to start understanding that we can't eat all day.

All the in between times we fill with playing, cleaning and outtings. I just needed more structure and wasn't good at figuring that out without writing it down. I actually printed this up and hung it on the fridge. I tend to do the major cleaning on Mondays and Thursdays. I also try to have an idea of what snacks I will offer for different snack times each day.

Here's our typical weekday:

6:30 - everyone up, breakfast, get dressed and ready to go.
7:50 - leave to drop my oldest off at Kindergarten
8:15 - back home with my little ones (ages 1 and 3)
8:30-10 - an outing, cleaning or just playtime...depending on what needs to be done.
10am - snack time
10:30 - nap time for the baby, and sometimes the 3 year old too :o)
12:30 - lunch
1pm - an outing, cleaning or just playtime again
2pm - leave to pick up oldest
2:40 - get home, another snack time
3pm - qucky tidy of the house
4pm - hubby comes home, start dinner
5:30 - dinner
6pm - baths
6:45- bedtime (yay!)
7:30 - usually everyone's asleep by now and my hubby and I get some alone time.

All times (except for picking up and dropping off my daughter) are approximate, depending on the day and how everyone's co-operating. I don't TRY to stick to exact times, so there's no stress if things have to be adjusted for some reason.

I do make sure to have the house as tidy as possible by the time my husband gets home to maximize family time, but that doesn't always happen :o)

No real schedule so to speak. We take each day as it comes and figure it out as we go along. My daughter is five. We try to eat breakfast before noon, lunch before 3pm and dinner before 7pm. Other than that, we're pretty relaxed and groovy over here. The only constant is a solid 8:30 bedtime.