Monday, January 11, 2016

Every Day

If mothers could learn to do for themselves what they do for their children when these (daily tasks) are overdone, we should have happier households. Let the mother go out to play!” 

― Charlotte M. Mason 

My secret to a (mostly) level headed almost 3 year old...
A daily 3 mile forest jog (he runs) with frequent stops to whack foliage with sticks, look at tracks, climb trees, sample wild edible plants, and practice his bird calls. The 10 month old also enjoys the tradition very much. Rain or shine.

Toddler on the run! 

Riding the forest motorcycle. Rosie's in a sidecar. 

Hard to play in a fleece suit, but it keeps her toasty.

Tracks!

The root ball which we fondly call "the meatball" for fun. 

Whacking the leaves with a big stick. Because it's apparently what 3 year old boys need to do. 

This is a great example of why I keep to a daily schedule. Not to make my life overwhelming, dull, or task oriented. Exactly the opposite. It helps me to remember to include everything. The play and the work. A balance. We often are visiting with friends, which totally mixes up the routine (no big deal!). My schedule keeps me sane and generally happy while I'm solo. This is roughly what my day looks like on a weekday:

3:00am - Up with baby. Prayer (chaplet of divine mercy)
6:00am - Awake. Morning prayer (as a family). Breakfast. Cosmo leaves for work. Then I do household chores (with plenty of interruptions from kids).
9:00 - I stop household chores. Pray mid morning prayer. Put dinner in the slow cooker.
Daily walk. Forest play. I always bring my knitting because I can knit while Peter climbs his favorite climbing tree. We like to make up stories as we walk. I like to incorporate landmarks we see along the trail for awareness of surroundings. Once a week or so we walk to the playground instead.
12:00 - Noon prayer (aloud with kids). Lunch. Quick tidy.
Then we do crafts, play games, walk to the library, or something like that. I rotate our afternoon project craft every day. It changes frequently, but here's an example:
Monday - puzzles
Tuesday - electronic circuits or a cooking project
Wednesday - ramps and pulleys
Thursday - painting
Friday - fiber craft or beeswax
2-3ish  - Rest time. Peter often gets a little screen time while Rosie naps (because we live in a tiny one room hovel - only way to keep it quiet enough)
3:00 - Afternoon prayer. Then read aloud tea! I make tea and snacks and read until dinner time. If Rosie is being super cantankerous we listen to an audio book and do art.
6:00 - Cosmo is home from work. Dinner. Then family time! I really try and embrace the leisure of the evening. I knit, read, play with the kids. I don't tidy. Peter helps put the toys away before bed. Family Rosary (at least we try). Cosmo puts Peter to sleep around 8. Rosie stays up and is usually a handful. So I tend to her and either watch some netflix or read my book. I try and pray Compline before bed, but that only happens a few times a week. I usually fall asleep right when Rosie finally does around 9:30-10:00.

On weekends, everything is different. Saturdays are different every week. Some Saturdays Como works, so it ends up looking like a week day (with more screen time for Peter). Sundays we spend the morning at Church and then make a point to have leisure time and rest.

Watercolors.

Read aloud tea.

Classic Ergo nap. Successful transfer. 

Winter walk. 

Circuits! The light turned on!

Ready for a Christmas party. 

Singing in Epiphany. 

Puzzles. 

Nightly chaplet of divine mercy. 

Dinner. Usually I do it in the slow cooker so I don't need to cook in the evening. 

A happy baby.  

She's way more excited about my morning dishes than I am. 

Rosary before bed.