Rhythm in our Home: Part Two

"Rhythm is the magic word for parents and educators of young children. Young children thrive on a simple, flexible rhythm that carries them through their day, through each week and through the slowly unfolding years of their lives."

Heaven on Earth: A Handbook for Parents of Young Children - Sharifa Oppenheimer

Where did the week go?! I apologize for the pause in my posts, so I will make it up to you by now giving you part two.

Thursday is ..... Craft Day

This is the hardest day for me to think of creative things to do. Izzie is still a little too young to do and focus on crafty things. We've started learning how to finger knit, use scissors, home made play dough (pizza dough!) and use pipe cleaners. We try to use what we have in the house.

Friday is ..... Painting Day

But you knew that already! We paint with either finger paints or water colour paints. And sometimes we get a little crazy and paint with Jello! With finger painting Izzie and I work on the same paper. With water colouring we paint on separate pieces of paper. Painting in the past has been a bit of a struggle but I'm getting better!

Saturday and Sunday are what I like to call Family Days. We don't have any specific activities other than enjoying each others' presence. There's lots of biking, outside time if the weather is nice, reading, grocery shopping, cuddling, wrestling and so forth and so on. Basically Izzie and I soak in all the Daddy time we can get.

I thought you might also like to know what our daily routine looks like during the week....

7am - 8am: Wake up, Izzie and Daddy have breakfast while I catch a few more winks.

8:30am: Daddy off to work, Izzie and I finish up breakfast and clean up

8:30am - 9:30am: Sing songs and rhymes. Then Izzie plays with her toys while I catch up on my e-mail and blogs.

9:30am: Snack Time

9:40am - 10:30am: If the weather is nice, we head out for a morning walk. If the weather is foul we start on our daily project. If it is Monday, the first batch of laundry is ready to be folded in the bedroom. (Izzie usually has another snack, or as I like to call it her third breakfast, around this time too.)

10:30am: Play time ramping down to quiet time in the bedroom.

11am - 11:30am: Izzie naps while I get some work done. Sometimes I fall asleep with her:)

Anywhere from 12:15 pm - 2 pm: Izzie wakes, we spend some time waking up upstairs then come downstairs for lunch.

1pm - 2pm: Start or finish our daily project.

2:30pm - 3pm: If the day is nice, we head out for another walk or a bike ride to the park. If the weather is foul we read, play with dolls and clean up the house together. This is usually when the dishes are washed and the floors are vacuumed/swept.

4pm - 4:30pm: Phil gets home, is bombarded with what we did today.

5pm: Supper is served.

6pm - 6:30pm: If it's bath night, Phil takes Izzie for her bath. If not, we may go outside for a walk or hang out together inside.

7pm - 7:30pm: Bedtime.

It would be nice to pretend that we stay on schedule every single day, no matter what, but it doesn't always happen. I always try to stay on schedule as much as possible, but some days it doesn't work or we just want to stay outside for the whole day. I rarely, if ever, waiver with her nap and bedtimes . (Izzie has missed her nap once, and it was a very bad scene.) She needs her sleep. And I need her to sleep as well.

Thank you for visiting and reading. Up next, what resources do we use in our quest for a happier and healthier home.