Off to a Great Start

Things have been running smoothly here so far this year!  (I think in terms of school years  - my husband is a teacher.)  A couple of my goals for this year are to be more organized and create a more peaceful home setting.  So I created a daily routine for us to follow, set some clear house rules for the kids, and set up a housework routine for myself.  It sounds complicated, but it's actually really simplified things.    

We've got a nice little routine going:

• My children are my alarm clock.  It goes off anytime between 5:30 and 7:30 AM.  j is the early riser. 
• Morning routine for the kids:  go potty; eat breakfast; wash hands, face & brush teeth; get dressed; and hair combed.  They have a picture chart in their room next to the bedtime routine chart so they know exactly what happens every morning.
• I get ready after the kids are both completely ready.  Then I get a snack together and we usually go out to the park, to play with some friends, running errands, whatever - we just like to get out of the house. 
• I try to have a healthy lunch on the table by noon.  A real lunch, a meal.  Ever since I became pregnant with j, we have not had real breakfast and lunch meals.  It's all been just little snacks here and there throughout the day.  Of course, there's nothing really wrong with that, but I like the structure that set meal times add to our day.  
• I start putting j down for his nap at 12:30PM.  I lie down with him on his bed until he falls asleep.  No more nursing to sleep!  If he keeps getting up or starts kicking/hitting me, I'm out of there for a few minutes.  This happens once or twice almost every day.  Today, after only a few minutes, he fell asleep on his own the first time I left the room.  For the first time ever!!  I'm hoping it's the beginning of a new trend, but who knows?  
• Once j is down, M takes her "rest" on the family room couch.  This just means she has to lie there for 20 minutes without moving around too much or talking.  It's a new thing I've just started in the last couple of months.  She hasn't taken real naps since she was less than two years old, but I think she needs some rest time each day to calm down and center herself.  Also it gives me a little break to read or use the computer.  So far, it's been going well. 
• After M's rest, we have our "school time."  M loves this time!  This summer I bought a few workbooks, reading books, a pretend clock, etc.  I also got What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know.  M isn't officially a kindergartner until next year, but she's definitely at the kindergarten level in most things.  Anyway, we "do school" for about 20 minutes.  
• I let j nap for an hour to an hour and a half, and then I gently wake him.  If I don't he'll stay up way too late.  After j's nap, I set the timer for 30 minutes and give the kids my full attention while we play in the playroom.  I set the timer so that I'm not looking at the clock thinking about what I should be cleaning.  I really cherish this time with my kids.
• Then I move on to housework.  I have a few chores I do everyday and a few that I do one day a week on the same day every week.  This enables me to keep the house reasonably clean almost all the time.  Sometimes my children like to "help" me.
• After I get the housework finished, we have a snack and play outside for a bit.  
• At around five I start cooking dinner.  We eat at six.
• Bedtime routine:  pajamas, snack & story, brush teeth, potty, and then lights out.  We (try to) start the routine at 7:15 for j and 7:45 for M.  The goal is for j to be asleep by 8 and M by 8:30PM.  It just rarely happens that way.  ;-)

Our house rules are posted on the fridge:

1. Respect each other.
2. Tell the truth.
3. Listen to Mama and Daddy.
4. Use good manners.
5. Clean up your own messes.

We talk about our rules often.  Having them written out like this makes it easy for the kids to understand what is expected of them.  And, of course, J and I make sure to follow the rules ourselves (except #3 ;-) ).