This post is the third in a series from a talk I gave about my routine ideas to our monthly GEMS® meeting along with a panel of Moms from different life situations.

Here are some ideas on how I developed my routine and how my basic morning goes. My hope is for these thoughts to be used as a springboard to ignite creative thoughts about your family’s routine development.
Practically speaking, I develop and change my routine based on the goals we have for our family. With a two year old our primary goal is training self-control in times of non-conflict and practicing the skills she has already accomplished.

In my routine, I guard the first 2 hours of each day to do training, because we are both well-rested. I don’t make appointments, answer phone calls, or do chores. So don’t take it personally when I don’t pick up, I’ll call you back between 2-4pm.

First we make breakfast together and try most days to eat as a family as my husband’s schedule allows. Then, we do a short devotion and pray over our day asking God for wisdom and direction. Daddy leaves for work and we give “Big Love” and wave bye,bye.

I leave the breakfast dishes alone and we go straight to Mommy directed playtime for 30-45 min, I choose the activities and we play! I do this first to give Isabelle some focused time. I have found that by filling up her emotional love tank first thing in the day there is alot less whining and hanging on the leg throughout the day.

I use this playtime to do alot of non-conflict training. Currently Isabelle struggles with sharing and so I have her share with me and role play some. She’s also a talker and whining has become more frequent, so we repeat asking “sweetly” with please and thank you.

Next is Sit time, when Isabelle sits still and quiet for a small amount of time, so she can learn physical and verbal self-control. Then off to room time for individual creative play for 45 minutes (we worked up to this amount of time!). Isabelle loves room time especially after the intensive time of training we just completed.

Mommy also loves room time, its a strategic break for us to recharge. I make a cup o Joe and have my devotion and prayer time. I’ll be honest, I am NOT a morning person. I feel like I am moving through sludge for the first 30 minutes of my day, so knowing this about myself I wait until the first feelin’ good personal time I have of the day and give that to God. After that, I also have time to do the breakfast dishes, throw in a load of laundry, and straighten up.

The next 2 or so hours of the morning we use differently every day, further training, housework, play dates, physical activity, or just plain fun! Stay tuned to hear how my temperament plays into application of my routine. God bless your parenting!