Organizing the Schedule

After organizing the chores, I realized that though I loaned out my MOTH book, I still had materials with which to make a new schedule (I'm SO SMART to have made extras and filed them last time! And SO SMART to have finally remembered that and actually found them!)! So I sat down with the worksheets and began listing the things everyone must do in a day's time, and how long those things might take. It occurred to me that it might be a silly exercise, considering that on or around August 8, a huge (ok, probably 9 lb or so) monkey wrench will be thrown into the mix, but interestingly enough, the last time I was so bent on organizing a schedule was when I was about this pregnant with Organique. Is it nesting? Do I just work better under pressure of a deadline? Am I just hormonally desperate for *some* sense of structure and control of my world?

Sorry. That's not the point here, is it? As I was saying, I did the worksheets, then picked out four nice colors of papers to label and cut out all those little squares. There wasn't much sense picking a fifth color for the monkey wrench, since I still don't know whether to use the extra-dark pink or the bright blue - but either way most of the squares would say "nap" or "eat" anyway. I didn't have the 'right' paper to work the schedule on, but I made do with the back of an old printed, final schedule, and finally adjusted and readjusted everything until it looked suitable.

I included our intended "school schedule" so it's hard to say whether or not it will actually *be* suitable in real life or not. That and getting the kids up at 8:00 is just not working well when the sky doesn't darken until 10 pm and they're NOT geared to sleeping otherwise. Yes we have blinds. And a blanket over them. But it's HOT, and the windows need to be open, etc etc etc. I'm glad we're on the waning side of daylight hours.

The schedule includes meal and chore times (the chores, of course, are laid out clearly in their chore packs), and a few blank spaces. Blank spaces for Organique. And when I see them, I think, What in the world am I thinking? What will I do with her when I need to teach Little Artist to read? And Big Sister is doing her math? And she already did a highchair activity, and had a snack, and...? And oh my gosh, I'm going to have a newborn, a 2-year-old, a 5-year old who needs to learn to read, and an 8-year-old 2nd grader and I'm homeschooling?!??!? *cue mad run waddle around the house while pulling out hair and wailing*

So yeah, I need talked down occasionally. Frequently.

But the schedule will help.

Right?