Being a stay-at-home mom with a long, wide open day can be a mess for me. I’m not exactly a routine kind of person and every day looks different. That’s fine some of the time, but I think my kids and I would benefit from a little structure. My part-time graphic design work and my kids’ endless needs and requests blur together, leaving me feel like I’m not doing either well.
My goal this week was to write out a schedule, print it, and post it inside our most-used kitchen cabinet, where I’ll see it. I’m more willing to participate with my more boring ideas when they look pretty, so designed a floral motif schedule.
Click image to download high resolution file.
My part-time working SAHM schedule with a 2 and 3 year old:
6: Kids wake up. Breakfast.
8: Playtime and a tv show. I get dressed.
9: Kids listen to music and play. (I just discovered this fun kids worship album that has some songs I even like! You can also find it on Spotifiy and listen for free.) I work on the computer next to the play area.
10: We go outside or kids play a game with me.
11: I do my daily chore and they “help.” We eat lunch.
12: We read books and do kids devotional. (We really like this one for preschoolers.) Kids take a nap. I have quiet time with God and shoot for 20 min of exercise.
1: I catch up on computer work or home project.
2: Kids wake up and have a snack. We run errands/go to a park/have a play date.
4: Kids do an activity: color, play-doh, puzzle, stickers, blocks … I attempt to squeeze some work in.
5: Kids help pick up toys, then watch a show. I pick up kitchen and start making dinner.
6: Dinner. Play outside for a bit.
7: Get kids cleaned up and in pjs. We read some books and put them to bed.
8: I finish any work or wrap up my home projects.
I’m including everything in the schedule that I’d like to happen during the day. I’m a realist, though, and know every day won’t mirror a schedule exactly. After all, I have a two and three year old! But at least I’ll have a good starting point.
Here is a blank version so you can make your own schedule:
Click image to download high resolution file.
What is your current schedule? Have any stellar ideas I should include in my own?
Also, check out my new weekly cleaning schedule. Looks like I might get my act together after all!
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I love this schedule! I feel the same way about feeling like I am not doing any of my jobs well because of no schedule and I am NOT a scheduled person so this is hard for me! Thanks for posting!
It IS hard to balance everything! Especially for those of us non-routine people who to tend to march to our own beat :)
And this little gem of a blog post I found on pinterest is SUCH a blessing. Thank you for taking the time to put this together. It’s beautiful I cannot wait to print it out! I couldn’t need this anymore than I do now with my business getting busier and feeling like I am a terrible parent because my four year old is out of control. We could greatly benefit from structure! Maybe it’s a creative mind that has trouble with schedules? ;)
Thank you for creating such a compelling schedule. I’ve clicked the download to find the beautiful .jpg, however what I’m looking for is how to create the item for myself where I can type in my items and times more specific to my needs. Can you share more about how you created this?
Deanna, I don’t think this will help a whole lot because I created the document in professional program called InDesign. I included the blank jpg in hopes that you could print it out and write your schedule in. Or I guess you could try importing it into Word or another program and possibly type over it??