The Schedule That Saved Me During 10 Weeks Of Solo Parenting

Between 5:00am and 8:00am, we woke up.

I made coffee and did a devotional. This little bit of quiet time kept me going throughout the entire day with a little extra peace, patience, and energy. As I read the Bible the boys watched a chill cartoon (typically Little Bear, Franklin, or some iteration of Winnie the Pooh). I'm normally pretty minimal about screen time and under normal circumstances, I don't like screens while we eat unless we're eating pizza. Pizza has special rules. But so do long summers. As they watched whichever classic cartoon I selected for the morning, they ate some version of a simple protein and carb breakfast. 

Between 8:00am and 10:00am, we started to move.

We went on a one to two hour long walk down our gravel road. This ended up being one of the highlights of the summer for all three of us, I think. We loved being outside and the movement helped my anxiety so much. I swear that the sun helped tire them out for naps, too. When we returned from our walks, I let them watch a few more minutes of cartoons while I cooled down and we all drank water.

Between 10:00am and 12:00pm, we got down to business.

This was our golden time of productivity. I did whichever household chore was the most pressing, my toddler did arts and crafts, and my baby explored all the baby proofed areas in our little house.

Between 12:00pm and 1:00pm, we chilled. 

We'd eat lunch, have a little dance party, and read some books to wind down for nap time. Our favorites over the summer were Little Golden Books. We have a collection of about 30, and my sons love them all. 

Between 1:00pm and 3pm, we napped. 

I'm going to be totally honest with you. Our sleep was a wreck the first half of the summer, so I ended up joining in on the naptime bliss more often than not. When I didn't feel like napping, I'd work on some freelance stuff or read a book. I learned after the first week or two that the rest of the day was so much more manageable when I gave myself some kind of break in the middle of it, so I tried not to be too terribly productive while they slept. 

Between 3pm and 5pm, we did whatever what we had to do.

This is such an awkward part of the day for us. My toddler typically woke up from his naps in a less than chipper mood. I was overstimulated and generally felt a little fried. My baby madethe most of his time alone with the toddler's toys as I tried to coax my still-sleepy toddler to smile (typically with snacks). After everyone got their life together, we ran errands, read more books, did more crafts, Facetimed family members, watched the occasional movie, and played. 

Then we had dinner between 5pm and 6pm and took extra long baths until about 7pm. And then the day was over and I went to sleep ridiculously early so that I'd have enough energy to do it all over again the next day.