How We Organize Our Days

I’ve officially been a stay at home mom now for five years.  So much has changed during those years.  It started out just Magoo and myself.  I remember those early days, me sitting in this chair, feeding her, listening to George Strait and Alan Jackson on CMT, wondering at every single moment if I was getting it right.  Now I sit in this same chair, feeding Mae, two other children running around, giggling, dancing to the music.  Still I wonder if I am getting it right.

In these years, I have learned how to be okay with the silence.  I’ve learned to be okay with not having another adult for conversation throughout most of the day.  And I have learned that the blessings and the moments that come with this vocation are second to none.

One thing I haven’t learned how to do is be okay with unstructured time.  Lots and lot (and lots!) of unstructured time.

It has never been in my nature to be home.  I go a bit stir crazy.  My thoughts run rampant in a million directions and usually end up in less than ideal places.  It changes me.  It makes me less happy.  Less content.  Less productive.  Less like myself.

I’ve spent five years fighting this, trying to learn how to be okay staying in my home all day every day without any formal structure.  And then it hit me — why am I fighting it?  Why am I trying to be someone I am not?  Why am I trying to fit myself into a mould that just does not fit?

And so I’ve decided to try to change things — I’m going to try to structure my days better and I am going to try to make sure to get out of the house for at least a little bit every single day.

I do believe that children need a ton of unstructured time.  It’s why I’ve never allowed Magoo to be part of more than one sport or activity at a time.  I don’t want them being the ten year olds with dead eyes and no imagination because they were never given a chance to be young and free.

But I also want them to see that mom is a person.  And I want them to see a happy mom.  A mom who admits she has needs.

And so I’ve developed a sort of hybrid structure system — lots of free time but still some structure.  I’ve decided (with some guidance – the idea really wasn’t my own) to give each day a theme and then come up with one or two activities or adventures based on that theme.  This will take us through our mornings.  And then afternoons are free for us to do as we please.

There might need to be changes, but so far, I have decided on Art Mondays, Library Tuesdays, Water Wednesdays, Field Trip Thursdays, and Play Group Fridays.  My hope is for us to do a new art project, visit a new library, and visit a new park each week.  The added benefit of this is that it gives me the opportunity to finally put some of those awesome Pinterest finds to good use.

Like I said, I’m simply not good with a lack of structure.  Nothing gets done.  My hope is that this helps matters.  Plus, it should give the girls a whole summer of fun adventures and activities.

I’m not sure whether or not this will work.  A large part of me is consumed with guilt for even needing structure like this and for needing to get out of the house and into the world.  But I guess one of the lessons to be learned from being a mom is learning how to judge for yourself what is best, and this is my attempt at that.

I’ll let you know in a couple of weeks how it is going.

How do you structure your days if you stay home with your little ones?  Do you have any set plans or do you just wing it?  Is this something you struggle with?

 

I could spend a lifetime photographing her eyes and never get bored.

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