Our New Normal.

We had a planned Spring Break away from school these next two weeks but now that break has been extended due to COVID-19 and all the places I originally planned on going to have closed — it seems being home every day is our new normal. It’s actually very fresh in my mind having just returned to work two weeks ago after 4 months home on maternity leave. That, coupled with being a teacher of basically the same age children as my kids, — has me feeling cautiously optimistic about our unplanned time together at home.

I’ve seen a ton of daily schedules going around social media — which totally work for some people, I’m sure! For us, though, I prefer to follow a similar rhythm each day and to not be totally locked into an hour-by-hour routine. It’s less stressful. If I try to follow something by the hour I’m so fully aware of what time it is (and how far away bedtime is!) all day long that I don’t enjoy the day with my kids. I also don’t need them to be on a complete schedule because my job right now is to be their caregiver. I’m not trying to balance a job outside the home that has suddenly become a work-from-home position (like so many!). Sean is home, working, so he offers what help he can but this also means that we have to be as quiet as possible since we don’t have a proper office for him to work from!

I tried my best to document our day on instastories and if you watched us you’d see the rhythm we follow goes a little something like this:

What does this all mean? Well, we follow a rhythm of three-hour cycles.

Javi wakes up incredibly early — sometimes before 5AM. I refuse to leave my bed until after 6AM. Sometimes he joins us in bed, or plays quietly in his room (he has blocks, stuffed animals and books), or he’ll go downstairs by himself and watch Disney+. We recently set up a little snack/drink station for the kids so he can independently get himself something without waking us. If you don’t have this — DO IT.

Breakfast and getting dressed for the day is self-explanatory though I will say the “getting dressed” part is hard for me to prioritize. I sort of feel like what’s the point (?) if we’re not leaving the house. But, Lola’s learning how to and is obsessed with getting dressed. So, “we” do it — Javi fights it.

We finish out this first cycle, with time in our play/work room. Some people argue that children learn through play and yes, they do. But they also learn from work. Real work, like adults. So, like in their Montessori classrooms, we call all their activities “work”. Sometimes, this means they’re doing jobs like picking up laundry or toys or putting away their clean clothes or it means they’re doing me favors like grabbing me a burp cloth or finding a paci. If Sean is home and doing jobs around the house or building furniture the kids are right there. But mostly it means they’re in whatever space they choose, doing something they choose without me (because by the time we’re at this place in the morning, Eva is napping in my arms).

The next cycle starts with a change in scenery. After a walk around the block, they’ll get a snack and dive back into work time. During this time, I’m able to be more present because Eva’s also awake and enjoys watching the older kids so she’ll let me put her down. By 11:30, I start prepping lunch and this cycle is finished by starting lunchtime.

Lola finishes lunch quickly and happily puts herself to bed for her nap by 12:30. Javi is an incredibly slow eater and sometimes is still eating at 1. While the girls sleep, he has quiet time. Sometimes he’ll choose to play a game, or do a craft (paper airplanes seem to be his favorite) but usually he chooses to watch t.v. or join me in whatever I’m doing.

Everyone is up by 3-3:30 and after a snack, we read as many books as they’ll sit through — typically four. They go back into a work time and when they start doing laps around the house — I know it’s time to go outside to play.

The last part of our day includes a quick clean-up, dinner, and bath time. We don’t give baths to everyone at the same time so whoever isn’t in the tub, usually gets to pick a t.v. show to watch and they’re both in bed at 7PM. Eva still sleeps in our arms until we go to bed around 10 and she goes to bed, too.

So, there you have it! That’s what our family rhythm looks like when we’re home all day!