Managing Your Environment with a Daily Schedule for Your Kids

In order to maintain peace in your home and keep things running smoothly, when it comes to having kids, you must manage your environment. What does managing an environment mean? What does that entail? Well, 9 times out of 10 says that you already do this in your home. Things like keeping hazardous materials out of the reach of the kids, or safety locking this and safety lacking that, to prevent them little ones from getting into everything. However, how well do you manage the environment?

In order to effectively manage the environment, you must first figure out what are potential dangers or triggers. Obviously things like the electrical sockets and rubber grip-floor mats for the bathtub are no-brainers, but think about it. Often than not, kids are amused by the most simplest of things, so leaving anything out of order will be potential for horse play. For example, if you have the couch looking like a mess, with the cushions all out of place and stuff, then the kids will react with a sudden desire for a pillow fight. Next thing you know, you are shouting across the room for them to "cut it out", just as something made of glass makes that dreadful sound. With that being said, you must establish some order. "Disorder breeds chaos!" A good way to establish order is to set up a routine. Have a good schedule for your kids, filled with productive things to do. It may be a good idea to draw out two itinerary charts. One for the school year and one for the summer. This will provide easy reference for you while allowing for adjustments if needed. Don't be afraid to be tedious in your scheduling. A good and interactively full day will prove beneficial for both you and your child(ren). Take the example below on a typical school day:

6:00am-6:30am - wake up/breakfast
6:30am-7:00am - chores
7:00am-7:30pm - bathe for school
7:30pm-8:00pm - head to school
8:00pm-3:30pm - in school
3:30-pm-3:45pm - home form school/downtime/snack
3:45pm-4:45pm - recreation time(physical activities)
4:45pm-5:45pm - homework
5:45pm-6:45 - dinner
6:45pm-7:15pm/7:30 - (for multiple children)-bath time
7:15/7:30pm-8:00pm - Downtime-finishing up h.w., reading, some other productive task.
8:00pm - bedtime

If your kids have to be to school by 8:00 or 8:30, then 6:00 should be an ideal time to get them up with enough time to get through the morning routine. Preparing things for them makes for a smooth transition, so if you could be up and ready to go by the time you wake them, then that is wonderful. But like most parents, that's just not going to happen day in and day out, so at least getting up 15 minutes prior would be very helpful. Think "before-hand". Giving yourself a head start is always helpful, so conveniently placing all items needed for chores in a central location for your child or children to retrieve them is great. Remind them about putting things back where they found it to save you time from searching for missing things and give you more time to monitor their activities. Before I continue with the schedule, I must stress the fact that monitoring is an extremely important part of managing the environment. If you periodically check in on your child, at spontaneous times and not every 5 or 10 minutes, then this will keep them guessing, making them more hesitant at trying to get into something mischievous due to excess time. Give a child a little idle time, and they can make a huge mess of things. Remember "disorder breeds chaos", and your presence reinforces that order. So, never too much time alone.

Resuming with chores, remember not to move on to the next task until all cleaning materials are returned to the central location, especially if dealing with chemicals. This is another thing to watch out for. As we introduce more responsibility to our children as they grow, it will come a time where they have to work with potentially dangerous things like chemical house-hold cleaners. Of course this step will not exist if your child is not old enough or if you cannot hurdle-help them through completely(if they are too young). Regardless of age, close and careful monitoring is essential when dealing with chemicals, when the kids are involved. Even an expected responsible 17 year old is capable of pulling a senseless prank involving say, a spray bottle of pine cleaner, on a younger sibling. This is why I again must stress that Monitoring is Crucial.

Getting them ready for school thereafter should be a cinch. It may be a bit frustrating to determine if house-hold duties should be conducted before or after bathing, for the risk of re-cleaning comes into effect. I'd recommend that bathing is last. Conducting chores will do nothing but get the dirt on the kids, and if dealing with cleaning agents, thorough cleansing is required. If a new mess arises after bathing for school, like toothpaste on the sink, then that problem should be able to be handled immediately and without too much incident.

Whether you are a stay at home parent or a 9 to 5'er, during the time your child is in school is precious. Whether you need alone time, time to facilitate later activities or whatever, utilize this time wisely.

Don't immediately bombard your kids with tasks and demands when they return from school. Often our kids are immediately too tired to hit the books when they get home. Just like you they had a very exhausting day, and the last thing they want to do when they get home is think about the place they despised of all day. Even though their day is not as nearly as complicated as you the parent, it is still relative to the fact that the both of you spent the day somewhere that seemed like the clock would automatically go into slow motion when you arrived. A day seeming like agonizing torture. Therefore, while the responsibility is not the same, the mental and emotional stresses are equal. Besides this, it is always a good idea to leave something then return with a fresh train of thought, like getting a good nights sleep before a test or fixing a sandwich and taking a walk when you have writer's block. So homework would be more of a struggle than anything, if you try to force it upon them immediately following school. Instead of homework, immediately after school, engage them in some stimulating conversation over their favorite snack. Fruit would be preferable, yet a sugary treat will do as well, and will most likely be requested.

After their brief downtime, it would be a good idea to start some recreation activities. It would also be an excellent time for them to burn off those calories and the energy from the sugar rush they are guaranteed to have. Anything as simple as a game of kick ball to something a little more modern like the interactive tennis game for the Wii will do for activity. You can also get creative, but try your best to get involved. Normally, I would not recommend video games at all during a school day, period. However, with the right application, it can be quite resourceful. In case you do implement the video games into your rec. time, spend no longer than a third of the total time of rec., on the video games. Outside activities is traditional and helpful in more dynamic ways than being indoors, such as breathing fresh air, getting a better calisthenic and cardio workout, and interacting with others, provided there's other kids outside playing as well. Even a rec. center that still may be indoors, but offers more interaction with various other personalities, is a more ideal choice than the video games. These indoor facilities are also great for non-weather permitting play outside.

When your kids return in from play, they will still be extremely charged from their recreational activities. This typically lasts for an hour or two. It also proves to be a great time to bring them down with the mental stimulation of homework. Take this time to inquire on any mandatory parental forms, memos, newsletters, etc. Search if you have to. These 'unimportant' things will often be forgotten by your kids. They may also be hungry again for another snack just before dinner. Nothing filling! Even some fruits can ruin an appetite, if you were thinking that that fruit cocktail would be o.k. until dinner. This could easily fill them up enough to not want to eat a full meal, especially if it's close in time. Instead, half of a banana, or half a cup of water will do. This will hold them over with a light craving for food still lingering, therefore making them more willing to eat their dinner. By the end of their homework session, they should be so mentally fatigued that it will make up for anything that they ate just prior, thus fully preparing them for dinner. Utilize this time at dinner for subsequent bonding. Over the dinner table conversations prove some of the best and productive conversations to take place. However, you run into the problem of implementing proper dinner table etiquette.

By this time, your day is pretty much done, and look at how swiftly it has gone by-with little to no incident. Bath time should not be much of a struggle, but for those kids that do think that water and dirt are opposite in meaning, then a little positive re-enforcement may be in order. Challenge your child to completing their hygienic tasks within a certain time frame in exchange for some reward, whether it be verbal affirmations, a non-school night luxury, or a snack. Given ultimatums will also act as a motivational booster. However, Beware of Ultimatums. If you imply it, you must follow through. Never make idle threats to your kids. This would be like shooting yourself in the foot.They take mental notes of this all the time. Use feasible ultimatums and follow through. Don't forget to remind them that you are giving them plenty of time to safely and efficiently get their hygienic duties done if they are willing to participate, to ensure that they don't "bird-bath" it, or even worse, rush through and have an accident. If you do chose to give them a snack, something like a sugar free ice-pop or a salad, with little to no dressing will do. While this may seem harsh to some, it would be even more detrimental to pump them with sugar, which everything down to the fruit you were thinking of, has in it. Definitely do not allow juice nor milk. Water only, preferably from 3pm and on. Don't feel like you are neglecting your child at all. If anything, you are bettering their health and eating habits. Think about it, they have breakfast at home before school. If arriving early enough breakfast again, just before classes start. Then they eat lunch at school-complimented with a snack. Another snack once home, dinner, dessert and two hold over snacks, one between homework & dinner, and the other just before bedtime. As you can see, there are plenty of eating slots for them to get their daily nutritional intake, according to the My Pyramid-Food Intake Patterns chart courtesy of the USDA 2005 www.mypyramid.gov/downloads/MyPyramid_Food_Intake_Patterns.pdf

Downtime before bed can be spent doing something productive. There are a number of quality things that you can engage your child(ren) in during this time. Perhaps there is some homework to finish up or catch up on. Or maybe this is a good time to work on a major class project. Some studying is never a bad thing as well. Even some more independent living skills can be implemented, like preparing clothes for for next day with picking out clothes, ironing, etc. You the parent can also recap on the parental forms that you filled out to see if anything was left out. After a full days work, you and your kids should be ready to hit the sack.

US Department Of Agriculture-Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, "My Pyramid-Food Intake Patterns" mypyramid.gov