I thought I would do a couple of posts on things we are doing around the home to get ready and organized to head back to school! Sounds like a good time right?
This year I have three boys going to school. Sigh. For the first time ever, all three little P's will be heading off on the school bus each and every day. And three separate school buses to boot. I am already empty nesting...
And although school is roughly three weeks away from starting, we actually use this last couple of weeks to get in the routine and schedule that school brings!
This summer, the kids have been busy busy busy, and our schedule has been chaotic to say the least. Sleepovers on weeknights? Yep. Last minute family movie nights? Absolutely. Popping through the front door at 9:30 from a late dinner or night at the ball fields? You betcha! We have had zero bedtime schedule or routine for the last, oh, two months now....
It's all well and good when mom is home and can let the kiddos sleep in. But it won't be OK when that bus rolls up at exactly 7:43 a.m. a couple of weeks from now. And I know from previous experience, switching up bedtime routines and sleep schedules doesn't happen over night!
So last night, we started our new routine!
First, I will mention that my goal is to have the younger two boys sleeping between 7:30 and 8:00, and our older son between 8:00 and 8:30. Getting there is going to be a two week phase, since right now they are heading to bed around 10ish.
This week we are working to achieve a schedule about an hour earlier than what they are used too, next week, we will go for another hour earlier. Trying to go two hours in one shot is a LONG shot for us.
Our nightly schedule this week:
8:00: Get in pajamas, brush teeth, go potty, get a drink of water
8:15: Family story time. Sometimes this consists of all of us curling up in separate spaces to read quietly, sometimes this means we read a book out-loud, together. Sometimes the boys read to one another.
8:46: Put Parker back into bed
8:47: Put Parker back into bed
8:48: Put Parker back into bed
8:49: Put Parker back into bed
8:50: Put Parker back into bed...
I wish I were kidding about Parker...
To help us out, I created this quick chart to pop on the front of the fridge for the next couple of weeks, just so the kids are ready for their new nightly routine {you can click the link below to download your very own free copy if you would like}:
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| {click here to download your FREE copy} |
And that's it. And the goal, although it won't be incredibly easy, is to try and maintain the same schedule through the upcoming weekends. This gives the kids 19 days of consistency to get ready for back to school.
Anyone else have a little one that gets out of bed 29 times before finally falling asleep {how do you fix that, I have tried EVERYTHING}? Any other helpful ideas for transitioning into new sleep schedules? Favorite bedtime stories or tips and tricks?
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