Play Dates | Marriage Confessions Play Dates | Laugh. Fight. Stay Married.

Recently I was asked about my daily schedule with two kids this summer. I have gotten several emails asking that same question, so I thought I’d do a post about it. Life with two young kids has been fun and exciting, but I’ve learned how quickly things can get out of hand when you have two. A pleasant morning or afternoon and quickly turn into a nightmare if you’re unprepared and so this summer has been a trial and error process of finding just the right balance of organized chaos.

5:00-7:00am – Gracie wakes up sometime in this time frame and gets a bottle.

7:00 – Bean wakes up, has breakfast, watches Sesame Street

8:00 – Gracie, Bean, and I all get dressed for the day (if we have plans or errands to run, which we usually do)

9:00 – I load the kids up in the car and we head out to whatever errands or activities we have to do that morning. I have found that it’s easier to get up and out in the mornings with two small ones because we still have nap time in the afternoons. Plus, it’s so hot after about 11:00am that it’s better to stay inside and be cool after that. Gracie usually naps off and on during these trips and Bean’s in a great mood in the mornings, so these trips are usually a lot of fun.

Our favorite morning adventures and errands: The library, the splash park, the post office, the bank, and grocery shopping

10:30 – Gracie gets a bottle. If we’re out somewhere, I just feed her in the car. Bean also gets hungry around this time, so I make sure if we’re on the go that I have a snack for him. His favorite go-to snack at the moment are dry roasted peanuts and string cheese.

10:30 is also the time I try to schedule play dates to start if we have one. That gives us about two hours or so of playtime with friends before lunches and naps. Gracie can’t really hang in there much longer than that, so the 10:30 start time works out really nicely because of the kids ages right now.

12:30 – Lunchtime for me and Bean

1:00 – Gracie goes down for her afternoon nap. This one is long (about 2 hours) and in her crib.

1:30 – Bean goes down for his nap. The nap time rule in our house is that he doesn’t have to go to sleep, but he has to stay in his bed. I let him bring a few toys and books with him when he lays down and usually he plays quietly for about 20 minutes before falling asleep. He very rarely skips naps right now (thank goodness!).

3:00 – Gracie usually wakes up and has a bottle.

3:30 – If Bean hasn’t already woken up himself, I wake him up. If he sleeps later than 3:30, he’s a bear! Bean gets a snack while Gracie and I play around. Then, we all play for a while.

Favorite activities right now: Building racetracks with the big blocks for matchbox cars, working puzzles, reading/playing with Bean’s LeapFrog books and reader

5:00 – I start to get dinner ready

6:00 – Chris gets home and we all eat dinner

7:00 – Bath time for Bean and Gracie. We do them together in their bathroom with Bean in the bathtub and Gracie in her infant bathtub on the counter.

7:30 – Chris reads books and puts Bean to bed while I give Gracie her bottle and put her to bed.

8:00 – Bedtime for both kids

Of course, this is the ideal schedule on perfect days when everything works out. We’re pretty flexible, but for the most part, this is the skeleton on the schedule we try to keep. Everyone is happier when we all know what’s coming next. Bean is even starting to know what’s happening next and he’ll say things when we’re out like, “Go home, take a nap?” or when it starts to get darker outside, “Bath and night night?”

Our schedules will shift a bit when I go back to work in a couple weeks, but for now, this is what most of our days look like. Well, this and about 10,000 trips to the potty…

13 comments | posted in About Beanie, About Gracie, Out and About, parenting, Parenting Ideas, Play Dates, Playing, The Romper Room, Toddlerhood | tags: daily routines, family schedules, multiple children

Last week, Bean had a play date with a friend of ours from church. We sat out on our back porch and let the kids play until they were hot and sweaty and good and tired.

As we watched them play, I couldn’t help but notice the difference between how Bean played and how his little friend played. There were several differences, but the biggest I noticed was that she was so much gentler than Bean! I have heard that the difference between how boys and girls play is really prominent at this age, but I thought that was sort of silly. They’re all kids. How different could it be? How could gender influence much at this age anyway? But, apparently, I was wrong.

Next to his sweet, polite, quiet friend, Bean seemed like a tank. He was throwing things, pouring water on her, and pushing her in the little wagon they were riding in really hard. But it wasn’t like he was being aggressive. He was just a lot rougher.

But that is all the more reason why I’m glad we had a play date with his friend. It is good for Bean to see other children playing gently. It’s good practice for him. We say all the time at home, “Be gentle, Bean.” He hears it especially when he’s playing with Gracie. But it’s a different kind of learning when he can see other children actively doing something than just hearing us correct that behavior. That’s also why I’m glad I’ve got a son and a daughter now. Hopefully, these little traits in each gender will rub off on each other and bring out new and great qualities.

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12 comments | posted in About Beanie, Boys, Play Dates, The Romper Room, Toddlerhood | tags: gender, playdates, toddlers

This past weekend we went to a Gymboree birthday party for our tiny, little friend who turned one.

The birthday girl wore tights and a tutu. Could my hormones surge a LITTLE more? I think not.

We had never been to Gymboree before and so I was pretty excited. I made Chris come along with us, but he was slightly less excited about his first Gymboree experience. Party pooper.

It was fun though. There was a nice woman there who led the activities by singing loud, slightly obnoxious songs…

There were group activities and events, like riding this bouncing, imaginary school bus…

There were things to climb on…

There were lots of other kids to play with…

And yet, Bean had this expression on his face pretty much the whole time…

He would look up at Chris and me as if to say, “Can’t we just go home and watch football?”

For whatever reason, Bean was just not feeling the friendly that day. If the group of kids went this way, he went that way.

Which meant that I spent most of my afternoon chasing him down and trying to bring him back over to circle time.

But Bean seemed pretty content to just hang by himself. More balls for him if all the other kids were singing in a circle somewhere, I guess.

At first, I was really concerned. Why didn’t he want to play with the other kids? Was I not socializing him enough? Were we raising a snob? Had we done something wrong?

But then I’d see how happy he was just hanging by himself. Just taking everything in and figuring things out on his own and I’d relax a little.

I think that’s the thing I love most about Bean’s age right now. Yes, we are raising him. Yes, he has to live within our boundaries. Yes, he has to follow our rules. But despite all of that, Bean is such an individual right now. More than he’s ever been before. So, if he doesn’t feel like hanging with the group that day for whatever reason, well that’s a decision I’m going to let him make. It doesn’t mean I’ve done something wrong or that I’ve raised a rude, unsocial child. It doesn’t actually have anything to do with me. It’s just how Bean’s feeling that day.

Aren’t kids awesome? I remember when Bean was born and I was so excited to finally meet him. I kept saying to Chris during that first week at home with him, “I love having someone else in our family!” But now that that little person is an actual individual who thinks and decides and reasons all on his own, it takes that excitement of having another family member to a whole new level. In a nutshell, it’s just fun and exciting every day to be Bean’s parents.

19 comments | posted in About Beanie, Family, Fun with Dad, Fun with Mom, Growing Bean, Out and About, parenting, Play Dates, Playing, The Romper Room, Toddlerhood, What I've Learned | tags: Gymboree, Play Dates, play groups, toddler development, toddlers

This morning I am taking Bean to a different splash pad than the one we normally go to.Â This one is supposed to be bigger and even better than the one close to our house.

I’ve discovered that water is the key to playing outside in Orlando.Â When it is so stinkin’ hot outside, it is simply no fun at all to play.Â Both Bean and I are drenched in sweat by the time I get him out of his car seat.Â We just can’t hang in this heat for very long.

Unless there is water.

Oh, how Bean loves the water.Â I always think he’s going to be scared or nervous or something, but he just heads into the spray like he’s a duck.

Which is why every morning when he wakes up, I check his feet to see if he’s grown webbed feet over night.Â He hasn’t.Â Yet.

To keep things interesting, we play with a lot of different types of water.Â We go to the pool or we play in Bean’s little backyard pool.Â We play with the water table he got for his birthday.Â But, without question, the splash pad is Bean’s absolute favorite.