Is Routine Always best?

I’ve been trying really hard to stick with some kind of routine and/or schedule and some days it seems impossible to stick too.  Most days I stay home but we do have those days where we need to get out of the house either for errands or just to get out.  This can throw a routine completely out the window at times.  Not only do we as parents have things to do, such as errands, housework or just a little bit of me time, our children have their own personal schedule too.  My daughters schedule changes from week-to-week or even day-to-day, everything seems to be mood dependant. 

Some days I can keep her in routine no matter what’s going on through out the day.  I do find though that she does things on her own terms, as do many other babies from what I hear from other parents. 

My usual routine would start when my daughter would wake up in the mornings usually around 8 A.M. I would do my best to keep her up and playing around for a couple of hours and I notice that she tires out by that time.  I try to keep her up for about two (2) hours at a time and I try to get her to nap for about 2 hours as well.  The nap times have a been a struggle, if she refuses to nap for long I try to keep her up an extra 15 to 30 minutes of play time.  Yes, keeping a baby up for that extra time can be and usually is a struggle but I try to tire her out in hopes that she will nap longer. 

So I think great, nap time equals a little bit of mommy-time.  She will fall asleep in her crib but only for 10 to 40 minutes at a time so I try to get her back to sleep for a little longer.  I've been trying to get her to nap for a couple hours at a time because than she’s more happy to play and for a little bit longer.  I’ve tried laying down with her in my bed and its been a success, I think its funny, though, how she’ll nap in my bed for a couple of hours and won’t in her own bed but will sleep throughout the night in her crib.  By the time night time comes she’s ready for bed in between six (6) and 8 P.M. no matter what kind of day she had. 

All-in-all it doesn’t seem to matter how much she naps in the day because she’s ready for bed consistently between six (6) and 8 P.M. like I mentioned earlier.  She also sleeps throughout the night no matter how much nap time she gets in the day.  So I’ve been finding that fighting a routine seems pointless for her most times.  I also don’t know if its just because she’s getting a bit older and setting her own routine or if my routines with her have been falling into place.  I guess I’ll never really know but I like to think that my hard work is paying off as I can get her to nap during the day and she sleeps successfully throughout the night. 
I still question myself if working on a routine is worth my efforts.  When she has a good day full of a couple long naps and great play times I feel like my efforts are worth it.  Of course, like everyone else we all have off days and seems like any efforts I have put in with her have gone out the window or didn’t play a part with patterns.   I guess time will tell how things will pan out, she is only four (4) months old and there’s lots of room for learning and growth for both her and me! I will continue with my efforts to keep her in some kind of routine but I feel like if I decide to just go with the flow and take everything as it comes it won’t hurt anything.  I guess time will tell… maybe a good mix between the two routine and to just go with the flow, as it seems there is some kind of routine falling into place at times

Do you try to keep a routine? If not, do you feel like just going with the flow is better or do you wish you and your little one were in a routine? What’s been your struggles with your routine? What do you do for nap time? do you struggle like I do? Let me know what worked for you and how you did it! I’m still working on moving my daughter into her room for nap time… suggestions are, of course, always welcome!

Story Time

When I was little I loved story time and it didn’t matter what time of day it was.  Reading is something that I have always found to be an important aspect of life in general and, in my humble opinion, its never too early to start.

Unfortunately, to my dismay we packed up all of my children’s books that me and my sister collected when we were younger and gave them away.  This also happened at a time when I was unsure of when children would be entering into my future, so the thought didn’t really cross my mind to keep them.  Now I really wish I had, we had books from Dr. Seuss, Robert Munsch and Mercier Mayor, just to name a few. 

I started reading to my daughter when she was about two (2) months old.  I found a couple of books with some nice big and bright pictures to start and it would keep her attention for a little bit.  Now two (2) months later, she will sit through the reading (well for the most part if she’s not having an off day), gaze at the pictures and try to grab at the book – yes she is trying to put it in her mouth but its all part of the learning experience right!?

My favourite time to read to her is when she’s starting to get a little fussy and wanting a nap or is ready for bed at night.  We’ll sit in the rocking chair and while I rock and read to h she’ll fuss a little bit until she find a comfortable position to sit in!  Once she finds that comfort zone she’ll sit there and start dozing off while “reading” and still trying to grab at the book.  The books that I prefer to put in front of her is those books with the hard covers and similar pages, she’ll grab at them, “turn” the page, and so on… no worries on her ripping the pages. 

Some of our favourites and some that I have found to add back to the collection from my childhood days:

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch has to be one of my all time favourites loved it as a child growing up and now brings me to tears when I read it to my daughter.  Its a touching story on the circle of life from a newborn and new mother to that newborn all grown up with his own newborn to care for.  oving and touching story and one that I hope my daughter will cherish and carry it forward to her children in the future!

 Dr. Seuss has written a lot of fun classics and a lot of them with a lot of meaning.  But most of all the books are full of fun and none sense words from a great make believe world.  Great way to get the kids into their imagination!

Oh, The Thinks You Can Think by Dr. Seuss  This is a great book with a great message! If you can think it up you can do it.  Its like my hubby once told me "Plan your work and work your plan" good strong words to think up whatever you can and if you want to make something happen with a little work it'll happen!

 ABC is a fun and great book to introduce a child to their ABC's its fun and great read for both parents and child!

I found this book not too long ago, its full of all of the stories/poems from the Mother Goose series most I remember but some I don't maybe they came about later after I got out of these poems.  This is just another Classic that seems to be carrying on through to the newer generations.

 

One book from my childhood that wasn't very popular but me and my sister did enjoy it and now my daughter seems to like it (the pictures seems to catch her attention), is Rabbit's New Rug by Judy Delton.  This book is nice because Rabbit gets a new rug but won't let anyone near it in fear of ruinning it, he comes to learn that his friendship is more important than from keeping the rug from getting soiled.  The rug can be cleaned and replaced but friends cannot.  Its a great lesson to children and full of nice colorful pictures for them to follow along.

These are just a few that I wanted to share with you and I will add more as they come up or as I collect some more!  I do hope to continue to add to her collection and I do feel reading is a very important asset to have and is also a nice enjoyable hobby for some “me-time” as I like to call it!  What are some of your favourite reads with your children? Do you try to share your favourite books from your childhood?  Happy reading!

Shopping Around

I am not one who is fond of shopping around, but if I am somewhere that sells baby stuff I will check out the prices.  It has come to pay off.
Price comparing in the beginning seemed pointless at the time and only because I did look around at a couple of places and saw only a few pennies to no more than a dollar difference.  I started thinking, is it really worth driving all that way to save a dollar, or a penny at that!  At first I thought of course its worth it a dollar here and there adds up… but when the price of gas is almost a dollar a litre I would spend more money just driving there to really in the long run save nothing.  Not really worth it in my opinion.
One day I happened to be at one of the stores and took notice of the price of formula… about a $5 difference, and than diapers again about a $5 difference! What happened I don’t know but I wasn’t going to argue.  So this driving out of the way business would now pay off a little more. 
I still check prices if I happen to be at another store because you never know the item could be a sale that week.  I take what I can get when its on sale because a little here and there will add up.  I still won’t go driving half way across the city to price compare but only if I happen to be there already.  Also, I found to regularly double check the prices else where you normally shop because slight adjustments in the prices we tend not to take much notice to. 
Than again sometimes shopping at the places with the higher mark up can be worth it too.  Some stores have a collectors points card so for every dollar you spend you get X number of points for.  Some of these places will let you redeem your points for money off of your purchases by reaching so many points or for gift cards.  These kinds of membership cards, I feel, are another great way to save money, but beware some point card you need to spend a lot to get a little.  One place I did happen to shop at a lot and have racked up a lot of points figured might as well redeem the points and get some free baby stuff.  I didn’t loose anything because I needed whatever it was at the time and the membership is free. 
Just a few things to look out for and keep an eye on.  How thrifty are you? what are some things that you do to save a little? Would love to hear what you do!

How Did Mom Do This?

I look back on the way things were for my mom, and now with a daughter of my own, I wonder how the heck did my mom do this?!
Having one baby is one thing but having multiples (two or more babies at one birth is a completely different thing and give these women a lot of credit for what they do).  For my mom, by the time I was about 18 months my sister was born.  So juggling one newborn and another who is not even two plus errands and housework.  How do mom’s in general do this!?
Well before I had my own I thought it was simple, ok I lied I knew motherhood was tough but really?! when you don’t have children of your own, well at least in my experience, you just don’t understand 100 percent.  Motherhood is definitely the hardest job I have ever had but hands down it is the most amazing, rewarding and fulfilling job I could’ve asked for and would never trade it for the world. 
I keep asking the question: how do they do it? Now with a little of experience behind me I can now say “I just do it”!  It's become a part of my life and go with the general flow of things.  Sure before I could just pick up and go with no organizing or planning needed and yes sometimes (it is VERY rare) I can do it that way.  But lets be realistic now, planning and organization is key… Where were these life skills back in college!
Planning and organization like I mentioned is one of the key ingredients to success with this job, for the most part (please keep in mind that this may just be me but hey I like to share).  Keeping on task, which I yet need to manage to perfect or at least get there.  I start one thing than get distracted by the baby and once all is said and done I forgot what I was doing prior and start something new.  My mom would tell me that she would start cleaning lets say the upstairs bathroom get distracted with one of us kids forget about the bathroom and after would go start something else.  Its not like she wanted multiple jobs started around the house and not finish them its only because not only does prego-brain affect most women during pregnancy but it carries through to motherhood – as I like to call it mommy-brain.  After all is said and done my mom would have buckets all around the house because she would forget about the other job she started.  I at first laughed about this until I caught myself doing something similar…
Well what I am trying to get at is that I have learned that there is no perfect way of doing things and parenthood is not a job that can be perfected.  My mom got through things because she had to and it was a job that had to get done by someone.  Children don’t come with instructions as all parents come to realize at some point or another and, of course, we all wish they did.  This is definitely a job that you can’t learn from a book but by personal experience and with what works best for you and your family. 
Now, I do what I can do when I can do it – my priority is my daughter and I do the best that I can do with how I know how to do it.  If it didn’t work I’ll try and sort out another solution (my mom always told me those problem solving skills from school would come in handy).
Still unsure if I have really answered my own question but within I feel I have.  All I know is is that I am thankful for my family and for doing the best that they could do with how they knew how to do it.  Its nice to have that new bond with my parents now that I am one.