The Oxymoron of Scheduling Time with Young Children and 10 Reasons to Still Use a Schedule

"Babies (and children) are always more trouble than you thought, and more wonderful" Charles Osgood

Can I be honest about something? It sometimes feels like scheduling with kids is a bit of an oxymoron, because kids aren't mini-adults, they're kids. And sometimes they don't feel like arttime, and they are perfectly happy playing together instead of moving onto the next thing, and they nap an extra long/short time and/or need to visit the doctor.
I'm learning that what I'm creating is more of a flexi-plan, complete with alternative ideas and room for interruptions. As crazy as it sounds, just being aware of how we use our time sometimes helps us to find better ways to spend it, and despite the unpredictability I still find the schedule to be valuable because:


1. I'm more purposeful about the way we use our time, which brings satisfaction, fulfillment and a sense of accomplishment similar to when I was working full-time. I'm aware of what we are doing, instead of what we aren't doing, so I don't feel like we "did nothing" all day.
2. It creates a battery of activities as alternatives for each other to switch and swap as needed. So if bakingtime doesn't work out one day, I find if it was on the list usually a moment will be right for it at some point during the week.
3. It shows me what blocks of time are "free" for play which will be dictated, in part, by how our day is going. The research I'm doing continues to underline how crucial playtime is for my kids, and important it is to protect it.
4. The odd times when practically nothing goes wrong and we can enjoy most of the things on the schedule, I love that we were prepared to take advantage of the fine winds and turn a good day into a great day.
5. On the days when nothing goes right, I know that there are ups and downs and tomorrow will, very likely, be a better day.
6. It makes my day go smoother in general because I know roughly what it's shape will be even if it's impossible to nail down the details.
7. It helps me get out the door and anticipate how best to do my errands by grouping them together.
8. It helps me balance out our activities so we don't do the same thing all the time. I continue to be amazed by how much there is to do at home with kids this age!
9. It helps me make sure we are spending time connecting together and building our relationships because I visually see how much "fun" time we have together.
10. It seems to be helping me kids be more calm because they are understanding that we are grouping our activities into sections. If they ask to do something, I often tell them that we'll finish it after snacktime, quiettime, etc. They don't seem to argue with me much about it.