Creating a Summer Schedule

In the past year, I have gone from being a full-time stay at home mama of two kids to a work from home mom of three.  That means a couple of things: 1. I am insane and exhausted, and 2. It has meant a lot of new planning and organizing of time around our house.  We are about 2 weeks out from summer vacation for my kids, and one of the things I am working on is creating a summer schedule that we can all stick to as a family to help summer be both fun for the kids and myself, but also not a stressful mess where I lose momentum for work!

 Why I am making a Summer Schedule

I am going to include a free printable at the end of this post that you can print and hang for your own schedule.  Mine will likely change from time to time, and my schedule will probably not work for you, but I think that kids that have been in school are year really do thrive on routine, and if you work from home, time to get work done still has to happen, so if you can make a schedule and stick to it, your kids won’t suffer from your work, and vise versa.  My kids are up early, and although they will play well on their own, they start to fight if they are bored, so I am hoping this gives them daily motivation, as well as weekly motivation to behave, as well as allowing them to know when they are playing alone it’s not going to be hours, but instead a set time.

Our Summer Schedule

Wake up 6:30 AM (I wish this wasn’t true)

6:30 – 7:15 Eat breakfast, get dressed, + morning routine and chores

7:15 – 8:00 – Work on homework packet (check back next week for that post)

8:00 – 9:30 Play in basement

10 – 12 – Go to Gym (mom will work out for one hour, and do work for 1 hour)

12:15- 12:45 – lunch

1:00 – 3:00 – all kids in bed for rest and or nap

3 pm – 5:30/6 – Fun time or outing (play dough, play outside, zoo, pool, and so on)

5:30/6:00 – dinner

6:00 – 7:00 – bath/shower, bedtime routine

7:00 bed

Looking at the Schedule

The areas in purple like this  are time slots (aside from before the kids wake and after bed) that I can get work done.  Some of that will include blogging, but it might also mean laundry, cleaning or bills depending on the day.  

My hope when creating this schedule is that it breaks up the day, and that the kids can see what is next so that they know what to expect.  Leaving the afternoon open for activities also allows for incentive for them to have a better day leading up to the activity, and hopefully with my workout and work done, will allow me to fully enjoy and participate in the fun this summer.

I am going to go ahead and address the 2 hour gym time slot that I might get some backlash for (not that I owe anyone an explanation, but more so I can explain and maybe give others a good idea like this if it works for you). Sam and I were talking about getting some childcare this summer.  There is no way that I can fit all my work in, and be a good mom while only relying on naps.  Naps are unreliable, and I plain old have too much to do in that time frame.  When we were talking about what time of day to hire someone we quickly realized that we were struggling to come up with one big chunk. Rather what we realized was that if we doubled our gym time so that 1/2 could be spent working and 1/2 working out, the kids would get more socialization and fun, we would save a ton of money, and I would be away from the kids for less time but accomplishing the same thing.

I know that the schedule above won’t work for everyone, but I hope that whether you’re a work from home mom, or a full-time stay at home mom, this example schedule will help you design your days and weeks this summer so you can all enjoy your time!

Printable Summer Schedule

To keep yourself accountable, and because you may not have the exact same schedule every day, use this free printable below to help you keep your schedule handy. I plan to fill ours out the night before, and the ‘to do’ section can have what I need to accomplish (aside from the obvious) during my work times.

Print Yours Here