I guess time does fly...

When I was about 8 months pregnant with Ballerina I wrote an itinerary for my 3 other children in case of emergency and someone would have to step in and take care of them. Other than me and DH no one really knows our routine and my kids were still pretty little. Now I could totally depend on Mya and Cor to be able to inform someone of all that we do during the day. The itinerary is about 3 pages long but I laughed so hard remembering some of the challenges that were part of our day to day life. I had forgotten a lot of those things and I don't know if I just wanted to make myself look like a good Mom or if I have gotten more layed back as time has gone by.

I am only including some of it since it is so long. This was our routine 3 years ago; Mya was 6, Cor was 4, and Em was 19 months old. It really does feel like a million years ago and I feel like I was peeking into someone else's life.

Daily Routine:

• Morning-kids usually wake up between 7:00 and 8:00 AM. (Now they get up around 6:30 AM)
  
• If Cor wet the bed we have him get undressed, stand in the tub, and we spray him off. Cor will argue about everything but usually just letting him know he has to do it and repeating it several times works. (This has not changed)
  
• NO TREATS UNTIL AFTER LUNCH, they know this is the rule.

Bathroom Manners:

• Cor is working on not walking in the bathroom when someone is going to the bathroom, he gets an immediate time out. If Mya tricks him into coming in then tattles on him, she gets a time out.
• The door stays closed when not in use or Emily makes trouble in there.

Breakfast:

• Cory-must be dressed to have his breakfast or he might not get dressed all day.

After Breakfast:

• Lately Cory likes to go out and swing until his arms get tired. (He used to go out there and swing forever and talk to himself. I think it was his way of getting away from everyone.)

Snack Time:

• Around 10:30 AM. (I can't believe I had a set time for snack. Now they just seem to be eating all the time. I think I might start doing that again.)
  
• Have them drink a whole cup of water with their snack. (Apparently I was really good at making sure the kids got enough fluids)

Lunch:

• Cor sometimes has a a short attention span for sitting and eating so you have to keep him going by reminding him to eat or giving him a certain amount of bites to finish. Otherwise he is hungry ten minutes after lunch is done. If he knows he is going to to get a treat after lunch he will say he is done early just to get the treat. You have to use that as incentive to finish his lunch and all his drink. Almost every day he says he is not thirsty but if you give him the drink anyway he will usually end up drinking it.

After Lunch:

• Before Emily's nap Mya and Cor can do a cleaning job, usually just picking up toys and getting them put away. Cory needs encouragement to finish the job.
  
• Emily takes a nap around 1:00 pm, she will sleep 2 to 3 hours. (Oh how I miss that!)

Bedtime:

• Around 8:00 pm.
• If they have brought out a lot of toys to living room and kitchen area have them each pick up five things and put them away, or the same thing in their rooms.
• Say prayers together, put girls in bed, Em does not need to be rocked to sleep. Then put Cor in bed. Sometimes Cor will go to bed himself.
  

Well that's some of it. It probably doesn't mean much to anyone but me but it was fun to remember how things were with just the three of them and how things have changed with four and especially how things have changed without a baby in the house.