Once upon a time… I just knew I was going to be such an awesome mom! The non-yelling kind, who is level-headed, calm all the time, rational, sweet as pie… I dreamed of being the mom, no matter how annoyed, still was able to keep her cool and keep a routine going.
Cut to real life.
It was about a year ago when I realized our morning & evening routines were awful (AWFUL!). Between a corporate job, freelancin’ (is that a verb?), mommin’ (definitely a verb), and everything else, I just couldn’t get it together. I was constantly barking at the kid and would then get frustrated when we would leave a backpack at home, forget a permission slip, have dried poptart stuck to his cheek during drop off… you get the picture.
It really wasn’t Aden’s fault. It was mine. I needed to provide him with a routine, where I wouldn’t have to nag, he could follow it easily, and take responsibility for getting himself ready for school or for bed.
I spent time scouring Pinterest. All I could find were morning routines and bedtime routines for much younger children. I needed a printable routine checklist for a pre-tween. I decided I needed to make my own. It took some trial and error. For example, originally I did NOT have “Plug in iPad” on the chart. However, after some complaints over a dead iPad, and one “Mom, why didn’t you plug it in for me?” it got added to the list. I love that I can change and update it as needed. It can really grow with him.
At first, it was hard for Aden to follow. I had to add the clocks at the top, so he knew when they needed to be completed by. I also added a rule, that any time the routine was not completed by the designated time, he would lose his iPad for that day. Usually because the iPad is the culprit behind his delays 😉
Overall, this lists have helped us so much. Instead of me nagging, “Did you brush your teeth?” “Did you comb your hair?” – I can just ask, “Is your list completed? Please double check.” … I do still have to remind him to check the list, and read through it again sometimes. I’m serious, it has REALLY helped though. I am finally that perfect non-nagging mom I wanted to be! (Ha!! Riiiight.)
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.55″]I printed each routine checklist and laminated them. I feel like it will just last longer that way, and I really like that I can wipe it off after it has made its way into the bathroom (gross).
Feel free to use these as inspiration or to outright copy them for personal use.
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https://littleblondemom.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Morning-Routine-Mockup.jpg” _builder_version=”3.0.55″ use_border_color=”on” border_color=”#adadad”][/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”https://littleblondemom.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Aden-Evening-Routine-.jpg” _builder_version=”3.0.55″][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.55″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.55″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.55″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_image src=”https://littleblondemom.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Little-Blonde-Mom-Ash.png” _builder_version=”3.0.55″][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.55″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
Hi,
stumbled across your blog this morning looking for a routine chart for my older two kids. UGGGGH Routines!
I had some charts when they were little, but somewhere along the line I never did update them and slowly they became outdated and unused.
So, I looked on google and found these little charts. Cute! I didn’t see a link to print though :-(.
Anyway, I looked a bit around your blog. Lots of cute stuff. Keep it up 🙂