After School Schedule

As we gear up for the beginning of school, I thought I'd share our after school schedule that I keep on
the fridge. It started as a note for babysitters, so they would not be fooled by our innocent childrens'
penchant for bending the rules, but it has proved beneficial for the kids to also know the daily routine.
Feel free to copy, & let me know if you have any additions or other helpful tips!

----------------------------------------

When the kids get home from school:

-Empty lunch bags

-Have snack

-Practice Piano -20 min

-Read for 20 min

5:00 they may play video games or watch TV

Dinner around 5:30/6:00

After Dinner make lunches, if they can’t cooperate in the kitchen, only 1 at a time.

7:00 Reading Time:  (Shower if needed)

-Toilet

-Teeth

-PJs

-Book

8:00 Lights Out!

If the kids can’t agree on something, use common sense, & don’t be afraid to say NO!

The kids also have ‘days’, odd=Asher’s choice, even=Chancery’s

There’s a paper by the TV which tells you what channel the TV needs to be on
to watch TV/play video games

If you have any questions, Sherilyn’s cell 604-xxx-xxxx, Chad's cell 778-xxx-xxxx,

Home phone 778-xxx-xxxx

Wifi: "WiFi Name"

Password: "CleverPassword"

Navigation

As I was driving the kids home from church the other day Asher had a burning question…

 

Asher: “Mum, when I am old enough to drive, will they teach me where to go too?  Because I’ll be old enough to drive, but I don’t know how to get to places!”

 

Me:  “As you get older you’ll start to pay more attention, & you’ll just know how to get to most of the places you need to go.”

 

Asher: “But I don’t even know the way to my school!”

 

The week before, PChad & I had gone on a retreat & left the kids with a sitter.  She had to drive Asher to school & wasn’t entirely sure where to go, so had asked him to help navigate.  Apparently he wasn’t much help & she had to Google it instead.  Asher stewed over it all week, & it had become a bit of a worry for him…

A Lesson In Government

I had to bring some papers to our accountant today, & I was trying to get the kids moving.

 

Me: “Come on, we need to go see the tax man!”

 

Asher: “We shouldn’t go see him, he’s just going to take our money!”

 

Me: “Well, we have to give it to the government anyway, & the tax man is the guy who makes sure we give the right amount.”

 

Asher: “But he never gives US any money back!”

 

Me: “Yes, he does.  Sometimes we pay too much & then he gives us some back.”

 

Asher: “What is the government anyway?”

 

Me: “It’s a group of people who make the rules, & then make sure people are following the rules.”

 

Chancery: “I wish the tax man could babysit us sometime.”

 

Asher: “He can’t babysit us!  He’s a MAN!”

 

…next up, a lesson in gender roles???

Monday’s Routine

On Mondays I help out with some math tutoring at the local Christian school.  In order to do this I have to have a place for the kids to go.  That’s not a problem since Asher is in Pre-K during that time, & I asked a friend (JJ) who does in-home daycare to watch Chancery for the the hour I need to be at the school.  After I’m done at the school, I pick up some coffee from Tim’s for JJ & I.  Then since it’s usually the only time I get to see JJ, the two of us chat over coffee until I need to pick Asher up from school.

 

Monday mornings are usually a bit of a rush & this morning I was encouraging the kids to eat their breakfasts quickly in order to get going.  Chancery doled out our assignments for the day:

 

“Yumi is going to school, and Asher is going to school, and I am going to Miss JJ’s, and Mummy is going to Tim HORTON’S!

…and to math.”

At least she remembered the important part.

Meal Requests

When the kids have a babysitter, I often give them pizza pops for supper.  The other night we were leaving after the kids had their supper, so I made the pizza pops for them & we all sat down to watch as the kids ate.

 

Chancery went to her place at the table & saw that she had a pizza pop.  She’s not as fond of them as Asher is, & she let us know.

 

“I didn’t talk about this, so I don’t want to have it!”

 

Because when we have leftovers at lunch time we usually give her 2 options, so I guess she figured that since she hadn’t been asked, there must be another, better option!

Nicknames

A few days ago, we had one of our “Miss Julie” friends come over to watch Chancery while I took Asher to swimming lessons.  We had a bit of confusion about which “Miss Julie” was coming over, since we know 3 women named Julie, who all interact with the kids on a semi-regular basis.

We usually refer to them in the order we met them as “Miss Julie”, “Different Miss Julie”, & “Different, Different Miss Julie” (we’re so creative, aren’t we?)  On this particular day, it was “Different, Different Miss Julie” who was coming over, but every time Asher tried to address her, he spend so much time saying “different” that he’d lose track of what he was going to tell her.

So, we decided that it was time to come up with another way of addressing “Different, Different Miss Julie”.  We ran through the regular gamut of names, such as “Miss Beatrice” & “Miss Ethel”, but between Asher & “Different, Different Miss Julie” they were all shot down.  And then, “DDMiss Julie” decided to throw “Miss Bertie” out as a suggestion & Asher latched onto it quite quickly & gave it a minor tweak, changing it to “Miss Birdie” instead & it stuck.

Quite soon after the name discussion, Asher & I left for the pool & we kind of figured that would be the end of the nickname, but once we got home, he continued to address her as such.  From now until he forgets about it, I believe her new moniker will be “Miss Birdy”.  Time to get used to answering to it!

There is a moral to this tale, be very careful around Asher about how you may refer to yourself, even if it’s purely in jest, he may just be the one who changes your name permanently!

Babysitter Routine

The other day I informed Asher that after he woke up from his nap, I'd be gone & there'd be a babysitter here too play with him. He was very excited by this news. I figured it was b/c there'd be someone here just to play with him. He was grinning widely when he said, "And I'm going to have a Pizza Pop for dinner!"

I guess he's on to my dinner plans whenever there's a babysitter. What are yours?