New Year: New Routines | San Antonio Baby Sign Language

I am an ISFJ mother, also known as the "Tender Loving Care" mother (reference).

The J in my Meyers-Briggs type stands for "judging"--not a reference to how I perceive others, but how I feel about structure. Judging parents (as opposed to perceiving parents) like structure, plans, limits, and order, so that the family feels secure.

At book club last month, we had excellent discussions about our "types" and how they affect our parenting style. While I do have a natural bent for organization, I believe that my "J" has become more pronounced in my family dynamic. My husband is much more "P" (flexible and spontaneous), while our older daughter is even more of a "J" than I am ("What are we doing next? Next Tuesday is when we...")

Entering a new calendar year gives me an opportunity to rework some of our scheduling issues and help our home-schooling days run more smoothly! Instead of focusing on the schedule, however, I am making more of an effort to build in routines that work for our family whatever time the clock says.

But first, each of our days is a little different from the others.
Mondays: Up and out early for our Classical Conversations community day
Tuesday: Home during the day, babysit in the afternoon, signing class at night
Wednesday: Signing class first thing in the morning, babysit all day
Thursday: Up and out mid-morning for our science co-op, home in the afternoon
Friday: Errands, book club meetings and other occasional playdates

The fact that every one of our homeschool days is different means that keeping to the same schedule each day is counterproductive. Two up-and-OUT days and 1 up-and-IN day with two ease-in days mixed in seems like the perfect blend for us!

Tomorrow: our morning routine!
Do you use schedules or routines to make your day flow easier, or are you more like my easygoing, flexible husband? :)