Some kind of routine

I have always done better with routine. I am not a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of person - I like to have PLANS. I have learned, with two small children, that most PLANS never actually happen the way you plan them to, but I still need that structure in my life.

My son thrives on structure. He has been a schedule baby from day one. I never got that whole "put the kid on a schedule" mentality until he was born. He put HIMSELF on a schedule when he was about 3 months old, and I swear he never looked back. Even now, if there is a major disruption to his general schedule, it causes havoc in our home.

Miss Sunshine, on the other hand, could care less. As long as she eats when she is hungry, and gets a nap at some point in the day - the only thing consistent in her life is when she wakes up and when she is ready for bed. And she's perfectly fine with that. I struggle to keep some semblance of a schedule for her because I know she does function better if I keep things the "same" but she's much more adaptable than her brother ever has been. If we are half an hour late getting down for nap, or eating dinner, it's not an issue in her world. With him, you'd swear the entire Earth just fell off it's axis.

School starts for Monster Boy this week, and I am SO ready to get on with that schedule. But the first few days of this week are still at home, and I am struggling with what to do during the day. I have to get him up at 6:30 in the morning, to make sure he is used to that by the time classes actually start. But what to do with him during that time before Miss Sunshine wakes up? Because I don't plan to change her routine until I absolutely have to - since she is more adaptable than he is. And I need to get him used to eating lunch at a much earlier time as well, since they will be eating lunch at school EXTREMELY early in the day. I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to be a VERY long week...