Routines

Does anyone run their household to a routine?
And buy that I don't just mean bedtime I mean like your whole life?
Kind of along the lines of what supernanny draws up for people.

Basically what I want to know is if this works or did you try it and it was a complete disaster.

And the reason for wanting to know is that my work have emailed me and asked if I would be interested in working on a project that starts in "about a month" (which is boss talk for anytime from tomorrow till xmas). I have said yes as I will mostly be able to do the work from home and will just need to go in for "a couple of meetings" (more vague boss talk).
Was planning to work from home in January for them anyway so this has just brought the topic forward a bit.
Basically from what I understand I would need to be committing 16-24 hours per week to the project, the plan is for me to work around DH's shifts as I am very anti childcare (well until he is older enough to play with other kids anyway).
At the moment I just take each day as it comes and have no real routine except at bedtime, Spencer has not set his own routine (obviously takes after me) so each day is different. And after having a disaster of a day where I managed to achieve pretty much nothing I'm wondering why the hell I said yes and how the hell I will find 16-24 hours to work!!!

Plus if DH is looking after DS I can't have him coming to me every 5 mins saying "i've changed his nappy 6 times and he's still crying" which is what happens whenever he has him at the moment, so think I need it all laid out so he has something to follow.

Anyway, any insights into what you do, or what you have tried that has or hasn't worked would be greatly appreciated.

Our routine is mostly based around meal times. So first up is breakfast, then a load of washing on, load of dishes on, play with the kids, baby goes to bed, washing gets hung out, kitchen gets finished off (on a good day lol). Usually about then we go out because most preschool activities are in the morning when the baby likes to sleep *rolls eyes*, take morning tea with us, come home for/before lunch, at which time the older two usually have a sleep. After 2pm (wake time) it's free play, reading books, playing puzzles etc, 3pm is afternoon tea, 4pm is starting to get ready for dinner or getting the washing in or whatever needs doing, 5pm if we're onto it we'll involve the kids in tidying up the lounge, 5.30pm is dinner, there's a bit of free play after dinner usually then 6pm or just after is time for pj's, a short movie (usually a couple of Thomas the Tank Engine clips) or sometimes a book if we still have energy! then bedtime for the kids is around 7pm for all of them.

It's a lot easier to get a routine like this when you have more kids and/or as they get older. But when I was about ready to leave Kryssi with DH (as you probably know he has recently become SAHD while I work), I pretty much just kept note of what I did with her at what times over a couple of days and then it looked like this:

(for Kryssi at 8mos)
6.00am wake, feed, breakfast
8.30am feed, bed
11.00am up (change), eat, play
12.00pm feed, bed
3.00pm up, afternoon tea, play
4.00pm feed, bed
5.00pm up, dinner, play
6.30pm feed, bed

changes at all the 'ups' of course but I used to have to write that down for DH when we had our first baby

lol about going crazy and practising magic

At the moment at our house the routine is around sleeps and mealtimes. But there's so much to do around here (we live in a 2 story house) its ridiculous. I'm gonna be tweaking things around here soon. Tightening up the ropes and trimming the sails and all that.

I think routine is good, but you need to build in flexiblity. In your case I would advice getting a routine for that 16-24 hours. That's like the big stone in the bucket story. (Heard of that? your life is like a bucket. Put the big rocks in first, then the medium rocks, then the stones, then the pebbles, then the sand. is it full? no, can still add water to it.) That work you've taken on is like the big rocks. But so is feeding the kids. Nappies is big/medium.

What I'm trying to say is its about priority. You'll figure out what yours are.

Edited by Chovynz

Yeah we do try and do the whole feed play sleep thing, and have even been to the plunket family centre to try and sort his day sleeps out, which we seem to be on top of now.
I was probably being a bit unfair to DH, he was that bad during the first few weeks but isn't too bad now, and really when he's not here all day I can't expect him to know how everything is done. Plus, I am a control freak and if I see him doing something differently to how I do it I really have to bite my tongue or resist the urge to just take over and remind myself that just because it isn't my way doesn't mean its the wrong way.
I have been getting him to put him to bed some nights as well so that he learns the bedtime routine as that is about the time of day I will need to be working when he is on earlies, and will have to get him to get up with me one day so he can see how the day starts and how the whole routine should go. I.e feed, play sleep.