Changing Routine!

Hey guys welcome back to my crazy house, being a mom with ADHD, raising kids with additional needs gets chaotic! Today kids are home because of our province wide strike, for our teachers union in Ontario, which I support 1000%.

We’re also taking this extra long weekend to meet some of our 2020 goals which are changing routine! Yes, I’ve said it, that “bad-word”, change and routine should never be mentioned in the same sentence, breath the same air, I can feel you all cringe as I write this, but…. these kids are growing into teenagers and mini adults and I am on a mission to start my very own home based business and vlogging my new journey in finding myself as a woman, I’ve grown to be. With that being said, I’m tipping the iceberg and holding my breath, while I plunge into the icy waters to attempt this crazy adventure.

Today we are starting off with a big breakfast (breakfast sandwiches on a crossant with grilled potatoes and onions of course we can’t forget the chocolate milk), then make muffins and other treats. Yes, I’m buttering them up!, then slowly introducing the new Routine. Then work on finishing building my office / work space if I get a chance as well as finish up my business vlog intro about a mom with ADHD starting business and raising kids with additional needs. This routine change just needs to work! There is no turning back. #fingers&toescrossed

The plan…. I’m even having chest pains thinking about it, I’m going to introduce them to CHORES. Yes that means more work for me but with hopes that they will enjoy doing them and feel more confident in themselves and everything will work out in the end. I know, I know, why haven’t they been given chores sooner? Well because their chores were self-care, self-regulation, self-motivation and social therapy. But now that they have finally mastered dressing themselves, showering with little to no assistance, teeth brushing, and other regular daily routines. I think it’s time to add some new ones to make our crazy house appear a little less crazy if you know what I mean.

We also switched up our evening routine to this.

After I turned a explosion into a positive meltdow. I introduced chore number #1 cheating after we bake, cook, eat. Which included making a visual schedule on how to properly rince the dishes and load the dishwasher, put in the soap and turn it on. Next was #2. Find ways to help mom keep the house tidy. Cam decided all on his own he was going to take charge of keeping the living room clean which includes sweeping and mopping the floors (for him this is huge to do willingly). Sarah than decided she was going to keep the bathroom organised and pick up after herself more which is another huge win for me this has definitely been a struggle. So I’m totally stoked and thrilled it’s going better than expected. Yes I know these are mild and not the classic chore list but hey I’m happy they are happy I’m taking it. It’s less than what I had to do before.

We also switched up a few things in our evening routine so it now looks like this:

• Supper at 5:00pm
• Kids help clean up *NEW*
• Kids watch tv/video games until 7pm unless they have soccer then it’s soccer and no cleaning.
• 7:30pm shower, instead of jammies they get dress for school = no fuss in the morning. *Brilliant* as well as take their evening meds.
• 8:00pm free to do what they wish in their room as I need to relax. (often re-arrange their rooms, play with aromatherapy Playdough, squishies, sensory bottles etc.) *NEW*
• 9:00pm I tuck them in, have a chat or read a few pages of their book and say good night. They generally watch either Plex or YouTube or listen to YouTube calming sleepy 12hour music video.
• ***Note I change the age restriction on videos they can’t watch on Plex and YouTube.

So far it’s going good but now we’re down with strep throat

Bye guys, love your kiddos, trust your instincts when they need change and love yourself, you’re doing great!