My kids are 4 and 6 and this is the first year that they are both in school for a good chunk of time - DS is in preK 5 mornings a week and DD is in 1st grade (last year DD had 1/2 day K and was home by noon and DS had only 2 mornings of preschool). In years past, the kids and I established a good routine with home stuff, activities, school etc, but this year getting into that routine has seemed more challenging for me! (The kids seem settled in their school, home activity routines though).
I think it's bc I have always been a person who does better when my time is more structured (in college, my best grades were actually when I was the busiest with a job and a sport). This year I have a lot more downtime with them at school more and I am finding I am more unproductive. I am a great planner/organizer, but not always a great "follow through-er" especially when things don't have a specific timetable. I would love to find a part time position in my field or a related field and am keeping my eye out but haven't found anything yet. Because of DH's job with long, unpredictable hours, neither of us feels it is really feasible for me to go back to work full time at this point (nor do I really want to). And we are still contemplating a 3rd child, which would obviously make it hard to be searching for a full time job at this point.
I am involved in a bunch of things (volunteering at school, tennis groups, play groups, etc) and am very happy with life with the kids and our family and friends. But I find that balancing stuff around the house (laundry, organization, cleaning, projects, etc.) vs doing things outside the house (gym, errands, volunteer stuff, etc) is an issue this year. My days/weeks just seem kind of all over the place this year. I don't have any issue getting me and the kids where I need to be, but feel like some days arent very productive/fulfilling. It's like my days need more structure (and depending on the day, more purpose). And I know this is an issue that I will need to solve going forward too as next year, both kids will be in school full day.
If you stay home and your kids are in school, how do you structure your days? Any advice about getting into a better routine or being more productive/purposeful with my time?