Struggling With Schedules

Jackson has gone to preschool five days now, and we have had a different schedule each of those days. The only non-negotiable to our morning is that I need to load everyone in the van by 8:45 to make sure Jackson is at preschool at 9 a.m. Some mornings I am able to feed, change, and dress all four kids before 8:45. Other mornings I let the trio sleep in and am only able to feed them breakfast or get them dressed.

The most frustrating variable to our schedule is Maddie's therapy. Maddie's PT is all over the place. It used to be every Tuesday for a few months. Then it became a "play it by ear" and changed every week during the summer. For the past several weeks it has been every Monday. There's a good 25% chance that the PT won't show up to the scheduled appointment, and then send a text an hour later apologizing. Just last week, the PT rescheduled for Friday (because Monday was Labor Day), didn't show up, rescheduled for Wednesday, and was 20 minutes late today. It is SO FRUSTRATING!

In addition to PT, we also have CBRS (play therapy) every Tuesday. Yesterday the case worker came for his monthly check-in, and the therapist never showed up. The case worker was there for 45 minutes. He called the therapist four times. She finally answered and said she forgot. We rescheduled for Thursday.

The other challenge is figuring out the trio's nap schedule. We've gone back and forth between one and two naps a day. Ideally, they would take one nap from 12-3, but that is not possible because I have to pick Jackson up at 1. If I put them down for a nap at 11, they can only sleep for an hour and a half.  I don't have time to feed them lunch until after we pick up Jackson. Jack always likes to go somewhere after I pick him up from preschool, so I either have to pack a lunch for the trio, or go back home to change diapers and take care of lunch. If the triplets don't take any kind of morning nap, they are extremely grouchy by 1 p.m. We can't go anywhere with Jackson after preschool because they have to be in their cribs napping. I have yet to figure out the best nap time when Jackson goes to preschool.

I had this lovely vision of taking the trio to the museum, baby story time at the library, and the park. We were going to go on picnics and adventures while Jackson was at preschool. That has yet to happen. Instead, I've been rushing home from preschool drop off to either feed them breakfast or clean up from breakfast, then wait around for a therapist that may or may not show up. This is all while dealing with babies who are becoming tired and cranky.  We've managed to have a few fun adventures, but always at the cost of cutting into a nap or feeding time. I desperately need to find a routine that meets everyone's needs.