Christmas is coming and I’m hoping to make some improvements on our break time. Does anyone else find that holidays and weekends are harder than school days?
My DS5 thrives on a schedule, so this year I have stepped up the amount of structure in our school day. I have most of the day broken down into 30-minute increments with each block pre-planned, even down to what PE and table time activity they will be doing. He does have two free time blocks in the morning, one in his room and one in the basement (with me there too doing school with big brother).. and we have a couple of hours of “free time” in the afternoon, but I usually direct those (errands, park, outside, baking, etc). Even when I let the boys truly have free-time, I don’t let them do it together unsupervised. It takes a lot of energy from this sleepy mommy who doesn't sleep very well, but it's SO worth it b/c it keeps the peace and really helps him be at his best!
Up until now, weekends and holidays have been unstructured. I mean, we have outings and fun activities as a family, but mostly its spontaneous and laid back and they usually don’t take all day. My husband, other son, and I are all pretty relaxed, unscheduled people, but, my dear little five year old just doesn’t do well with that much free time. He’s very energetic and impulsive and easily over-stimulated (not to mention highly strong-willed and sensitive). He just tends to get into things, make messes, and get into trouble when he’s left to his own devices (think Dennis the Menace meets Calvin and Hobbes…usually with very little premeditation—mostly impulsive—it’s a good things he’s so full of silliness, smiles, and hugs too!!). Plus, with too much down time, he seems to get more and more hyper and ends up fighting with big brother (and he’s a very physical fighter).
It was better when he was younger…not sure what’s changing (more testosterone?!) but we definitely need to make some accommodations for him now…for all our sakes. But, the thing is, I don’t really know how. How do I balance my need to rest (and not completely preplan everything) with his need for direction? Frequent direction.
I will add, we school year round and only take short breaks…no more than a week or two at a time…but those still feel rather hard lately.
Any thoughts?
We discovered he has an issue converting glutamate to GABA (stimulatory to calming neurotransmitters). You might look into that for diet/supplement help. And yes, we do much better with him on a schedule. We are already getting the puzzles and games together for break, and hoping to avoid the electronics as much as possible...they make it much worse for him.
Anyway, rambling. 
Thanks for your ideas!