Changing Routine

Jumping in on the summer routine fun found over at Amongst Lovely Things and Three Plus Two . . .

 

Daily schedules and routines are really important to our family. I have a husband and son who thrive on routine and structure, one son who doesn't seem to care either way, and then me- the artsy, keeps all hours, spontaneous one.

 

Can you spot the one that doesn't belong? Yeah, that would be me.

 

One of the things I have had to learn over our years of marriage is how to actually keep a home. My mother demonstrated very little domestic life- the house was almost always a disaster, real cleaning was a once a month event (involving everyone and usually taking 3 days. HATED that!) and my mom's version of homemade food was typically a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. As we start to add more things to our lives- more children, homeschooling, diet changes etc. there is so much more to keep track of. I, like Sarah, realized recently that the cleaning routine that has worked for us for ages just isn't working anymore. We're constantly piled up with laundry by Saturday (and I don't want to spend every Saturday consumed by laundry!), meals aren't planned far enough out because of my time constraints, the house just isn't as clean as I'd like it to be.

 

I think I've figured out that it comes down to two things for me. First, If I get up no later than 6 a.m. that is enough time for me to get a shower and spend a little time reading and praying. My day starts off that much better, I'm ready for the day before my early riser even makes a peep, and I go into the day prepared.

 

Second, I just don't do well with a "to the minute" schedule and I think it's time to admit it. There's something about having that time attached that makes me want to push against that limit or else plain old ignore it! Instead I'm spending a few minutes at night putting together a short list for the next day of what we want to accomplish- in any order I please. The items that are always on the list (not in order of importance or anything):

• Time outside


• Something Creative


• Something Educational


• At least 1 picture book


• 1 chapter of our current Read-aloud


• Rest Time


• Time for  paperwork (for me, at least 15 minutes)


• Kitchen clean


• Laundry (at least 1 load)


• Beds made


• general pick up before lunch and before dinner

 

Another contributing factor to all this is that I'm working while Superman is finishing school. During the summer It's less than half time, but during the school year it is full time. There are drastic changes coming this fall in order to start schooling PreK with Ender, and hopefully there will be even more changes the year after that as we move to cutting my student load down in order to really devote time to homeschooling as Ender starts Kindergarten.