Tuesday, November 8, 2011

morning routine

Well a day long routine really.  All over the web mom's recommend these as a way to stay on track and get done what you want/need to get done.

Me though, I'm just so incapable of following a routine.  I've tried various ones.  But with four little monkeys who tend to be somewhat unpredictable it's been hard to even try to follow a daily routine.  But the youngest monkey is now on a mostly predictable schedule so I'm ready to try again. 

The past couple of months I've gotten things more together, cabinet after cabinet, closet after closet I've gotten things organized.  Don't worry there's plenty more that I need to dig through and organize - mostly in the schooling department.  But our daily life is able to function better now and with everyone on predictable sleeping and eating schedules it's time to try a routine again.

Now I've gone around blog land and printed this to - do sheet and that but I think I need to create something for myself, tailored to what MY day looks like and what MY important daily tasks are.  Part of that for me is splitting the sheet into parts of the day.  I tend to do a few things in the morning between breakfast and schooling.  And I tend to do stuff during the kids' nap/quiet times.  And then there's that final push to get things done the hour or so before KOJ gets home from work.  So I need a worksheet I can fill out every day that has sections for each of those times and maybe a section for "if I get this done it's a bonus" and maybe another to list the random stuff I decided to do instead of what was on the list. lol 

Like yesterday I needed to clean up the living room but instead I organized the kitchen cabinets and took stock of what baking stuff I have so I can check the list when I find a recipe I want to make for the holidays before running out and buying some expensive ingredient I already have in the cabinet.  Not speaking from experience or anything.  And all of this detailed organizing has led me to realize what I so desperately want for Christmas... a label maker.  So I can label all of my neatly organized bins and shelves and cabinets.  Eek. 

Back to routine.  I've decided some basics.  Like I'll serve breakfast by 8:30 every morning.  We're all up by then anyway.  School will start at 10am every day.  No pushing it back to do some random task I've suddenly decided I need to do.  Lunch will be served at 11:30 (so Princess can get to her nap promptly by noon!)  And Tidy time - where the children and I will race to tidy up the downstairs before KOJ gets home will start promptly 45 min before he's due home (some nights he gets home at 5:20 and other nights it's 6).  A loose routine with lots of room for unpredictable in the middle.  I'm hoping it works for us.  And in that vein it's almost 10 and I need to change the baby before we start school.  So I'm off to see if I can make this routine work for me!

1 comment:

  1. This sounds like a good plan! I tend to get in such a slump and can't handle the pressure of a routine or a lot of "to do"s most days - but then I get stuck in a slump and get nothing done at all!
    I love the cleaning before Daddy gets home idea.

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