Routines

So something people mentioned to me several times on a blog post recently and on IG messages is wanting to know what my routines are for getting things done.

Now - I feel like a cross between a swimmer who is barely keeping her head above water and a hamster stuck on a wheel most of the time so this is not an instructional post. ha! BUT something I wonder all the time when I look around at other moms is "how do they do it?"  I wonder if their mornings are as crazy as mine or how they keep their house clean or their laundry caught up.  So because I'm always wondering about other routines - I figured I would share mine and it probably won't inspire anyone but you may think "Man, I'm doing great compared to her". ha!


MORNINGS

Something I'm not great at is making lunches ahead or laying out clothes ahead.  Or really anything that would make my mornings easier.  It's my own fault but I just can't seem to get that under control.  So my morning normally begins when Will Holden wakes up.  He's an early riser so rarely does my alarm clock go off before he does.  If I HAVE to be somewhere ready EARLY in the day - I try to get up around 5:30 but if not I get up around 6.  No one in our family is a morning person so mornings are a struggle.  I usually go in the kitchen and put Will Holden in his high chair and give him breakfast.  While he is eating, I make lunches and pack snacks and water bottles and fix the girls breakfast.  I also unload the dishwasher.  Scott normally cooks eggs for him and Will Holden.  I get the girls up around 6:30 and they eat breakfast.  While everyone is eating, I make beds and lay out clothes for the kids.  After the girls finish breakfast, they get themselves dressed and then I fix their hair.  And then I get Will Holden dressed and we are out the door by 7:20 at the latest.

CLEANING

Okay - I'm a neat freak. I like a clean house.  But I need to say I have a split personality.  The parts of the house you see - like our living room and kitchen are usually spotless.  But closets are a whole different story - complete mess.  Is anyone else like that? I have this weirdness of always keeping the house like someone might drop by and I would want it to be super clean.  Only when do people just drop by these days? Not often.  I never leave the house even to drive the kids to school without all the beds made and the kitchen clean.  I feel like if you have those two things done - your house just seems in control.  I don't have a cleaning lady so it's all me.  I normally split the cleaning one of three ways:
1. If I have company coming or people at my house - I will clean like a madman all in one day or night right before they come.
2.  OR I split the house in zones and clean maybe the living room/dining room on Monday, bathrooms on Tuesday, bedrooms on Wednesday, etc.
3.  OR I split it by chores.  I will dust on Mondays, Vacuum and mop on Tuesdays, and bathrooms on Wednesday, etc.

I try to just pick up the house constantly as we go.  I am working on training the kids to clean up after themselves so our house is not usually a disaster.

I also try to do at least one load of laundry a day.  But there are times I get behind and have to spend a day doing several loads.

SCHEDULES

 I have a lot going on.  I'm on the PTO board, I'm room mom in two rooms, I work part time for a ministry, I have my blog and social media, I teach AWANA, Sunday School and preschool choir, I am on the women's council at church and I'm on the finance and ordinance committee at church.  Plus just normal family stuff that keeps me busy.  I really haven't been overly stressed this year because I just write everything down in a planner (I like a paper calendar that I can lay on my kitchen counter and look at constantly).  I usually sit down on Sundays and look at what I have going on that week and then break up everything else over the week into to do lists.  I try to just do what I need to do each week and then I'm not overwhelmed.  I have to write EVERYTHING down or I will forget.  Sometimes I forget even when I write it down.  But I'm trying.

PERSONAL

I would love to have a quiet time in the mornings but that is just not my reality right now.  So I try to read my Bible at night.  I just got a new Bible that I want to share about soon.

Right now with a toddler, I'm in the stage where trying to get a shower and get ready can be tough.  So it's either get up early or come home when he's in MDO and get ready.  I will say my biggest life saver has been Mother's Day Out.  He LOVES it and it's helped his separation anxiety so much.  And having several hours alone to get things done and run errands is just a HUGE help to me.  Especially trying to work part time and volunteer.  I'm just a better mom with some alone time. ha!

I'm determined with the new year to find time each day to exercise.  I think it's good for me on many levels.  This can be so hard but I'm really trying.

MEALS

In a perfect world, I sit down on Sundays and menu plan for the week and go to the store on Mondays and shop for the week.  In reality, I have fallen into a pattern of going to the store almost every day or every other day and shopping for a couple of days at a time.  I cook dinner pretty much every night.  We usually only go out to eat for Sunday lunch and maybe on Saturdays.  Scott also takes his lunch every day (and works 30 minutes away) so I try to cook extra for his lunch.  I feel like I can't get a full handle on keeping our pantry stocked.  The kids eat me out of house and home.  Which is another reason I'm constantly going to the store.


What other routines are you wondering about? I would be happy to answer questions.  (Just for curiosity sake - I'm not doling out advice!)

AFTERNOONS/NIGHT

I completely left this off when I first wrote this.

Harper has gymnastics one afternoon a week and soon to be two days but other than that - we come home right after school.  Harper only has one day of homework so other than that - we mostly try to play outside if the weather is okay.  Or we play or just watch a show together.  I try to have things done so I can spend those few hours with the kids just hanging out.  I try to get dinner together around 5 or 5:30.  Everyone is always hungry by then.  Scott gets home around 5.  We eat and then the bedtime routines begin.  Will Holden gets a bath first.  Scott and I trade off bath times.  Will goes to bed around 7ish.  The girls stay up later with us and usually are in bed by 8ish.  Scott and I do bed times together every night unless one of us is gone.  We try to spend some time together at night.  Scott goes to bed early and I'm a night owl.  I feel like from 9-11 is when I catch up on blogs, work, etc.  Or sometimes I just collapse in a chair and watch TV.

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