I have been married for eight years, and seven of those years I have been a mom. And for all seven of those years I have been trying to develop a schedule, or at least develop the habit of following one. When my oldest was just a year old I read a wonderful book called Managers of Their Homes that was stuffed full of wonderful scheduling information. But my wonderful husband warned me that I just was not the scheduling type.
But now I have five children, and the need for a schedule is overwhelming. We just aren't getting enough done. So after seeking the Lord and doing some thinking I have come up with a few things to help get me on track.
First, I am going to utilize the gift of organization that was so generously given to my husband. I have written out a list of things we need to get done when he gets home and have given it to him. I am guaranteed that those things will be done simply because he cannot stand to fail. It kills him. And the benefit is two-fold. You see, I have found that when I leave things undone at night it takes me twice as long to get those same things done in the morning. That really cuts into our school time and adds unnecessary stress into my day. So more will be done in the evening thus helping me to get more done during the day.
Next, instead of mapping out each hour of my day I am going to a block schedule. I doubt this is an original idea, but it is the first time I have considered it. Since there are three natural parts of a day, morning, afternoon, and evening (I hope to be sleeping at night), I have decided to start there. This gives me a span of time to accomplish certain tasks and if we get a little off schedule we can jump right back in where needed. So this is my tentative "schedule" if you will.
7am - 12 pm
Breakfast
Get Dressed
Worship Time (with the children)
Morning Chores
School
12 pm - 4 pm
Lunch
Clean up
Afternoon Chores
Read Aloud with Mommy
Naps for the little ones
2 loads of laundry
4pm - 8:30pm
Begin Dinner
Piano
Dinner on the Table
Clean up
Outside toys
Bedrooms
Living Areas
Kitchen
Bath Time
Family Worship
Bedtime for the Children
Time with Ryan
I would love to hear how you do things in your home. Ideas are definitely welcome.
Good luck Kalya with your new schedule! Girl I have been on the same schedule for the past 8 years (LOL) don't know if I can live without it!! Of course mines is a little different then yours because I don't home school my kids, I have had to change a few things as the kids got older but we still on the same bedtime routine!
ReplyDeleteOur routine goes like this:
6:00 - 7:00 wake up, breakfast, dress and ready for school. My kids I sit for start arriving at 7:00.
7:30 - Alex is off to school and then Maddie is leaves at 7:40
8:00 - breakfast for the little ones I take care of!
8:30 - 9:30 nap time for the babies and little play time for the others.
9:40 - 10:20 we do Your baby can read program (love it)
10:20 -11:00 kids play while I get lunch started
11:00 kids eat lunch then when they done we start changing diapers and potty and then it is just about nap time.
12:00 - 3:00 kids all take a nap and I get to exercise and get things done around the house!
3:30 - snack time and Alex comes home around this time
4:00 - Maddie gets home from school and then we all go play outside until all kids are picked up!
5:00 - Maddie and Alex do there homework and studying while I start dinner
6:00 dinner is most of the time served depending on what I'm cooking!
6:30 - 7:00 bath time
7:00 - 8:30 family time
8:30 - 9:00: read, prayers and then bedtime!!
sometimes we get off scheduel but we try our best to stay on it because if not I have some cranky little kids. (LOL) Weekends are the hard because we like to go places but we try our best to keep up with the routine.