Our Daily Routine
Since becoming a full time stay-at-home Mom, I've found myself going from waking up early getting ready for the day, to sleeping in and staying in my jammies all day, hoping no-one will ring our doorbell unexpectedly!
I've decided that I need to start treating my work at home like an outside the home job. That means I need to wake up at a respectable hour (not 9 in the morning!) and get dressed and do my hair. I feel better about myself when I do this and I don't have to run to make myself presentable when that doorbell rings! I also know that the kids will have a better attitude and be more productive when we have a predictable schedule and responsibilities are laid out clearly. They know what I expect of them and they want to live up to that!
Here's what my ideal schedule looks like right now:
6:00am Wake up.
6:10am Move any laundry from washer into dryer. Start another load if needed.
6:15am Work on ongoing projects without kids underfoot. Start a loaf of bread if needed.
7:00am Take care of animals (one dog and 16 chickens).
7:30am Wake up kids.
7:40am Move dry laundry to couch to be folded. Move clothes from washer to dryer.
7:45am Get Jack and Jill dressed and do their hair. Encourage Mikaela and Tafton to do same as well as make their beds, do a quick clean of their room.
8:00am Breakfast.
8:30am Children's morning chores.
Monday - special cleaning I've noticed needs to be done
Tuesday - Dust upstairs and clean windows
Wednesday - Dust downstairs and clean windows
Thursday - Bathrooms
Friday - Vacuum downstairs and mop upstairs floors
9:00am Homeschool.
12:00pm Lunch. Check on animals.
1:00pm Naptime/quiet-time. I work again on ongoing projects without littles underfoot.
3:00pm Wake up Jack, and Jill if she napped.
3:30pm Send kids outside to play. Get ingredients out and ready for dinner. Finish any inside chores.
4:00pm Do outside chores and work in the garden while kids play.
5:00pm Back inside to start dinner.
5:30pm Encourage kids to clean up messes before dinner.
6:00pm Dinner
6:30pm Everyone helps clean up dinner mess.
7:30pm Get Jackson ready for bed.
8:00pm Jack goes to bed. Older kids get ready for bed. Relax with Ben.
9:00pm Plan our next day. Start laundry if needed. Work on ongoing projects.
10:00pm Get ready for bed.
10:30-11pm Go to bed.
Over the last couple of weeks I've been trying to stick to this routine. On the days that we follow it, I feel accomplished, homeschool gets done without incident, the house is clean, I'm actually dressed (ah mom life!). But on those days when we get off our routine I feel like I spend the next day and a half trying to catch up. Not a great feeling so we really are trying to follow it until it becomes a habit in our home.
Do you have a daily routine that your family follows?
