Aly at Lip Zip wrote in her blog today "Have you Discovered FlyLady?"
Well Aly, I certainly have and a absolutely love Flylady!! The concepts have helped get my house under control (sort of). She always talks about taking babysteps. I am still in the "would rather crawl" stage but I'm getting there - 15 minutes at time!!!! It has definately helped me get and keep most of my house more organized and cleaner. Certainly the areas that we spend most of the day in - kitchen, den, living room. These rooms may not always be tidy, I do have three toddlers! But I am now able to keep on top of the daily toddler hurricanes because we pick it up every day - it is part of the kids bedtime routine.
The best flylady advice that works for me - work on one routine at time and adapt the routines to fit your house and your family. The routines that FlyLady uses are what works for her, they don't all work for us, so I made up routines that do work for us. Now if I could only get organized enough to follow them... sigh, I really should review some FlyLady stuff again!
Anyway, have fun with FlyLady, we did (and do). Yes, I said we! My hubby even got in on the "you can do anything for 15 minutes", and tackles his shed (aka bat cave) for 15 minutes at a time. Well this only happens about once a month - babysteps right?!
Showing posts with label routines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label routines. Show all posts
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Kid Tips
Michelle at Our Little Monkeys left me a comment and asked this question:
I never really thought of myself as an expert, but with three kids under 2 I suppose I have some experience. HAHA that's a joke!!! But seriously my best advice it set a schedule and stick to it - at least until they change it on you!
I had alot of trouble early on with coordinating nap schedules. For a long long time they all napped at different times. Sam only need one nap, and Ben & Carlee still needed two. But I tried to set it up so that we had lunch at the same time every single day and then right after lunch it was time for Sam's nap. Slowly I was able to move the babies into just one nap and by the time they were one I had all three napping at the same time! What a blessing that was - a two hour break for me, for awhile I napped when they did but eventually I started to do my own thing - like read a book or a Bible Study.
This nap schedule worked well for us until a couple weeks ago. They are sleeping in later and are not sleepy enough for a nap after lunch. Later in the afternoon is too late because then they won't go to bed well. So I am now struggling with what to do with them all day without a nap and me without a break! uggg
What I really need to do is get them outside for most of the morning and see if the fresh air will help make them sleepy.
As far as taking care of the kids, coordinating schedules was the hardest part. Any tips for that? :)
I never really thought of myself as an expert, but with three kids under 2 I suppose I have some experience. HAHA that's a joke!!! But seriously my best advice it set a schedule and stick to it - at least until they change it on you!
I had alot of trouble early on with coordinating nap schedules. For a long long time they all napped at different times. Sam only need one nap, and Ben & Carlee still needed two. But I tried to set it up so that we had lunch at the same time every single day and then right after lunch it was time for Sam's nap. Slowly I was able to move the babies into just one nap and by the time they were one I had all three napping at the same time! What a blessing that was - a two hour break for me, for awhile I napped when they did but eventually I started to do my own thing - like read a book or a Bible Study.
This nap schedule worked well for us until a couple weeks ago. They are sleeping in later and are not sleepy enough for a nap after lunch. Later in the afternoon is too late because then they won't go to bed well. So I am now struggling with what to do with them all day without a nap and me without a break! uggg
What I really need to do is get them outside for most of the morning and see if the fresh air will help make them sleepy.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
still catching up - house cleaning
It seems that one or two weeks of not keeping up with the house cleaning can take more than that time to catch up and get it to where it should be! Like I said in the post, there have been alot of times in the last while where I feel like I am drowning. I think most of it has to do with the fact that there is something messy and unorganized in every single room in the house. It drives me absolutely crazy and has been consuming my patience. I realized that I have been trying to accomplish daily and weekly tasks on areas that need much more attention. If you have not already checked out the Flylady.net website you really should. It has great advice and tips to having an organized house.
I needed to get back to basics. So I sat down with my calendar and rather than deciding what area to work on in a week, I picked an area for each day.
Monday - get the kitchen back to standard and I also needed to bake a cake for our desserts
Tuesday - Tidy the porch and school area plus get the laundry caught up. I also needed to bake bread
Today - Wednesday - Playdate in the morning (which was cancelled so I finished the last load of laundry instead and then talked to my mom & dad for a nice long time) This afternoon I have planned to tidy the Living Room and Den and mop the floors
Thursday - Clean the bathrooms and bake another dessert
Friday - Organize the desk and go shopping for birthday cards needed for Oct & Nov then sign them and send them out
Saturday - Yardwork (mostly hubby to do this) and clean & organize Master bedroom
Sunday - church, then continue with yardwork and clean & organize kids room & playroom
I think that if I can get this all accomplished then by Monday I can actually get back to the normal routine which I already posted here.
I only have a couple issues with the routine.
First, I might swap workout in the morning with cleaning in the afternoon. I am much more motivated to clean in the morning.
Second, I have to work on the kids having "quiet time" on the days when they decide not to nap. When they don't nap I don't get to have computer time which is my time for bible study and writing in here. I don't think I have done a SOAP bible study all month! How horrible is that! But at least I am starting to feel like I am at least able to keep my head above the water, maybe within a week or so I can make it to shallow waters!
I needed to get back to basics. So I sat down with my calendar and rather than deciding what area to work on in a week, I picked an area for each day.
Monday - get the kitchen back to standard and I also needed to bake a cake for our desserts
Tuesday - Tidy the porch and school area plus get the laundry caught up. I also needed to bake bread
Today - Wednesday - Playdate in the morning (which was cancelled so I finished the last load of laundry instead and then talked to my mom & dad for a nice long time) This afternoon I have planned to tidy the Living Room and Den and mop the floors
Thursday - Clean the bathrooms and bake another dessert
Friday - Organize the desk and go shopping for birthday cards needed for Oct & Nov then sign them and send them out
Saturday - Yardwork (mostly hubby to do this) and clean & organize Master bedroom
Sunday - church, then continue with yardwork and clean & organize kids room & playroom
I think that if I can get this all accomplished then by Monday I can actually get back to the normal routine which I already posted here.
I only have a couple issues with the routine.
First, I might swap workout in the morning with cleaning in the afternoon. I am much more motivated to clean in the morning.
Second, I have to work on the kids having "quiet time" on the days when they decide not to nap. When they don't nap I don't get to have computer time which is my time for bible study and writing in here. I don't think I have done a SOAP bible study all month! How horrible is that! But at least I am starting to feel like I am at least able to keep my head above the water, maybe within a week or so I can make it to shallow waters!
still catching up - meal planning
This month of September has been horrible. It seems that no matter what I do I cannot catch up. I am not even sure what I am trying to catch up to anymore! There have been moments and even entire days where I feel like I am drowning and can't hardly catch my breath. I needed to do something to turn it around so I fell back on my ever faithful skill of making lists.
First I needed to get back to our weekly meal plan. I set this up some time ago and then a few days ago I redid it and simplified it even more. I have a weekly calendar where I set these up, but mainly it is the same items repeated.
Breakfasts are one of:
Cereal with milk
Oatmeal
Waffles (soon I plan to make them from scratch - for now it is Eggos)
Bread with PB&J (fresh homemade bread is so much better slightly warm than toasted)
Lunch is always leftovers if there is some in the fridge otherwise I choose from:
Turkey slices, Cheese & Crackers
Hot Dogs & "ronies"
PB&J Sandwiches, fresh veggies & dip
Chicken Quesadilla, fresh veggies & dip
Soup, cheese & crackers
Snacks are now only once a day and is fresh fruit and yogurt or appleasause. I try to have at least three types of fruit around and give them the choice. Surprisingly they seem to vary the choices nicely. They still also get small bowls of goldfish, animal crackers, dry cereal, raisins - but I am trying to cut back on these.
Suppers seem to be the most consistent as to what we are going to have on what day. Probably because I have to put more planning and effort into these meals. The variety comes with what recipe I choose and with what meat I have bought. Some weeks I might buy a beef roast, other times maybe pork.
Sunday - Crockpot Roast with Potatoes/Carrots/Onions
Monday - Pasta & Veggies
Tuesday - Stew or Casserole and Bread
Wednesday - Homemade Soup and Bread
Thursday - Hamburger Dish such as Meatloaf or Chili
Friday - Pizza night
Saturday - Leftovers or Ham or Chicken
Next is a plan to get the house in order...
First I needed to get back to our weekly meal plan. I set this up some time ago and then a few days ago I redid it and simplified it even more. I have a weekly calendar where I set these up, but mainly it is the same items repeated.
Breakfasts are one of:
Cereal with milk
Oatmeal
Waffles (soon I plan to make them from scratch - for now it is Eggos)
Bread with PB&J (fresh homemade bread is so much better slightly warm than toasted)
Lunch is always leftovers if there is some in the fridge otherwise I choose from:
Turkey slices, Cheese & Crackers
Hot Dogs & "ronies"
PB&J Sandwiches, fresh veggies & dip
Chicken Quesadilla, fresh veggies & dip
Soup, cheese & crackers
Snacks are now only once a day and is fresh fruit and yogurt or appleasause. I try to have at least three types of fruit around and give them the choice. Surprisingly they seem to vary the choices nicely. They still also get small bowls of goldfish, animal crackers, dry cereal, raisins - but I am trying to cut back on these.
Suppers seem to be the most consistent as to what we are going to have on what day. Probably because I have to put more planning and effort into these meals. The variety comes with what recipe I choose and with what meat I have bought. Some weeks I might buy a beef roast, other times maybe pork.
Sunday - Crockpot Roast with Potatoes/Carrots/Onions
Monday - Pasta & Veggies
Tuesday - Stew or Casserole and Bread
Wednesday - Homemade Soup and Bread
Thursday - Hamburger Dish such as Meatloaf or Chili
Friday - Pizza night
Saturday - Leftovers or Ham or Chicken
Next is a plan to get the house in order...
Monday, September 15, 2008
New Routine
I had created a routine a couple months ago but was having trouble following it. I always seemed to be behind and of course things later in the day would never get done. I needed a new routine and for it to be simplified and more complex at the same time! I figured this routine out yesterday and I don't know if it will work yet, but I feel good about it. Today was an off day because I have three sick kids which means I was up half the night and then today I was cuddling somebody nearly all day.
6:00 - 7:00 Bible reading & devotional time
7:00 - 8:00 Kids wake up and start to make their way into our bed and we watch Blue's Clues
8:00 - 10:00 Morning routine which includes making beds, getting dressed, breakfast, cleaning up the kitchen, any needed supper preparations and laundry that needs to be done
10:00 - 11:00 Time for exercise and play. I am hoping that I can do some kind of beneficial workout with the kids along side me.
11:00 - 12:00 Lunch
12:00 - 2:00 Naptime and my time for Bible Study and blog reading & writing
2:00 - 4:00 Snack and school. We are following the preschool curriculum from hubbardscupboard.org.
4:00 - 5:00 Cleaning, I have a schedule for my cleaning routines that I will post later. I developed these using ideas from flylady.net
5:00 - 6:30 Supper routine which is preparing, eating, dishes, and taking the garbage to the dump.
6:30 - 7:30 Bedtime routine which includes storytime, family devotional, teeth, bath, prayers & bed
My previous routine was too detailed and too split up. I was constantly looking at the routine to see where I was and what I was supposed to be doing. The best part about this routine is that I could type it out without having to look back too much at the printed copy. It flows alot better and the big chucks of time are good for when things don't run as nicely as they do on paper.
Of course this is our at home routine. The routine is thrown out the window on days we go to the library for storytime, days we will be going to MOPS, and days for playdates or shopping.
6:00 - 7:00 Bible reading & devotional time
7:00 - 8:00 Kids wake up and start to make their way into our bed and we watch Blue's Clues
8:00 - 10:00 Morning routine which includes making beds, getting dressed, breakfast, cleaning up the kitchen, any needed supper preparations and laundry that needs to be done
10:00 - 11:00 Time for exercise and play. I am hoping that I can do some kind of beneficial workout with the kids along side me.
11:00 - 12:00 Lunch
12:00 - 2:00 Naptime and my time for Bible Study and blog reading & writing
2:00 - 4:00 Snack and school. We are following the preschool curriculum from hubbardscupboard.org.
4:00 - 5:00 Cleaning, I have a schedule for my cleaning routines that I will post later. I developed these using ideas from flylady.net
5:00 - 6:30 Supper routine which is preparing, eating, dishes, and taking the garbage to the dump.
6:30 - 7:30 Bedtime routine which includes storytime, family devotional, teeth, bath, prayers & bed
My previous routine was too detailed and too split up. I was constantly looking at the routine to see where I was and what I was supposed to be doing. The best part about this routine is that I could type it out without having to look back too much at the printed copy. It flows alot better and the big chucks of time are good for when things don't run as nicely as they do on paper.
Of course this is our at home routine. The routine is thrown out the window on days we go to the library for storytime, days we will be going to MOPS, and days for playdates or shopping.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Catching up
I have had a rough couple weeks. I spent pretty much all of last week parked on the couch or in bed with a terrible migrane headache. I struggled just to keep the kids entertained and fed. But got through it and for the last few days I have been trying to get some strength back and now I need to get my house back in order. It is truly amazing how quickly routines can be tossed out the window and the terrible effects that it has. Every room in the house is a disaster and the kids are suffering from lack of routine too. Tempers are flaring, tantrums are worse, and to top all that now they are not napping! I think they are sleeping in later bacause it is not as bright in the mornings now and so they just are not tired enough at naptime. I have to rethink my whole routine structure.
First I need to get the house in order. I am basically trying to work on one room at a time to get it were it should be so that it is easier to maintain with regular daily, weekly, and monthly routines. I had already started to implement these a while ago when I stumbled upon the Flylady website. I love the concept and it is a slow process but it is working.
Anyway, here are the rooms I got through. First, as always, is the kitchen. It wasn't much worse than normal because I have the same routine that I pretty much follow every day no matter what. I cannot stand a messy kitchen - I hate to even pour a glass of water on a cluttered counter. Yuck!
Then I tackled the porch area which is a long narrow room that is usually a disaster area. It is where we keep all the hats & shoes and soon boots & coats. It is also where I have the change table. I still change 15-20 diapers a day so this is an important area!! On the far side of this room I have set up a school area with a child sized table & chairs and a cabinet for all the supplies. This is still a work in progress and I seem to not ever be organized enough to have an effective routine for our preschool program that I want to do. And that is the biggest motivater to get better routines in place.
The next area was to tackle the laundy through to completion. I have a bad habit of not putting laundry away when it is done, so today I changed that and put away clothes while they were still warm. It was so nice and cozy to fold warm clothes and see that they were not wrinkled yet.
Since I started to not allow very many toys downstairs, because they have a playroom upstairs, the living room tends to stay fairly tidy. Usually a couple minutes of picking up is all that is needed. But one of the weekly tasks for this room is to sweep and mop the floors, so I did that.
I also started on the den and the bathroom but there are so many interupptions that I did not finish either of them. I was sort of working on them both all day. Whenever I was in the bathroom I would wipe something down until I had a not so helpful helper underfoot. The major area of disaster in the den is the desk with 2 weeks worth of mail and all my Bible study stuff piled up. I absolutely must get this cleaned off so that I can get back to my Bible. I have not read a thing of substance in nearly 2 weeks and I am feeling neglected. Sure I have listened to sermons on the radio and read a few pages of devotionals, but it is not the same as the reading and studying I have been doing and started to post in here.
I just realized that I have started to ramble and I really should be sleeping. I will write more about my routines as I redevelop them.
First I need to get the house in order. I am basically trying to work on one room at a time to get it were it should be so that it is easier to maintain with regular daily, weekly, and monthly routines. I had already started to implement these a while ago when I stumbled upon the Flylady website. I love the concept and it is a slow process but it is working.
Anyway, here are the rooms I got through. First, as always, is the kitchen. It wasn't much worse than normal because I have the same routine that I pretty much follow every day no matter what. I cannot stand a messy kitchen - I hate to even pour a glass of water on a cluttered counter. Yuck!
Then I tackled the porch area which is a long narrow room that is usually a disaster area. It is where we keep all the hats & shoes and soon boots & coats. It is also where I have the change table. I still change 15-20 diapers a day so this is an important area!! On the far side of this room I have set up a school area with a child sized table & chairs and a cabinet for all the supplies. This is still a work in progress and I seem to not ever be organized enough to have an effective routine for our preschool program that I want to do. And that is the biggest motivater to get better routines in place.
The next area was to tackle the laundy through to completion. I have a bad habit of not putting laundry away when it is done, so today I changed that and put away clothes while they were still warm. It was so nice and cozy to fold warm clothes and see that they were not wrinkled yet.
Since I started to not allow very many toys downstairs, because they have a playroom upstairs, the living room tends to stay fairly tidy. Usually a couple minutes of picking up is all that is needed. But one of the weekly tasks for this room is to sweep and mop the floors, so I did that.
I also started on the den and the bathroom but there are so many interupptions that I did not finish either of them. I was sort of working on them both all day. Whenever I was in the bathroom I would wipe something down until I had a not so helpful helper underfoot. The major area of disaster in the den is the desk with 2 weeks worth of mail and all my Bible study stuff piled up. I absolutely must get this cleaned off so that I can get back to my Bible. I have not read a thing of substance in nearly 2 weeks and I am feeling neglected. Sure I have listened to sermons on the radio and read a few pages of devotionals, but it is not the same as the reading and studying I have been doing and started to post in here.
I just realized that I have started to ramble and I really should be sleeping. I will write more about my routines as I redevelop them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)