Habit of the Month Review - Morning Routine

So my habit for the month of April was to get through my MORNING ROUTINE without turning on the computer.  I did okay until the last three or four days.  I didn't always get up "on time" (around 0700 or 0730) but was always up by 0800.  We didn't always do schooly-school, but we could have most mornings; the weather was especially warm for just over a week and I let the children be outside whenever possible, often before I served breakfast.

The second part of my MORNING ROUTINE was the new rule: "NO ONE gets out of bed until MOMMY comes to get you!" This has worked quite well.  We have had a lot of outside activities this week and the older ones have been sleeping in.  The babies (W and R) have been the ones getting me up.

If you remember, I posted this habit on April 11th which is almost halfway through the month and so I will carry on with not turning on the computer until after my morning routine is completed.  I will continue to work on this really being routine and habit for me and for the family.  We are just getting the hang of it.

My routine, as it is written, is working for me.  (I'll re-post it at the end.)  There is a lot that I could do the night before to help the mornings run smoother, so I will look at that for next month's habit - getting bedtime and my evening routine completed without the computer!

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

To refresh your mind, here is my MORNING ROUTINE:

read from New Day, New You devotional

make bed

get dressed

go to the bathroom

wipe things down

hair, teeth, face

get the kids up

make coffee and breakfast

eat and take vitamins

check the calendars

start the day's to do list

start supper

check the laundry

do a quick tidy / kids do chores

start school work

Back to Habit of the Month - Morning Routine Without The Computer!

After being away from my Do No Disturb Tuesday for a long time I am finding myself gravitating back toward spending hours and hours day upon day at my computer and neglecting all else - hubby, kids, home, friends, exercise.  After an incomplete but very heated discussion with my hubby, and a cooling off time (still cooling off as he's fighting yet another fire) and a "tell it like it is" / "let's make a plan" conversation with Christi from Polka Spot Farm, I now have a plan.  I'm getting back to making better habits, replacing the icky ones that have taken over my life.


First thing we are working on is a MORNING ROUTINE that does not (at least for me) include the computer in any way, shape or form, until after we have started school.  (Very often I need to print from the computer during our school time.)  So here is my new and improved Morning Routine:

read from New Day, New You devotional

make bed

get dressed

go to the bathroom

wipe things down

hair, teeth, face

get the kids up

make coffee and breakfast

eat and take vitamins

check the calendars

start the day's to do list

start supper

check the laundry

do a quick tidy / kids do chores

start school work

I do best when I start early in the day and I haven't been doing so again.  I think that I'm going to try to get up at 0730 each morning irregardless of how the night went.  I can always take a nap later, if my morning goes well, which it usually does if I'm up before the kids.  Also, I reinstated the rule of "NO ONE gets out of bed until MOMMY comes to get you!"  I will plan to get the kids up by 0800 and start school by 0930.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Habits for the month of March

Tomorrow starts a brand new month!  I like to have a monthly focus or habit that I work on each month.  March will be a month of changes and I'm hoping that I haven't planned too many.

Flylady's habit of the month is getting dressed to shoes every morning.  Well, I already do that; it's a well ingrained habit for me.  I don't wear lace-ups; I wear croc-like shoes in the house.  Included in getting dressed to shoes is not wearing jammies.  I make sure I have my undergarments on and socks on my feet.  I do my hair and makeup.  Even jewelry.  I've learned that just because I'm always at home that doesn't mean that I have to look like a slob!  Getting dressed as if I were going out helps me to get a lot more done around the house.  I feel more productive.  This is even becoming a habit for my children now.

I am reading two months of Regina Leed's new book this month.  I am reading January and March.  She has included some special features in this book that I know I am going to love.  The first is a habit for each month.  January's habit is to drink two glasses of water a day; this is to get us on a good start toward drinking 8 glasses of water each and every day.  March's habit is to file away the papers for just 5 minutes each day.  I have a drawer in my desk that I just throw the papers in as I finish with them - entering them into the computer, adding the information to the calendar, etc.  I also have a box of filing (or 2) downstairs from just after we moved into this house.  We moved here in April of 2007.  I would like to think that by working on my filing 5 - 15 minutes a day that I could get all of that mess put away into files as well.

The second cool tool in Regina Leed's One Year to an Organized Financial Life are just that - TOOLS.  January's tool is a financial notebook.  I'm not entirely sure what this is going to be used for, but I have set aside a section of a three subject notebook for this purpose.  I suspect it will be for journaling throughout the year about money and the process we are on of getting organized in this very important area of our lives.  March's TOOL is music.  She says to use music to help get through the hard work that may be required in getting organized.  Whether you like fast dance music or classic rock or Mozart's symphonies it doesn't matter.  Play what music motivates you and gets you in the mood to organize!

Also, I am hoping to get us on a scheduled routine.  I want regular get up times and regular go down times.  I want a rest time every day for everybody.  I want schoolwork happening every morning and maybe into the afternoon.  I want less media (tv, computer, etc) and more play and reading.  (A more specific goal is reading aloud to the children 3 times a week.)

There are so many other organizing things I am implementing specifically in the area of homeschooling.   I want to regularly record what homeschooling we do.  I want to get us memorizing Scriptures and poetry.  I want us to play music together - such as singing together the girls' choir songs.  These things will develop over the course of the next few months, but I will be starting on them now.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,