Changes & Total Randomness

Bear with me.  Please.

 

There are some changes coming.  If the Lord wills.

 

Plan to sell the bus.

 

That’s just one.  Leaves me kind of stranded, at least in town.

 

I can live with that, because there are lots of changes I want to make in the house.  Having to stay home will help me make them I guess.

 

I want to make changes.  Really what I want is for my job as teacher and mom to be my JOB.  Like 9-5 with a boss and everything.

 

I want to change my focus and have a schedule and a list of things that need to be done.

 

I have all sorts of excuses.  We moved my desk and it threw my off.  I haven’t been able to get back on track.

 

I want to have a routine for our lives and our house.

 

I was even challenged to start planning the whole year.  It makes so much sense – the same things happen year after year.

 

I have “what if” questions flying around my head.

 

I am in a tough season with the baby needing the house quiet to sleep.  Everyone goes downstairs or outside and the house kinda stands still.  Seems like nothing gets done.  I just have to keep reminding myself that it’s not forever.  But I’m not transitioning well.  I’m not using time wisely.

 

Do we ever use time wisely?

 

I think I need to pick something and stick to it.  Or simply use the system I have already laid out.  It’s a good system.  I just have to do it.  Instead I do nothing.

 

Today I feel like I wasted the whole morning shopping for next year’s homeschool stuff.  It wasn’t on the schedule for today at all!  The kids watched TV.  Now they are playing nicely downstairs while the baby sleeps and I take this opportunity to tell you what’s going on.

 

I think that maybe I need someone to keep me accountable.  But then that only works if you really want it to work.  Am I willing to do the work to get my house and my life to where I would like it to be?  Or am I willing to do the work to even get close to my goal?

 

It’s an ongoing battle for me.  I don’t know if it is for others or not.

 

Growing up I remember we had a regular routine.  Get up by 6 or 7.  Breakfast was at 7:30 every morning, except Saturday, maybe.  We were out the door by just after 8 for school.  We’d come home and do chores, then homework, then supper, then maybe some TV and then off to bed.  When I started working that routine changed very little.  Now, I understand that we were older than my crew is, but I don’t remember life when I was 9 or 10.  I don’t know what we did.

 

How do you maintain a routine with a baby and a toddler and two preschoolers and two elementary school age? What should normal look like?

 

Just feeling overwhelmed with it all right now.

 

So what do I want to do about it?

 

I want to get up at 5:30 or 6 to get time for myself – Bible, computer, blog, etc.  I love mornings!

Then I can get breakfast going.

Then we could get some chores done.

Then if it’s nice go outside.  If not, book work.

Then lunch.

Then naps.

Then clean up.

Then supper.

Then baths and bed.

And I’d like to be in bed no later than 11.

 

Is that so hard?

 

It is if you are getting up after 7 and sitting at the computer until lunch time.

 

The day is gone.  I can’t save this day, but I guess I can start afresh tomorrow.

 

Tomorrow is a new day, right?

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Assigned Rooms

Every child needs to keep their own rooms and items tidy.  This became a big issue over the winter; it got so bad in their bedrooms that we could not see the floor in the basement.  It was awful!  Now, we have the bedroom list.

• empty trash
• tidy shelves
• make bed
• do laundry
• put away toys, books, laundry
• sweep / mop / vacuum as needed

Then, on top of their bedrooms, each of the four oldest have a “common room” to keep tidy.

Laundry Room – Kristyn, age 9.5

• start washer
• hang laundry
• fold laundry
• put away laundry
• sweep / vacuum / mop as needed

Bathroom – Cora, age 8.5

• laundry away
• tub empty
• wipe toilet
• wipe shelves
• wipe sink
• mop floor
• empty trash
• wash shower curtains
• clean mirror

Dressing Room & Stairs – Marrissa, age 6

• clean clothes away
• dirty clothes away
• towels hung
• coats hung
• toys & trash away
• shoes away
• sweep room & stairs
• mop room & stairs as needed
• wipe stair walls

Entrance / Porch – Wyatt, age 4.5

• footwear on shelves
• put toys & coats away
• pick up trash
• feed & water for Doc
• sweep / vacuum / mop (Mommy mops)

I help with whatever is needed such as washing pots and pans, hanging and folding laundry, mopping for Wyatt.  We are a team in this house.  It looks like a lot for them to handle being as young as they are, but they can do the work and it really doesn’t take them very long when they buckle down and do it.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Meal Chores

I’ve also divided up the meal chores.  After each meal, we clean the dining room and the kitchen.  I’ve assigned a big girl to each area – dining room, dishes, kitchen tidy.

Kristyn takes care of the dining room.

• set table
• clear table
• scrape dishes
• wipe table and chairs
• sweep dining room
• push chairs in
• empty trash
• wipe counter

Cora and Marrissa work in the kitchen – one does the dishes and dishwasher, the other tidies the kitchen.

Dishes

• rinse dishes
• empty dishwasher
• fill dishwasher
• wash pots
• start dishwasher

Kitchen

• wash counters
• wash stove
• sweep / mop
• empty trash

I help wherever I am needed, but especially after supper, I am usually busy with putting the little ones into baths and bed.  don’t expect perfection, by any means.  I do know that they are young, but they are very capable.  If I can see that there was good effort put into the work, I am pleased.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Daily Routine

 

Daily Routine

• morning routine
• breakfast
• meal clean up
• assigned rooms
• outside / play
• lunch
• meal clean up
• nap / school time
• outside / play
• tidy living room
• supper
• meal clean up
• double check assigned rooms
• evening routine

assigned rooms is the rooms each child is responsible for keeping cleaned up.

the living room is the only room not assigned; we all work together there just before supper.

 

Morning Routine

• get dressed
• brush teeth
• brush hair
• make bed
• eat breakfast

 

Evening Routine

• bath
• brush hair
• brush teeth
• pick clothes for tomorrow
• read in bed
• lights out

We don’t have a set time for these things, but these are the things I need to have done for our day to run smoothly.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Bedtime For Children

Growing up we had a very strict bedtime.  We were in bed by 7:00 with lights out at 7:30, every night except Friday night.  (As we aged, the times got a little later, but I remember even in high school that I had an early bed time in comparison to my peers.)

My children do not have a set bedtime.  They never really have.  The younger ones finish supper, take a bath, and get ready for bed.  They are sleeping no later than 9PM, sometimes as early as 7PM.  The older three sleep in the basement and bathe after supper chores (clearing the table, loading the dishwasher, helping the little ones with their bath and jammies).  After their showers, they go to their rooms.  This is usually around 8:30 or 9PM.  Often they are not asleep until 11PM.

Our premise is that they need down time as well.  We are a very busy household, and don't take much down time during the day.  We allow them a long wind-down time each night, as they need it.  They are not supposed to come up to the living room for anything, but they do quite often.  And they are supposed to keep it quiet in their rooms.  Most nights it goes okay.

Other nights, when Jason's been working a lot, or been away from home for work or training, he wants to get to see his children, so I will keep them up a little later.  They get to sit on and around him while we watch tv and chat.  This shortens there wind-down time in the basement, but sometimes they actually fall asleep more quickly because they've had down-time of a different sort.

Our summer and winter schedules are quite different too.  And we've already moved to our summer schedule.  We are eating around 7PM now.  In the winter, I tend to serve supper around 5PM, which makes bedtime earlier.  In the summer, it stays light so late that, honestly, I forget to start supper so everything gets pushed back.  Fortunately, this really works for us.

Why does it work?

We homeschool.  We don't have to be anywhere at any specific time on a daily basis.  When we do have appointments in the morning, we make changes for that.

DH's job is accommodating as well.  He picks his own hours a lot of the time.  When the job does dictate his hours, we change ours accordingly; we go to bed a little earlier sometimes.

Not having a set bedtime schedule will not work for every family.  But it works for us.



Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Basic Weekly Plan

So I’ve spent a few minutes (maybe a couple of hours) putting together a basic weekly plan and some basic routines.  This has worked for me in the past using Flylady.net basic premise and helps.  This process, when put together, makes up a good part of my Control Journal.  My Control Journal is all the information needed to run this house, simplified.  Here’s what I got so far:

 

My word for the year: JOY

My verses for the year: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

 

Routines:

Morning (7am)

dressed to shoes

bathroom

exercise

read / listen to Bible

make and eat breakfast and vitamins

make coffee

clean up breakfast

check the calendar

start school

make bed

---

Afternoon

drink water

zone declutter

mission

hot spots

general tidy

start supper

---

Before Bed

check the calendar

supper for tomorrow

laundry

hot spots

read / TV

teeth and shower

swish and swipe

pick out clothes

lights out (11pm)

---

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
family	choir	library	filing	dance	date	Sabbath
menu & grocery list	errands	laundry room tidy	mending	finances	clean out purse	pamper mission
hs plan and print	clean out diaper bag	KIT: scrub floor	BATH: mirror	water plants	clean out bus
finances	MAIN: dust	KIT: scrub stove	BATH: shelves		write letters
	MAIN: vacuum	KIT: wash small appliances	BATH: toilet & behind toilet		BED: sheets
	MAIN: TV, mirrors, glass	KIT: wash cupboard doors	BATH: mop		BED: mirror
	MAIN: old magazines		BATH: trash can		BED: vacuum
	MAIN: book shelves				BED: clothes
	MAIN: brown shelves				BED: floor

 

There are so many other things that I do in a day, to list them all would be way to overwhelming.  By listing what I have here, I can focus each day on those items and know that if I miss them one week, chances are I’ll catch them the next week.  I feel that this is easier for me to stick to than the MOTH schedule that schedules every single moment of every single day.  I get behind and then get frustrated if I have to live by such a strict schedule.  Also, with the above chart, I can give one of the older girls a job to do and we can work on the list together.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

We’re Just Different. It’s Okay. Number 1.

My family tends to (naturally) run at a "late" schedule in comparison to the rest of the world.  We go to bed late - kids in bed by 8:30 but not asleep until at least an hour later, and J and I at midnight or later. And we wake later - 8 or 9 and then we start our day. 

 

We don’t eat breakfast at breakfast time.  It’s usually closer to 10 or 11 AM before we are eating our cereal.  So that means lunch is around 2 or later.  And supper is at “bedtime” around 7 or 8 PM.  So that means bedtime is shifted too.  See?  I am just going to have to learn to be okay with it.  (That sentence was hard to type.  I hope it wasn’t too hard to follow.)

 

Now we have been living like this for a while.  And I am just now getting my mind wrapped around it.  Like 8 years.  So silly.

 

I am giving myself permission to live this way.  There is nothing wrong with living this way.  I homeschool our children so we don’t have to conform to an earlier bedtime, etc because we can “do” school whenever we want.  My husband’s job is WEIRD in comparison to a lot of jobs out there.  He is often leaving for work at weird hours of the day – 4 (AM or PM), 7 (AM or PM) – and getting home at 11 (usually PM) or 3 in the afternoon.  So when a lot of moms would be getting up at 7 or earlier to get kids off to school, I don’t have to.  I can get up later and let my children get up later (and stay up later) than a lot of other families can.

 

When I think about it, I really like this.  There is freedom in realizing who you and your family really are.  And accepting who you are.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Our First 6 Weeks – A Review

Wow, what a great first 6 weeks.  The kids tackled their school work well.  Let’s see what we did.

 

We are all learning Genesis 1.  So far we are working on the first five verses.  The science curriculum is working through the days of creation, so we are memorizing the first couple chapters of Genesis.  Even little Wyatt and Rayna are getting in on this memorizing.  Kristyn and Cora are working through the science stuff while the other two listen from time to time.  So far we got through the first day of creation.

 

We’ve been continuing with our Building A Life, character study as well. Kristyn and Cora are enjoying this curriculum a little more.  They don’t like filling in the worksheets as there is a lot of writing involved.  We need to work on penmanship, but when they aren’t interested this is tough.  One day we’ll really get on that.  You can read what we did in the last six weeks in Building A Life here.  This chapter was about meekness and loyalty.

 

Both Kristyn and Cora are working through the Grade 2 Math from ACSI.  Kristyn completed pages 109-146.  Cora finished pages 63-104.  Or thereabouts.  They’ve learned a lot about money, telling time, addition and subtraction, beginning ideas being planted about multiplication, geometry, sorting.  They are learning lots!

 

All the children have been participating in our preK / K program.  The bigger girls love to color with the little ones and help them do their crafts.  We are using a combination of a couple Letter of The Week curriculums.  Confessions of a Homeschooler put together the main curriculum I am using.  I’m adding a few things from Brightly Beaming Resources as well.  We started with the vowels and then completed the six week session with the letter B.  Wyatt asks for school work every single day!  This week long break is going to be hard foe him.  Marrissa could use something a little more challenging but is not quite ready to push herself yet, so I’ve just started to add a more difficult activity here and there.

 

Our book exposure has been huge this last six weeks.  Each week I choose about 15-20 books that relate to the letter of the week.  Some of our favorites (not necessarily connected to a letter) have been: The Napping House by Audrey Wood, The Umbrella by Jan Brett, and Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.  Kristyn and Cora have also been choosing books to read.  The Magic Tree House series has been popular as has Junie B Jones (Cora).  Kristyn has discovered comic books and especially enjoyed The Adventures of TinTin.  Unfortunately our library system only has ONE book!  Marrissa is learning to read using Bob Books.  I caught her reading to Wyatt the other day.  She whipped through three or four of those little books with no trouble.

 

A few other odds and ends include movie night, poetry, dance, and choir.  Family Movie Night also corresponds around the letter of the week.  We’ve watched Prince of Egypt, The Incredibles, Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah’s Umbrella and The Bee Movie.  (I forget what the letter A was.)  The kids have really enjoyed watching movies together.  Dance and choir happen weekly for Kristyn and Cora.  They come home so excited each week!  This is a great time that I use to allow Marrissa to help out more around the house.  So often it is just easier to let the older girls do the chores, but Marrissa needs to learn these skills too!  The favorite poem by far has been Inchworm, Inchworm.

 

In addition to memorizing Genesis, we have a number of other verses we are working on.  Each week from Sunday school the children have verses to memorize.  Also each week has a verse that goes with the letter from that week.  We are using Sing the Word songs for that.  I have been programming the stereo to play just the songs we have worked on, so A, E, I, O, U and B.  That way the children learn by repetition.

 

Some of the topics discussed and learned about include:

• ants
• elephants
• inchworms
• iguanas
• octopus
• umbrellas
• butterflies
• telling time
• measuring
• being proud

 

I am excited for the next six weeks.  I’ve been planning and printing and searching for stuff on the letters C, D, F, G, H, J. The topics include (but not limited to) caterpillars, dinosaurs, fish, gumballs, hippos, jelly beans and Jesus.  I am planning the next 60 or so pages of math for the big girls.  Building A Life is all about self-control and honesty; these topics NEED to be discussed in this house.  Science will be about day two of creation.  We will memorize more Scripture and read a pile more books.  (We keep our little local library busy!)  The children are enjoying the break to do other things – mostly play outside and watch TV.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

I'm On A Roll, But I Worked Too Hard

For almost a week now, my kitchen and dining room have been clean when I went to bed each night.  By clean I mean, floors swept, tables wiped, dishes done and put away, counters and sinks clean.  Everything in it's place. I tell you, it is so nice to wake up to those two rooms clean!  It's a great way to start the day!  Putting breakfast on the table is so much easier. 

I've been getting up around 7AM because the two little ones have been getting up then.  I put them in front of the TV to keep them out of trouble and start my morning routine.  A couple of mornings we have even been able (though we didn't) to sit down to do school work by 9:30AM.  That means the kitchen and the dining room were cleaned and the kids were dressed ready to go.  (K did a few pages of math and the others worked on puzzles.)

I have been staying up too late though.  I really want to be in bed, heading for sleep by 11PM.  More often than not, I'm hopping in the shower then.  That means, I'm headed to sleep around midnight.  For me, especially right now, that's not enough sleep.

That's not all I've been working on (cleaning the kitchen and dining room) either.  Remember this post about the basement clothing storage?  I've continued with the progress in the basement.  I am so so happy with the progress I've made.  I've made progress on Mt. Washmore.  My basement hasn't looked this good in 6 months.  About 6 months ago we had overnight (many nights) company.  I had to have places for them to sleep.  Now I'm cleaning it, just because! 

(I think I'm nesting, don't you? Only 14 weeks left! Give or take a couple weeks.)

Oh and today we worked hard.  Below is a list of stuff we took to the curb this afternoon.  Monday is "large trash pick up" day.  We are taking advantage of this "special" day.  Some of those bags will go on our regular scheduled trash day (Friday).

• 3-4 couches
• 6 or so kitchen/dining room chairs
• 20 or so bags/boxes of trash
• a door
• two mattresses with a box-spring
• a toddler bed frame
• a crib
• 15 or so pieces (lg) duct work
• and more that I can't remember and didn't see everything J carried down.

The yard looks so much better.  That being said, there is still a lot to be done.  Being where we live, we get a lot of trash from the neighborhood blowing into our yard over the winter.  On our side of the street (in our block) we are one of two houses.  The other building is the curling rink and outdoor skating.  In front of us is the truck route.  Behind us, on the back alley, is the next row of houses.  Our house is surrounded by trees on three sides.  The trees collect the blowing trash.  We will need to go around and pick up the winter's litter in the next few days. 

The other things that need to be cleaned up are some concrete blocks and rocks.  The children insist on carting these things all over the yard.  Well, they get to carry them back to their "home" too.  A new rule just got set down tonight.  Disobedience = manual labor; 15 minutes of rock pickin' or trash collection for every infraction!  This labor will be completed before TV, visiting, playing, etc.  The children have been well-behaved this evening.

So All of that is to say, that tonight, I. am. exhausted. and. sore.  I need a hot bath with lots of bubbles.  And I want my bed.

Good night.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,