schedulaling?

[RCT]

do you all have daily scheduals? I am still struggling with what should get done on a daily routine? it all gets done through out the week eventually....LOL...just wondering if anyone has a simple routine/schedual that has made thier lifes easier....

[Amy2]

RCT, yes, we have a semblance of a schedule, though I have found it much harder to have one with two children rather than one. I have found it helps all of us get ourselves together. It goes pretty much like this:

7:15, 7:30 Wake up, ds dresses, makes his bed while I get ds changed and up. (Start IV coffee drip)
Breakfast/make lunch, while kids hang out playing, reading, whatever.
9:00 Ds goes to school. dd and I play until nap time for her, around 10:00.
Get house straightened up (or, more often, go to coffee and long walk with friend and baby!)
1:00 Pick up ds at school.
Home for snack/lunch for ds.
1:30 or so Activity with kids: park, playdate, library (or stay home while ds drives me INSANE.)
Kids have dinner around 5:00, 5:30. Sometimes we eat with them, sometimes we eat a bit later.
6:15-6:30 Ds in pj's. Teeth brushed.
Play, watche a movie, whatever until somewhere around 7:00 Stories. Bed.
Put dd down around 7:30
Deep breath. Finish up chores, laundry, whatever.
Knit. Watch tv. Computer. Hang with hubby...
11:00 or so, bed with a book.
Nighty night.

This is pretty much our regular thing. We're not rigid about it, it has just seemed to work out like this. And it seems if the kids don't eat or stay up too late they turn into nightmare children, so I've found it best to keep them on schedule.
More than you ever wanted to know? Amy

[Diane]

I wish I could say I did. It seems like I'm constantly running around like a crazy lady trying to get everything done at once. Always too much to do and not enough time to do it. LOL I must do okay though... cause everything is usually always in order, but sometimes I just feel like there has to be an easier way! LOL

[MK]

When I was a sahm I discovered my refrigerator made a perfect dry-erase board. I would write this hopelessly long list of tasks that needed to be accomplished, from taking a shower and feeding the kids to cleaning the cat box and dusting. Each chore that was accomplished got crossed off. Even if I didn't get everything done, I had a sense of accomplishment when I looked at the list and saw what I DID get done. Sometimes when I got tired of not getting much crossed off (when my list just seemed to never end)I started with a blank fridge door and would write down a task AFTER it was accomplished-- that way I would look at it and see only what I got done, and not what I didn't get done.
This doesn't have anything to do with schedules, but another trick I used on the fridge door to help my then 4yo son make acceptable food choices was make a chart of the four basic food groups, with a number next to it, like a 4 next to the milk. Everytime I fed him, I wrote the items down in the four categories. Then I explained to him what was missing, or what he was "unbalanced" with and encouraged him to choose a food from the lacking group.

[RCT]

I feel like if I write down what I need to get done and I do one or two things on the list I am doing good...LOL...I know one child was a lot easier than two....and now with the puppy its like three.....I like the idea of the food group thing too....I am like a crazy woman all the time Diane P....LOL

[AnnW]

A schedule???? LOL
I tried to have one when the kids were little, but now, my schedule is my kids' activities and I have no control over that! LOL

[coulie]

You asked,
Create a period of time for yourself to get one hour of excersise every other day minimum. Not just a walk. Take on a real physical challenge. Something that pushes you to your limit like running a mile further than you think you can. Kickboxing, yoga, swimming....make sure you have an instructer to push you. This is my lifeline. When I make time for this everything else flows...if I don't, I get bottled up and stressed out and think to myself how I'll never make it through the week. maybe you already make this kind of time for yourself. But it is key for me. Also, I keep a notepad with me all the time because if I write it down it feels like I don't have to carry it around in my mind and I can focus on the thing I am doing at the moment.
One last thing I do when I feel I am too busy is I go through a check list of the things that are making me feel overwhelmed. I find the things on my list that I am doing to please someone else and I delete it. With samll kids this is a challenge but you might be surprised how many thing you do to live up to someone elses' expectations. Give those up...life's too short for you to be too busy to enjoy it. I swear, I even like doing my laundry now.
Coulie

[KarlaB]

Originally posted by coulie

You asked,
Create a period of time for yourself to get one hour of excersise every other day minimum. Not just a walk. Take on a real physical challenge. Something that pushes you to your limit like running a mile further than you think you can. Kickboxing, yoga, swimming....make sure you have an instructer to push you. This is my lifeline. When I make time for this everything else flows...if I don't, I get bottled up and stressed out and think to myself how I'll never make it through the week. maybe you already make this kind of time for yourself. But it is key for me. Also, I keep a notepad with me all the time because if I write it down it feels like I don't have to carry it around in my mind and I can focus on the thing I am doing at the moment.
One last thing I do when I feel I am too busy is I go through a check list of the things that are making me feel overwhelmed. I find the things on my list that I am doing to please someone else and I delete it. With samll kids this is a challenge but you might be surprised how many thing you do to live up to someone elses' expectations. Give those up...life's too short for you to be too busy to enjoy it. I swear, I even like doing my laundry now.
Coulie

If I do this is there any guarantee that I will start liking to do laundry! LOL!

[coulie]

LOL,

yes Carla..and if you don't I'll come do it for you.

On a serious note though...I just watched a special on ABC last night about women and stress and you know.....the one thing that all the women had in common was..no exercise. They were all borderline depressed and had no sexual appetite. I swear that was me five years ago. They all had trouble feeling like they couldn't "get it all done". If we create serious physical time for ourselves our "to do" list is less pressing. We perceive it's importance differently when we feel good.

Have a glorious day,

skip the laundry, go for a run

Coulie

[KarlaB]

I actually started running last summer and loved it. My fil got sick in the fall and we were gone quite a bit, then winter hit....excuses, excuses, right? LOL! I haven't ran for quite sometime, but I do want to start up again this spring! I always felt great afterwards!

btw - When will you be over to do my laundry?

[coulie]

EGAD! The laundry monster just ate me!

lol.....

guess it's yours KarlaB

Coulie

[KarlaB]

Aw shucks!!