In the Kitchen

This week, according to my calendar, is the week we deep clean the kitchen.  Yesterday was Monday, so it was dusting day.

This morning already, I've taken care of the kitchen windows on the inside.  You see, I'm the detail person.  It is my job to take care of each detail in the house.  What about the every day things?  Well, the children have been trained to vacuum, sweep, mop, do the dishes, unload the dishwasher, dry and put away dishes, wipe the counters and table, wash, dry & fold and put away laundry as well as hanging it out on the line.  So if my kids can do all of this, why do I do anything at all?  Well, as it goes with children, they don't see the details most of the time.  This is where I come in.  

The above schedule helps me to remember which room we're in for the week.  Yes, I need reminding.  I write things down so I don't have to remember it.  With all the appointments, classes and responsibilities I need to take care of, the less I need to remember the better!  This reminder is wonderful!  

I take care of myself better when I know things are done and cared for.  While "everything" isn't done at the end of the day, I know that I can see progress.  I've learned that this is better than not seeing progress, or heaven forbid, things get worse.  I don't kick myself in the pants for not doing xyz because I know it is going to be done on the above rotational schedule. So there is no guilt.  

Does my house resemble "tornado" status at times?  Yes!  But, the wonderful thing is that with one hour of steady work from 10 hands, things are much better!  

Throughout the month I take note of areas that need my attention and when that time comes up, I take care of it then.  This goes for the kitchen as well, unless there is a cupboard full of ants going after that ONE drop of honey that may have spilled.  (Ask Me How I Know!!!!)  Yes, there are times when you absolutely have to take care of those details that are right in front of your face.  It is a wonderful reminder for this Momma to remind children  who use the honey to make sure the bottle is wiped well before placing it back on the shelf.  We don't want any more ants!  Whew!  

Now, I'm sure there is another question running through your mind right now, "Why not just clean the whole kitchen instead of small bits and pieces at a time?"  I'm glad you asked!  I have many many hats that I wear throughout the day that need my attention (call my name, demanding at times...) so in order to maintain my own sanity by making sure those attention grabbers are tended to, I try to make sure the 15 minutes it takes me to tend to details in the room of the week after the necessary people needs are cared for.  Yesterday I wiped down walls.  It took me a little longer than 15 minutes, but I was the only person here at home.  After I was done I hung sheets out to dry and rotated the calendar above to the next 5-6 weeks.  Hurrying in the shower, I shuffled off to get the kids from berry picking, bring them home, push the oldest along to the shower to get ready for an appointment almost 2 hours away.  You see, the details were done in the morning.  This morning it was the windows.

Tomorrow the calendar says "declutter."  The refrigerator needs cleaned out and wiped down.  I need to go through my drawers to see if there is anything I can put in the yard sale we're having over the 4th of July.  I also have a junk drawer that needs some attention.

Thursday it says to "detail the floors."  I'll have my daughter sweep the floors really good this afternoon, then I'll scrub everything after taking them to work in the morning.

What about my husband's days off?  I try to spend as much time as I can with him when he's home.  But, when he's in the garage, I try to get my own work done.  Sometimes it happens.  Other times there are other things that pull at me.  The important thing is that I look at the calendar and make plans to do the work the Lord has given me and plan accordingly when I know I'll be busy.  Thursday I plan to do my Friday work in the afternoon so that I don't have to worry about it when I'm spending time with my hubby.  

Will this system work for you?  I don't know.  You can use it, but feel free to tweak it to your own family, home and needs.  Just pray about it and ask God for His direction.  That's what I did!  

Have a Blessed Day! 

Week Number One Finished

Upon returning home from church on Sunday, we found "No-Feat" in a bucket where Daddy placed him so that everyone could see him.  No reticulating python here.  Just honest to goodness wild critter fresh out of God's creation.

In true "G" family style, the new school year began with holding a wild snake.  Me?  I went in to the house.  LOL  Notice HJ has her gloves on.  She loves this kind of thing.

I prepared the kids, letting them know that they needed to remember that we were starting school again on Monday.  Their weekly assignment sheets had been copied as well as their Biology 1 & 2 assignments.

Something has happened this week that I truly loved seeing.  There was a calm that fell over the house.  It was most like a gentle spirit of peace and comfort in the return of our scheduled activities.  What a blessing!

An experiment illustrating ocean currents.  

A Change in Schedule

The new July 1st schedule is posted.  Yes, it is a Sunday and we'll change chores on that day.  The next day, however, will be the first day of the 2012-2013 school year.

The more I thought and prayed about it, the more I felt such a pull to go to my husband and discuss this change with him.  I love his face when I ask him things like this, "Dear, would you be opposed to starting school on July 2nd instead of the 16th?"  [Insert startled/happy/understanding/accepting grin]  "Why's that?" he asks.  I reply, "Well, the more I've thought about it, the more convinced I am that starting the 2nd would do all of us well."  He replies, "Uh-huh..."  [listening while reading the news]  "Plus, the kids are displaying all sorts of signs of boredom and it's just going to get worse, and I'll end up yelling, and they don't have anything scheduled for them to accomplish and it will drive me insane.  Plus it will give us 3 weeks of school before VBS starts and we can take that week off."  Without hesitating he says, "Ok, sounds good!"

So there you have it!  They have plenty of time to look at the new schedule and get acclimated to the idea of it.  They know what is expected of them when the time comes and what to do.  We've done this for a very long time, so getting back in to the somewhat old routine will be a thing that brings them peace.  Right?

I printed off the schedule, posted it and mentioned it to them at lunch time.  I told them that it is much like the one we once had up there, but it has new chore assignments, work is already worked in to the schedule as well.  That way they can still pick berries for our friends.  The afternoon, when it is hottest, is when we'll do school work.  I don't plan to do bucket loads of work, just enough.  Enough is defined differently for each child.  I definitely plan to go to the river more, do things with Mr. G on his days off and enjoy the summer.  Those days we'll not have a schedule.

For now, though, we wait, plan, and prepare.  It helps to prepare the children just simply by having them begin [again] the simple "tidy up before bed" chores that we should do.  That way our home looks presentable when Mr. G gets home.  Schedules and routines are a good thing. =0)

When Momma is Sick-Part 3-Putting it all Together

Once I fell into a groove with my daily routines, I “set them in stone” on the calendar.  I bought a 5-6 week rotating dry erase calendar that when you write on it in permanent marker, it doesn’t smudge when you pass your hand over it to write on the calendar. 

This is what my calendar looks like now—

                                         

I have all the rooms of the week written along the left side.  This is where the deep cleaning comes in.  Everything that we do each day in the rooms of the week is written along the bottom—except Sunday.  I have all my kitchen duties written along the right side for each day of the week—except Sunday. The beauty of this system is that, even though it may not get done on one day during the week, I leave Saturdays for doing what I missed or additional things I want to do that I wasn’t able to do with the other days of the week—like wiping out trash cans or cleaning curtains.  This truly blesses my home, it doesn’t drive me.

This is the goal, this does not drive me.  When there is someone who is sick, the very basics get done and that is it.  The stuff on this calendar is not the basics by far.  Dishes, laundry, bathrooms and floors are basics and even those are just basically done, nothing “deep cleaning”, well, except the kitchen.  Wiping the counters, doing the dishes, putting dishes away, shining the sink is always done.  Rarely does it go undone.  By the end of the day, all the dishes are washed, the counters are cleaned and the sinks are shining.  J

When we do the laundry, now as opposed to pre-FLYlady, we do 3 loads a day.  We occasionally do more and sometimes we don’t have any items to wash on the list.  There are times we get behind, but we don’t fret.  We get the washing done that needs doing, then get back on track.  Once again, Sunday is not scheduled to do any laundry.  However, there are times when it needs to be done. 

Mondays-1).  Bath Towels & Hand Towels (washed together with fabric softener)

2).  Kitchen Towels, Dish Cloths, Wash Cloths, Napkins and Placemats (washed together with Vinegar instead of fabric softener—never bleached)

3).  Jeans

Tuesdays-3 Loads of Blues

Wednesdays-2 Loads of Reds and one load of whites

Thursdays-1).  Whites

2).  Bath and Hand Towels

3).  Kitchen Towels & etc.
Fridays-1).  Sheets and Pillow Cases (On hot due to allergies)

2).  Blankets
3).  Comforters
Saturdays-2 loads of Blues and anything else that needs to be done.


Usually when I wake up in the morning, I head down to start the first load of the day, transfer anything out of the drier in to a basket for folding.  I take an inventory of the items that are needed in there or things that need cleaned up.  Since our laundry room is also our Family Closet as well as our pantry, there are times when the person in charge of putting canned goods away has forgotten to take care of the bags and boxes.  Since Momma’s been sick, I didn’t take note of it until today. 


Bathrooms are deep cleaned when their time on the calendar hits.  This is when I wipe down walls, deep clean the floors, wipe the mirrors, scrub the showers/tubs (gasp!  Once a month!) , and the sinks, declutter the drawers and baskets, dust the heaters and window ledges and wipe the windows.  Now, lest you think it’s awful, think again!  Every day the bathroom sinks and counters are wiped down with a disinfectant wipe.  The shower is sprayed down with Tilex every couple of days. The toilets are “swished and swiped”.  Another person comes along and sweeps the floors really quick and voila!  Good enough!  If they’ve missed something, it can be brought to their attention to remember next time.  No worries!  No frets!  Much grace!  Much mercy!  J   None of us are ever perfect, so why expect perfection from those around us?


Floors are “basically” done every day.  The carpeting is vacuumed, in the main traffic areas and the sweeping is done.  Once again, lots of grace, lots of mercy, but knowing also that the one who takes care of the floors pulls double duty when it is shedding season.  Steps and stairs are done once a week, as is the mopping.


I’m sure you’re wondering in your mind, where do you start?  I would suggest you start with flylady.net and read all you can.  Set your timer for anything need to do or have to do, then do it.  Don’t beat yourself up for not being able to clean something or make things pristine right away.  Your best bet is to just go slow and steady. 


Once you get your house taken care of, try branching out to other programs to help you tweek the flylady program to fit your family’s needs.  Since we home school, I bought Managers of Their Homes through titus2.com.  I read through the book and started with that system 6 years ago when we moved in to our current house.  I went through so many different schedules for us and I just finally found something that works.  It is what works for us.  We use it as a goal and not feel guilty when that goal isn’t reached.  Scripture tells us that we need to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Well, many of us go as far as the loving our neighbors, but we don’t love ourselves enough to forgive ourselves for being human.  One time my son was feeling guilty, like he could have done something more to keep a little boy from falling off his back during a pony ride/play time.  He felt so riddled with guilt because the little guy fell.  I asked him, “Did he get hurt?”  he said no.  I looked at him straight in the eyes and said, “Please stop beating my son up!”  He gasped and didn’t really know right away that I was talked about him.  Then the tears flowed.  When you truly realize that you’ve beaten yourself up over something that was so very minor in the grand scheme of things, the release is usually going to yield tears.  We must learn to love ourselves enough to stop beating ourselves up.


Now, after 11 years of working with 2 programs that were sort of similar, but one addressed one part of our lives and the other addressed something different, I give you our bulletin board that guides our days—

Each of the lists above are integral to the running of our home.  They can each be added to or taken away when something isn’t working well for us.  Our daily schedule is on the far left.  If you would like to see a copy of our daily schedule, please email me privately at homeschoolmummyx3 at msn dot com.  At the bottom of our schedule is the children’s checklist of things they need to do.  They begin their checklist from 10am to noon.  After lunch, we start back in again.  This gives us 6 hours per day to do strictly academic things.  On Daddy’s days off, we do school for one of his days so that he can help with school work, then we take the other day off and do school on Saturday.  This works well for us.


Our “G” Home Guidelines is to guide everyone back to what should be happening or shouldn’t as the case may be. 


The schedule on the far right is our schedule for the days we go to co-op.  This helps to make sure we just keep going until everything is put away, then we can collapse.  We don’t do school on co-op days, but we count co-op days as school because they’re doing things at home school group for their schooling.  The blue area you see to the right is my office duty schedule. 


We are enjoying the freedom this schedule affords because it is a goal.  We work toward it, but it doesn’t drive us.  There is enough give in the schedule that allows for creativity, but also enough structure that helps those who need to know what to do next.  I am a creative person at heart who would like nothing more than to just let the day flow from thing to thing.  I’ve never been one who purposely made a schedule or anything like that for cleaning or anything like that.  But, out of necessity, my family needed me to do something different because it was driving us all nuts.  LOL

Tomorrow I will be elaborating on what I do to prepare for my Mega Shops.  I don’t claim to have all the answers, nor do I claim to have the right system, but this is the system that has helped me to make sure my family is cared for.  Why am I bringing this up now?  Because my next Mega Shop will be for almost a month’s worth of groceries, I need to be prepared! 

In His Service,
Regina

Daily Schedule

If there has been anything that has bothered me over the years it has been going against my own personal bent toward just flowing with my day. I'm an artsy/creative person. I always have been. Bending toward a schedule and getting things done through that schedule has been extremely difficult, if not tearful for me in times past. It has been so very difficult to go the direction against my natural state. For my kids' sake, I've needed to make things much more structured than I would ever have. They thrive on routine and get more done on a regularly occuring basis when there is a schedule. When they know they get computer time after their chores and school work is done, they work more diligently.

Having said that, these children are given to me as a blessing and as such, they are filled with needs that cause me to grow in my own walk of faith. It has taken such great strides for me to seek out, much less develop how to make a schedule that would work for us. What a blessing it has been to use Managers of Their Homes. I recommend the program to anyone and everyone I come in contact with. It has been a life saver for me....a creative person who has a natural bent toward going with the flow. The Lord sure knew what He was doing when he gave me these children. You see, I had the capacity inside me all along, but I was rebelling in defiance of it for such a long time. My children needed me though. The mother in me said, "It is time to do those needful things." with a sigh and a prayer. In 2005 while we were living in a campground I was given the program to look over. After giving it back to my friend, I decided I needed to get the program to help me have it at my fingertips. I am finding now that it has been such a blessing for me.

I use MS Excel to form our daily schedule.



I usually start with writing everything down that we have to accomplish in a day. From that point, I plug in the important stuff like meal times, family times, Bible Study times, then fill in school times and prep time for meals, clean up, chores, time for sewing, time for showers, piano practice and so forth. Inevitably there is always something that is overlooked or overscheduled. There are nips and tucks to make and as children change, there will be changes made there too. The important thing is to not be discouraged.

I don't have a Saturday or Sunday Schedule yet, but this past weekend has shown me how very essential a loose schedule would be for each of us to know what needs to be done instead of roaming around waiting for someone to tell us something. LOL



I have our schedule posted on a nice bulletin board (at hubby's request). I also left some room to add a weekend schedule in the middle. I'm hoping to get that finished here soon since our busy season is quickly closing in on us.

A note of encouragement~this schedule is the goal. It is not the driving force. If something happens or we have someone over, the schedule goes by the wayside. We can always pick the schedule back up once things settle down. The key is to not fret or stress out or stress those around us about keeping up wth the schedule.

Another thing~I do not schedule my husband. I let him know that I would like to spend a particular time with him during the day, but ultimately, he has final vetoing power in our home. I do not stress out about this. He is the God ordained head of our home and if he wants to change the schedule around a bit for the day, then I encourage that. He needs to feel that if he'd like to do a "spur of the moment" fishing trip as a family that we can have the freedom to do so. One never knows if there is a God given lesson that He is intending to teach us through my husband or us through our children (God is that way, huh?). We need to be flexible when times call for flexibility. Copperswife uses the terms "hold our plans loosely". I love that saying!

Remember the goal for having a schedule is to bless our homes and families and as a reminder to help us accomplish the things the Lord has given us to do. We are not to hold the schedule so tightly that stress reigns in our homes. Our homes need to be a place of peaceful sanctuary for those who are blessed to be called our family, and occationally those who come to visit.

Blessings,