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E-mailTips to help you put together a daily routine.
We all know that children thrive on routines but did you know you can too?
As women in the home with children or even without something we may struggle with is effective ways to organize our days. If you go about your day without a plan but you have a lot to accomplish you may find yourself spinning your wheels and not getting much done.
It’s so easy when we go to work. We have certain tasks to do each day and some of them even have certain times of the day to be done. I knew I had set up the tasks for my students before they arrived each day and that was one of the things I did first thing in the morning when arriving at work.
But that was my specific schedule for that specific job. Just as individualized as my workload was so too will be your own homemaking schedule.
It always helps to have your daily routine down on paper. Not because you're a dunce and can't remember anything but because something about the process of seeing on paper your duties for the day keeps you organized and from falling into the habit of getting side tracked and not remembering what to do next.
And here's a small tip. If you have small children to take care of during the day your daily routine can sometimes feel overwhelming. Just getting the smallest thing done can seem to take forever and sometimes you feel that you get nothing done. Remember they are only small once and this too shall pass (although you may not want it to). The most important thing during these times is not a clean home but a well cared for child. I find if I organize my days taking my toddler's growth and development into consideration that all things go much better. Meaning at three she wants to help mommy and ask about everythihg. So even though it takes much longer we do laundry (which includes putting it away), gardening, preparing meals (she sets the table), dusting, and other such household duties together.
So here is an example of my daily routine with a pre-preschooler in tow.
Take the following with a grain of salt, or a cup of tea and change it, alter it, mold it to fit your own life and needs.
Here's an example of my daily routine
Morning
Devotions: Prayer and Praise with Bible reading. Where do I read? Lately it has been along with my daughter’s pre-school, homeschool lessons. I like to get the full unedited version.
Daughter: Up, dressed, cleaned up. Give thanks for a new day.
Get Breakfast ready: I don’t necessarily plan breakfast in advance. Oatmeal is her favorite along with a boiled egg. Cold cereal, sourdough pancakes, scrambled eggs, and coffee cake are some other things we may have. My husband is not a big cereal fan so he will eat the coffee cake, eggs, or pancakes before he's off to work. This is much earlier than the toddler is awake.
Breakfast: Together with songs in the background. Usually The Singing Bible.I also read to her as I eat faster.
Morning Roundup : After breakfast I clean up the dishes and kitchen, make beds that have been airing, do some laundry and pick up around the house. My toddler/pre-schooler either follows me or finds something else that attracts her attention. I also take 15 minutes to do the focused cleaning of the day. Monday is bathrooms, Tuesday is kitchen. Again my daughter is wandering around getting into things. An empty spray bottle with nothing but water in it and a clean big bowl keeps her occupied for hours. These are set up right where I can watch her. If I'm dusting or vacuuming she helps...sort of.
Morning School: After getting the house in order I usually spend about 30 minutes (no not to the minute) in focused play and learning with my daughter. I loosely use Little Hands to Heaven and incorporate some of the handouts from our local library along with her Brighter Vision stuff. It's really jus t30 minutes of my complete focused attention for her and it's great!
Afternoon
After our play school I prepare lunch and set it in the fridge while we go outside for a walk or to play. We play about half an hour to and hour.
Back inside to clean up and have lunch.
Peanut is tuckered now but she might watch a short video. I have a few for her. Either Richard Scarry or one of her animal videos.
Down for a nap and I use this time to work, clean up if I have some left to do or ironing, and start dinner.
Evening
After she gets up from her nap it's story time. I'll read a book or two to our daughter and then she helps me with laundry or what have you while we wait for daddy to get home.
The whole family eats dinner together. This is a tradition my mother held while I was at home and we continue it in our family.
Clean up after dinner is a family affair and then the family plays, reads etc. while I play the piano (they make me).
7pm we start getting our daughter ready for bed. It’s bath time. Then she can play for about 30 minutes and we’re off to teeth brushing, prayers, story time and finally bed.
My husband and I then work on our personal projects until about 11pm. I set the house in order for the next day and off to bed.
This is an example of my routine. It fluctuates and there are other items that are not listed but this keeps me on track. Some days we run errands or go to a play group so the whole morning afternoon thing is different but the shell of my routine is like this. Also sometimes I will save big cleaning jobs for when she is sleeping or her father is home and I can focus without someone trying to get into my cleaning supplies.
I hope this gives you some ideas on what a daily routine CAN (not should) look like. Now to make this ultra effective write or type it up nice and pretty and post it where you can see it and take action!
