Schedule

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

When I made my transition from working outside the home to working in the home, the transition was more difficult than I had imagined. I was so excited and ready to be a Stay-At-Home Mom, and the transition took me a bit by surprise. I was constantly thinking, “What would people think if they knew that I hadn’t had a shower before 2pm?!” “Dinner isn’t on the table at 5pm…how did this happen?! I’ve had all day!” But I have changed my thinking – though I still struggle with those thoughts on occasion. I decided to set up a flexible schedule that worked best for me. Here is a rough idea of the basic schedule.
Monday – house cleaning day. Stay in your grubbies and do whatever house work needs to be taken care of. For me, laundry is a part of this because the bed clothes, towels, dish towels, and rugs are all a part of my cleaning regimen. Not to mention, the clothes that I’m wearing to clean in could use a scrubbin’ too! Plan an easy dinner that isn’t labor intensive.
Tuesday – finish whatever house cleaning chores didn’t get finished on Monday. Organize and straighten anything that needs it.
Wednesday – groceries and other errands. Wednesday is also my day to go through the Sunday paper for coupons and ads. Sprouts honors last week’s sales AND the coming week’s sales on Wednesdays, so that is the perfect day to get fresh produce and anything else that you typically purchase at Sprouts for more sale prices!
Thursday – I designate Thursdays as the catch-all day for whatever I haven’t had a chance to do in the beginning of the week. Dry cleaning, bills, organizing or cleaning something that hasn’t been cleaned or got messy since Monday. If you are all caught up, Thursday is a play day!
Friday – Fridays are designated play days for Emily and me. All of the chores have been completed, and other than a quick load of laundry, we play and spend time together before I go to work on Friday evening.
I tried a few different combinations before I found one that worked well for me. I tried cleaning one or two rooms each day, and realized that I felt like I was perpetually cleaning! With this schedule, I feel more accomplished in my responsibilities and nothing gets so dirty or dusty that I’m overwhelmed at the prospect of cleaning.
With this schedule comes PERMISSION. The permission to wander around Target if you just CAN’T HACK cleaning on Monday. It’s only Monday and you have the rest of the week to get it done. Because these things are getting done once per week, if the kids are sick and the cleaning doesn’t get done, it will get done the next Monday and no harm is done!

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