Schedule

With the start of the school year I have implemented our first ever schedule. I may have tried schedules in the past, but in general I claim to be a non-schedule person. That has changed since Ballerina has been in school. Sweetie thrives on schedule and she anticipates it. For instance, in the mornings she was in the bathroom with Handsome Husband while he was getting ready often enough to know what order he got ready. So when he was done brushing his teeth she was handing him his shaving cream. I knew that if I started up a schedule and it became routine that Sweetie would anticipate it and she would help me keep it up. I also needed to make sure that Ballerina was up and ready in time for school every day. So this is what our daily schedule looks like:

6:45am- get girls up, get dressed, help them make beds, family prayer

7:05am- breakfast, show picture and discuss scripture story

7:15am- brush teeth, do Ballerina's hair, Ballerina puts away clean silverware, Sweetie wipes table

7:35am- Ballerina leaves for school, get Babydoll

Once Ballerina is gone then the times don't matter as much. We just have a list of things that need to be done before I get computer time and before Sweetie gets TV time. Babydoll is really good during this time so I don't have much of an issue with completing the tasks. I ask Sweetie to help me do pretty much everything (except sweeping) and she tends to help until she gets bored. I only require her to help the whole time when it comes to wiping the counters. So here is the list:

Have Sweetie help unload and load dishwasher

Help Sweetie wipe counters

Sweep (Tues/Thurs wet mop)

Sweetie helps put in load of laundry and fold a load

Then we have a large block of unscheduled time where Sweetie colors, reads, pretends, plays with Captain Adorable, watches a show, etc. Captain Adorable crawls around, plays and explores. I eat breakfast if I haven't already (I don't eat with the kids because I need more time between taking my thyroid medicine and eating) and read scriptures and then I check email.

Captain Adorable goes down for a nap around 10am and Babydoll takes a bottle around 10:30 and naps. I serve lunch around noon when Captain Adorable wakes up. We pick Ballerina up from school at 2:25pm. Ballerina's chore when she gets home from school is to tidy the stairs. I gave this chore to her because I hate doing it and because Handsome Husband really likes it when the stairs are cleaned. Since Ballerina has been doing this every day, the stairs are sooo much tidier. I have been known to throw something on the stairs just so she'll have SOMETHING to clean up and keep her in the habit of clearing the stairs every day.

In fact, since implementing the schedule the house in general has been a lot cleaner. I've been so amazed at how MUCH cleaner. Within two days of starting, I became a believer in the gloriousness of having a schedule. By getting so much done in the mornings, I felt like I still had plenty of time to do other things. It's so nice to have order, to have my counters cleared, to have my dishes done, to have my laundry caught up and my floors swept. I feel like I have accomplished something and Handsome Husband loves coming home to a cleaner house.

So, Ballerina plays with Babydoll after her chores are done. If Sweetie needs a nap, then she goes down between 3 and 4. Babydoll's mom picks her up at 3:45 and I don't really have an afternoon schedule. We normally eat dinner around 6 or 6:30pm (I should start telling myself to begin making dinner at 5 or something).

At night the girls start their bedtime routine by brushing their teeth, going potty and getting their pajamas on. I have the girls choose their outfits for the next day and lay them out. We clean their room, read scriptures and have prayer. I always sing them two songs at night and I have started helping them say their personal prayers. We try to get them in bed by 8 or so. Captain Adorable crawls around the girls' room while we are doing the routine and then we tend to give him his bottle and put him to bed right after we put the girls to bed.

On Saturdays we add an extra chore like a bathroom, windows, vacuuming or something. We may need to modify this if some things need to be cleaned more regularly.

So there it is. We are loving our schedule!