The Schedule Nerd

Every time something big changed in our lives, I have to adjust our schedules in the house again.  It's fine.  It just takes a little figuring out for me.  I do great with routines. 

Last year, with homeschooling, I would have them do chores twice a day.  Meal times were the exact times.  Bedtimes.  Everything.  Except on church days of course.  Now that I'm not homeschooling and the days are so quiet with only two little ones at home, things are running different.  I decided that any cleaning I have to do needs to be done before they come home.  I really want to have my arms and ears open when they walk through the front door.  I love sitting down with them at the table to see what nice drawings they made or how their work is going.  What they need help with or review. 

Last night I was folding clothes in the living room when it was still early in the evening.  I stopped and asked myself why in the world I was folding laundry rather than hugging and kissing my kids goodnight.  I could be reading a book to them.  After all, they are gone for a large portion of the day.  Couldn't I fold laundry in the day while they are gone?  So I put the clothes down and went to talk to my boys while they were still trying to fall asleep.  I have 8 hours a day to do my housework.  Goodness gracious.  Surely I can wait on housework till the next day again. 

I am so used to cleaning in the evening because when I homeschooled I didn't have much time for that in the day.  So that's one of my new changes. 

Another question I have asked myself a million times is "WHY DO I STILL HAVE SMALL LAUNDRY BASKETS FOR OUR CLOSETS?"  Hello.  We are a family of 8.  Laundry is a monster and those baskets fill up so fast and start spilling over before I can get to them.  So I have been replacing them one by one.  The kids now have a gargantuan one.  Seriously. 

Another thing I had to fix is the times of the kids' chores.  Okay.  They have always done chores at 10am and at 5pm.  Well, of course we dropped the 10am one because they are gone at school and the 5pm one just wasn't working.  It didn't make sense because they always come home to a clean house now and so they have no chores.  However, by 7pm we have a pretty good mess building.  So had had to change their chores to 7pm and it works better for all of us.  Showers are at 7:30pm and 30 minute reading time is at 8pm and then bedtime is 8:30pm.  I'm such a schedule NERD!  I'm a very unorganized person so I thrive on having a schedule.  Have to have one.  I never cared before but things change when we have 6 little cute stinkers.  Things just function better and my brain doesn't melt.