Habit of the Month: Back to Routines

I have taken a break from writing and posting over the summer months.  Now, as my girls are headed back to school and our schedule needs are changing, it is time for a "back to routines" evaluation.  

Some times of the year just naturally lend themselves to changes in the routines of my day and a reevaluation of my time usage.  The start of the school year and beginning of the fall season are one of those times.  (Oh, how I love the fall!  Maybe more on that in a later post.)  The relaxed morning and evening duties/routines of summer do not assist in the smooth functioning of our family as a tighter schedule becomes necessary for school obligations.  

Mornings can be chaos and craziness if we don't have some sense of structure to them.  Getting my family up and started on their days with a pleasant attitude in our home, is a priority for me.  To help make this a reality, having a routine to our mornings is a must!  Once we get into it, even on the weekends it seems the routine is followed, though at a slightly more relaxed pace.  

Often repeated in organization and time management circles, is the concept that your morning really starts the evening before.  When I first heard the idea I agreed a routine the night before that considers the morning coming would be helpful, though I really did not think it was that important.  Well, I have been converted!  Considering the next morning and day as you go into the activities for the evening is cornerstone in helping me to make the coming morning pleasant. 

In addition to getting back to more structured morning and evening routines, evaluating my activities in the home, time spent out of the home, and where I am putting my energy is a big part of getting back to routines.  Big activities, jobs, and events all trickle down into the everyday tasks and commitments.   I need to be certain they are the priorities I should have and want.  If I don't things quickly spin out of control.  

So, this month's habit:  "Back to routines!"  I am looking forward to the structured organization and different sort of relaxed feeling it will bring to my life and our home.

"Large Family Logistics"

Large Family Logistics: The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family by Kim Brenneman is an easy, enjoyable  read.  Kim's ideas are encouraging and practical.  She starts with the reality of where we may be as women and systematically presents principles and ideas that will help us grow.

Kim, mother of nine, and her husband run a farm and micro-dairy in Iowa.  She home-schools her children and enjoys a variety of gardening and sewing activities.   She offers a variety of ideas and suggestions for household, personal, and learning management. 

Kim starts her book with a section presenting principles that can help you be the women, wife, mother, and manager that is God-honoring.  Her premise that we need to be grounded in Scripture helps to bring the focus back to the reality that all we do is for God - even the care of ourselves and our home.   The second section of her book focuses on presenting ideas and plans for the organization and running of your home.  She approaches everything with the idea that we are to be working together as a family and, as a mom, we have the responsibility to teach our children the maintenance of a home and family and allow them the opportunity to "practice" by working with their siblings to help mom and dad run the house.  

I enjoyed the easy reading of Kim's writing.  She wrote in a way that is very familiar and it was almost as if she was having a conversation with you.  The chapters are fairly short, some only a couple of pages, which makes fitting a moment of reading in easy amidst everything else of life.  She has excellent ideas and lays them out in a very understandable and easy to implement way.  

There are a few times where Kim's strong feelings about how something should be done, came across very clearly.  It is important to remember in everything we read to measure it against the Truth and our own priorities.  What she says is great! but if you are not sure of where you stand you could be lead to feel badly about where you currently are and choices your family has made.  

I would recommend Large Family Logistics to most any wife and mother who is seeking to improve the management and function of her household.  It is especially helpful to those who have a large number of family members and/or a variety of responsibilities.  Her ideas can easily be translated and modified to apply in a smaller family setting as well.  

Cleaner Counter

February's habit of wiping off the bathroom counters each day has been challenging to implement.  Mid-month I almost gave up . . . Enter the mental image of me standing at the mirror yelling, "I quit"; them calm me responding, "No, I don't" and heading back to do my best to establish this habit . . . .

I have a large container of disinfecting wipes left over from a pack of three I bought for my daughter's class last fall.  Actually, I have two left (why I bought a pack of three very large wipe containers when I only needed one, still escapes the logic side of my brain).  Two containers - perfect - one for each of our bathrooms.  I moved the containers under the sinks for easy access and started wiping what of the counter I could see.  In the master bathroom this was the space of about the size of a dessert plate at first.  Yikes!  

I needed to consistently have the counter cleared enough to access it with the wipes.  So, last week I moved the items I use each morning into a portable container and stashed it under the sink.  This freed up some space.  After adding things from my bathroom drawers to my "morning container" I was able to move most of what lived on my counter out of sight.  NICE!  What a difference!  Now I can actually get at the counter consistently enough to wipe it off.  

This habit has mostly affected  just "my" side of the counter in our master bath.  I didn't even try to touch my husband's side of the counter.  The main bathroom has also benefited a bit.  I didn't get it wiped everyday, but even that counter has been cleared a bit more and there appears to be some improvement.  I even caught my five year old wiping the counter the other day.  Her comment, "It needed it, Mommy"  Wow!  Habits really do wear off on those around you.  I am so thankful this one was a good one.  

My Bathroom Counters

Here it is, the end of February and I have yet to write about the habit I have been working on developing this month.  February's habit is wiping off the bathroom counters everyday.  As I read and work through Regna Leeds book, One Year to An Organized Life, I am working in the bathroom this month.  She advocates wiping the counter each time you are in the room.  I am going for at least once everyday.  

So . . . I guess this means I need to be able to access the counter.  The clutter and "necessary" items that usually live on the counter top will need to be pared down and assigned a new home.  

So I am seeking to have a clear counter able to be wiped off each day.