Routines and keeping chaos under control.

Have you ever felt like life was too much to do in too little time? Are you living with a messy house and a constant rush to figure out what's for dinner? Do you go to bed every night with a to-do list on your mind from the day before. Are you usually late?

I have been sick for the past couple of weeks, not having the energy to get up early and workout, etc. My routines have been disrupted big time. I have been needing a nap every afternoon. And I have been going crazy! My desk got messy, every table in my house had stuff piled on it. I felt totally burdened under a never ending pile of crap. I felt like I was constantly behind on my chores: laundry, diapers, meals, etc.

For me (and probably for most), the key to a stress free home is routines. Reasonable routines.

Depending on whether or not you knew me as a child, this might surprise you: I am, left to myself, extremely unorganized. Messy, chaotic, big picture. Now, after much discipline and work and effort, I am in serious control of the little world that is my house. Let me explain.

My house is normally neat. I keep a tight schedule. I home school my children and plan their classes a week (sometimes 2) in advance. I have 2 calenders that are filled and synced. My day is planned out. My menu is planned a week in advance and my groceries are purchased. In my home, almost everything has a place. We still have almost all the pieces to the toys that we have. This only works when I have my routines in place.

Generally speaking I get up at 5:15-5:30am. Work out until 6-6:15am. Have some Bible study until 6:30. Get ready until 7am. Get the kids up and dressed, get my stuff ready for the day (errands to run, things to do, school to do, etc). Kids are either on their way to school by 8am or we are doing school upstairs by 8:30. School is organized around BabyK's nap times so that they aren't working with markers while he is crawling between them. In the evenings we all help clean up the kitchen, we pick up the upstairs, the kids have their bedtime routine and are in bed by 7:45-8pm. Brandon and I have an hour to watch TV, etc, and then we head to bed at 9pm. Fridays are grocery days, Friday nights are Family Fun Nights, Saturdays are calender sync days, and Sundays are get ready for the week days. Disclaimer: this is not set in stone and we are not perfect at it...Brandon does so much in the mornings and evenings so that I can get my stuff done.

When those routines are disrupted, I'm a wreck! And my whole family feels it. If you are what I described in the beginning, let me suggest some serious routine re-haul. Maybe you do OK w/o routines, but that isn't normal. Routine it and keep chaos under control. Did I mention that I have a maid that comes every day and keeps my house clean? That helps! haha! If I didn't have her, I couldn't play my guitar, sit and blog, work at the church as much as I do. Don't feel like you have to have it all together all the time. That is unrealistic. I just want to share what keeps me sane, organized, and what keeps our chaos under control. (Note that I didn't say that we don't have chaos. :)

Wool Diaper Cover Giveaway

There is an awesome giveaway over at Mom's Milk Boutique blog! You can win (i'm trying to) a wool cover! I've always wanted to try one of those, but they are pricey, so this is the perfect chance. Check them out!