New Series – Homemaking For Us Real Gals

Now there are seven children and there is not a word to describe the pandemonium in my house.

Sometimes I shut my eyes and just listen. Seriously, it doesn’t take much imagination to feel like I am sitting in the recreation room of an insane asylum.

Having a most mischievous toddler and a new baby isn’t something I’m new at but there are still times when I feel overwhelmed by the enormity of what needs to get done each day.

Since numbing prescription medications are not an option (not good for us, I am told) and electric shock therapy is now frowned upon I figured I would have to sort out the craziness of our days myself.

What. A. Task.

Hence the new blog series:
Realistic Homemaking For Us Real Gals

I feel so behind in my blogging and schooling, and my house is becoming more and more cluttered every day since Jesse was born (poor little ones, they get blamed for everything and all they ever do is lay there); but the truth is it things were getting out of hand even before the sweet baby made his appearance. This new series will be a huge help in getting me get back on track.
To keep myself from feeling overwhelmed and irritated I am going to pick one thing at a time and work on it for a week to get us back on track. No sense in overdoing it and getting frustrated. That will only wear me out and discourage me.

Starting At The Beginning.
The first thing I’ll need to do is create a simple and easy to follow schedule for myself and my children. We have had one before but it went by the wayside long ago. This schedule will include personal hygiene, chores, meals, play, personal time, and schooling. In our situation the schedule won’t be rigid but will be a general guideline to help us get important things done each day.
Saying that, I feel it is so important to remember that we are not super moms. If I mess up I am not going to dwell on my imperfection. What I will do is take a step backwards and start again with a fresh focus.

Here is our basic daily schedule on Monday & Wednesday through Friday. Tuesdays are spent at our homeschooling coop and the schedule for Tuesdays will look much different. Wednesdays are typically our shopping day and the schedule will have to be tweaked for that.
6:00 get up, wash, dress, make bed, start coffee.
6:30 Bible Study, journal
7:00 kids up, wash, dress, make beds
Mom starts breakfast
7:30 kids Bible study
8:00 breakfast
8:30 start chores (chore list on refrigerator)
9:30 start Schooling, Sam plays, mama blogs in between helping kids
12:00 Mom or Kait starts lunch
12:30 school over eat lunch
1:00 clean up after lunch
1:30 play, Sam takes a nap, mom blogs or reads, or whatever
4:00 quick clean
5:00 extra schooling with dad
mom starts dinner
6:00 set table for dinner
6:15 eat dinner & do family Bible study
6:45 clean up after dinner
7:00 get ready for bed
7:30 kids read or watch movie in play room
Mom and Dad spend time together
9:00 kids in bed
10:30 Mom and Dad in bed

Like I said, this is just a basic schedule. It is not rigid but just a basic outline for our day. I am typing this out in Word, leaving room for notes on what to add or change. There are other things here and there that will have to be added in. We have Bible studies to attend some nights.
There is also a schedule within a schedule. Schooling looks something like this in our house.

Math – 30 minutes
Reading – 30 minutes

The following subjects are worked on together by the boys and are very hands-on.

Science – 30 to 45 minutes
History – 30 to 45 minutes
Geography – 30 to 45 minutes
Creative Writing, Handwriting, and typing – 30 minutes to 1 hour

Times for the above studies are adjusted depending on what we are working on that day. We are almost always done by 12:30 PM and then there is 1 hour set aside in the evenings for extra work with dad, kinda like a tutoring session. We also do a lot of fun educational games at the dinner table.
Chores are listed on the refrigerator and are community style where everybody works until they are done. You know that popular saying, “Well, that is not my chore, so I’m not doing it”? That phrase doesn’t fly around here. The jobs get done faster this way and everybody gets a chance to learn a different chore. I typically take care of the bathrooms, however, because they just never seem to get clean when the boys clean them ~:O) and I hate to make Kait clean up after 5 little boys every day. She is happy to help but it does get gross sometimes.

On Saturdays we do a full house cleaning. All the rooms get cleaned spotless and vacuumed or mopped. I usually do the bulk of this but the kids help. Usually they wipe down the walls and the little boys (5 & 4) clean the baseboards. Sometimes Ryan will take them somewhere in the morning so I can have the whole house to myself. This greatly cuts down on my cleaning time. Lowe’s and Home Depot are great for this with there free kids programs on many Saturdays.

Sundays are free family days. After church we do a basic house pickup and then enjoy the rest of the day. I usually choose this night as our leftover night to avoid any extensive cooking, too.

I suggest if you are going to create a written down schedule that you write out a very basic one to start with and then add to it each day for a week. You’ll probably do some tweaking to it for weeks to come, as well. I also suggest that you not be too hard on yourself. Don’t expect the impossible. We are only human.
A good way to start out is to ask your husband what the most important things are to him and begin there, making them a priority on you schedule. You can work around those things to accomplish the other things you would like to get done, too.

I’ll be putting this schedule into play immediately. If everything works out well I’ll have a complete, detailed schedule done by the end of this week.

Next week I’ll start breaking it apart, working on getting each part of it oiled and running smoothly.

Personal hygiene for boys? should be a nice challenge.