Organization 101 Shelley family style!
Okay, 5 kids. That is alot I know. We live in chaos, we make chaos, and sometimes, I admit it, I love the chaos. I love having ALOT of kids running everywhere! I love chasing them, driving them, playing with them. It is stressful though at the end of the day when I think, "what did I really accomplish today?" Most of the time it is crowd control. No more! I use to be a very organized person. If I would have been in this situation 10 years ago, I would be bald and in a mental hospital, seriously! So here we go. These are my steps to getting back on track. My kids do so much better when we are more organized. Granted it is summer and our schedule and life is thrown upside down anyway, but there are ways to succeed.
#1 Rule to Organizing Chaos: SCHEDULE!
It is an indisputable fact in finance that if you want to control your money, you track it. You budget. Well, I have found that the same fact is true of our time. If you want to control your time, you track it. You budget. Now I don't sit with a stop watch that counts down and as soon as it beeps we run to the next thing, but I have, in the past, used reminder alarms. We get going in a project and sometimes our time slips away. We need a reminder that we had other things planned for the day. So set a reminder. Remember we always have a choice to snooze, or turn it off. When the alarm goes off, we can make a decission about where the best place for the use of our time could be next. In cleaning, I love to race the clock. I always love ending a few minutes before the buzzer beeps so that I can sit and enjoy the work that was accomplished.
My children thrive on a schedule. We have been on both ends of the stick. There have been times, usually during a pregnancy or just after, when I am simply to tired to lead the way on the schedule. Regular nap times, learning times, the laundry (it will get done at least once a month!), it is just to overwehlming when you add that new little life into the mix of home to keep everyone on the same agenda. It takes time and patience, but eventually we figure out the routine and the family gains traction again.
I also know the opposite to be true as well. When I have consistently been keeping a schedule, my kids will hold me to it. 10:00pm just pulling in from a late night visit at Grandmas all I want to do is get the kids in their beds so I can go to bed. Half of them are asleep. My husband and I divide and conquer. As I am laying my 4 year old in her bed, her little arms tighten around my neck as she burst wide awake "I didn't brush my teeth!" Then, "What about scriptures, and prayers!" "I can't sleep without my story!" Everyone drags themselves into the front room where we say a quick family prayer, read one scripture and read a story while we brush teeth. Five minutes later everyone is in bed and the schedule has been satisfied. As much as these moments make me think "What have I turned my kids into!" I also love them when they work for me as well. My kids are so much less likely to argue, fight, debate, or rebel against mom and dad when they know what to expect. When they wake up in the morning, they do their triangles. When they ask me if they can play, I say are your chores done? They take turns on the computer doing learning time and games and polietly turn it over to the next kid when the timer goes off, because they know they will get an opportunity the next day. My kids behave better and are more loving to me and each other when they feel safe and can anticipate what is going to happen. They like the routine. There is also a lot less yelling from mom!
So this being said (enough soapbox). It has been almost 10 months since my 5th baby was born and it is time to reintroduce...The Schedule. Schedules change all the time. For me I have a general guideline that I follow for the seasons (i.e. summer, school, vacation). I recently found a template that I really enjoy using. I print myself out a full one and enter the FAMILY schedule on it. This is so that everyone can see where everyone else will be. If I need to plan for piano lessons, the kids shouldn't be trying to do learning time on the computer (ours are in the same room). I also am excited to try out the weekly planning. I printed off each of the kids their own schedule in color. I put their name on top with hourly times down the side. I laminated them and gave them each their own special marker to use for their planning sheet. Each Sunday, I meet with each one and we fill in their schedule for the week, including their chores and what day they need to be done. They take the schedule to their room and hang it up where they can reach it to mark of their tasks each day. Just like in a budget how we give every dollar an assignment, we give every hour an assignment. Maybe it is free time, outside time, help with dinner, do my triangle, learning time, scriptures and prayers, etc. They are not devistated if they don't get everything done on their schedule. We just know that on some days the schedule will be completely different and there are always exceptions. So here's to...
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#1 Rule to Organizing Chaos: SCHEDULE!
It is an indisputable fact in finance that if you want to control your money, you track it. You budget. Well, I have found that the same fact is true of our time. If you want to control your time, you track it. You budget. Now I don't sit with a stop watch that counts down and as soon as it beeps we run to the next thing, but I have, in the past, used reminder alarms. We get going in a project and sometimes our time slips away. We need a reminder that we had other things planned for the day. So set a reminder. Remember we always have a choice to snooze, or turn it off. When the alarm goes off, we can make a decission about where the best place for the use of our time could be next. In cleaning, I love to race the clock. I always love ending a few minutes before the buzzer beeps so that I can sit and enjoy the work that was accomplished.
My children thrive on a schedule. We have been on both ends of the stick. There have been times, usually during a pregnancy or just after, when I am simply to tired to lead the way on the schedule. Regular nap times, learning times, the laundry (it will get done at least once a month!), it is just to overwehlming when you add that new little life into the mix of home to keep everyone on the same agenda. It takes time and patience, but eventually we figure out the routine and the family gains traction again.
I also know the opposite to be true as well. When I have consistently been keeping a schedule, my kids will hold me to it. 10:00pm just pulling in from a late night visit at Grandmas all I want to do is get the kids in their beds so I can go to bed. Half of them are asleep. My husband and I divide and conquer. As I am laying my 4 year old in her bed, her little arms tighten around my neck as she burst wide awake "I didn't brush my teeth!" Then, "What about scriptures, and prayers!" "I can't sleep without my story!" Everyone drags themselves into the front room where we say a quick family prayer, read one scripture and read a story while we brush teeth. Five minutes later everyone is in bed and the schedule has been satisfied. As much as these moments make me think "What have I turned my kids into!" I also love them when they work for me as well. My kids are so much less likely to argue, fight, debate, or rebel against mom and dad when they know what to expect. When they wake up in the morning, they do their triangles. When they ask me if they can play, I say are your chores done? They take turns on the computer doing learning time and games and polietly turn it over to the next kid when the timer goes off, because they know they will get an opportunity the next day. My kids behave better and are more loving to me and each other when they feel safe and can anticipate what is going to happen. They like the routine. There is also a lot less yelling from mom!
So this being said (enough soapbox). It has been almost 10 months since my 5th baby was born and it is time to reintroduce...The Schedule. Schedules change all the time. For me I have a general guideline that I follow for the seasons (i.e. summer, school, vacation). I recently found a template that I really enjoy using. I print myself out a full one and enter the FAMILY schedule on it. This is so that everyone can see where everyone else will be. If I need to plan for piano lessons, the kids shouldn't be trying to do learning time on the computer (ours are in the same room). I also am excited to try out the weekly planning. I printed off each of the kids their own schedule in color. I put their name on top with hourly times down the side. I laminated them and gave them each their own special marker to use for their planning sheet. Each Sunday, I meet with each one and we fill in their schedule for the week, including their chores and what day they need to be done. They take the schedule to their room and hang it up where they can reach it to mark of their tasks each day. Just like in a budget how we give every dollar an assignment, we give every hour an assignment. Maybe it is free time, outside time, help with dinner, do my triangle, learning time, scriptures and prayers, etc. They are not devistated if they don't get everything done on their schedule. We just know that on some days the schedule will be completely different and there are always exceptions. So here's to...
CHAOS CONTROL #1-
GET ON A SCHEDULE
