How We Do It

(Since everybody always asks…)

Everyone is always asking me, “So how do you do it?” I can never really answer them. Oh, I have used my share of snappy comebacks, such as, “Very carefully,” or, “One at a time,” or the more honest one, “I don’t know.” Some days I’m not sure I really do do it!

But in an effort to answer that question, here is a list of my basic daily routines. I developed these with the assistance of the FlyLady system. Thanks to her, I also have my weekly and Zone cleaning lists, which I try to work on in between my regular daily routines. I credit her 100% with our decision to have a fifth child; without her help, I could never have handled it. Lately I don’t always get everything done, like I used to, and I wish I could either make this work the way it used to, or find something better.

Some of the chores (marked with a *) are on my kids’ chore list, and are supposed to be their responsibility.  I also offer up my weekly chores for them to do for extra allowance.

Morning

1. Wake up, make bed, weigh in
2. Light altar candle and say morning prayers
3. Check the calendar and reset the kids’ chore chart
4. Clean glasses (mine and kids’)
5. Get breakfast
6. Give Kender eyedrops (3 of them, 10 minutes apart)
7. Get Kender dressed
8. Take my morning vitamins
9. *Hand out kids’ multivitamins
10. *Clear and wipe table
11. *Reboot dishwasher and wipe counters
12. *Clear bottle recycling
13. Exercise
14. Meditation
15. Daily blogging
16. Shower and dress
17. Clean my bathroom
18. *Reboot laundry
19. *Clean litter boxes
20. *Feed and water cats
21. Brush Kender’s hair and teeth
22. *Clean kids’ bathroom
23. 5-minute pickup
24. Plan dinner
25. Circle time for Jarod and Kender

Lunch

1. Fix and eat lunch
2. *Clear and wipe table
3. *Reboot dishwasher, wipe counters
4. Take my lunchtime vitamins
5. *Reboot laundry
6. 5-minute pickup
7. *Take Kender outside for recess
8. School time for Jarod and Kender

Snack

1. Fix and eat snack
2. *Clear and wipe table
3. *Reboot dishwasher and wipe counters
4. Take my snacktime vitamins
5. Check mail
6. Desk time (paying bills, scanning papers, etc.)
7. *Reboot laundry
8. 5 minute pickup
9. Check schoolwork for older kids

Dinner

1. Fix and eat dinner
2. *Clear and wipe table
3. *Sweep dining room
4. *Reboot dishwasher, wipe counters
5. Shine kitchen sink
6. *Sweep kitchen floor
7. *Take out kitchen trash
8. *Reboot laundry
9. Bathe Kender
10. Give Kender eyedrops (3 drops, 10 minutes apart)
11. Bedtime story for Jarod and Kender
12. Bedtime

And now the adults get some adult time…which tends to be taken up by either work or exhaustion, mostly. Oh well…

…And then I get to do it all again tomorrow! That is how it is done.