My head is spinning with the planning involved for the start of the school year. I am making lists and organizing whatever I can, trying to get this family READY for the new routine. I will miss the lazy mornings, and I will miss my big kids, but I admit I am looking forward to a change of pace as well.
I’m fluttering along with the flylady, and this year, it is my goal to establish daily routines not just for myself but for the children, to keep this house and this life running along (ideally, without me constantly nagging or barking at the children.)
The children who are old enough to read have been given daily checklists. My four-year-old has a shorter one, with pictures by the words. I have printed out my weekly jobs and daily jobs, and we are practicing this week. Today, I woke up late and the bigger kids had 50% of their jobs done before I had even turned on the coffee pot. They are putting me to shame!
Why routines?
Less morning stress: lists will give them direction, so I (eventually) won’t need to prod them along with words. Results indicate they will need my words along with their lists for the first few weeks, but they should need my direction less and less.
Responsibility: Big kids learning that they are part of a family and have daily responsibilities for keeping this house running smoothly. We work together, and then we have more time to play together.
Focus: We have scheduled a devotion and prayer time into our routines. This is hard to make room for in the before-school rush, but if it is on the list, they will make me do it! (More on this tomorrow!)
Fun Saturdays: Though we will have a few extra chores to do on the weekend, I hope to use flylady’s strategies to keep this house running through babysteps, rather than dedicating an entire day to housework. Weekends are for play.
At least, I hope.
How do you handle the before-school rush?
I'd love to hear your ideas!
For those of you who are curious about the daily jobs assigned to my children, I will post them in the comments.