My 3 Daily "Mom Jobs"

It's been a new kind of school year for me.  My youngest started full day Kindergarten so I find myself in a whole new era of my life.  I've chosen to "go back to work" and pick up more piano students.  I have a part-time job (maybe more--28 piano students is a lot) and it's been interesting trying to balance all of my responsibilities.

I had a friend ask me the other day how I stay on top of all my "Mom Jobs" when I'm working so much.  It's simple.  I do 3 things every single day--that has made all the difference!

1. Do the Dishes
It's my goal to have the sink cleared and kitchen clean before my kids come home from school.  It
works the best if I do this first thing in the morning but that doesn't always happen.  This might sound funny to some but because Justin is rarely home at night, I'm not always able to square the kitchen away at night and there is always the morning mess.  I also consider the kitchen squared away when I put homework assignments at the kids table spots with their after school snack...waiting for their arrival.

2. Do Laundry
I used to have one day in the week when I would do all the laundry but it's impossible now so I've been doing at least one or sometimes 2 loads of laundry every morning.  I fold right out of the dryer and there is always a clean pile of clothes for the kids to put away each night when they're getting ready for bed.  I've never ever stayed so caught up with laundry before!!!

 

3. Prepare Dinner 
I'm very diligent about putting dinner in the crock pot each morning or putting together a casserole that can be tossed in the oven between piano lessons. Sometimes I just prepare as much as I can like cooking the chicken, dicing the veggies, or making the salad to put in the fridge.  It's so nice to have dinner already prepared at the end of the day!

These things might seem so simple but because I take the time to do them first thing and it's habit then I can skip through the house and have them usually done in under an hour.  This leaves me hours to fill with not only piano lessons but exercise, scripture reading, school volunteering, family history, helping friends with kids, temple attending, dates with my honey and even attending institute!

When my weekend approaches I'm ready to have an unhealthy pizza night (been eating healthy all week) and just hang out on our Friday nights because the house is all squared away and the family helps me deep clean with our Saturday Job Jars.  It's been a perfect way to upkeep!

Swim in the Rain

A few Saturdays ago, I promised my kiddos that I'd take them swimming after all our jobs were done.  There was the regular "drag your feet attitudes" and "multiple reminders to stay on task" and so it wasn't a surprise when it took us all morning. What did surprise us was to walk out the front door and find rain!  The good old afternoon summer thunderstorm around here shouldn't surprise me anymore but I was not prepared on this specific day.  

Well, I dropped the swimming pool bag and decided we can "swim" in the rain!  I kept saying over and over..."come on, it'll be fun!"  The only one that was game was Allison--she has that personality!  That dear folks, is why I married her Dad!  She's her father's child!!!  Spontaneity is not foreign to those two people in my life for sure!

As I walked around in the rain with mascara dripping down my cheeks and yes, I was in my swimming suit in the front yard too, I thought about how I was a little sad that Spencer and Sarah got my more serious, rigid rule following self in them.  

I guess, what I'm trying to say is that I've learned over the years and still need to be reminded from time to time, that it's okay to "drop the planned swimming pool bag" so to speak and run around in the rain.  It's fun! It creates present living!

I find myself so wrapped up in my day to day schedules and planned out routines or even worse saying over and over again in my mind "some day in my next house, etc" that I forget that I can make things happen right now.  

Let me give you an example.  Ever since I was a little girl, I've dreamed of the mother I'd be and the house I would raise my family in.  One of the things I've always wanted in my house was a swing.  I've always wanted a unique, fun environment that my kids loved.  Can't even tell you how many times in the last 7 years (since we purchased our first home) that I've told myself "in our next home I'll hang a swing in our big extra family room we're going to have."  

I woke myself up about a year ago and realized, I can have a swing now.  It may not be in a big extra family room that I'd like to come in my future, but I have a perfectly good hallway where a swing fits just great.  We hung the swing!  Guess where all the kids and their friends hang out...that swing!  It's a little unique.  It's pretty fun.  It's that little dream I've had that I made happen.  I dropped my "planned out swim bag" and used "the rain" I have right now!

Thomas S. Monson said:

"Sometimes we let our thoughts of tomorrow take up too much of today. Daydreaming of the past and longing for the future may provide comfort but will not take the place of living in the present."

Dreaming and planning do bring me comfort, but as I've brought my dreaming to my life now and let go of my rigid planning a little, I've found even more comfort in my present home and in present moments as a mother and wife.

It makes me think of a quote from The Music Man:

"You pile up enough tomorrows and you'll find you've collected a lot of empty yesterdays."

Saturday Job Jars

I used to do the cleaning by myself--you know, when the kids were at school.  I'd do a my dusting on Monday, the vacuuming on Tuesday, etc. Don't get me wrong--the kids have always had daily responsibilities and one extra job they helped me with each day.

I just began to realize how overwhelmed I was feeling with my own responsibilities. I'm a full time piano teacher on top of everything else and just never was getting my daily cleaning jobs done which left it hanging over my head.

I made "the switch" to our Saturday Job Jars where we all clean together on one day!  It's so much faster, my kids are being taught so much and our house is completely clean all on one day--so nice!

So, this is how it works:

We each have one of these jars that I set in front of us at breakfast each Saturday. As we're finishing up eating I turn the fun music on and unclip that ring!  

We go youngest to oldest and pick a job and put it in our jar. When the jobs are all passed out...we hop to it!

The finishing trick is that Mom and Dad are the "Keeper of the Ring!"  You have to have your jobs checked by Mom or Dad before that job can be taken out of your jar and placed back on "the ring" (ready for next Saturday).


Our Jobs:

Dishes, Kitchen and Kitchen floor mopped
Shake the rugs
Clean all Mirrors
Vacuum Downstairs and Stairs
Dusting
Vacuum Upstairs
Sweep Front Porch
Clean Toilets
Clean Sinks
Sweep Hard Floors
Mop Hard Floors
Clean bathtubs
Laundry
Empty Garbages 

Here's a template for these jobs if you're rethinking your cleaning process...

Saturday Jobs Document
(click link)

Sabbath Six at Six

As parents we were wanting our children to spend their time on Sundays really keeping it "Holy."  That means to us, placing other things aside they would normally do during the week and do things that would bring them closer to their family, closer to their Savior, build upon their testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I had heard a friend talking about a "Six at Six" she did with her family and tweaked a few things to make it work for us.  I came up with this chart that I hang up on our fridge.  

Notice all the choices of things they can do on the bottom.  Things like:  read scriptures, write in their journal, read a good book, visit a relative, serve, write a letter, etc.  

Our children are supposed to do 6 of these items during their Sunday and can mark each off with their little "stick figure person."  I just put velcro on the back of each figure.  At six o'clock if they have done them all then they can have a family dessert with us.

Maybe it'll inspire for your Sabbath Days!  Happy Sabbath Days to all!!!

Good Rewards Home Runs

This is hanging on the side of our fridge...and has been for years!  I shared it a while back but I still have so much success and so many compliments about it that I thought I would share again.

My three kids each have a magnet and if we catch them doing something wonderful like helping each other, talking soft, doing a job without being asked, etc then we tell them to go move forward a base.  Once they hit a home-run they get to pick something out of the basket.

Our basket has a lot of little dollar store items in it, coloring books, gum, cars, but most of it is coupons that say things like:

bike ride with Dad
donut with Mom
pick the family movie
use of Mom's art supplies
ipad time
computer time
pick the family game

This started because we feel strong that children will model the things they are praised for much much more than the naughty things that they get in trouble for.

It's very motivating to the child that is watch the other sibling making a home run and they want one too.  The best part though is that it's not a set time that Justin and I have to follow through with all the time.  The kids are not allowed to ask us about it.  We just have to notice!  So, super easy for us and  makes them on their toes doing lots of good things if they have something particular in that basket that they are after.

hint: have your kids pick out what they want in the basket :)

Our Family Schedule (Really for the kids :)

I realized while I was sitting at the table eating breakfast with the kids this morning that this one little project right here has brought us so much peace around here!

I get compliments on it all the time too.

Notice the activities we are not doing today are just stuck on the flip side...out of sight!

-I started by listing all the things we do during our weekdays, weekends, special occasions, etc.  

-Printed them off the computer and made sure each one had a picture that our then 3 year old could understand.

-It was the perfect thing to use my laminator for...no sticky fingers!

-I got the metal sheet from Hobby Lobby but I know I've seen them at Michaels and even Home Depot before.

-I had my husband just use his regular drill to drill holes in the top two corners.

-grabbed a ribbon from my stash and strung it through with two quick knots.

-I put magnets on the back of each strip and then done!

Usually Justin and I are very aware what each day, week, or even month will bring but we are often interrupted to find our children need to be caught up...and very quickly!  Usually it's our dear Sarah (that has Prader-Willi Syndrome) that does not transition from thing to thing or place to place very well.

This schedule was our solution.  We hang it right next to our kitchen table for us all to see though the day.  We switch around the slips each night during dinner according to what will happen the next day.  Our kids have no question what our plans are and it significantly decreases the anxiety of all but especially our Sarah!

It also allows my children to keep flowing through the day with jobs, practicing the piano and such without their mother right there to remind them.