I have a real problem with schedules. We have a couple of semi routines which usually end up being batches of tasks which must be accomplished by a given time in our day. For instance:
Princess must have her hair and teeth and clothing ready, breakfasted, and shoes on by the time we need to take her to school. I don't care what order it's done in as long as it happens. Same general idea for bedtime.
The thing is, my kids are too young or I'm too weak-willed to stick with a hard and fast schedule. Frieda will get hungry, we'll have days like today when all four kids are messily sick in some way or another, or what the heck ever. Since I couldn't keep a perfect schedule I never kept any schedule at all. Which of course didn't work well for me.
Another factor to consider when designing my own accountability system was my learning style: kinesthetic with a chewy crust of visual.
A cheap magnetic dry erase board, a roll of magnetic tape, scissors, a permanent marker, and an hour resulted in this:
Why did this simple thing take a whole hour? Because I wrote up the chore list only to encounter a power failure, hard reset of the computer, and stinking Office wouldn't restore my document. Grrr.
Anyway, the idea is this: I have groups of things on the board which must be accomplished by a given time each day, as well as weekly and monthly groups. The hardest part was taking a realistic look at what I felt I could accomplish by 10 in the morning since the price I pay for only having one feeding at night is a very hungry baby in the morning who makes up for her fast with a frightening level of driven focus. I'm able to add tasks as I need to and likewise leave some out. Today I've markered in things I've accomplished to acknowledge a few of the larger "extras" that crop up. As things are accomplished they are moved to the right side of the board and then shifted back in the morning.
It's entirely practical and therefore plain, but pertinent to my need for a loose schedule, accountability, and a kinesthetic yet long term solution (ie, a paper check list just hasn't worked well for me... to easy to lose or tear. additionally, computer spread sheets just mean more computer time. since I usually nurse during computer time as it is, I didn't need one more thing bringing me back to face my addiction every few mins)
As my ability to efficiently care for a brood of four whipersnappers increases, I can move some things from monthly to weekly and flesh out some of the tasks I sort of skimp on.
Things that must be done daily on weekends will be bordered in black so things don't take their usual terminal nosedive during those "days off."
(short story: I took a day off yesterday. It was a disaster. The end.)
Anyway, those menus I talked about around a month ago? They work. I've got three full weeks of menu planning done and they work. Really!! Using Recipezaar's menu planning thingy as well as my Mom's approach to menu planning, I can say that I've built a system that finally brings me success.
Here's tonight's dinner:
Million Dollar Chicken
It's inexpensive, delicious, and easy. Those are my favorite adjectives to apply to any meal. It's in my crockpot simmering as we speak. Using flash frozen chicken it took under a minute to put together. Yay! I have a spaghetti squash I'm going to halve and roast which is another super easy thing to do.
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