Dear Friends,

Your afternoon routine is one that gets glossed over many days. You move along from thing to thing in the afternoon and start dinner preparation. Things can move along quickly, and it is easy to skip some important parts of the afternoon routine.

The afternoon routine starts with lunch. Are you sitting down each day to eat your lunch? I can remember the days when my children were little, and it was hard to get everyone served and sit down myself. I worked on it though. I tried to not stand at the counter and snack. I did not eat the leftovers from the children’s lunch for my lunch. I made myself something, too.

Lunch ideas are leftovers, sandwiches, soup, raw veggies, quesadillas, pizza, corn dogs, salad, tacos, fruit, cheese, yogurt, and on and on. There are lots of easy lunch ideas. Try not to rely on protein bars and protein shakes when you can make a salad and have some protein a different way.

Right after lunch, we clear the table and rinse the dishes. Usually, the dishwasher is full, and I turn it on for a wash cycle. Then, I check the menu plan and see what I need to do to start dinner prep.

My next step is to check on the laundry. I may need to switch a load, fold a load, or put a load away. I try to get a load done during the morning, afternoon, and evening routines. This seems to give me the best flow for my laundry system. Evening loads of laundry are usually a load that one of the boys is doing or towels.

After I take care of the laundry, I clear a Hot Spot and do my daily Zone Mission. This is a 15 minute task at most. It is not a long process. I know that a lot of you procrastinate decluttering because you want a big block of time to declutter. You only need a few minutes, and it will work with consistently.

If you have not exercised for the day, you can spend 15 minutes doing some purposeful movement. If the weather is nice, take the kids outside and play. Go for a walk. Do some exercises indoors. There are lots of ways to do some exercising daily. Make it fun!

As you are going through your routines, remember to take a break and sit down for a few minutes. Drink your water.

The only other thing I would add to a homeschool mom’s afternoon schedule is a few minutes to check over school work and lesson plans.

The afternoon routine is a bridge in your day. Use it to make the other parts of your day go smoother. As you get rid of clutter, you will find it is much easier to care for your home.

Your Zone Mission today is declutter items from the tops of your counters and wipe down.

Your Home Blessing for today is to toss paper and magazines.

My menu plan for Thursday is chicken and salad.

Have a blessed day!