Over the years, I have learned to pinpoint those routines that we do daily that are necessary to life, such as eating and drinking. Then, there are other routines that are important, such as a daily bath and brushing your teeth twice a day. After that, there are lots of routines that will improve your quality of life and bring peace into your life.
The routines are our guide, but there are times and situations when you revert to the most important routines and the extra little routines you enjoy might go to the wayside for a bit. Don’t let yourself get so caught up in your routines that you are a slave to them.
Mine are, as follows:
- Set up the coffee pot and set the timer.
- Look at the calendar, so I know what I am doing the next day.
- Check the weather.
- Lay out my clothes.
- Make sure my sink is shiny.
- Check the menu plan for dinner the next day and move frozen meat to the refrigerator to start thawing.
- Lay out anything I might need if I am leaving the house early.
- Wash my face.
- Brush my teeth.
- Go to bed.
It would be very similar if I have a job to go to every morning. My morning routine starts before I wake the boys up. This means I get up very early in the morning, but I prefer it that way.
My morning routine looks like this:
- Get up.
- Make Bed.
- Bathroom stuff.
- Eat breakfast.
- Quiet time.
- Check the calendar.
- Exercise.
- Shower and get dressed.
- Clean bathroom.
- Start a load of laundry.
- Lay meat for dinner out to thaw.
- Feed the boys.
- Start school with the boys.
They also get dressed and brush their teeth and make their beds. It really moves along like clockwork. I have taught them these routines since they were young. I rewarded them for becoming independent and helping around the house. While they are doing school, I generally do little things around the kitchen and laundry room that keeps me close for help with their schoolwork.
I do have designated teaching times with them, too. We all know just to do the next thing on our lists, whether it is schoolwork for them or house stuff for me. I have certain tasks around the house that I do on certain days of the week. Each person has a designated laundry day for clothing and bedding.
I finish up laundry, and I do any cleaning or decluttering that I did not finish in the morning. I often run the dishwasher in the afternoon, so it is ready to fill up again after dinner. I do one or two loads of laundry per day. The boys help with this task. It’s harder to make a list for my afternoon routine since it is so varied from day to day. The main constants are preparing food and laundry.