Love/Hate Relationship of Routines
Routines are needed in daily life. There are things we do daily, every other day, week, and month that are routines. Sometimes we start new ones, like right now I'm starting to write on the blog regularly. I'm treating this blog as a part time job. Checking in daily, writing weekly and upgrading frequently. Routines are kind of like mini goals, the more often you do your routines then easier they get.
Kids thrive on routines. Bedtime goes so much smoother when they know when their bedtime is and what comes next. If they get off track all you have to do is ask them what comes next and help them to do it. Our kids are supposed to be in bed by 8 but it usually ends up being about 8:30. So, around 8 o'clock they go potty, get their pajamas on, brush their teeth, say their prayers, grab a book to look at, then we kiss them good-night. The less you have to fight with them the quicker the proses. This is actually a routine that I have come to love because it used to be so hard and now it has become easier.
Now chore routines are the ones that I dislike the most. I usually end up finding distractions to delay those chores. I know that it makes it worse in the end. In reality I'll spend all day stressing and avoiding them when it only takes about an hour or so to actually do them. I have gotten better though because when I was a newly-wed I tried to do all of the chores in one day. It didn't work out! When I managed to actually accomplish the task, I was beat. Then the rest of the week I became bored. After I complained, my husband suggested that I just do one chore a day. I've assigned each weekday a chore:
Monday - Laundry
Tuesday - Fold Clothes & Garbage Day
Wednesday - Bills
Thursday - Bathrooms
Friday - Floors
For the first month or two I wrote them down in my calendar and would cross them off so I would remember them. It takes a while to form a habit so you should do this for a while and see if it works for you. I leave the weekends free because that's when my husband has it off so we could spend time together as a family. Also, if I became a slacker sometime during the week and haven't yet "caught up" yet, I could do it then.
This is my way of doing chores. You should adapt them your own way, if you're kids are old enough to do the chores by themselves or if you work you may need to do them all in one day. My kids aren't yet old enough to really help out a lot but I try to have them help when they can. As they get older and into school I may have to switch to Saturday mornings so everyone could help out. I don't know, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Time to go fold the laundry;)
Kids thrive on routines. Bedtime goes so much smoother when they know when their bedtime is and what comes next. If they get off track all you have to do is ask them what comes next and help them to do it. Our kids are supposed to be in bed by 8 but it usually ends up being about 8:30. So, around 8 o'clock they go potty, get their pajamas on, brush their teeth, say their prayers, grab a book to look at, then we kiss them good-night. The less you have to fight with them the quicker the proses. This is actually a routine that I have come to love because it used to be so hard and now it has become easier.
Now chore routines are the ones that I dislike the most. I usually end up finding distractions to delay those chores. I know that it makes it worse in the end. In reality I'll spend all day stressing and avoiding them when it only takes about an hour or so to actually do them. I have gotten better though because when I was a newly-wed I tried to do all of the chores in one day. It didn't work out! When I managed to actually accomplish the task, I was beat. Then the rest of the week I became bored. After I complained, my husband suggested that I just do one chore a day. I've assigned each weekday a chore:
Monday - Laundry
Tuesday - Fold Clothes & Garbage Day
Wednesday - Bills
Thursday - Bathrooms
Friday - Floors
For the first month or two I wrote them down in my calendar and would cross them off so I would remember them. It takes a while to form a habit so you should do this for a while and see if it works for you. I leave the weekends free because that's when my husband has it off so we could spend time together as a family. Also, if I became a slacker sometime during the week and haven't yet "caught up" yet, I could do it then.
This is my way of doing chores. You should adapt them your own way, if you're kids are old enough to do the chores by themselves or if you work you may need to do them all in one day. My kids aren't yet old enough to really help out a lot but I try to have them help when they can. As they get older and into school I may have to switch to Saturday mornings so everyone could help out. I don't know, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Time to go fold the laundry;)
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