Two kids in school with one activity each is not hectic yet, but it is busier that I was used to. A house that has a smooth process to it I think is stronger to handle the storms that come and go.

I fought for years the idea of waking up early, also having four babies in six years could be part of that as well. I always knew it would be good for the family if I could wake up before everyone else, get myself ready, have personal spiritual time, do breakfast prep, etc. But I just couldn’t get myself to wake up! Now it has been four weeks of waking up before my kids to get things done, and boy oh boy does it make a difference!

My “system” for my house works really well. Moms that have more kids in school and in different activities that I do probably have an even more detailed system. But this is all I need for now and it works very efficentally for us. So I thought I would share, pardon the fuzzy pictures, I did this post through my cell phone.

Our System

Girls’ Schedules:

• I do a chart that doesn’t need to be marked off, that won’t be changed during the year, or that has any reward system to it. This is just what we do because we are asked to do it. I have to remind the girls to go look at their charts but this helps a lot with having to say the same things over and over. They very easily complete what is on their charts.
• On the school days it is divided into morning, after school, and night section.
• During the school days we have what is called “Zone cleaning” I have the circle chart and every week it gets turned. After school or when the house is feeling crazy I yell “ZONES” and everyone tidies out their spots. Most times I have to tell them exactly what needs to happen in their zones (Kitchen, main table cleared or TV room, toys all picked up).
• Then on Saturday we work as a family for 2 hours cleaning the house. They deep clean their rooms and I have a bag of these pink/green strips that are interchangeable for what their jobs are that Saturday morning.
• Most of the Sunday things are just optional and ideas for things they can do.
• Every Sunday they do have to get all their outfits ready for the week. They are placed into whatever you call these closet hanger things (pictured below). You could label them with the days of the week. But my girls just go down to the next full shelf and know that is the outfit they wear that day.
• Shae uses that little blue flip chart, it is mainly for her to just feel a part of her big sister’s lives. Although it has helped a lot with teeth brushing!

Good Behavior Jars & Money System:

I didn’t want to tie chores, homework, helping out–with money. Putting it with good behavior might be just as bad so we will see. We are trying to work on throwing fits, pinching, being whiney and sassy at our house. They have an opportunity to earn 5 pom poms a day. Each pom pom is worth a certain amount of money. They also can lose pom poms, there is 0 tolerance for hitting in our house so they lose all the pom poms for that. There is no opportunity to earn back pom poms. But sometimes I’ll give them one “warning” the first time they mess up, but never for hitting. At the end of the week they cash in their pom poms for money. I show them what they COULD have earned and what they actually earned. They split their money into the attached to each other kleenex boxes; into tithing, spending, and savings. On the back of the spending box I have listed their favorite things and how much they cost to buy to remind them. 

My Schedule:

I have a weekly cleaning schedule but Saturday is the day that the house gets cleaned really well all at once. The weekly things are more upkeep. Also I have my daily schedule below. Sundays are my planning day where I put in my planner (still paper–I am still old school) the plans for the week, things I need to get done, and meal plans. Then I also write it out on my magnetic calendars on the fridge.

Need ideas and organization on meal planning? I gave a little class on it one time, tons of ideas right here. For breakfast my mother in law gave me this great idea for set breakfasts for the certain day of the week. At my house every weekday we have a greens/fruit/orange juice/flax seed smoothie. Monday is cereal, Tuesday is granola with yogurt, Wednesday is oatmeal, Thursday is eggs and toast, Friday is cereal, Saturday is a special fun healthy breakfast, and Sunday is a special fun sweet breakfast. I plan out the girls’ lunches every weekday and also the after school snacks. Then I plan every dinner for the week as well.

Phew, that is our system! Maybe it helped someone out there with ideas!

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