Lessons from the Middle: Time/Home Management

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When I was a young mom, I was so very unaware of so very many things.

Today, I am remembering all the times that I felt like I didn't get enough done. The weird anxiety that built up in me when I looked around the house and thought about what my husband was going to think when he got home. Surely he was going to think I just sat around and played blocks with the kids. No body knew how much time I spent cleaning up that awful weed bed in the front yard, how much effort it took to get 2 load of laundry into the washer between nap time, lunch time, pick up time, and errands.
In hindsight all of that was super silly, he was never judgemental, and I was not that bad at life.
Yet, that pressure was real!
In the midst of it all, I would really be hard on myself about my home and my efforts. Particularly when I looked back over the week and could not remember what I had wasted so much time on!
The practical solutions to what I was beating myself up for were these:
  • Schedule housework like appointments and do certain aspects when it will last the longest and be most evident! Dust, mop, and vacuum on Fridays so that you can just enjoy your weekend in a clean uncluttered home. One of the ways we kept this up was to invite friends over on Friday Night (we also celebrated Sabbath) it makes you move it when you know people are coming over. It also made the weekend feel longer...no joke.
  • You may know that there is one day (usually a Monday) when the most chaos and interruption of your routine may ensue. When my kids were little, I decided that Mondays were never going to be truly productive days, so the only things I committed to getting done were a grocery & errands list, and de-cluttering from the weekend. This was really helpful when holidays landed on Mondays, I never felt like my routine was being interrupted.
  • Errands needed to just get done on one day, pumping myself up for one big day of in/out of the car, drive, shop, pick up, drop...was all that I had to do. 
  • Planned at home meals and planned eat out meals. Don't let fast food become a response, use it to your benefit. Planned eat out can be very cost effective when you have coupons, kids eat free deals, cash back deals from your bank, or gift cards. It also saves a night of food prep and dishes, which is a winner on busy worship nights or music lesson days.
  • Keep a Time Log!! This is the most important thing I did. Tracking my time not only made me recognize all that got done, it also allowed me to know what to ask for help with, and to see where I spent time and make adjustments.
Of all of the things that I look back on and wish I'd done differently, these are things I only wish I had done sooner.

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