I Have Now Solved All My Problems!! (Ha ha)

Hey, gang. Well, after the mini-organizational-meltdown in my last post, I sat down with a good pen and a pad of paper and made A Plan.

Forming this Plan is basically an acknowledgment of the fact that I've been craving more structure in my life, and that my original attempts to better organize my time and activities as a SAHM had gradually fallen apart.

So here's how it works: borrowing the idea from FlyLady of having a morning "routine," (I prefer the term "checklist," as that makes it clear that this is NOT a schedule), I created sort of an outline of what I spend my time doing, and then made a list of things that need to get done every morning. It goes like this:

1) Make coffee (none of you are surprised that that one's first, are you...?), eat breakfast
2) Read devotions online (I'm doing the Bible-In-A-Year program on crosswalk.com), spend some time in prayer; assuming the baby wakes up during this process, sing some hymns with her and read her a story out of her Bible story book.
3) Change, bathe (if necessary), dress, nurse the baby (interspersed with #2, if necessary)
4) Exercise (I'm trying to go for a walk 3 times a week ("cardiovascular fitness." yeah, right) and lift weights/ do stomach exercises twice a week, with maybe "something fun" on the weekends (like hiking or ice skating.) ("Something fun" in the arena of physical activity is challenging for me, as there isn't much I enjoy. I have always wished that I could swim laps or play tennis or soccer. Maybe in Heaven...?) Anyway, when the weather is really bitterly cold I don't know how I'll handle the walking part- after Christmas I can go to the mall 3 min. away, but before Christmas, forget it!
5) Shower, get dressed in real clothes, brush teeth, etc.
6) Wash dishes/clean countertops/ sweep kitchen; tidy up the living room/bedroom. (I used to try to do this at night, but I finally realized it's really useless to plan to do anything right before bed; when I want to go to bed, I want to go to bed!)
7) Housework task of the day, which is:

Monday- Dust and vacuum (probably not dusting every week...)
Tuesday- Mop the kitchen floor/ clean kitchen more thoroughly
Wednesday- Clean the bathroom
Thursday- Pay bills (or other personal business like scheduling appointments or writing thank-you notes)
Friday- Laundry
Saturday- Groceries

Once I get through the checklist each day, then I'm FREE to do fun stuff (the stuff that I always end up doing anyway without making an effort)- reading (books and blogs), writing, hanging out with friends, phone time, emailing, random web surfing, contemplating (and, very rarely, actually carrying out) various craft projects, attempting to keep up with processing the photographs of our adorable child (over 70 pictures during her third month!! Is that too many...?), VERY vaguely contemplating that I'd like to learn to cook more things/ have an organized recipe book, and very VERY vaguely contemplating Gardening. There may be Dead Plants on my balcony, friends, but there is a Garden in my head. And all of you know it.

So, this is all not JUST about consistently getting things like housework done (although that's part of it), or even feeling more organized and not driving myself crazy (which is a BIG part of it). It's also about looking down the long road of parenting, thinking about what I want to teach Madelaine about using time intentionally and purposely, instead of aimlessly and wastefully. I would love it if she were one of those people who can master the art of getting work done with reasonable degrees of quality and speed and then enjoying play time guilt-free, instead of one of those people (like me) who procrastinate and stress and struggle. And I have a hunch that most kids don't learn the art of good time management out of the blue- that having a parent who can LIVE this way (instead of just preaching it) would make a big difference.

It's awesome how having kids makes you tackle the things in your own life that have always plagued you.

Love, NEB

PS Are you wondering how long it takes me to get through the morning checklist? Well, the baby and I spend about 12 hours in bed every night anyway (waking up to nurse frequently, so the total time has to be quite long for me to feel well-rested); so our days are already short. With interruptions to nurse and change diapers and comfort and entertain the baby, plus the phone ringing and my self-distractions (which I try to minimize), it's usually dark outside by the time I get through the "morning" checklist. But really, so far I've been happy with it, because I know I've accomplished a good amount each day and I can do other things guilt-free.

PPS Can someone ask me in a month if I'm still doing this...? :-)