~A New Routine~

My Mother is letting me borrow a book called "Large Family Logistics" by Kim Brenneman. This book contains tons of useful tips, encouragement and ideas no matter the size of your family. Meal planning, tackling the "Laundry Monster", getting control of the paper clutter, cleaning, homeschooling, and more! If you click on the link, you may be surprised by the cost, but this book is no longer in print. Please keep in mind, if you are considering buying it-this is a BIG, hardcover book. Not some little travel sized thing that you can carry in your purse. Well, maybe you can carry it in your purse, if so, maybe you ought to ask yourself if you really need a purse of that magnitude! Kim lovingly shares all of the things she has learned in her journey as a homeschooling wife and mother of a big brood, many of which she learned the hard way.
  Anyway, through reading her book, I have tailored a new routine much like the one she describes in her book. Yet this method, as she states, goes way back, and is not her own idea. It follows the "Wash on Monday", etc. that is even found in Laura Ingalls Wilder's book "Little House in the Big Woods." Our fore-mothers knew the value of giving each day its' own work. Christ even said "Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matt. 6:34b) He was not talking of cleaning and housework, but of not worrying about food, clothes, etc. He was saying that our Heavenly Father will care for our needs if we seek Him first.(Matt.6:33) So not to take this verse out of context, I'm just saying that like worrying about our basic needs, we should also not stress ourselves out with ''what needs doing". When I do not order my work by days or by times, I find myself getting stressed out way too easily. This is because as a homemaker, there is always something that can be done, especially if you have children. And when there is always something that needs doing, but no set time to do it, the thought of it needing to be done is always in the back of my mind, no matter if I'm doing something else that needs to be done. So if I'm folding laundry, the thought "you need to pay the bills" or "you have to call and schedule that appointment" or "you need to write a thank you note to so and so" or many times all of those thoughts and more at the same time are constantly ''hammering'' the back of my mind, making me feel nutty. It is exhausting. It makes me crabby. I don't like it.  Have you ever been there? So with this method, I can finally fold the laundry with peace of mind, knowing that there is a set time for phone calls, paying bills, writing notes, etc. And I don't have to dwell on those other tasks with this mental sense of urgency. All of this to say I started a new routine a couple of months ago, and have been following it as closely as life's interruptions will let me :). I thought I'd share that with you this week. This really has made such a difference in daily living. Oh how I wish I started this years ago! So grab a cup of coffee and join me for a little daily chat this week on routines. I hope this blesses you in some way, even if that just be entertainment! Ha, ha!