Our Family Thrives on Routine

What if I told you my family life was falling apart just two weeks ago. We were unorganized, always running behind, and things were just a mess in our life for the past couple of months. We were unmotivated and always preoccupied playing catch up. It took a pregnancy breakdown for me to kick into gear. Maybe it was the beginning of nesting, who knows but I’m so happy now and so is my family because our family thrives on routine!

Two weeks ago I told the hubs I needed help. Things needed to get better. I felt overwhelmed and had zero motivation to do things. If I’m honest I felt so unprepared in our family life let alone to welcome a baby in just a few weeks. We agreed that maybe it was the time we all got into some kind of routine. We made the decision to try a planned life, one that was consistent, had routines, and worked with our schedules.

Planning our life with consistency and routine

Now, this may sound simple but our family needed this structure. A life of consistency and routine where we knew what was coming and how our day would go. My planner looked a little something like this:

For our kids, these 3 routines stay the same all week.

Morning Routine
6:30 am Wake up and get ready for school
7:00 am Breakfast
8:00 am Leave for school bus stop
After school routine
3:45 pm Snack
4:00 pm Homework
5:00 pm Dinner + some family tv time
Bedtime Routine
6:30 pm Showers and get ready for bed
7:30 pm Bedtime

Mom and Dad need routines too

For the Hubs and I, our day routines change depending on the day. We work around his school schedule and work schedule. We both do our best to keep our task during the time the kids are in school as well as after the kids go to bed.

For me, planning breakfast and dinner meals ahead makes life easier. I’ve taken the role of cooking over on the weekdays so Marcus can focus on school and work.

I also like planning my to-dos for each day and limit them to just a few. I am after all baking a baby so I can’t be doing too much. I’m also making it a priority to work on content for GUB ahead of time. I use to be very good at this but now nap times seem to take over a little of my work time.

Weekend duties

Saturday is morning clean up day now We keep the same wake-up time and get chores done. Followed by breakfast and any errands we need to run. Marcus takes care of all our gardening and yard work. Interesting enough by the afternoon we are done and can have some much-needed family time.

Sundays are lazy and I like it that way. We prepare for our coming week and kids begin their bedtime routine to get ready for Monday.

After week one, our kids were happy! We didn’t have attitudes and they were so helpful. Which brings me to my next task. Implementing actual chores during the week. For now, chores are mainly on Saturday with the exception of trash day on Wednesday and laundry duty included in their bedtime routine (Ya I like doing laundry other days now because it keeps the loads to a minimum) The kids help out during the week if I need certain things picked up or tidied but I’d really like to start getting them responsible for more especially with baby coming. I’m thinking maybe dishwasher loading and unloading, sweeping, vacuuming, and so on. I’ll have to update you guys on that later.

For now, chores are mainly on Saturday with the exception of trash day on Wednesday and laundry duty included in their bedtime routine (Ya I like doing laundry other days now because it keeps the loads to a minimum) The kids help out during the week if I need certain things picked up or tidied but I’d really like to start getting them responsible for more especially with baby coming. I’m thinking maybe dishwasher loading and unloading, sweeping, vacuuming, and so on. I’ll have to update you guys on that later on another Familia Friday post. Yes, consistency on the blog is also important for me too! I’ve introduced Mama Monday, What Wednesday, and now Familia Friday!

So now that we’ve wrapped up Week 2 of this new Family routines here’s what the family has to say when I asked What do you like about our new family routines?

They give us more time to spend with each other and we aren’t rushing to do things. Also, Saturday mornings remind me of how I spent mornings cleaning up as a kid. It’s important that our kids start learning more about responsibilities.- Marcus

I like waking up early because it gives me more time to get ready in the morning and I’m not tired. Mom also makes nice hot breakfast in the morning. – Bailey

I like the new routine because I have more time to do the things I like and have more time to play. -Cecilia

I like being able to wake up my babies, make them hot breakfast, and spend alone time with the hubs before he goes to work. I’m also getting to bed earlier feeling accomplished.