hmmm funny stuff

So among other things I've been reading a bit of blogs lately... not because I particularly love following people's blogs, but because Facebook and my lovely friends advertise them so well.. and I've seen some really great ones lately.
One of them was talking about Motherhood and the value of kids, and I totally agree with the author, but it made me start to think about my role as a mom, and how much value I actually place on it.
In some ways I put all the 'right' emphasis and value on it, but in other's it is not as important as maybe it should be.  But then I think it is a mater of balance.  I NEED to have a break once in awhile to just breathe, errrr well sleep... Do you KNOW how great it is when you have had a week of 'off days' then get a full nights sleep, or at least half of a night as opposed to the three minutes you'd been getting?  I find that the route of my problems lies in sleep!  I never knew how great I could feel if I just got the proper amount of sleep!
I did let go of SEVERAL of my worries, or jobs, just so that I could actually focus on my kids.  I began to realize that there are 2 things that make this house function for me... 1. getting a good amount of sleep, and 2. routine.
ROUTINE?
yes, you read that right!  No one reading this likely knows me much at all, but if you did you would know that I NEVER had a routine EVER!  I mean at school where my classes were in the same order every day, but that was it! As a kid, and as a teen I craved the loose freedom that my parents were so great at giving, but in retrospect I probably would have been a much more successful student, and a better wife when I first became one if I'd had some sort of structure to my life way back then.
Right now I know exactly what to do at what time, and the routine is pretty flexible, that is the key all you people who have schedules and feel like your going crazy.... you have to be flexible, I have 'round about' times to achieve my goals, or time periods in which I get my junk taken care of.
So here is a sample of my month....

Here is my Daily schedule... loosely formated.

So when I have both Sleep and Routine, I find that things like the Laundry and dishes get done more often, the floor has been vacuumed and the house has a general feeling of a being a bit more tidy... That is also helped by the fact that I have a running schedule for the laundry every week.
Monday C gets his done.. why Monday?  because C is close to the beginning of the alphabet and Monday is close to the beginning of the week if not actually the beginning depending on how you look at it.
Tuesday Towels... they both start with T
Wednesday P. and I get clean clothes... ummm hmmm I can't only explain this by saying that P. and I equal We and We is the beginning of WEdnesday.
Thursday... originally I left this open but since C. is potty training I usually can fill a load of essentials this day, sheets from his bed, underwear that are piling in the bathroom basket and the like.
Friday F gets her laundry done, you can guess how I came up with that one!
Saturday I wash sheets.. well they need washing and this makes me change them regularly, and C. and F. do a goo job of leaking on theirs so doing them once a week is actually a few times to little for us right now, which is why we have Thursday...
And Sunday.. it is a day of rest right?  so actually I just didn't come up with anything clever for this day but I think it is convenient that I have no laundry to do on that day!

I'm still working on schedules and ways to remember other things like the dishes and vacuum if you have any suggestions I'd love it.  My therapist says I should just never go to bed without a clean sink, and Flylady agrees with her, but I really value this time at night where I can just relax and DO WHAT I WANT TO DO... so I don't want to do my dishes before bed.  I'm thinking that maybe I just have to train my hubby to take care of dinner.. he always leaves the table before everyone is finished, he can pick up the dishes and throw them in the dishwasher right?  I would just have to make sure that I emptied it.. and I can do that in the morning I think... maybe.
Anyway I started all of this schedule sharing to say that having this routine lets me know each and every step of my day, helps my kids to sleep at night, and it also helps me to calm down and teach them the really important things, like God's love, how to dance, how to clean up, what responsibilities they can take on.. C. has been helping me cook and set the table for dinner for nearly a month now, and though it looks AWESOME  the way he sets it and it really isn't incredibly correct, he is doing fabulous.  And by helping me cook he really just ends up being my bus boy taking things to the trash as I empty wrappers and clean out vegetables.  He's good at helping, and loves to do it... even when I tell him no.

Have a fabulous night!