Habit Forming

Not this kind of habit.

I have come to realize that being home with my 2-kid wrecking crew will require me to create some better habits. I could let the house fall to pieces and basically live in relative filth or I can build some routines to better manage this zoo.

I'll take Building Better Habits to Better Manage This Zoo for $1,000, Alex.

I've been receiving the Fly Lady emails for about a year or so and have tried implementing that system. It seems to do wonders for other people's households and if I actually follow through with her ideas, I think it would go a long way to managing the chaos here too. Except that...

I don't think the Fly Lady anticipated my unique brand of children. I referred to them above as a 2-kid wrecking crew and I wasn't exaggerating. Well, maybe a little, but not really.

Just before I started dinner yesterday, I picked up all the toys in the kitchen and put them where they belong in the family room. I also asked my darling son, 4, to come get all his crap precious things off the kitchen table so I could set it for dinner. He happily complied, but before I got back into the kitchen from putting all the "floor toys" back into the family room, which is literally one step away from the kitchen, my dear daughter had brought her purse into the kitchen and unloaded it and also found that "someone" had left the diaper bag unzipped and emptied its contents onto the floor. I saw the mess as soon as I stepped into the kitchen, but I didn't see the tiny Jessie doll before stepping on it. That dang thing is worse than a lego.

On Friday, I cleaned up Junior's room, then moved on to Miss A's room, only to have the kids destroy Junior's room as I cleaned Miss A's. Then when I went in to demand that they put Junior's room back together, Miss A slipped past me and strew the contents of her changing table shelves all about her room.

Basically, I am wondering if instead of trying to create new habits and routines for our family, I should just build shelves approximately 5 1/2 - 6 feet off the ground on every single wall and put everything on them thereby removing the temptation to scatter anything they can pick up. Oh, and they should just watch TV all day, every day so I can get rid of all these blasted toys.

Not my best ideas.

So I am using October as my "Habit Forming" month. This month I am going to work my morning and bedtime routines to the max. I am going to figure out the schedule that will actually work for this family. Finally I will be doing some major decluttering around here. I think that clutter is a big part of our problem and if I can get that stuff under control, life will run much more smoothly.

I'm going to use my blog to be accountable and to document my progress.

So far today, here's what's happened:

• Woke up early and showered and dressed before 7:30am (minor miracle).
• Finished homeschooling for the day at 8:35am
• Took Junior to swim class and only yelled once when he peeked under the partition into the changing room next to us just to see "who is having a rough day over there" (again, minor miracle).
• Made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast
• Spaced out and got sucked into the interweb for about an hour Not good!!!
• Hung the cloth diapers out to dry in the sun at which time the sun promptly vacated the premises. The weatherman tricked me. They said 70s and sunny. Instead we got 60s and gloomy.
• Fed the kids lunch
• Put Miss A down for her nap
• Mowed the lawn
• Trimmed the bushes and overgrown trees and cleaned up that mess
• Planned dinner
• Typed this post

 A few of my bigger organizational goals for the month are:

• Define my morning, bed time routines and cleaning routines
• Clean up and organize the basement (well, it's only been 1 year and 9 months that we've lived here, so it's about time to get that mess under control). I don't expect this to be totally done this month, but progress must be made and clearly visible to my father. He has very high energy levels and very little tolerance for (other people's) clutter.
• Meal Plan -  3 meals a day (with some wiggle room for leftovers and outings)
• Get paper clutter under control (Fly Lady's habit of the month); focusing on family pictures, recipes, and getting our filing system in order
• Get sprinkler system winterized
• Finish organizing the closet and dresser/bookshelf area in our bedroom
• Not getting lost in the internet during the morning hours
• Go to Homeschool group and Moms and Tots group at our parish (introverted mama can't seem to get herself out the door to these events, but I must do this for my kids no matter how much it pains me to meet new people)

I am using several blogs and ideas to get me moving in a positive direction and I'll share that information with you as I go. I've been doing some reading on home economics, homemaking and basically how to be a stay-at-home mom. It's not a secret that I've been struggling with this transition to SAHMotherhood. I feel a little lost without a boss to be accountable to and deadlines to meet. I want to be good at this stay at home thing and I want to really live out my vocation as a wife and mother to the very best of my ability. So here goes!

Looking for a little serenity before the three kid tornado hits.