Getting things done {SYL12: Weeks 19 & 20}…

Week 19 was all about routines. I think some people LOVE routines and others hate them. I am definitely all for them especially for my kids- I think that we have a good sleep routine with them both because we have done the same thing over and over again. I understand that sometimes you have to be flexible but I am pretty inflexible when it comes to getting my kids into bed.

As they are getting older I would love to set up a routine chart for them so that they know what is coming next {although they really already know}.

Their usual afternoons look like this

2:30pm: Usually around this time they wake up from their naps. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later. They will usually have a snack around 3pm.

3:00pm: If the weather is nice we head outside for an hour or they play inside if we are home bound. I play with them during this time.

4:00pm: I start dinner prep. If they are happy then I leave them to it- if one or the other or both is causing issues or crying at the kitchen gate then I usually put a dvd in for them. Most of their dvds run for 40-50 minutes and this gives me enough time to prep dinner and get all of the prep done for baths {PJs, nappies upstairs, fill the bath} and also bring in the laundry.

5:00pm: Usually around 5:00pm we eat dinner. It is early but it works for us. If the kids had late naps then the rest of the schedule, including dinner, gets pushed back about 30 minutes. Also on the weekends it is usually about 5:30 or 5:45 by the time we eat dinner.

5:45pm: Head upstairs for bath. Brush teeth. Get dressed into PJs.

6:00pm: Play downstairs while I clean up the kitchen, put Shun`s dinner on a plate and make his bento for the next day. If the kids are happily playing then I use this time to check my facebook/blog.

6:45pm: We clean up the toys together and then the boys choose some stories and we sit on the sofa and read for 15 minutes. Sometimes we read 3 books and other times it is 10 or more- it just depends.

7:00pm: The boys head up to bed. We put Noah in his bed first. Shion likes to climb in with him to say goodnight. Noah likes the light on while we say goodnight and then I turn it off as we are leaving. I have to make sure he has his cushion, froggy and spot. Next I put Shion in his bed and say good night making sure that he has his lovies as well.

I usually do not hear from either of the kids til after 6am the next morning. Sometimes Shion will wake up and call out and I go back in, give him a cuddle, find his lovies and lay him back down.

Routines work for me and my kids! That said- I don`t think they are for everyone and I don`t think everything can be made into a routine.

This week I worked on our household binder- it was on my goals list for this year as I was sick of having paperwork everywhere. I wrote down my cleaning routines as this house is so much bigger than anywhere I have lived with Shun before and I didn`t want it to get on top of me so I broke down the chores into daily, weekly, monthly and laminated it {well our daily and weekly} and put it on the fridge {so that I can check off things if I want}. There is another copy in the house binder. All the menu planning sheets are also in there as well as copies of our insurance cards, schedules for different things for the boys. It is a work in progress but it is done for now! Into the weekly routine for keeping the house running smoothly I worked in our menu planning.

Next step in routines, for us anyway, is setting up our finances better including an automatic transfer out of our account for our home loan and setting up another transfer into another account for when we have land taxes etc. Shion also needs a savings account. I also will need to set some routines in place to make sure I meet my weekly exercise goal of exercising at least once a week [hopefully more!}.

Some other changes I made was having an inbox for our mail/paperwork that I need help from Shun to fill in or take care of. Often I put things here that I know need to be kept/filed but I need him to tell me a little about what is about so that if he asks me for it at a later date I know what he is talking about {My Japanese reading skills are not so great}. Sunday nights are the nights that Shun will go through this and we sort it out.

I also made a cubby hole/basket for my handbag and WIP things {like things for packages I need to send, letters I have to post, my handbag, schedule book. Shun has one too for his work bag. On top of this is our housebinder, a container holding pens/scissor, my daily medications, ipad, address books, insurance cards/boshi techos and medical things in small pouch and a box that holds a file folder with receipts and other paper work we are likely to need often and envelopes, note paper and address forms for EMS postage and also for the takyubin services . The inbox mentioned above is next to that. My vision board that I made earlier in this challenge is up on the wall above that.

I guess you could call this area the “command center” of sorts! I know that this kind of system does not work for everyone but I definitely feel for me, while I have small kids, that working things this way is the best for us and my family.

I am blogging week 20 together with week 19 because it is about revisiting goals and also a bit of a catch up week in the challenge. I am proud of myself for getting this far in the challenge and making the effort to do each weeks challenge even if I am a little bit late sometimes. I am also so happy that I have seen some of my goals reached and that I am working towards others. I have to remember that it is better to focus on one or two things at a time instead of trying to accomplish everything at once.

I made some mini goals when I wrote my last SYL post on procrastination about 10 days ago.

The three goals were

1. blog 3 or more times {I blogged 3 times last week!}

2. Start a home binder {Done!}

3. Focus on my health {exercise, eating better and growing out my nails}. Last week I did a bit of exercise on three days as well as a fair bit of walking, I ate better and cut down on my chocolate consumption and upped my veggie consumption  as well as drank as much water as possible, 3-4L most days and my nails are looking quite good at the moment except my thumbs!

So planning can help you achieve your goals! I haven`t decided yet what my next focus will be- I am going to enjoy catching up this week on some other stuff just for me!

So did you make new years resolutions or goals for this year or even goals for the month of April or May? If so- have you kept them? Why or why not?

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