SAHM help! What's your routine.??

amparker1984 · August 2013

I am a sahm and this is the first time I've not held a job in 15 years. It's also the first time I've been responsible for another human being.

I'm finding it difficult to find my groove. I feel like six months down the road I should be able to accomplish more in a day than I am, and on a more consistent basis. My house has 5 rooms literally and they are small -LR 2B/1b and kitchen. And They are all a disaster.

kleigh926 · August 2013

I am mostly a SAHM. I do work sometimes, but very minimal hours (I'm a nurse on an as-needed basis). This week I was home everyday. Our routine is that I basically plan 1 or 2 household chores to do every day, in addition to making supper and washing the dishes every night.
Sunday (or Monday, if I'm not working) I do the dusting. Tuesday is laundry and cleaning the floors. Wednesday I make a grocery list and usually clean the bathroom. Thursday I pay the bills and go grocery shopping. Friday is laundry again and vacuuming. Saturday I try to keep open for any extra stuff I didn't get done during the week.
If I don't make a weekly "schedule" for myself I feel very disorganized, so that's what works for me.

wifeofadam · August 2013

I recently discovered the Motivated Moms system and it has been life-changing! It helps me stay organized with my hosuework, giving me a simple daily to-do list and then rotating chores from a weekly or monthly list that get done each day. I use the page per day planner with scheduled Bible reading.

Apart from the chore list, I have to do 2-3 loads of laundry a day just to maintain the house - one load of diapers, one load of towels/soiled sheets, and one load of clothing. If I skip a day or two the laundry pile will become overwhelming (and stinky because my kids often have accidents).

Sunday I inventory the fridge and freezer and make a shopping list/cut coupons. Monday I go grocery shopping and then meal plan for the rest of the week when I get home. On day I week I spend in the kitchen doing food prep - making bulk pancake mix, sourdough bread, sprouting, canning, etc.

Our days are pretty routine, but flexible. It's too hard to have a strict schedule with so many little ones, because accidents are bound to happen that tend to throw us off. We have a pattern to our day -

6:45 - everyone wakes for breakfast
7:30 - showers/get dressed
8:00-10:00 - school work
10:00-12:00 - errands or outdoor playtime depending on the day
12:00 - lunch
1:00-3:30 - naps (my time to do work on the computer, relax, or do extra chores)
4:00 - afternoon school lesson, playing with kids, or chore time depending on the day
5:30 - make dinner
6:30 - eat dinner
7:00 - family time
8:00 - bedtime routine for kids

Our day flows that way every day with times changing by 30 minutes here or there. I find that if I don't get up, make breakfast right away, and then get everyone dressed, we sort of drag along and find that we waste half of the morning. Then it's hard to get motivated to do much of anything. If you just start as soon as your feet hit the floor it's easier.

wifeofadam · August 2013

I forgot to add - the language that you used in your first sentence is telling - "I am a sahm and this is the first time I've not held a job in 15 years."

You do have a job - it's being a mom and a homemaker. If you look at your job as household maintenance it will change everything. In every job you need to have a schedule, rules, and expectations for yourself. Create a chore list, create a schedule, and start to view your time at home as another job, just like the others you've had for the last 15 years. When we don't view our time at home as something important it's easy to fall into a rut and get lazy, which sort of feeds into feeling like we aren't important.

babywisher · August 2013

I feel as though my house is a disaster area all the time! Between dd's toys starting to be all over and ds's toys everywhere my ocd self is nowhere to be found. I get dd down for a nap in time to make breakfast, clean from breakfast, do either sweeping or start laundry, and some lessons for my little man. She wakes up eats. Then its a little play time before lunch. Ds goes down for a nap at 12:30 and dd at 1. They both take good long naps. So I get me time and cleaning then supper prep before them waking up. When we have outings it is just mass chaos the whole day! I still feel overwhelmed most of the time.

musicalmama5 · August 2013

DC2London said:

I doubt it will be helpful to tell you about our day now bc the 3 year old's needs kind of manipulate the schedule. But, when my oldest was 6 months old, this is kind of how our day went:

7:00 wake up, breakfast, play on the floor, baby goes in saucer while I do some housework
9:00 down for morning nap, I get myself ready to go out and set out clothing/diaper for baby
10:00 up from nap, outing (grocery store, library, story time, playdate, etc)
12:00 home, lunch
1:00 afternoon nap, I always had to lay down with him so this was when I would relax, read, catch up on Tivo, etc
4:00 up from nap, walk outdoors, more playtime on the floor
6:00 dinner, followed by play time with daddy while mommy does the washing up and takes a quick shower
7:00 bath, book, bed

In terms of cleaning, I basically do one floor of my house per day. Monday I do kitchen and bathrooms. Tuesday I clean the ground floor. Wednesday I deep clean the bathrooms. Thursday I clean the third floor. Friday I clean the main level. I vacuum the living room, clean up the kitchen, sweep and spot clean the kitchen floor, and wipe down the bathroom surfaces daily.

This is my schedule right now! Ha!

happylady5 · August 2013

Ditto PPs. Come up with a daily cleaning schedule and take advantage of naps. But ultimately remember laundry and dishes will always be there. Your LO won't be little forever.

pitterpatter129 · August 2013

I'm at home this year too. After ten years of teaching, I don't know what I'm doing either. I have a 2 yr old also who should probably have more of a schedule. I'm with you on the mess and lack of organization. It's ridiculous, but I'm not quite motivated enough to fix it. I'm kind of enjoying not going to work everyday. I haven't slept past 5:00 am in years! However, I feel very guilty the house is in such a shambles when I'm at home all day long. I used to keep up with it and a full-time job away from home...but we weren't home making the mess then either. I figure I'll get into a routine eventually... I'm still wearing maternity clothes, so I'm going with "just" had a baby a little bit longer!

ally2011 · August 2013

pitterpatter129 said:

I'm at home this year too. After ten years of teaching, I don't know what I'm doing either. I have a 2 yr old also who should probably have more of a schedule. I'm with you on the mess and lack of organization. It's ridiculous, but I'm not quite motivated enough to fix it. I'm kind of enjoying not going to work everyday. I haven't slept past 5:00 am in years! However, I feel very guilty the house is in such a shambles when I'm at home all day long. I used to keep up with it and a full-time job away from home...but we weren't home making the mess then either. I figure I'll get into a routine eventually... I'm still wearing maternity clothes, so I'm going with "just" had a baby a little bit longer!

I love you! This is me too in many ways

ally2011 · August 2013

This blog also has good resources: https://inspiredtoaction.com/

amparker1984 · August 2013

Thanks lady's I downloaded the motivated moms app. Gonna give it a shot.

meechellebelle · August 2013

I feel you - this is the first time I haven't had a "job" and am also a FTM. I make sure that everyday I pick up around the house and make it look neat, do the dishes, wipe down kitchen counters and attempt to put dirty laundry in the laundry room. That way nothing gets too overwhelming. When DH is home I try to do a big clean of bathrooms, vacuuming etc. As much as I want to relax at naptime I know I need to get some stuff done so during their morning nap I get myself ready and then relax a bit/have coffee in peace then during the afternoon nap I get stuff done. That way when the boys go to bed I can also relax more and not have to do much cleaning.

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