A Woman of Noble Character ~ Week 2

Proverbs 31:13-15  Do you plan and prepare for the day?  Do you start the day with a quiet time with the Lord?  Are you ready to meet the challenges of the day?  Write a post about how you set aside time to plan and prepare for yourself and your family everyday.  Whether it be meal planning, scheduling, grocery lists, chores, or what you do to make sure you have time for Bible study and prayer with God.

This could end up being a VERY long post, but I'll try to keep it brief.  If you want more specific information, just ask.  I'll post a more in depth post or two if you want.  This is something I spend a lot of my brain power (what little is left of it) on.  I just don't know if I could run this household if I didn't.  It would be kind of like driving the party bus (that's what it was dubbed by the kids' friends this weekend) without sensors on the bumpers--so NOT possible, at least for me.

Here's the scripture reference:
 13She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

 14She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

 15She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

Sunday is designated as planning day.  We sit down as a family and have a family council each week.  After that, I go to my own calendar to see what's there and what I have to do to fulfill all of my commitments that week.  I come up with a to-do list.  I have to be careful not to go overboard.  I have a tendency to add "breathe" and "blink" and sometimes an occasional "swallow" to my list.

I just naturally wake up at the same time nearly everyday--5:45am; although I wish I wouldn't.  I usually stay in bed for 15 minutes until my alarm goes off.  I used to use that time to try to go back to sleep--always unsuccessfully.  I've just started using this time to have some quiet thinking time.  I don't get enough of that any more, so maybe the early wake up is a tender mercy after all.  I think through each of my children and their needs.  I now find that, because of this time, I am more mindful of what I can do during the day to meet help meet those needs.

I have a schedule that I've referred to in other posts.  When I list it out, it looks like an incredible amount of stuff, but it's really not.  I have set routines in my day at various times--6am, 8am, 11am, 2pm, 4pm, and 8pm.  During those times, I have a list on my Blackberry that I refer to.  I find that I have to focus on one job at a time or else I get easily overwhelmed.  In between, I get my to do list things done.  I try to be in bed each night (except for weekends) by 9:30pm--haha!  Yah, right. 

Each day of the week also has a specific job attached to it.  Today, for example, is laundry day.  I do the laundry and clean and organize the laundry room.  

My routines have to be altered many times during the year as I learn to bend to my family's changing activities.  You know, just to give some variety to life.  **Grrr**

I study mid-morning, while #7 naps and #6 is at preschool and again in the early afternoon, while #6 and #7 nap/have quiet time.  I can see an ending to #7's morning nap coming very quickly toward me on the horizon, so I'm going to have to, again, flex the ol' schedule.  Do I dare say "Grrr" again?

With each class, when I start, I create a spreadsheet that becomes my study schedule.  Before I study, I always pray and take a half an hour to study the scriptures.  I also pray as part of my first routine of the day and my last.

In order to answer the other questions in the first paragraph, I'd have to show you my routines.  I throw dinner in the crockpot as part of the 8am routine.  Grocery lists are part of my Wednesday tasks, which has been a bit tricky this school year as it's the only day #6 has off of school.  I try hard to stick to these schedules, but I tend to be a bit of a random thinker.  I fall away a lot, but at least I have them in my Blackberry, so I can jump back on when I catch myself out in left field.  It must be really nice there because I tend to spend quite a bit of time there.  Funny that I've never noticed the beauty of it, actually.

As far as household chores go, we have a rotating list of jobs on a white board that hangs on the fridge.  I have never called them "chores" just because of the negative connotation of the word.  I should start calling them "opportunities for service" that'd make the medicine go down, now, wouldn't it?  The person who does each job (er...service opportunity) changes weekly.  Here they are:

Dishes

Kitchen

Yard/cars

Front room, halls and stairs

Family room

Bathrooms

Watch #7 (but of course, we don't refer to her as #7 here)

Set table (everyday for now) - #6

The main responsibilities are to keep their areas free of clutter/picked up.  On Saturdays we have a list for more in-depth cleaning and scouring.  At least once or twice a week, we work together and clean the entire house unitedly--ignoring the original list. 

So, there it is...insanity at its finest.  I like that I don't have to reinvent the wheel each day.  I tend to be easily distracted (like I mentioned before), so having it all written down in one place brings me back to where I need to be.