How can I find time to accomplish the daily tasks involved with caring for four young children, a husband, a yard, a house, and myself? And how can I also be challenged and fruitful at things that are not chores? Those questions deal with the principle, here is my new method:

Step 1: I made four lists. One for each child involving things I want them to be learning.

Step 2: I made another list. I listed everything I have to do, everything that needs to be done, and everything I want to do.

Step 3: I considered the days of the week. Thinking about the way one day varies from the next, tasks assigned to each day must be realistic for that specific day. This is our basic schedule:

Sunday: We all try to get church in some form. Jed works from seven to four-ish, we have dinner as a family, this is our Friday night.
Monday: Our sabbath day, our day of rest; our family day. Every other week we eat dinner at my mom’s house.
Tuesday: Our three oldest kids go to Jed’s parent’s house at lunch time and stay over night. Jed and I then have a work day and the new baby stays home with us. Sometimes we try to date on this night.
Wednesday: Jed works from eight to five; I have the morning with just the baby and sometimes I have our car. The big kids come home sometime after noon. Dinner at home all together.
Thursday: Jed works from eight to five; I’m home with the kids all day. We try to have dinner with friends on this night.
Friday: Jed works from eight to five; It’s me and the kids again all day. Dinner at home together.
Saturday: Jed sleeps in and works from noon to eight or nine o’clock. I’m home with the kids and put them to bed myself.

Step 4: I applied tasks to the days as they made the most sense. I spent a few pages listing the days and their tasks, adjusting if necessary. I followed that process by adding a time frame for many of the tasks.

Step 5: I started doing it.

So far, this method hasn’t been easy. In three weeks the piano has been played many times but not every day marked. A singular picture has been drawn. The kids are learning their alphabet at their various levels. I will say I’ve benefitted most by looking at the master list in the evening and writing a schedule for the next day or two. But just glancing over the master in the morning has helped make many days more focused. And I have deviated entirely from the list some days, after all, it’s just to help me. The whole thing is flexible. Really sticking to it will require focus and diligence, and truthfully more time than I have with a newborn. I am excited for time to pass, knowing this concept and the work will bring me success at the things I am seeking to be accomplished at. And time taken, even if it’s a small amount of time, will bring me closer to the long-term goals I have. Those goals? Perhaps that will be another post.

I must say the house is turning out to be more beautiful than I thought it could be.

House

What a beautiful day to have
Nothing to do and nowhere to go.

Wet snow raining down,
The white landscape and the solid grey sky.

A husband to kiss off to work,
Waffles for breakfast
And coffee and a warm fire
With children under blankets.

All is soft.
Like the snow raining down.

November 27th:

December 4th:

December 9th:

But before we really get into the items, the material things that would make me thankful and efficient, let us first discuss why my desire is thus. We must begin by discussing numbers. Currently there are five of us. Five people that wear daily a pair of pants, a shirt, socks, and often a sweater. There are four of us who wear underwear. We do often re-wear shirts and very often re-wear pants. The shortest person in our household is however, too messy most often for any kind of re-wearing, except perhaps of socks. In estimation the weekly numbers look like this: 16 pairs of pants, 25 shirts, 5 sweaters, 32 pairs of socks, and 25 pair of underwear. Also weekly to wash: 10 kitchen wash clothes, 12 kitchen towels, 3 hand towels, and 8 bathroom wash clothes, 1 bib, and 3 babies (night-time snuggling buddies). Bi-weekly: a bra or two. At least monthly, if not bi-weekly: 3 sheets, 9 pillowcases, and 5 blankets. Add it all together and it can not be done in one day. The numbers clearly show that I do a lot of laundry. In our house I will spend even more time doing laundry. Adding a sixth person to our family is going to add approximately two loads of laundry per week. Written out like everyone else: 10 onesies, 5 sleepers, 2 pair of pants, 6 shirts, 2 sweaters, 7 pair of socks, 5 burp clothes, 4 blankets, and anything else that gets puked on that’s machine washable. Do you not agree, that an activity that will clearly consume so much time, should be done in a space that is pleasurable and inviting? Cheers.

Of course all set up it will be, for a moment, just so. With a glass jar for pocket change and things my sons have loaded up, and a basket for socks whose partners have been unfaithful. There will be a tin with a sewing kit, scissors and a sweater shaver, for quick mends, loose strings, and fuzz balls; a drawer converted into a box with all the assorted items that one might use for stain removal (dishwasher soap, basalm & protein shampoo, carbonated water, baking soda, alcohol, an enzyme detergent, peroxide, and a stain stick), with a little jar alongside it all for an eyedropper and a toothbrush. There is room for one long shelf above the washer and dryer, where the aforementioned items will be kept, plus a few other things: economy sized jugs of detergents and softeners, a mopping bucket, the rag basket, and all the household cleaners for cleaning day. On the other wall I will have a counter for folding clothes with room for hampers underneath and the wonderful wash basin sink that served as kitchen sink this summer. On that wall I’ll have a drying rack or two, and some framed art. Probably a shot of our family and some of my daughter’s original water colors. On top of the dryer: a box with everyday stain remover, an easy-to-handle bottle with bleach, dryer sheets, essential oils to freshen things up, and cups to measure out soap. I’ll laminated copies of that stain chart from Martha, and a chart that decodes icons from a Real Simple magazine (sorry I can’t find it for you, it was in the magazine); that will help keep the laundry going without any googling and therefore facebook-ing and RSS reading. The ironing board and the iron will no doubt find themselves a convenient place. And I must have one or two of these to “lay flat to dry,” so many of our sweaters.

There are some things that will seem to have little to do with getting the laundry done. A painted floor, a colorful and cushy rug, a comfortable armchair, an extra light or two. These will simply add to the emotion of my life; they will help me slow down and enjoy what I am doing. Perhaps a cup of tea while I wait for socks to dry fully, or a seat in the middle of the night as I wait for one load of messed-up bedding to finish so I can add another before I go back upstairs. A rug to keep my feet warm on the concrete, to keep my hips from aching after standing on it for a few hours mending, folding, ironing, and loving. Perhaps you will join me someday, in the chair in the basement, as we chat about caring for our families and how many times we have washed our families undies. Oh I would like that, wouldn’t you?