Getting Back Into The Routine

What a week we've had! Last Sunday, I was so filled with butterflies over Ashleigh beginning the Early Start program at her elementary school. I knew Ashleigh would do well, I just didn't know if I could rise to the challenge of getting up early, packing lunches, doing homework. I kind of fell off the FlyLady wagon several months ago, so all my morning and before bed routines fell to the wayside. I became a snooze button junkie - trying to lay in bed as long as possible. My mornings became a hectic rush of me trying to get ready for work and get things going at home. And there was never enough time to do both.

So this past weekend to help quiet my nerves, I took out my once trusty Control Journal and turned to my morning, after work and before bed routines. I made some updates to include all our new school related activities. The FlyLady advises to just write your routines out by hand. But I created a spreadsheet with all three routines on one page, then printed out several copies. I needed this physical checklist to help keep me on track. Otherwise I would wander around doing a little bit here and there.

Monday morning, I got up early and on time. I worked through my list, checking off each item as I went along. I made breakfast, packed Ashleigh's back pack and lunch box and got her up and dressed so Daddy could drop her off at school. I even had time to Swish and Swipe the bathroom! And when I got home Monday evening, I went right back to my list going through the after work and before bed items.

For the first time in a long while, I felt like I was back in control and not living in chaos! That carried over into work as well. I finally conquered the huge pile of half completed projects on my desk. I filed all my paperwork away and stayed on task with getting prepared for this month's meetings. And even though this is my busiest week at work, I'm not feeling overwhelmed at all. I feel like I'm on top of things again!

I'm not the only one settling into a routine. Ashleigh & Clayton are becoming acquainted with a new routine as well - early bed time. Yes, I know at 5yo and 3yo they probably should have been on an early bed time schedule like from birth, but let me explain :D Since Dave works late hours, we always kept the kids up to see Daddy when he came home usually 8:30-9pm. And since we coslept, it just made sense for them to go to bed when we did.

But with Ashleigh starting school, the late hours just wouldn't work. And of course, they need their rest. I thought we would be in for one of those struggles like you see on Super Nanny. Sitting outside of the door, constantly putting crying child back into bed over and over again. But it was relatively easy getting them to adjust. We brushed teeth, read a story, said our prayers then cut out the light. Since they are in the room together, I think it helped them not be as afraid as they would have been in their rooms alone. And they actually went off to sleep fairly quickly.

And I have to say, it was great having a quiet house. Time to talk to Dave, to read, to unwind. I'm definitely liking the early bed time!

Learning to Fly - Part Two

Yesterday I wrote about getting our home back in order by using FlyLady's babysteps. Beginning babystep 3 turned out to be a God breeze - spend 2 minutes reading the daily reminders. I was tempted to just ignore this. It had been such a long time since I logged into the email account set up for FlyLady reminders. I knew there would be thousands. But since I had a some time while I was waiting for the oven to heat up, I logged on and browsed at the most recent reminders. One of them instantly jumped out at me - "Have You Fallen Off the FlyLady Wagon?". Yup, that's me! Not only did I fall off, the wagon ran me over. Anyway, the last few lines of the email really seemed to speak directly to what I was feeling yesterday:

"The major difference between staying sidetracked and getting back on the path is that we don't wallow in self pity. We acknowledge that we made a detour and now we are heading toward a peaceful solution. This beating ourselves up is not part of FLYing!"

Learning to Fly

Back in October 2006, I was feeling very overwhelmed with life, work, home and was very pregnant with #3. It was at that time an on-line friend from a Mommy board introduced me to Marla Cilley aka the FlyLady. The FlyLady's encouraging words and humor were absolutely refreshing. I slowly started letting go of the perfectionism that crippled me and kept my home and life in a state of CHAOS ("Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome"). I eagerly developed routines and habits which had my house running on auto-pilot. No more frantic cleaning in order to prepare for guests. No more cleaning all Saturday because there was no time during the week. I had my life back, I had time for my family and my home was finally in order. Sounds like a perfect ending but like all good things, it didn't last.

After going back to work, my routines slowly started to slip. The hustle and bustle of life took over and I turned my attentions to a new love - couponing. Which brings me to the present living once again in chaos and clutter. And once again, I'm turning to the FlyLady to dig myself out of this hole. To quiet those voices which tell me that I'm not good enough as I look about cluttered rooms and piles of laundry.

I've finally come to the realization that it is not an option for me to get organized, it's a MUST! Just as love cannot exists in the presence of fear, peace will not reside in our home until order is restored. The biggest stumbling block to my success in this matter, is me. I see the mess and I instantly want to give up. I don't want to try if I can't do it perfectly. In order to get back to abundant living, I must let go of this negative self-talk.

This weekend I started the FlyLady's Beginning Babysteps again. I started by shining my sink. Though seemingly small and unimportant, I take pride in my shiny sink. Knowing it's just the first of many steps towards gaining control of my home. And now I'm getting dressed to shoes in the mornings. That's something I have to do anyway since I work outside of the home. So for me this step means getting up when the alarm goes off and not hitting snooze a dozen times. Then not rushing around in a frenzy to get myself ready, Ashleigh ready for preschool, the house ready for my Mom and the boys and wondering why I can never get to work on time.

There's still hot spots to be cleared, toys to be picked up in various rooms and baskets of laundry to be put away. But everyday I'm getting closer to living in peace and order.