Category Archives: 1 Week Challenges

[Re-post] “No TV & Computer” School Holiday Wrap Up

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I wanted to revisit the time our family unplugged for a week. That’s right, no TV and no computer for a week during the school holidays. I did this 2 years ago, when my children were 9, 7, 5 and 3. Have a look to see how we did :)

Well, we are back from our weeklong break of the TV and computer. You may be wondering how we went!

Last week we were blessed with the most amazing winter weather in Wellington. We spent our TV/Computer free week of the school holidays going out every day and loving it! Our days were spent at parks, library visits, creativity centres, craft workshops, train trips and we even had a night walk and did some star-gazing.

The rest of the time we read books that we got out at the library, and drew…drew…and drew some more (restocking our art supply was one of the best investments of the week!)

My hubby thought he woke up to the twilight zone to find our 5 year old boy sitting at the table drawing (he usually just draws when his sisters draw) and our 9 year old daughter in the lounge reading a book (she’s usually the one drawing).

I also noticed how the children just got on with playing with each other. Sometimes all together, sometimes they would break off in twos. Lots of complex imaginative play that would just go on and on. It was fantastic! It would have never happened if their faces were glued to the computer screen or TV.

My 9 year old told me that she loved the week, and prefered it over watching TV or playing on the computer.

I also noticed that the kids and I settled and went to sleep a lot better too!?!

As the kids adjusted to having no computer and TV during the day, I had to adjust to having no computer in the evening.

I must admit the first night I was bored! By the second night, I soon found things to occupy my time. Sometimes it was working on my to-do list, like mending clothes (finally!!) and reading new books. Most nights I would end up just hanging out with my hubby, which was looovely. We went out on a date on Friday, and when we came home my mum said the kids were really good. My hubby attributed it to the TV/Computer Free week. ;)

I think the thing I missed the most was the convenience of paying bills online…I had to post cheques and use the phone! (old skool!)

I can tell you that I didn’t miss the fights over who’s turn it was on the computer/TV, or the kids getting grumpy when the TV got turned off, or the late nights after letting the computer suck too much of my time.

I like the freedom of being computer free in the evenings and during the day…so I am having to re-think how I am going to fit it into my routine. hmmmmm??

That is where we are at the moment…figuring out how to transition back into using them again, and how much to use.

It was a great exercise to become free of those things that we thought were quite established in our lives.

We were able to see that, actually, we can manage quite well without them, thank you very much!

[Re-post] School Holidays without the computer or TV!!

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I hope you enjoyed reading the posts about the week I tried to not spend any money (other than groceries, petrol and bills) during the school holidays. This week we are going to re-visit the posts from the week I went off-line. That’s right, no TV and no computer for a week during the school holidays. I did this 2 years ago, when my children were 9, 7, 5 and 3.

Yes, it’s true. By the time you read this, we will be into Day 2 of our “No TV, No Computer Week”. I will leave it up to your imagination as to how we are coping!

This isn’t the first time that we have had a no TV week, but it will be the first time that we will ALL (including myself!!) be going computer free as well!

I love unplugging from technology because it is a really good opportunity to have a technology detox and get out of bad habits that we have all slipped into (ie relying on technology to solve boredom).

So what is our plan of attack?

  • Our goal is to not watch any TV or go on the computer.
  • Have a sit down with the kids a week before it starts to get them on board.
  • Plan a King/Queen each day during the week. On this day, the child will decide what activities we will do, and what we will eat. (I helped choose the activities and food for my 3 year old). Since it is the holidays, the list of free school holiday events really helped the children see what was out there.
  • Stock up on craft supplies and pantry supplies (ready for baking and messy play..ooo yeah!)
  • Have a treat day. Something to look forward to and to help keep their spirits up. I will be taking the kids to watch Toy Story 3 at the end of the week. (Yes, I get to make up the rules that include watching a movie hehehe.)
  • Put my email on “vacation mode” to encourage people to phone me or text me to get in touch.
  • Get PLENTY of sleep so I have the stamina and patience (and the will power to stay off-line!)

You have a couple of guest posts to look forward to this week. I asked some special ladies to share some of their thoughts on how they spend their school holidays with their children. I hope you enjoy their posts as much as I did…..I felt inspired after reading them!

[Re-post] “No Spend” School Holiday Wrap up & Tips

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I thought it would be fun to revisit a series of posts about the week I tried to not spend any money (other than groceries, petrol and bills) during the school holidays. I liked how it gave me some ideas of things to do with the kids for the school break. I wrote the post 3 years ago, when my kids were 8, 6, 4 and 2. Enjoy xo.

We have come to the end of my spend free week!

TOTAL MONEY SPENT: $0.00

TOTAL FUN HAD: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000….

LESSONS LEARNED:

  • We ended up cutting down on TV.  I wanted to reduce the amount of TV the kids watched so that they would get out of the habit of always asking to watch TV when they were bored. Turns out that this week, we were able to cut down the TV viewing to a DVD a day. The kids weren’t too interested in the TV, except for my 4 year old son. I would get the question from him at least once a day – but believe me, that is 100 times better than before. They were content to play with their toys or each other. It was great!
  • We ended up cutting down on Sugar & Fat. We didn’t spend any extra money on takeaways or other spontaneous treats or junk food (remember that sugar doughnut that was calling my name!)
  • I had so much fun not spending any money! Having a list of possibilities helped me stay one step ahead so that I was always thinking “what cool thing could we do next?” rather than “I need some time out, why don’t the kids play by themselves”.
  • The kids had a really great time, and they didn’t seem to be affected by the fact that the activities didn’t cost any money.

I think I would like to do another spend free week! If you want to give it a go, here are some tips:

  1. Make a goal and share it with your family. Sell it to get support.
  2. Research all the free activities in your area. A good place to start is your local council website or google “kids events” in your area to find event calendars. In our area, the malls always put on something for the kids during the school holidays – always free!
  3. Go online to research free activities to do with your children.
  4. Choose activities that suit your children. Keep in mind what their interests are, their age, their abilities etc. Make a list.
  5. Maintain a tidy kitchen and tidy play area. If you are staying home, make a special effort to keep the play area and kitchen clean. That way you have options. If your kitchen bench is a total mess all the time, you are less likely to do baking, or other fun things like potions, and playdough etc. If your play area is a mess, the kids won’t be in the mood to play there. You also won’t want to hang out in there. Once again this reduces your options, you won’t be able to play indoor games (like red light green light) or enjoy playing with toys or do crafts etc.
  6. Extend outings by being aware of what activities are available in the area. If you go on an outing, think of what other things are close by that you could also visit. Eg Go to a mall show, then go to a nearby park.
  7. Be prepared. Always pack food, water and extra clothes when you go out on an outing. This means you won’t need to cut your trip short, and you won’t be tempted to spend money on food.
  8. Be flexible. Be aware of the circumstances (kids’ mood, your mood, weather etc) and do activities accordingly. Only tell your children what the next activity is, rather than the run down of the whole day. That way you can change your mind when needed. I usually have 2 or 3 options of what we could do next and then narrow it down as we finish up what we are doing.
  9. “Be present!” Have fun with the kids, get involved!

[Re-post] Our FREE Holiday Fun: Day Six

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I thought it would be fun to revisit a series of posts about the week I tried to not spend any money (other than groceries, petrol and bills) during the school holidays. I liked how it gave me some ideas of things to do with the kids for the school break. I wrote the post 3 years ago, when my kids were 8, 6, 4 and 2. Enjoy xo.

Today was the day that I had secretly been dreading. We usually go on a family outing on Saturday. Would we be tempted to spend money today? Would all the week’s work go down the drain because of one day?

I looked up the word detox and in Wikipedia and it said that detox diets involves a change in consumption habits in an attempt to remove toxins from the body. This last week has been made me change some of my habits, and helped remove some of the toxic thoughts that were in my head like “just buy it”, “you need it”, “it will be fine” and “go for the activities that cost money, because they are the fun ones”.

How we spent day 6:

  • Had a lovely blissful sleep in courtesy of my hubby.

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  • Went for a walk to a bush reserve near our house.

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  • Went to see a horse in a nearby paddock.
  • Had lunch at home.
  • Went to our local school to ride bikes.
  • Watched the DVD the youngest picked out yesterday.
  • I had a nap with our two year old (I have no idea why I needed a nap after this morning’s sleep in?! Our daughter is 2 1/2 and doesn’t usually nap either. Can we blame it on the movie? Or maybe all the walking we did today?)
  • Hubby and our boy made afternoon tea for us. (Our four year old was really getting into it, it was so cute!)
  • We all did a 15 minute tidy up of a stash basket we had accumulated things in during the week.
  • Played red light, green light.
  • Hubby made dinner. HUBBY’S TEMPTATION: He wanted to go out and buy a sweet treat.
  • We did drawings and crafts.

MONEY SPENT TODAY: $0.00

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED TODAY:

  • I love it when we find win-win situations. Hubby and I decided that he would look after the kids for part of the morning, then I looked after the kids while he went to volley ball later on that day.
  • You can make your own adventures. While hubby was at volley ball, the kids and I went for a walk. We have a bush reserve near our house, and one day my 4 year old was leading the way and found/made a new path that lead to a horse paddock. The path he found/made was overgrown with knee high plants, so each time we go through this path that “no one knows about” we all feel like it’s a bit of an adventure as we step over the plants and climb up over a small hill to get to the paddock. The kids have named the horse Hony – pronounced ho-knee (it is the cross between pony and horse – aren’t kids creative!)
  • Sometimes it is good to be led by the kids’ interest. As I started to think about what we could do after lunch, the girls mentioned how they wanted to ride their bikes at their school. Perfect! That was our family outing for the day. Cost: Free!
  • To a child love is spelled T*I*M*E. This week has challenged some of my toxic thinking like “go for the activities that cost money, because they are the fun ones”. I now feel that as long as you are enjoying yourself as a family, any activity is a fun activity. Like today, hubby took the time to involve our 4 year old son in the preparation of afternoon tea. Our son helped choose what was for afternoon tea. He took orders from everyone on what their preferences were (spreads on toast etc). He helped distribute the fruit that hubby cut onto all the plates. Well, you should have seen the look on his face when he called us for afternoon tea…absolute pride! What made this magically moment even more touching, was the genuine appreciate that his sisters showed our boy for making afternoon tea for them.*Warm fuzzies!!*

Tomorrow is the final day of our FREE holiday fun week. It is Sunday, so it will be like any other Sunday for us. We will be spending it as a family and won’t be spending any money. I won’t be putting a post up tomorrow, but on Monday, I will give you an overview on how this past week went. Some other interesting spin offs happened because of the No Spend Week, so tune in to see what they were!

[Re-post] Our FREE Holiday Fun: Day Five

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I thought it would be fun to revisit a series of posts about the week I tried to not spend any money (other than groceries, petrol and bills) during the school holidays. I liked how it gave me some ideas of things to do with the kids for the school break. I wrote the post 3 years ago, when my kids were 8, 6, 4 and 2. Enjoy xo.

Mother nature didn’t co-operate with us today, it was very cold and windy. If the weather was better, I think I would have liked to have gone on a bushwalk. In the end, the children were in a mellow mood, and were getting into their own projects. I also got into a big project myself, and I was so busy, that I didn’t get around to taking any photos. I also faced my biggest challenge which had me thinking about breaking the spending detox!

How we spent day 5:

  • Older girls did portrait sketches.
  • My four year old used his mobilo to make transformers. He rented a transformer DVD  last night. It was so cute how he would transform his mobilo and make that “chh chh  chuu chhhuu” transformer sound.
  • My two year old played with dolls. (Isn’t it weird how the children make their voices higher when they are doing the voice for the dolls…makes me smile every time!)
  • I moved the car out of the garage so the kids could ride their bikes in that space.
  • I started decluttering the garage and ended up staying there most of the day.
  • My son found our picnic basket and decided to make us an indoor picnic with bread and fruit…..awwwww.
  • All of the kids enjoyed the new space I made for them to do their drawings and crafts.
  • The charity shop came to pick up 2 tables, a cot mattress, and a few other bits and pieces. BIGGEST TEMPTATION: I really wanted to take a load of rubbish to the tip/dump. I was really torn: finish my goal for the week or finish decluttering the garage and pay to go to the dump. Ugh!
  • Hubby was late from work, so the kids started watching out for him out the window. All of a sudden I heard “DADDY!”. One of the kids was so excited, that they didn’t know what to do with themselves so yelled out to the others “HIDE HIDE!!” They all ducked for cover…..it was such a laugh! TEMPTATION: I felt like having a lazy Friday and pick up hubby from work and get take aways.
  • We had a “breakfast dinner” at home (just to change things up, we sometimes have scrabbled eggs and/or bacon, and or mini sausages and/or pancakes for dinner as a fun treat.)
  • After we played with the kids in the evening, we ate the traffic light jelly that we made in a bowl a few days ago.
  • Got a DVD for our youngest daughter that we will probably watch tomorrow.
  • For a date, hubby and I watched a movie on tv together.

MONEY SPENT TODAY $0.00

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED TODAY:

  • Sometimes you just have to let go of your material possessions. I had to make some tough choices today about some of the furniture we have. Asking these questions, helped me to let them go: Does the item fit, or have a home? Do you use it now? Is it even worth keeping?!
  • I had trained myself to look past the mess of the house all these years. In reality, I was never really looking past the mess, if anything the mess was like a “to-do list” staring back at me, and that can make anyone feel down. As we de-cluttered the house, and all pitched in to keep it tidy, I actually felt lighter!
  • Whenever I finish de-cluttering a section of the house, I ALWAYS say to myself “you should have taken a “before shot”. Then I do the same mistake the next time, and the next time! Will I ever learn?!
  • I love watching my kids play together! I also love how they take care of each other if someone gets hurt.

[Re-post] Our FREE Holiday Fun: Day Four

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I thought it would be fun to revisit a series of posts about the week I tried to not spend any money (other than groceries, petrol and bills) during the school holidays. I liked how it gave me some ideas of things to do with the kids for the school break. I wrote the post 3 years ago, when my kids were 8, 6, 4 and 2. Enjoy xo.

I’m not sure when everyone else in the blogging world writes their posts!?! I seem to be doing mine late at night.  I guess when you read what I have been up to today, you will understand why!

How we spent day 4:

  • Woke up to a tidy house. A big thank you to the kids and hubby!
The Wind Chimes they made at the craft workshop & one of the balloon animals they got at the circus show

The Wind Chimes they made at the craft workshop & one of the balloon animals they got at the circus show

  • The girls made wind chimes at the hardware store’s kid’s clinic. TEMPTATION: A pack of two night lights were calling my name “buy me, you know you want me, I would look so cool in your kid’s room!”

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  • Went to a beach that we haven’t been to before.
  • Went home to get changed and have lunch. TEMPTATION: I was starting to feel a bit hungry on the drive back to our place. Had to talk myself out of stopping off at my favourite bakery and getting a sugar doughnut.

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  • Went and watched a juggling/circus act at the mall. TEMPTATION: Curse those mall ice creams! There’s just something about finishing off an outing with a soft serve ice cream.

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  • The girls got taught how to do the diabolo in a workshop after the show. The younger kids and I enjoyed going up and down the escalators over and over again! TEMPTATION: There was a coin operated massage chair, that looked very inviting!
  • They were giving away balloon animals after the show. Fun!
  • My 6 year old daughter won a $10 mall voucher at the show!

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DS4 looking a worms up close!

DS4 looking at worms up close!

  • On the way home we stopped by our local mall to go see the Science Roadshow. My 2 year old daughter was in heaven as she got to lock and unlock oversized lock and keys (we enjoyed being able to see what actually happens inside a lock, and why certain keys work, and certain keys don’t.) By the way! I didn’t even think about the mall ice creams! Yay!!
  • We rented our 4 year old son’s free DVD. He watched it, while the other’s pottered around.
  • Had dinner at home.
  • Hubby and I spent some lovely quality time together and had a nice dessert treat.

MONEY SPENT TODAY: $0.00

MONEY GAINED TODAY: $10 mall voucher my daughter won, $45 supermarket voucher I got in the mail from my grocery loyalty points, $10 voucher for free online grocery delivery. TOTAL: $65 (We spend nothing, and gain $65! That’s crazy!)

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED TODAY:

  • Although we did a lot of things today, I felt like at any time, if things became too much, we could just go home and unwind. Once again this meant that there was no pressure or an expectation that we needed to do this or that. Since we had no real concrete plans, I would tell the children what we were doing next as we came to it (eg I wouldn’t tell them we were doing A, then B then C). That way there was room to really gauge what activity would suit the mood of the children at the time.
  • Having an idea of what things are available to do in the area that you are in is helpful. The research I did at the beginning of the week about what events were on and what activities to do paid off. I always had a couple of options available on what to do next.
  • Being prepared and organised was really helpful, but there is always room for improvement. Packing food and water not only extends your outing (like I said in “day two“), but it means you are less likely to have to stop off and buy food – very helpful when you are on a spending detox! Going to the beach was another spur of the moment thing, so I had not packed any towels or swimsuits etc. The kids got a bit wet (some more than others), and because we weren’t too far from home, we just popped back home to get dressed. I’m thinking that having a couple of towels that lived in the car wouldn’t be a bad thing. I remember a couple of summers ago, the sand toys lived in the boot, because we were always going to the beach.
  • Sometimes you can make things work and sometimes you might have to revisit it another time. Once again the younger ones weren’t too interested in the craft workshop. Unfortunately the placement of the craft table this time, was a little bit further from the play area and outside area. So trying to be with 2 sets of kids proved to be a bit difficult, especially since the craft activity this time was a bit more tricky and needed more adult help. Thankfully a lovely grandma, assisted one of my daughters who was stuck. I thanked her thoroughly and she seemed happy to help. *Bless!* I think this craft workshop is one that I will have to revisit when the kids get a bit older or I will have to get creative with how I manage the children (eg in the past my friend and I arranged to take turns taking the older children to an activity while the other stayed back with the younger children). Keeping the younger kids busy and happy by going up and down the escalator like we did at the circus show or going for walks can definitely be counted as getting “creative”!
  • You feel a stronger family bond when you all pitch in and help out. There were times when the older girls would push the pram for me while I was holding my four year old, or the kids would help with food prep or everyone helped to clear the car of the snacks we had on our outing and wet clothes etc. It just makes you feel like you’re a team.
  • The sun just makes me want to go outdoors! The weather was really bizarre this week. It seemed to know whenever we wanted to go out, and stayed nice for that duration of time! On Monday it poured down. On Tuesday it was nice for half the day (the part when we went out). On Wednesday, the day we did some junk construction and had some kitchen fun, it rained and was cold. Today it was sunny and warm for most of the day.
  • Even though kids are kids (and I had the sort of day that you would expect when you go out with children who are aged 8 through to 2), in the end, I felt like I had a great day with the kids, and that is a good feeling!

[Re-post] Our FREE Holiday Fun: Day Three

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I thought it would be fun to revisit a series of posts about the week I tried to not spend any money (other than groceries, petrol and bills) during the school holidays. I liked how it gave me some ideas of things to do with the kids for the school break. I wrote the post 3 years ago, when my kids were 8, 6, 4 and 2. Enjoy xo.

Ummmm….I’m sounding like a broken record….but I slept in again! Hmmmm…I am starting to see what goal I need to be working on very soon!

How we spend day three:

  • Kids all played dolls etc together.

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  • We made fruit kebabs (the younger kids loved cutting the bananas with a butter knife.)
  • The kids watched the DVD that my oldest daughter chose yesterday.
  • I spent way too much time working on getting the Playcentre workshop and course schedule sorted.

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  • We made a huge mess, and had loads of fun with junk construction
  • I went met up with some of my gal pals for a “girls night in” at my friend’s place. I taught them how to make sushi. TEMPTATON: stop by the supermarket to buy some yummy fizzy drink.

MONEY SPENT TODAY: $0.00

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED:

  • Just because I am on holiday, doesn’t mean my laundry is! I have so much laundry to catch up on! What was I thinking? That the laundry would collect and wash itself?
  • Stress and anxiety = Stressed and anxious Mother. I have no idea how mother’s working from home fit everything in? I took the opportunity while the kids watched the DVD to try and work on the Playcentre training schedule for next term. I need to get it sorted by the end of this week, and the added stress does not help me be a happy mother!
  • Let go, regroup and rejoin the kids. Sometimes you just need to let the stress go. Park it, and address it later. It takes effort to unwind and let go of the stress, but it is so worth it. It is so much more fun to be “present” and enjoy the kids, rather than having your mind plagued with things you can not sort out while the kids are still awake. I was glad that I did this, so I was able to enjoy my time with the kids. We ended up making kebabs  (I was being a funny mummy in the kitchen and started dancing around while my two year old and four year old yelled out “stop” and “go”…..did I mention that there was no music…. unless you call the tunes coming out of my mouth music!), and then I went out and got the junk mail, which gave me the idea of doing junk construction. Out came the boxes, bottles and newspaper from our recycling bin.
  • Having fun the with kids is great, but you need to keep the routines up, otherwise you pay for it later. Case and point: the laundry.
  • If you do not project ahead and plan according, you will end up making more trouble for yourself. Dinner was late, which had the roll on effect of the clean up being late, and by the time I was due to walk out the door, my hubby was left with all the tidy up and bedtime was just around the corner….oooops!
  • Good conversation + Good friends + Good food = A Good night. We all staggered out of my friend’s house past midnight. We had no idea it was that late because we were having such a good chat!

[Re-post] Our FREE Holiday Fun: Day Two

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I thought it would be fun to revisit a series of posts about the week I tried to not spend any money (other than groceries, petrol and bills) during the school holidays. I liked how it gave me some ideas of things to do with the kids for the school break. I wrote the post 3 years ago, when my kids were 8, 6, 4 and 2. Enjoy xo.

Once again, we all woke up late, but I can’t blame it on daylight savings this time because I went to bed late the night before!

How we spent Day 2:

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  • We went to the craft workshop at the hardware store.

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  • Watched a show at the mall. TEMPTATION: they were selling a cute tote bag to raise funds for a charity and the kids wanted to go upstairs and have an ice cream like we have done in the past.

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  • Went to a park that we haven’t been to before. TEMPTATION: there was a shop across from the park with a big sign saying “fresh bread” yum!
  • Had a yummy lunch at home
  • Watched my daughter’s free DVD that she choose yesterday
  • Did more origami and the girls dressed up as farm animals
  • Had dinner at home
  • Went out to get my oldest daughter’s free DVD. TEMPTATION: saw a couple of DVDs that I wanted to rent.
  • Played tickle monster
  • Played hide and seek in the dark

MONEY SPENT TODAY: $0.00

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED TODAY:

  • I could have easily spent little bits of money here and there without thinking today.
  • You don’t necessarily need to go out to have fun. We had just as much fun yesterday when were stuck inside because of the weather.
  • Not having a strict plan meant that I didn’t have the added stress of trying to push the kids to keep to a schedule. We only decided to go to the craft workshop about an hour before it started. When we finished the crafts, I decided to try a nearby park that we had not been to before.  On our way to the park, we drove past the mall, and I remembered a show was starting in 5mins, so we popped in. After that, it was off to the park and then home for lunch.
  • Being prepared pays off! The kids gobbled down the fruit and water we packed. Another set of clothes would have come in handy, when one child spilt water on their pants, and the other got their top all dirty. If we didn’t pack any food, and the spills were worse, we would have had to cut out outing short.
  • Provide activities that suit your children. You know your child best, and what they will or will not enjoy. The younger kids didn’t really go for the pot painting, so we went for a walk in the outdoor area of the shop, while the older girls finished up. My four year old son found the music at the mall show too loud, so I stood back with him, while the others sat closer to the stage etc etc
  • There are definitely parks that you need to closely supervise children (eg where there is water or equipment that the younger ones may be unsafe on), and there are parks that you could get away with sitting down the entire time. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Although today’s park was one that I had to closely supervise the kids (which is sometimes hard when the younger ones are going in different directions) there was lots to do and it kept them entertained for a long time.
  • It is sometimes tough to manage outings with children who range in ages. The older ones get too far ahead, while the younger ones get behind. It’s important to regroup and restate the rules to keep everyone safe. A happy outing means you are more likely to do it again!

[Re-post] Our FREE Holiday Fun: Day One

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I thought it would be fun to revisit a series of posts about the week I tried to not spend any money (other than groceries, petrol and bills) during the school holidays. I liked how it gave me some ideas of things to do with the kids for the school break. I wrote the post 3 years ago, when my kids were 8, 6, 4 and 2. Enjoy xo.

Our sleeping is all out of whack because of Day Light Savings. We all woke up so late today for the first day of the holidays and Day One of the Spending Detox!

As I mentioned, my girls were not too enthusiastic about my “brilliant” idea! We later had a talk about whether they had ever done something that seemed hard or challenging and then succeed. We talked about how they felt when they achieved it. I tried to explain that, this week was going to be similar to that. It is something that may seem difficult, but that we would feel so good when we achieve the goal. (Not too sure what the drama is about, it’s not like I am a spending queen…hehehe)

The kids have been playing so nicely today. The 3 older children have been playing with dolls (well, my girls were playing with dolls and my boy was using his mobilo and playing with the girls and their dolls.) My two year old just pottered around playing with the others, and followed me around. She also enjoyed some water play in the sink towards the end of the day.

We had an early lunch and missed morning tea since we had a late breakfast. 

After I cleared the bench from lunch, I made a batch of playdough. I thought it could come in handy if the kids got bored and came to look for something to do.

The two younger ones played with this, while the older girls continued to play dolls. Later on the older girls came and made all sorts of fun things. My eight year old daughter, made an apple that opened up to reveal a smiling worm inside…cute!

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After hubby came home, I went out with my 6 year old daughter to go get her free DVD. (Our local video store was running a school holiday special, where you could get one free DVD out a day. I asked her to write down the order of when people go out and choose their free DVD – the perk for her was that she put herself first!)

We didn’t end up watching any TV today. My 4 year old son asked to watch TV whenever he was bored, but I managed to distract him by getting him involved in what I was doing or we made some origami or I printed out some cut and paste worksheets that he started getting interested in yesterday.

MONEY SPENT TODAY: $0.00

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED TODAY:

  • I started to make a list of things that we could do during the holidays that was free. I even found some free local events that we could attend if we wanted.
  • Oh! Another important challenge: to get plenty of sleep. I know when I am tired, I don’t have as much patience and the fun ideas don’t seem to flow. I wasn’t so tired today, so I’m sure that helped me have a good day.
  • If we were going to do various activities at home, it would be really important to make sure that we have as much space available. In other words, we all needed to pitch in to keep the benches clean (so that we could bake or do messy play in the kitchen if we wanted to) and keep the family room manageable (I’m sure the clean space that was available to the kids this morning fostered their lengthy play there.) So, keeping on top of the house is going to be an important challenge this week.

When things get out of kilter…

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When things start to get out of kilter, I get antsy and feel the need to re-balance. I usually try to swing in the opposite direction and really challenge my habits.

Do you remember the time I decided that our family was going to go without the TV AND computer for a week?

How about the time when I started using twitter to help me with accountability, when I wanted to kick my bad sleeping habits.

Last year, I reported back on our spending detox during the school holidays. No spending other than groceries, petrol and bills (?!?). Read how four children were entertained using no money! (I was re-reading the posts. Gosh, we had fun!)

This week, I have been going out for walks and jogs in the morning. I won’t lie to you, it has been painful to get out of bed in the morning. Once I am out the door, I admit, it does feel satisfying.

I was thinking about the benefits that are gained from creating good habits, and came up with these three:

  • The immediate and obvious benefits associated with the good habit. EG Better health and more energy when you exercise and sleep better.
  • The act of changing things up and distancing yourself from the bad habit is kind of “cleansing”.
  • Stretching yourself to achieve something worthwhile is so good for the soul.

I will be trying to repeat those things in my head when my alarm goes off in the morning this week!

Lessons in Motherhood: A week without TV and Computer

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Well, we are back from our weeklong break of the TV and computer. You may be wondering how we did!

Last week we were blessed with the most amazing winter weather in Wellington. We spent our TV/Computer free week of the school holidays going out every day and loving it! Our days were spent at parks, library visits, creativity centres, craft workshops, train trips and we even had a night walk and did some star-gazing.

The rest of the time we read books that we got out at the library, and drew…drew…and drew some more (restocking our art supply was one of the best investments of the week!)

My hubby thought he woke up to the twilight zone to find our 5 year old boy sitting at the table drawing (he usually just draws when his sisters draw) and our 9 year old daughter in the lounge reading a book (she is usually the one drawing).

Also, the other thing that I noticed, was that the children just got on with playing with each other. Sometimes all together, sometimes they would break off in twos. Lots of complex imaginative play that would just go on and on. It was fantastic! It would have never happened if their faces were glued to the computer screen or TV.

My 9 year old told me that she loved the week, and prefered it over watching TV or playing on the computer.

I also noticed that the kids and I settled and went to sleep a lot better too!?!

As the kids adjusted to having no computer and TV during the day, I had to adjust to it in the evening, when I usually hop on.

I must admit the first night I was bored! I soon found things to occupy my time though. Sometimes it was working on my to-do list, like mending clothes (finally!!) and reading new books. Most nights I would end up just hanging out with my hubby, which was looovely. We went out on a date on Friday, and when we came home my mum said the kids were really good. My Hubby attributed it to the TV/Computer Free week. ;)

I think the thing I missed the most was the convenience of paying for bills online…I had to post cheques and use the phone! (old skool!)

I can tell you that I didn’t miss the fights over who’s turn it was on the computer/TV, or the kids getting grumpy when the TV got turned off, or the late nights after letting the computer suck too much of my time.

I like the freedom of being computer free in the evenings and during the day…so I am having to re-think how I am going to fit it into my routine. hmmmmm??

That is where we are at the moment…figuring out how to transition back into using them again, and how much to use.

It was a great exercise to become free of those things that we thought were quite established in our lives.

We got to see that, actually, we can manage quite well without them, thank you very much!

Follow on from the post: “Going Off-Line for a Week…You’re What?!?!”

How Twitter helped me kick my bad sleeping habit!

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I loved the time to myself after the kids went to bed. It was quiet and still. It felt like there was an endless amount of time in front of me to use how I liked. And that is how I treated it, endless. I would go to bed way too late, spending time on things that, in the grand scheme of things, didn”t really matter. It started affecting me in a negative way. I was behind the 8 ball when I woke up. I felt tired during the day. I knew I had to make a change.

I thought that if I advertised it to the world through my blog…then I would have to go through with it. I thought about using twitter. I was not familiar with twitter, but I thought I would give it ago, and learn as I went along.  Not only did it help with reporting my progress, but it helped me with my motivation and accountability.

If there is a goal that you are working on, but you’re not sure if you have the will power to pull it off. I would totally recommend “twittering” about it. I know it helped me on at least 3 occasions when I felt tempted to slip into old habits.  (Staying up late on Friday night, sleeping in on Saturday morning, and having a “nana nap” on Sunday afternoon) Knowing I would have to twitter about my downfall, convinced me to keep on track with my goal.

6 Things I got out of my Goal of “Early to Bed, Early to Rise”

 

 

1. Alertness. I felt alert and prepared for the day ahead. My mind and my body felt alert, and I had more patience. Having a 20 min power nap, drinking plenty of water and getting sunlight also helped me with alertness.

2. Downtime in the evening. I logged off the computer at least between 30mins-1 hour before my bedtime. This meant I was not tempted 5 mins before my bedtime to “just look at this other website, because it will only take a minute!”. I read books, magazines and chatted with my hubby. It was a nice transition into sleep for the night.

3. Quiet time in the morning. It is so peaceful in the mornings. Just you and your thoughts. There is time for nice long prayers, and just to be still and think. It was a perfect start to the day.

4. Exercise. I had not exercised in a while, but because I of the extra time in the morning, I was able to fit in a daily walk/jog

5. Empowerment. I felt empowered because I was making good choices that affected not only me, but my family as well. When I woke up earlier, I felt a lot more in control, and ready to face the day having made my first good choice for the day.

6. Family Involvement. Both my hubby and I were going to bed late and waking up late before I started the goal. After I started, my hubby decided to join me, and raved about how much stuff he was able to get done in the morning. I noticed the whole household started getting up earlier. My 7 & 9 year old daughters also joined me on occasion on my early morning walks. They prepped their stuff the night before, and woke up and got themselves ready all by themselves.

6. Happier! Good sleeping pattern + Exercise +Feeling of achievement = Good Mood!

 

 

 

Some good reads:

Simple Mom: 4 Great Reasons to Wake Up Early

Serene Journey: My Favourite Time of the Day

Zen Habits: 10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It

Valuing what we have: Day 7

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I have finished my 1 week challenge of taking pride in our home and valuing what we have.

LESSONS LEARNED:

  • Doing little projects each day helped me to combat the feelings of being overwhelmed.
  • The projects didn’t take that long, and can be dotted throughout the day. I found that timing the jobs was helpful.
  • When you complete a project (like de-cluttering and finding a proper home for things) you end up reaping the benefits from that moment on. Benefits like having less stress at looking at that unfinished project and saving time because things are orderly.
  • If you keep on top of your chores you have more time to “play”!
  • It is not unreasonable to get the kids involved.  Some days they were more willing than others, but it is important to persevere as it is a valuable life lesson that we are teaching them.
  • De-cluttering feels good!

 

If you want to take better care of what you have, and get your family involved, here are some tips for you:

  • Make it a family effort. Share with the family that there is going to be a new family ethos or culture, where “we take care of our things”. Share examples of how they will be involved in this vision.
  • Take the time to teach the children. How are the children going to know how to treasure our things, unless we take the time to show them? We need to be aware of and take advantage of the learning opportunities in our children’s lives.
  • De-clutter. Go through our stuff and get rid of things we don’t need. This reduces mess and saves us time and effort (cleaning it up, storing it, etc etc). It also makes room for things that we really do want to keep.
  • A place for everything, and everything in its place. When everyone knows where things belong, clean up is easier. Choosing appropriate “homes” also helps prevent items getting wrecked.
  • Set an example. As parents we need to lead by example. How can we expect the kids to take on this challenge, if we are too tired to put any effort in?
  • Buy quality things that will last long. Get out of the habit of buying cheap things, that will eventually break. We will save money in the end.
  • Fix and mend. When things start to break or tear, fix it up or get rid of it. This again is building on the family ethos of “we take care of our things”.
  • Think before you buy. Where will we put it? Do we need it? Will it break easily? How hard is the upkeep?
  • Take pride in what you do have. Whether our possessions are as old as our great great grandma or our decor is more shabby than chic…we still can take pride in what we do have. When we let our possessions fall in disarray, we are basically saying it is ok for us to live that way, WE need to have pride in ourselves. We are worth it!
  • Do a little, often. Have little projects you are going to tackle every day. This can be random areas, or a regular (easy) cleaning routine. Flylady’s sneak peak for the week, has daily jobs in their chosen area for the week.

Perhaps in the end it is embracing a type of minimalist lifestyle where we:

  • get rid of what we don’t need
  • take good care of what we do have
  • do not become a slave to the things we own (and the upkeep of it)
  • therefore freeing ourselves to value what really matters most…which are the people in our lives.

Family on the Beach

Related posts:

How do we let go of what we don’t need and value what we have?

Valuing what we have: Day 1

Valuing what we have: Day 2

Valuing what we have: Day 3

Valuing what we have: Day 4

Valuing what we have: Day 5

Valuing what we have: Day 6

Valuing what we have: Day 6

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Yeah! Saturday! We were blessed with another sunny day!

DD8 and I took part in the Heart Foundation Heart Walkers Wellington 2009. It was really great! My mum and I did it  last year, and this year I was lucky enough to participate with my daughter.

http://www.heha.org.nz/assets/resized/sm/Event5468/images/hvek99x4hz/Heart%20Walker%20A3%20Poster-278-278-268-368.jpg

CELEBRATIONS:

  • Taking pride in our home: We were able to reap the benefits of keeping on top of the housework this week and had a rest from any cleaning! This doesn’t mean that our house was spotlessly clean, we just didn’t need to catch up on a week’s worth of housecleaning (like we sometimes have to do on a Saturday).
  • Taking pride in our car: Kids all took their bits and pieces out of the car when we got home.
  • We were able to find all the things we needed for our outing easily. Sunscreen, picnic blanket, pinic bag and water bottles were all in their “homes”.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:

  • I still have some things that we used on our outing that need to be returned to their “homes”.
  • 2 Loads of laundry needs to be put away now!

How do we let go of what we don’t need and value what we have?

Valuing what we have: Day 1

Valuing what we have: Day 2

Valuing what we have: Day 3

Valuing what we have: Day 4

Valuing what we have: Day 5

Valuing what we have: Day 7

Valuing what we have: Day 5

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I have been amused this week at what mysterious objects that seem to randomly appear in the bathroom. Today it was 3 magnetix balls and our mysterious elf also played with the bath toys while they were at it.

I had a discovery date today :) Photos and details to come!

Oriental Parade, Wellington

Photo by Juggling Motherhood

CELEBRATIONS:

  • Taking pride in our home: Wiped down our door and some walls while the kids got ready for school.
  • Taking pride in our home: Washed the sheets and duvet cover from our bed.
  • Taking pride in our home/car: Just doing the usual routines and chores to keep the house tidy. Everyone pitching in means that we have more time for play. Today was a BEAUTIFUL day in Wellington! We went to Khandallah Park after school, so we had dinner a bit later, but we got everything done in the end.
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Photo by Juggling Motherhood

  • Enjoyed all the space that we have been keeping tidy over the week.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:

  • Organise our CDs.
  • Put away the washing.

How do we let go of what we don’t need and value what we have?

Valuing what we have: Day 1

Valuing what we have: Day 2

Valuing what we have: Day 3

Valuing what we have: Day 4

Valuing what we have: Day 6

Valuing what we have: Day 4

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Branscombe Play Area

Photo by Juggling Motherhood

 

CELEBRATIONS:

  • We arrived home from Playcentre late today. Thankfully I had the rice cooking, so I was able to quickly whip up some sushi after I had some some down time. Yum! I set the timer so we could focus and finish our after dinner chores quickly. Since the sun was still shinging we went out for our “family fun time”. One of the local parks (Branscombe Street Play area) had recently been upgraded, so we decided to check it out. It was so worth it! They had a new feature called the “super nova”. It is a spining cone. It kind of looks like the top part of the ships mast the way the ropes go from the circle at the bottom to the top of the “mast” to form a cone. All of the kids had a blast!
  • We haven’t been home much today, so there wasn’t much stuff to clean up.
  • Taking pride in our car. We all took our bits and pieces out of the car, and put them away.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:

  • I want to de-clutter our bookcase in our family room and make it look tidier.
  • The big big job of going through the kids clothes and getting rid of or storing clothes they have grown out of.

Related Posts:

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Valuing what we have: Day 2

Valuing what we have: Day 3

Valuing what we have: Day 5

Valuing what we have: Day 6

Valuing what we have: Day 7

Valuing what we have: Day 3

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CELEBRATIONS:

  • I started making dinner on time today. This meant that after the kids did their chores, we could have “family fun time”. Tonight we played hide and seek in the dark (see Fave Five: Fun and easy games). The kids are soo good at hiding! It was a great way to end the day!
  • Taking pride in our home: Spent 20 minutes vacuuming the house before we did the school pick up. Yay! I grabbed a plastic supermarket bag and tied it to my belt loop in my jeans so that I could gather any foreign objects while I was vacuuming. I was able to re-home a hairclip and some new toothpaste???
  • Taking pride in our car: When we got home from school, I encouraged the kids to take out all their bits and pieces again. I gathered up any rubbish and quickly vacuumed it.
  • Taking pride in our things: I thought I would rotate some of the toys we haven’t played with in our while. I took the crate out with all the games that required batteries - mini laptops, musical games etc. I think taking pride in our things means lovingly playing with our toys, and getting rid of the toys that we no longer play with.
  • De-cluttered: Took the opportunity to de-clutter the crate while we had it out.
  • Throw away: A musical toy which half the piano worked.
  • Taking pride in our home: Reminded the kids during the day to put away the things they are no longer playing with. Even compared to yesterday, they are getting faster at tidying up.
  • Taking pride in our home: After the kids went to bed I cleared my desk!

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:

  • When I vacuum, I might attach two bags to by belt loop next time – one on each side. One for re-homing objects, and one for rubbish. Could have done with this when I was vacuuming the hallways, and there wasn’t a rubbish bin handy. (Let’s hope that no one comes to the door while I am looking so trendy!)
  • I need to find a way to keep all my “to do” stuff together in an organised way on my desk. The reason most of the stuff ended up on my desk was because I was thinking I needed to ”do” something with it.
  • It is amazing how easily foreign objects find their way into the wrong rooms. Tonight I found another toilet roll on the floor of the bathroom with toilet paper scattered around it (DS4 wanting to make toilet roll men). A cup from the kitchen and a random part of a toy found their way to the bathroom sink. I wonder what I will find in the bathroom tomorrow night ;)

Related posts:

How do we let go of what we don’t need and value what we have?

Valuing what we have: Day 1

Valuing what we have: Day 2

Valuing what we have: Day 4

Valuing what we have: Day 5

Valuing what we have: Day 6

Valuing what we have: Day 7

Valuing what we have: Day 2

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CELEBRATIONS:

  • It was so helpful to have lots of bench space in the kitchen this morning. My daughter was turning 7, and we have a tradition where they get breakfast in bed. So my hubby and I were both in the kitchen making the special breakfast and getting the school & Playcentre lunches ready without tripping over each other.
  • Taking pride in our home: As we were about to leave the house, I was thinking to myself, “I wish I allowed enough time to clear and wipe this bench (the one we ate off)”. Then I thought about my goal from yesterday of “just doing it”, and started to quickly clear away the dishes and did a quick wipe down. It took only a few minutes!
  • Taking pride in our car and our things: We all took stuff out of the car and put them away in the right place.
  • Taking pride in our home & Found a home: I gathered DD2′s books from her room and stood them up on her table, leaning against each other. When she went get a new book for me to read to her, she was having trouble when the books kept falling down, and not standing up properly. After she went to bed, I moved the little table next to her bed and placed the books in one of my spare wicker baskets and put on the table.
  • Taking pride in our home: After I put DD2 to bed, I wiped down the walls by the stairs. DD8 said, “I want to help!” hehehe. So she tackled the pencil marks, and I did the finger marks. Aaaahhh..felt good when we finished!
  • Taking pride in our home: I cleaned the bathroom and rid it of all the foreign objects (toys) that found its way in there. There was a bowl from the kitchen? a car? some dolls clothes? wooden birthday candles but no wooden cake?
  • De-cluttered & Found a home: I have been a mum for nearly 9 years, and I have FINALLY bought those mesh bags that you can hang up to keep your bath toys in. So I de-cluttered the toys and put the bag to use.
  • Throw away: Used shampoo bottle. Old bath toys. Old toilet rolls that didn’t make it into the bin!

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:

  • The car still needs work.
  • My desk is in a shocking state.
  • I want to vacuum the house!
  • More walls to wipe.
  • I want to start timing how long my cleaning projects take, because it doesn’t feel long.

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Valuing what we have: Day 5

Valuing what we have: Day 6

Valuing what we have: Day 7

Valuing what we have: Day 1

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CELEBRATIONS:

  • We shared the goal with our family about “valuing what we have” during Family Home Evening tonight. We showed a video that hubby and I took earlier. Hubby had the video camera and pretended to be a friend that had not been to the house before, and I was showing him around our house – he saw the messy shoes by the door, baskets of random stuff in the hallway – you name it, he saw it. We talked about all sorts with the kids. We also emphasied that we want our house to be nice, because it feels good to live in a tidy, well cared for house.
  • Taking pride in your home, is part of valuing what you have. And a way to take pride in your home, is to keep it tidy. So I will put some stuff under the heading, ”taking pride in our home” whenever I do some tidying.
  • Another way we can value what we have is by separating what is valuable from what is not. I will be posting things I have “decluttered”, “thrown away”, and stuff I will be “giving away” under headings too.
  • Once we decide what we value and want to keep, we need to find it an appropriate home. A home where it is easy to put away, looks uncluttered and where it won’t get wrecked. I will be posting stuff under “found a home”. When something doesn’t have an obvious home, it makes cleaning up harder because it isn’t just a two step process – found an item, put away an item (feel good). It becomes – found an item, think about where to put it, walk to a place, too full, walk to another place, doesn’t really go there, give up, put it with a bunch of other random stuff (feel defeated and guilty)
  • Taking pride in our home: Wiped down the cabinet doors in the kitchen while I was making dinner.
  • De-cluttered & Found a home: I decluttered two of my kitchen cabinets. I found suitable homes for my appliances that were cluttering up my bench space which I needed for my cooking. Also I found a good home for my vases thanks to new space in my cabinets.
  • Throw away: Old pan, old breastpump. Lots of random bits that were collected when were speed cleaning and “hid” the items in the cabinet.
  • Give away: A random glass plate and a random plastic cup.
  • Taking pride in our home: Wiped down the kitchen benches, that were now clear of my breadmaker and rice cooker. Gave some TLC to my gas cooker and made it sparkle.
  • Taking pride in our home: After putting DD2 bed, I put away some of her clothes on my way out.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:

  • Make sure the kids and I pick up our stuff as we leave the room or car.
  • No longer close my eyes to things that need to be done because the job is too big. Instead, break the job down into managable steps, and just do 1 thing, or 5 minutes worth. Challenge myself to do something.
  • Hubby is a minamlist by nature, where I am one in training. His tip was to always make time to tidy up before moving on to another activity. I’m sure that a lot of you do that already ;)
  • If something doesn’t have a home, find one.

Related posts:

How do we let go of what we don’t need, and value what we have?

Valuing what we have: Day 2

Valuing what we have: Day 3

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Valuing what we have: Day 5

Valuing what we have: Day 6

Valuing what we have: Day 7

Sticking to a schedule: Day 7

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I have come to the end of my goal of  ”sticking to a schedule”.

LESSONS LEARNED:

  • I found that you need to find a scheduling system that works for you. You may like using a planner diary, maybe you have a PDA or a phone that you can sync with your computer calendar, perhaps you like using a “real” calendar rather than a digital one. I found that using a weekly planner that I put on the fridge worked for me (it was just a A4 sized paper which had room for me to write down 7 days of the week, and under each day of the week I had room to write the things I wanted to do that day, and room to write a rough time schedule of the day.)
  • Previously I had been writing my appointments in 3 different places and was not consolidating them (I was using my cellphone calendar, my family calendar in the kitchen and my google calendar). Sometimes I would rely on my memory to store important information – not a GOOD idea! Consequently, I had missed appointments and even turned up to appointments a week early. This week, I used a weekly planner to help me organise my life! I used it as the central place that I would write the appointments, and I would check all the calendars daily to see if anything was on. Not only did I become more reliable, but I found that I was always thinking ahead to “what needed to be done before the appointment” eg putting on dinner early, buy certain things for that event, adjust routines to fit around the appointment. This meant that the build up to the appointment was smoother and less stressful.
  • I also did not have a very good system to write down tasks/to-do lists. So I would usually end up running around like a headless chicken before the deadline because I had forgotten about it. This week I was more pro-active. When I got new tasks, I would look at my planner to see when would be a good time to do this task. My appointments were written in the planner, and were up to date, so I could see at a glance where I could slot it in. Much more things were getting done straight away, so I didn’t have that extra stress hanging over my head. I no longer felt I was “behind the 8 ball”.
  • I found it really useful to have my planner by my bed in the evening. It is funny you seem to remember things as you are getting ready to sleep. It was a relief to get the ideas down on paper, instead of having to tell myself to remember it. I was also able to refer to the planner in the morning when I woke up, since it was right by my bed.
  • Being aware of what needed to be done, helped me avoid getting sidetracked by less important things.
  • It was easier to make a morning routine, since I would normally do the same thing every day.  It was helpful to be a bit generous with the schedule/routine, so that I would be less likely to fall behind in my entire schedule if I went a bit over in certain parts. I found it more difficult to make routines for the rest of the day, because the days were all so different. This is something that I will continue to work on, so that I can use my time more effectively.

As you have more balls to juggle, it is imperative that you have a good scheduling system. Here are some tips that helped me:

  1. Have a command centre. Have a central place that you write down your appointments and tasks.
  2. Always record new tasks or appointments straight away. Don’t rely on your memory! Write down new appointments and tasks as soon as you make them.
  3. Refer to the list often. It isn’t  much use if you write it down, and never look at it. Make a habit of looking at your schedule in the evening and in the morning.
  4. Take your schedule to bed with you. Take the planner and a pen to your bedside in the evenings, so that you can add anything that comes to your mind as you prepare for bed. In the morning you will be able to refer to your planner when you first wake up.
  5. Get plenty of sleep. It makes a HUGE difference if you discipline yourself to get penty of sleep. Go to sleep early enough so that you can wake up before the kids, and so you can have some quiet time to yourself before you start your day. Having plenty of sleep also means that you have the energy to DO the things that you have on your schedule.
  6. Schedule in when you will accomplish task. Make sure you take items off your to-do list and slot them into the time where you think you can complete it.
  7. Just say “no”. If you can’t fit it into your schedule, perhaps it is time you start saying “no” to some things.  (I have found that you also have to say “no” to YOU! We are so good at coming up with new projects, when we haven’t even finished the old ones!)
  8. Prioritse how you spend your time. This way you don’t end up doing what Richard G Scott said, and “fill life with ‘good things’ so there is no room for the essential ones”. You know deep down what the essential things are. Sometimes they fail to get on the schedule because there is no obvious “deadline”. But we must always make time for (in no particular order) our family, our children, our spouses and ourselves!
  9. Review your schedule. At the end of the week look at your schedule and ask yourself : Was it balanced? Are there areas that need work? What can I do better this coming week? What ‘essentials’ do I need to schedule in?
  10. Lastly, do not be a slave to your routine. Schedule more than enough time for tasks, be flexible, change it if necessairly. Most importantly, it is a tool to help take the stress out of your day. If you find you are getting stressed trying to keep to the routine/schedule, you have made it too unrealistic, and you have too much on. It may be time for you to purge some activities out of your day. Kids pick up on our moods, so use the planner to assist you to make the days with your children more enjoyable!

Good luck!