I Had a Good Day!

This has been, by far, one of the best days I've had in recent weeks!  What qualifies as a good day for me?  A good day, is a day in which I/our family accomplish a lot! 

I have not been very successful lately when it comes to conquering my daily agenda.  I still find myself "trying" to do everything!  I have a to-do-list a mile long, and between teaching the kids school and holding Abigail, it seems like I can't get the housework caught up.

 I have realized that I can no longer do it all! 

I've known this for a while, but there are times when my family listens, and times when they don't, and there are times when I forget that I can  have them do more than they are doing.

This has been good for me to realize this, and it's forced me to work smarter, not harder.  I told my family this and they listened. I love them even more for making the changes we need to make, so our family can be happy and thriving.

This was a splendid day because both the kids and Aaron heard me out. 

Aaron and I both realized, that if we want to have quality "couple time" in the evening, that is productive and actually brings us closer together-- there are a few things that have to happen before I can relax enough to have a good time.  He helped me with the kids and chores last night, which set me up to have a head start on my day.  It also gave me more time to spend with him and the kids in the evening.  I love him so much.  I love that he listens to me, hears my needs, and then finds ways to help me. We are working together, to make life more enjoyable for the whole family.

So anyways, I'm going to share with you my new routine, that's working!  Yay.


The Barry Family Routine

1.Wake up- 6:00 a.m. check email and calendar

2.Wake up kids -6:30 a.m. have them get dressed, as well as, tidy up their room

3.While they're getting dressed and cleaning their room, I make breakfast.

4. When we finish breakfast, the kids clean off the table, wash dishes and load dishwasher, shine sink, wash table + counters, and sweep. While they're cleaning up from breakfast, I'm getting the laundry started, and dressing the 3 little guys.

5.Morgan starts school, Madison teaches Sarah history, and Kaitlyn watches the baby while I exercise.

6.When I'm done exercising, I feed and change Abigail, put her down for a nap, and then shower.  Kaitlyn and Madison start school.

7.After my shower, I finish school with Sarah.

8.Then we have lunch, and again the kids clean the kitchen.  I fold laundry, clean bathrooms, and prepare for dinner, while they finish.

9.The kids who haven't finished school, continue with their school work.  Our goal is to finish by 2:00 p.m.

10.We go outside for fresh fresh air, relax, afternoon chores (basically straighten bedrooms, and rest of the house), and have some personal time until dinner.

11.We have dinner when Aaron gets home around 6:30.

12.The kids clean up kitchen.

13.We take baths, finish laundry, hang out as a family, read the scriptures, continue to work on memorizing scripture mastery verses, and pull out the testimony jar.

14.The kids go to bed by 9:00, and then Aaron and I have time to unwind, and have couple time.  We need to be in  bed no later than 10:00 p.m. if we want to have energy for the next day.

That's the schedule that made my day, a good day.  Aaron and all the kids are helping, and I feel that our family is succeeding because were working as a team-- no more mommy running solo.