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This post is brought to you by Passionate Homemaking’s Monthly Contributor, Vina Barham.

So at one point in my very short homemaking career, I got this idea in my head that I should learn to bake bread if I was going to be an awesome homemaker. And for a few months, I was baking bread like, a lot. I was also soaking grains and beans and making elaborate meal plans and all that old school coolness.

And then, I stopped. Just like that.

Because somehow, Home-making got in the way of Mothering. Or at least my idea of homemaking. I was slowly wilting in the kitchen and buried under piles of cookbooks for two hours every week trying to figure out our weekly menu, trying so hard to do all the things every good mother should do. I mean, every good mother should at least learn how to bake stuff and have a well-planned schedule of meals, right? Right?

Some of us just thrive and glow in the kitchen. The kinds of mom who are in their element when they are putting something together on the stove, with a planner and a calendar on one hand, a spatula and a rolling pin on the other. You moms rock in your own Julia Child way.

For some of us, it just ain’t so.

Not that we give up trying to learn, because oh how I would love to be THAT mom who makes all our bread from scratch, and have meals that flow seamlessly well. But that requires time, and a whole lot of learning curve. And there’s only so much time and energy that is Given us each day. And sometimes, we have to let go of the Good to make room for what is Good For Us, so that we can offer our Best and focus on the Essential.

Like:

• Taking care of ourselves so we have more of us to give in generous loving heaps to our family.
• Practicing the art of loosening up, embracing the mess and playing more with our children.
• Maintaining Our Core Identity so we can offer Genuine parts of ourselves to the people we love.
• Focusing on Growing as a Mother (and a Wife) instead of Perfecting the Art of Homemaking.

Okay, more practical examples:
• Settling for buying nourishing bread elsewhere for the time being so I can learn the essentials in the kitchen stress-free.
• Forgoing the elaborate menu plans, sticking to the simple recipes I know and slowly, but surely building on them.

I still bake bread on occasion so I can continue to learn how to do it, but I have given myself permission to take that off my essential list, for now. And slowly, I’m learning what needs to make that list, and what needs to be “put on hold” for another time. And bit by bit, taking baby steps and starting small, I will bake the most delicious bread yet in my house. But for now, first things first.

Photo Credit

This post was written by Passionate Homemaking’s monthly contributor, Kat.

My family recently emerged from a bout with the Black Plague. Or something like that. All I know is I was down and out for almost 2 full weeks. I. Felt. Horrible. I was in bed more than out of it and my wonderful husband Jimmy did everything. I didn’t emerge from my room for a couple days.

I didn’t even blog.

Yes, it was that bad.

But what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger right? So, here’s something I learned from The Great Sickness of 2010:

Mama needs a backup plan.

Jimmy did a great job, don’t get me wrong. Since he works from home, he has a good idea of how things run around here and he took care of things like a champ, but it was hard on him. I want to plan in advance so, should anything like this happen again (may it never, ever be), we’ll be prepared. And it will be easier on everyone.

So I’ve decided we need a “If Mommy Gets The Black Plague Again Kit.” Here’s what it will contain:

1. Frozen meals

Make sure there are always at least a weeks worth of meals in the freezer. It would have been much easier if Jimmy hadn’t had to come up with a meal every single night. It would have been nice if he could have just pulled something out of the freezer to heat and serve.

I want to keep at least 5 meals in there at all times. In addition to that, I want to have snack/lunch options in the freezer regularly as well.

Lindsay has a great post with a gabazillion recipes. Don’t try to use that word in Scrabble.

2. Paper products

Lindsay may kick me out of my guest blogging position for this suggestion. (Kidding…I think.)

But dishes are just one more thing our husbands need to take care of when we’re sick. By having some paper cups, plates, bowls handy we can save them a lot of work, stress and mess. You can buy the earth friendly kind, so you don’t feel so guilty about using them. We did this about a week into The Great Sickness of 2010 and it made a HUGE difference.

3. Give everyone a job

When you’re healthy is a great time to begin teaching your kids how to do chores. If they can walk they can help. They can carry their clothes to the hamper or put their plate in the sink. If they’re used to doing a chore, they’ll be much more eager and able to help when mommy is out of commission.

4. Activities list and supplies location

While I was sick, Jimmy took the kids out, played games with them, read to them and let them watch tv. But it would have been easier for him if he had a list of entertaining activities for the kids. Things like Playdoh, painting, blocks, puzzles, audiobooks, Adventures in Odessey stories and looking at old photo books are really fun and they allow daddy a little time to rest.

5. Goodies

Keep a little box of trinkets (stickers, bubbles, coloring books) handy for those days when you’re not feeling your best. Providing a goody bag for your kids will thrill your kids and take some of the stress of entertaining them off of your husband.

6. Prayer

When we’re sick we have PLENTY of time on our hands to pray for our children and our husbands. Grab your prayer calendars and spend an extended portion of time praying for your family.

Conclusion

You CAN take care of your family even when you’re sick and stuck in bed just by doing a little planning and creative thinking.

Having an emergency kit will not only make life much easier for your husband, but it will also ease your mind when you’re sick and need to rest.

Action Step
Take 30 minutes today to:
1. Add paper products and a few goodies to your grocery list.
2. Double 2 recipes this week and freeze the left overs.
3. List 1 chore that each of your kids can practice.

Kat blogs at Inspired To Action, a site dedicated to helping moms develop the habits and skills they need to effectively manage their homes and raise children who are prepared to change the world. Kat and her husband Jimmy live in the great state of Texas and have 3 children ages 7, 5 and 3. Kat loves music, running, technology, Jesus and Tex-Mex food. Not necessarily in that order.

The following post comes to you by Passionate Homemaking’s monthly contributor, Kat.

Would you like more time in your day? Would you like to stop nagging your children to do their chores? Would you like a more peaceful home with less effort?

Effective daily routines can make it all possible.

The Power of Routine

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Don’t work harder, work smarter.” Planning and creative thinking allows us to do more with less time and less effort.

Successful people subscribe to the power of routine. Whether it’s an athlete going through her workout routine or a business woman who has developed a process that allows her company to run even in her absence. Every successful business and organization has time tested and finely tuned routines and processes. If we want to be effective and intentional mothers, we need to create systems that work for us.

Taking the time to develop a routine frees up our time and our brains. We can use our routines to easily delegate responsibilities to others and teach our children. Or we can create routines so that our brain power can be focused on other activities like listening to an audiobook, a podcast or our favorite music while we do our chores.

Here are 3 key routines that will reduce your stress and increase your free time.

Get A Chef – Routines for Meals

We have all heard how helpful meal planning can be, but the process of creating all the menus and shopping lists can be quite daunting. For many, it’s hard to stick it out long enough to see the payoff.

The truth about meal planning is that you don’t have to do it every single week. The key is to create 8-12 plans and then just rotate them.

All you need to do is take 1 hour each week to plan your meals. Create your recipe and shopping list and save it on your computer. After 6-8 weeks, you’ll be able to cut your weekly meal planning time by 90% because rather than having to do a full meal plan each week, you can simply grab one you’ve already created and head to the store.

Another option is to have a meal planning party. Invite 8-12 friends over and have each of them prepare a week’s worth of simple, healthy, tasty meal recipes and a corresponding categorized shopping list. Ask them to bring 1 copy for everyone in attendance. At the party you’ll all exchange meal plans/shopping lists and you’ll leave with two to three months worth of meal plans that you can rotate. Voila.

Get A Maid – Routines for Cleaning

Some people clean best in one weekly spurt. Others do it best little by little. The first step is to decide which method works for you. Then write out your cleaning schedule. It may seem silly to write down that you’ll mop the floor on Thursday or dust on Tuesday, but the process of writing down those simple tasks releases your brain to think about other things rather than keep track of the minutiae of cleaning. The more tasks you can get out of your head and into a schedule, the less stressed you’ll be.

First, list the specific chores that make the biggest impact on the peacefulness and presentation of your home. Then highlight the areas of your house that need the most focus.

Too often when cleaning, we get stuck on the task and lose sight of the big picture. For example, we might need to clean the master bathroom and because we have all the bathroom cleaning supplies out, we take the time to clean ALL the bathrooms. In reality, though, that half bath RARELY gets used and doesn’t need to be cleaned at all and that extra 15 minutes could have been used more effectively.

So when creating our cleaning routine, it’s important to really sit down and think about the chores that will have the biggest impact so that we can focus our time and energy accordingly.

With this list in hand, create a core cleaning chart for the day, week, month, quarter and year.

Yes, it will take some time initially (30 minutes to an hour), but it will save you MUCH more time in the long run.

Get A Nanny – Routines for Your Children

This is the set of routines that have helped me the most. I have three young children and directing all of them towards going to school or getting ready for bed can often leave me longing for the peaceful bliss of working the Air Traffic Control tower at LaGuardia Airport on Christmas Eve while all the power is out. Blindfolded.

My children relied on me to direct and motivate them. And it took every ounce of patience I had. And more.

But then (cue skies parting, sun shining down and angels singing) I simply created a chart that walks them through their routines. Now they have discovered the joy of checking things off a list, accomplishing chores and feeling less like puppets and more like grown ups.

Word Of Caution

Just as a hired cook, maid or nanny should not come into your home and disrupt your family or negatively affect your relationships, we need to make sure our routines work for us and not let them control us. Introduce routines in a positive way. Make it fun and exciting and ALWAYS put your relationships above the routine. Be flexible.

Action Step

Mark off a 3-5 hour block of time on your calendar this week (or use your weekly planning retreat time) to work on creating your routines.

Conclusion

When we feel overwhelmed, routines provide a simple way to find our footing again. Routines can literally free up HOURS each week and help you create the warm, peaceful home you desire. It does take time to plan them, but the reward in the long run is well worth it.

What tips do you have to share for creating effective routines?

Kat blogs at Inspired To Action, a site dedicated to helping moms develop the habits and skills they need to effectively manage their homes and raise children who are prepared to change the world. Kat and her husband Jimmy live the great state of Texas and have 3 children ages 7, 5 and 2. Kat loves music, running, technology, Jesus and Tex-Mex food. Not necessarily in that order.

Maintaining a home is a full time job. There is no denying it. It takes time and energy to keep a home running peacefully and harmoniously. Whether you can be home full time or not, there is a need for organization to maintain this restful environment through which our husbands, children, and friends can find solace. Until recently, you could find many small to-do lists, schedules, menu plans, scattered random receipts, financial notes, papers, and the like spread out over my home. Some might be in the office, some in the kitchen, some in my purse. I had a haphazard cleaning schedule in the back of my mind. I had a homemaking notebook but it only had some random articles that I wanted to save and not much more. Do you experience this scattered feeling?

I suddenly got inspiration after viewing some of Stephanie’s planning pages to get organized in this area. I am so glad that I did. I collected everything into one home planning notebook. Ahh…so much more peaceful. I wanted to share with you what my homemaking planner looks like…but be sure that your notebook can take any shape or form. I pray this might provide you with some inspiration to get started. Organization is an important habit to cultivate, and I need it just as much as the next homemaker.

What Your Need?

1 3-ringed binder

Dividers

Sheet protectors, if desired

Planning sheets (check out the resources below)

Ideas for Your Home Planner/Organizer/Journal/Notebook

There is an endless supply of ideas that you could compile for your planner, but here are a few tabs that I have:

Goals - this section I put right at the front of my journal so I would be daily reminded to review my goals for the year including: personal goals, nutritional goals, handcraft goals, family/ministry goals, family mission statement and book reading list.

 

Weekly Plan – Monthly calendar and to do list for the week. I take time every Sunday for my weekly planning outing to plan for the upcoming week using these pages.

Schedule – morning and evening routines, weekly routines (day by day plans that don’t change) – (check out Simplifying Your Schedule and Developing a Morning Routine for further inspiration)

 

Menu Plan – monthly winter & spring menu plans, monthly errand list, shopping lists (visit Developing a Monthly Menu Plan for more details on developing a monthly menu plan)

 

Homeschooling – ideas for learning activities, planning pages

 

Hospitality – our family vision for hospitality, ongoing invite list, meal ideas for guests, emergency meal, meaningful questions for dialog

 

Holidays – family traditions, holiday recipes, holiday planner, gift ideas for family/friends, Christmas card list with addresses

 

Household Inventory – freezer inventory, pantry inventory, master household supplies list (including personal care, house maintenance, office, kitchen, cleaning, and health supplies – to review monthly before errand run to see if anything needs to be restocked), clothing inventory (keeping track of the kids clothes to stay ahead of the seasons)

 

Finances – Budget, bill schedule, cash envelope funds and purchases, receipts

 

Family Journal – includes by weekly evaluation notes, monthly journal on what God has done in our family over the previous month, birthday letters to our children

 

Household Maintenance – spring cleaning list, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual chores list, honey to do list (basic repairs that need to be done around the house)

 

Blog Ideas – this is where I keep track of blog post ideas, advertiser and affiliate information

 

Resources - this is for keeping articles, book titles, and misc resources that I might want to look back on in the future

 

Contacts – a central place to keep phone numbers, addresses, websites, etc.

Other ideas: coupon organizer, chore chart for kids, emergency preparedness info, etc.

Here’s a peak into my planning notebook:

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My encouragement for you is to take one section at a time. One section per week if necessary to avoid getting overwhelmed in any way. Build your homemaking planner over time and see more peace establish in your home. Bless your efforts! Developing my home planning notebook has taken several weeks and it is always getting improvements made to it.

Pages from my Planner:

Here are pages I personally use and/or have assembled for my notebook planner:

Freezer Inventory
Pantry Inventory
Master Household Supplies List
Housecleaning Schedule
Weekly Evaluation Page
Monthly Menu List

Resources & Inspiration:

Tell Your Time: How to Manage Your Schedule to Live your Life Fulfilled – a wonderful little ebook that helps you develop goals and a schedule

Intentional Planner by Sheri Graham – a wonderful resource including planning pages

Maximize Your Morning by Inspired to Action – a helpful free guide to developing a morning routine with several good planning pages.

List Plan It – a great site that offers a yearly subscription access to over 400 lists to help organize your home, business, and life.

Homemaking Organized – downloadable lists for organizing your home

Control Journal – Flylady’s guide and tips to building your home planner or control journal as she calls it.

Household Management 101 - easy steps to building your planner

Do you have any ideas or resources to share with us on becoming more organized with a home planner?