Routines - housework & kids

I want to talk to people who are super organised.
I am home everyday but I have become really lazy with housework and routines with the kids :(
For one, I KNOW I need to go to sleep earlier so im not so tired in the morning.

My questions are:
What time do you go to sleep?
Do you wake yourself up with an alarm? If so, what time?
Do you have a certain order that you do your housework in?
weather permitting, do you make sure your kids spend time outside everday?
Do you limit tv/electronic entertainment they watch/use?

Ill add more as I think of them :)

I have an awesome routine. It's posted here somewhere but I'm on holidays at the moment so can't find it.

Basically I work full time and am a single mum. I get up between 6-6.45 depending on whether I have exercise to do. Bed about 10.30 depending on work.

I am no way super organised but I think I've got a fairly good routine in place!!

I go to sleep anywhere from 9:30-11. I need my sleep so I prefer to go early and catch up!!

I wake up with an alarm if working, around 6:30 otherwise I let the kids wake me up - usually 6:45-7.

When I get up I make the bed right away, then I will put the kettle on and make kids brekky while I empty the dishwasher from the night before. If i need to do washing it goes on first thing in the morning. Everythign else just gets done as needed -usually tidying, then vacuuming and mopping then bathrooms while kids nap/rest.

I do make sure kids go outside every day - gumboots, raincoats and beanies and they will have at least an hour outside in the morning and then another hour in the afternoon. DS has been a bit cold lately and not wanting to go out but I have been using my cross trainer out there while they are playing which helps!

I do limit tv a bit although have been a bit slack over the holidays. Normally they will get around 30 mins in the morning (if Im not working) then it goes off and sometimes not back on til rest time which is sometimes a dvd at the moment as DS has dropped naps. At night they will sometimes watch a movie with popcorn. Much harder in this weather as they get a bit housebound if it's raining and it will stay on a bit longer at times but when the weather is nice they probably watch around 30 mins in the morning and then about an hour at night.

I work four days a week, so it's a bit of a different situation to yours. But, I wake up at 6 so I can see DH before he leaves for work and get my hair and makeup done before DD wakes. When she's up, it's a quick play, breakfast, pack her bag and off to daycare/work.

DH picks her up and gets home at 3:30, and it's all about play til I get home at 5:30, not a bit of cleaning done! Not that I mind, he generally hasn't seen her since the night before. She loves going outside now, so most days he'll take her out the back and they play with the dog.

When I get home, I take DD and DH cooks dinner. After dinner he baths DD while I clean up and put away milk expressed that day. After bath I get DD to sleep, usually takes 60-90 minutes. DH generally has down time, sometimes cleans up the kitchen. After DD's asleep, I make the next day's lunch and prepare the next day's dinner so it's all ready to go. And there's always laundry to do, either wash, hang out or put away. I also get all my stuff ready so the mornings are easier, and get DD's clothes and nappies ready for the next day.

Other stuff we both do on the weekend, like cleaning the bathrooms and floors. It does take being organised during the week so we can do less on the weekend. I also try to fit in a home work out after getting dinners ready before jumping in the shower. Doesn't always happen cos I like to be in bed by 10!

What time do you go to sleep? Around 9.30pm
Do you wake yourself up with an alarm? If so, what time? No, just the kids, lol. About 6.30am
Do you have a certain order that you do your housework in? Not really but usually do kitchen and put washing on first thing after breakfast.
weather permitting, do you make sure your kids spend time outside everday? Yes, I think it's really important.
Do you limit tv/electronic entertainment they watch/use? Yes. Usually (unless we're sick or something) they watch half an hr in the morning and again in the afternoon (Play School).

We have some activities during the week but prefer to stay home most days. Or routine is pretty much like this when we're home-

6.30am - Wake up.
Breakfast
Get dressed, do teeth, etc.
Kids play while I clean up after breakfast and put a load of washing on.
Kids join in and help me do some cleaning ready for the day.
9.30am- Kids watch Play School and have morning tea.
Outside time (either home or park)
Activity (craft, dolls, tea party, play dough, etc etc.
11.30am Lunch time.
Story time
12pm- Nap time
2pm -2.30pm - Girls wake up.
Afternoon tea.
Free play (I play with them or do some jobs)
Outside time.
4.30pm- Play School time (I hang out washing)
Maybe another activity or reading or a walk.
DH comes home.
Dinner.
Bath.
PJs.
Bed for kids at 8.30pm.
DH and I have some time together and then we go to bed.

HTH :)

Great thread. Subbing for tips.

I work 4 days a week but I try and do washing every 2nd or 3rd day so it doesnt pile up on me. I clean the bathroom once a week (usually a Thursday night) while DD is in the bath.

Pinterest has some awesome routines for housework that has everything divided into each day of the week.

What I find helps me is to assign specific tasks to a day of the week. So for example I wash sheets on Monday, towels on Tuesday, clean bathrooms on Wednesday, go grocery shopping on Thursday etc.

Then I have my morning routine which is up by 7am, shower and make bed, brekky, dishes, wipe down kitchen benches, put on washing. Kids dress themselves and make own beds (I usually have to fix it lol!). Then we are out the door to either kindy drop off or swim/dance lesson or to the gym. When we get back its general cleaning like vacuuming, mopping, hanging out washing and making dinner which I just fit in around the kids nap/quiet time.

To answer your questions:
I go to be between 10-11pm and up by 7.15 at the latest. My kids are my alarm clock. I am not a morning person so no way I'm getting up before the kids lol!
My kids go outside most days unless its pouring with rain or really windy. DD has asthma and cold air sets her off so I'm a bit careful about sending her out in the freezing weather.
My kids love playschool so if we are home they watch that at 9.30am and then the TV goes off. They might watch a movie in the afternooon 1 or 2 days a week and sometimes playschool again at 4.30pm. They aren't hugely into TV anyway so even if its on they don't actually sit and watch it for too long.

What time do you go to sleep? Anywhere between 9pm and 10.30pm depending if I want to watch something on t.v. or not

Do you wake yourself up with an alarm? If so, what time? On the days I work (two days per week) I get up at 6am to be out of the door 40 mins later with a 5 yo in tow to do the creche drop off and board a train. On my home days I generally get up at about 7.30am. I always get up & get dressed, I find this motivates me to keep moving rather than slob around in my pjs. I also encourage DD to get dressed too. I shower at night rather than the morning as well - saves me time in the morning.

Do you have a certain order that you do your housework in? Yep. Mondays I do a full clean in the arvos when DD is at kinder. I do dusting, bathrooms, toilets, laundry, kitchen, floors (vac & wash). I wash casual clothes & towels on Wednesdays, DH work clothes and linen on the weekends and more casual clothes if need be. DH usually does the lawns and gardening after work or if pressed for time on the weekends. I tidy outside randomly.

weather permitting, do you make sure your kids spend time outside everday? Yes, but DD is an outdoors kid anyway, so it is harder to keep her inside!

Do you limit tv/electronic entertainment they watch/use? T.V. on after breakfast if we are home then it is off until the arvo. DD usually can entertain herself fairly well with puzzles, books, games, dolls etc... so no need for t.v. most days. Sometimes if DD is grumpy or I need to do things I put the t.v. on for 'quiet' time.

Im loving reading all of these, I really struggle to get up in the morning when the kids wake up and I think because I know we will be home all day it makes me more lethargic.

OK, first the disclaimer. I'm not super organised and the housework periodically drives me insane. It's hard to get a routine going because DP is a shift worker so no week is like the next one. Plus I have a dodgy back and am not meant to pick things up off the floor.

What time do you go to sleep? Too late. Usually between 11-midnight. This is because DD2 is an absolute nightmare to get to sleep and 9pm is a good night. I'm finding it hard to get to sleep because I can't exercise (dodgy back) so I don't expend enough energy during the day.

Do you wake yourself up with an alarm? If so, what time? Usually wake up around 7.30am when DD1 wakes me. BUT on the odd occasion where I've woken up first, I love it. Would love to set an alarm but it's a little tricky as DD2 co-sleeps with me so I couldn't go off and have a shower anyway because she would get antsy.

Do you have a certain order that you do your housework in? Since my physio ordered me not to pick stuff up off the floor, I've been getting DP or the kids to pick things up either last thing at night or first thing in the morning. That means I can vacuum, mop, first thing because the floor's clear. DP is generally not here in the evenings but I try to make sure that I've loaded the dishwasher so the bench is clear to make breakfast. I generally put washing on first thing too and then fold/put away at various points throughout the day. Bathrooms I generally leave for a day when the girls are in childcare. WHich is silly because they really only take 10 mins but in my head they take three hours :)

Weather permitting, do you make sure your kids spend time outside everyday? Absolutely. Though it rains A LOT here, but I make sure we go somewhere they can run off some energy eg. an indoor play centre. DD1 is a really physical child who needs to get it out of her system. DD2 is a potterer and a thinker who does not need exercise in the same way as her sister BUT she really needs to be physically worn out to go to sleep earlier (work in progress)

Do you limit tv/electronic entertainment they watch/use? Yes. I hate them watching TV but it's a necessary evil sometimes especially when DP is not here in the evenings and I need to make dinner. If DD1 gets up too early and I need extra sleep, then I'll let her watch it before I get up. TV HAS to be off at mealtimes. On average, I'd say they watch about 1.5 hours per day. That's an average, sometimes they watch much more than that, sometimes a lot less.

Ok I'm not super organised but here goes

My questions are:
What time do you go to sleep? Late around 12?
Do you wake yourself up with an alarm? If so, what time? No the kids wake me before 7
Do you have a certain order that you do your housework in? Kind of. After breakfast I load the dishwasher that is in the laundry so I also put on a load of laundry then I do a quick tidy around the house. I run the robo vac usually morning and evening.


weather permitting, do you make sure your kids spend time outside everday? Yes they get off the school bus at 3.30 and play outside till 5
Do you limit tv/electronic entertainment use?
Yep. They have a poster on the wall and an alarm clock and timer to help with this. Tv is at 8 for half hour on weekdays. Ds is at 5 for half hour and moshi monsters is at 7 for 15 mins they take turns of one on pc one in shower.
On weekends they also get half hour of tv at 12 and half hour of Ds at 2 in winter to break up being outside in the cold.


Sent from my Galaxy S3 so please excuse errors.