My 2011 Schedules for Cleaning, Meals and School

I recognize that not everyone enjoys living life on a schedule.  God has made us all unique with different personalities and preferences.  I personally thrive on a schedule as does the rest of my family.  But if this sort of thing makes you gag lol!  know that God made you differently for his purposes and that is what makes the body of Christ beautiful!  

My inspiration for my schedules is the Proverbs 31 woman.  Proverbs 31:27 says, “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idlenss.”  My schedule helps me to watch over all the affairs – or happenings – in my household.  And it keeps me from wasting time on things that may get in the way of my priorities.

Everything in nature has a rhythm – seasons flow from summer to fall to winter to spring and then back to summer again.  The sun rises and sets and the tides come in and out on a rhythm. But even in nature there are storms, tornados, and hurricanes – unexpected happenings that interrupt the expected.  I know that my family will face storms and moments when the unexpected happens and our flow will have to flex.  

So I have discovered a tool that I am using for the very first time this year called “Managers of Their Homes” by Steven and Teri Maxwell. 

The Maxwell’s say ~ “Scheduling will not be the power of energy in your successful home management…any success in our homes comes from Jesus Christ around whom everything must revolve…We do not rely on the strength of our schedule but on the strength of our Lord Jesus Christ.” pg2

So let me begin by sharing with you my weekly cleaning schedule that I’ve used off and on for 2+ years.  I have found that if the children and I do an hour or two of housework a day, I can maintain a fairly orderly home all week long without feeling like I’m cleaning all of the time.  (side note- if guests are coming this schedule changes and I clean the entire house top to bottom in 1-2 days so it is all clean at once)  I love the alliteration of this schedule which makes it easy for everyone in the house to remember what the tasks of the day are!

Cleaning Schedule:

Mondays – Menu and Market (we grocery shop in the late afternoon)

Tuesdays – Toilets, Tubs, Towels (Bathroom day!)

Wednesdays – Wash Day (we run and fold 6 +/- loads of laundry)

Thursdays – Dust

Fridays – Floors

 Next is the meal schedule (did you realize you are going to potentially cook 1,000 meals this year!  Might as well have an efficient plan right?) – which is similiar to the cleaning schedule with the alliteration:

Meal Schedule:

Mexican Monday

Tomato-ey Tuesday

Wild-Card Wednesday

Thrifty & Thankful Thursday

Fancy Friday (sometimes Fish Friday)

Soup and Sandwich Saturday

Simple Sunday (We usually eat lunch out – so dinner is light)

 

And finally there’s my personal daily plan that squeezes in exercise, devotions, homeschooling, blogging, social media, hubby time, real life ministry, friends and housework!  Here’s a sample of a typical day (but we all know that rarely are days typical!)

Weekday Schedule

6am – Wake, head to exercise at my local YMCA 1 minute away, come home and clean-up

7am – Devotions

7:30 – Email my Good Morning Girls and check social media

8am – Breakfast and Bible Reading with the Children

8:30 – Oversee Chores

9am – one on one time with each child doing phonics while the other child showers

10am – Classical Conversations (History/Science)

10:30 – Handwriting and Grammar

11:00 Math

11:30 – Computer Time for me, piano practice for Lexi

12 – Lunch

12:30 – Cleaning for me, free play for the children

1 – Classical Conversations Memory Work (Latin, History)

1:30 – Reading

2 – Computer time for me, craft or game time for the children

2:30 – Roomtime, Rest, Read, Write

3:30 – Cleaning for me, TV Time and snack for the children

4:30 – Dinner Prep, Children are my helpers where needed

5:30 – Dinner

6 – Dinner Clean-up as a family

6:30 – free time

8 – Family Reading, talking and prayer time

8:30 – Time with my husband

9:30 – Post Blog post for the next day, social media

10:30 – Read or rub hubby’s back

11:00 – zzzzzzzzzz

 

This is my ideal day and week – but we all know that life does not fit neatly into 30 minute boxes.  Daily there will be things that change the schedule such as homeschool group, gymnastics, football, Karate and piano lessons.  So we enter the school year in prayer and trust that God will be our ultimate guide each day. 

Do you have any new fall schedules you can share with me?  I’d love to hear about them!

 Walk with the King,

*High Fives to Nikki and Denice for sharing your schedules with me that I now use :)!
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58 Comments

  1. I just bought the book, after your recomendation and contemplating the purchase for awhile. I’ve drawn up a rough draft but didn’t want to make it complete until we fell into more of a routine as this is our first year homeschooling. I don’t always like sticking to schedules but it does help you feel confident in knowing that you have and will complete what you need to help the house run smoothly!! Thanks for sharing yours, I’ve been waiting to see it 🙂

  2. what a great schedule, i love your meal plan theme I need to do something like that it would make meal plan so much easier.

    I do grocery shopping on friday but I might have to adapt your cleaning schedule to fit with an extra cleaning day for laundry gotta keep the school uniforms clean.

    bedtime at 11 I wish I could stay up late but I’m out like a light by 10 🙂 Up at 5 though.

    great blog love it!!!!

  3. I love it! I have a 2 year old and a 3 month old and I’m making a rhythm for them and me. It’s quite a feat! I do a “school” time with my son and I have baby learning with my daughter. I love the fall when activities start again and I’ll be doing Good Morning Girls too!

    1. It all depends lol!!! I promise I do shower but it differs so I can’t stick it in there – on days where we have an activity in the morning I will not exercise and I’ll shower and get ready for the day at 6am. On days where we are going no where I can shower at 6:50, right before lunch, right after lunch or during the kids roomtimes at 3:30. Usually if we have something in the evening – I shower in the afternoon and fix-up then…it all matters on whether I actually MADE it to the gym lol! AND whether we are going somewhere in the morning, afternoon or evenings! Sorry it’s not in there!!! lol! I promise I DO indeed shower! :)!

  4. When do you shower? I know that seems like a silly question but I’m serious. I’ve been trying to ‘fit it all in’ but it’s hard! And cleaning, whew… I’m so far behind since we started school two weeks ago (this is my first year homeschooling). I’m starting to clean my grandmothers house one afternoon every other week and I’m so happy to be able to do it but there goes one more afternoon, plus elementary choir and other co-op activities! I’ve just got to find our groove, I guess!

    Oh and I’m the type that likes to make schedules but rarely sticks to them! 🙂

    Right now here is my schedule

    7am up and Bible

    7:45 Exercise

    8:15 Breakfast

    8:45 Oversee chores (they are little and only feed the cat, make beds, get dressed and brush teeth right now)

    9am Shower while boys free play

    9:30 am School

    After that it all falls apart! I’ll get there!

    1. Great question about the showering lol!! I promise I do shower but it all depends on the days happenings – I answered this question in detail on a comment above if you want to check it out lol!!! 🙂
      Courtney

  5. I got this book last year and I made a lovely schedule….that I never followed. 🙁

    I am literally tweaking my schedule right now – it’s open on my computer – and I have some empty boxes I’m not sure what to do with. LOL I have young children still who need some guidance or constructive play or they will fight and make large messes. So I’m trying to figure out how to fit that in with all the cleaning that needs to be done. It’s such a tough balance! Maybe I should just make them clean with me. {Light bulb!}

    Your schedule looks great!! I love the Maxwell’s and their ministry. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

  6. Love it! Thanks for sharing! I am all about schedules! (And lists and charts!)

    I’m still working on my morning schedule, but when school starts next week the plan is to have breakfast and Bible at 8am and school starts at 8:45/9:00, but everything leading up to that is up in the air. I am not a morning person, I will probably stick to my exercise routine while the kids are resting in the afternoon!

    I adapted something similar for the meals though (1000?! Really?!). I do meatless Monday, Tuesday is breakfast for dinner day, Wednesday is crockpot (due to church). Sundays are sandwiches for lunch and then something easy for dinner. Friday night is grocery shopping so we usually pick something up at the store. Thursday and Saturdays are whatever!

    Planning definitely does make things easier!

  7. I know that a schedule would help me so much. I tend to set a schedule and then I struggle to keep up with it and I get frustrated. Looking at your schedule made my head spin!! BUT I know that I need to sit down and work on one for the fall. Thanks for sharing!

  8. I’m making our schedules this week! Being a single mom of four makes scheduling a creative writing assignment, but I’m determined to make this the best year yet!!!

    1. It’s just a cheap meal – either it’s meatless, left overs or whatever is in the cupboard that has gotten pushed aside but needs eaten! Our Thrifty meal for Thursday of this week is the Duggar’s Tator Tot Casserole :)!

    2. I’m already off schedule here and up past my bedtime! I’m signing off – night night 😉 It’s our first day of Classical Conversations Class tomorrow – woohooo!!! The kids are excited to meet new friends!
      Courtney

  9. I’m just curious do you have a suggested Bible reading schedule you use with your little ones? I have a 4 & 2 1/2 year old and want to start having a daily Bible reading time like you have in your schedule.

    Thanks,
    Lisa

    1. My children are in a program at church on Sunday nights that gives us our Bible reading and memorization – it’s called Olympians and it’s put out by Word of Life. We also have a “family Bible” that we read straight out of and then I date it each day after reading and mark off the books of the Bible in the table of contents as we complete them. My goal is to have read the entire Bible to and with them, before they leave the house one day – we’ll see!!! Baby steps – somedays they sit for an hour listening and other days 3 minutes lol!!! 🙂 At your children’s ages, I was still reading children’s Bibles a lot along with memory verses on love, kindness, Jesus etc.

  10. I use Managers of Their Homes too for our schedule. I also use the Maxwell’s book Managers of Their Chores. They really have some great ideas! I need to revamp my schedule for this school year- 4th grade and 1st!!!

  11. I just ordered Managers of Their Chores with the software and I already have Managers of Their Schools and Managers of Their Homes. These are a great resource and I am looking forward to using the chore packs. I am the kind of person who thrives on a schedule…especially since I have 5 kids from 12 years down to 20 months and I homeschool! I would be lost without a schedule. The one thing I am going to do this year is get up about an hour earlier than I had been…6:30am…so that we can be done with school by 3:30 rather than 4:30, when it’s time to start dinner. I am NOT a early morning person, but I really do need the break between school and dinner. It will also give the kids more free afternoon time. The Maxwells have really been a blessing to my family…thank you for sharing your schedule!

    1. Oh you can do it!!! Rise early and you’ll reap HUGE benefits!!! I just ordered the software part too but haven’t taken the time to figure it out yet – if only there were 25 hours in a day lol!!! 😉 We do chore packs too and love them! Have a GREAT new school year!

  12. I love it, your cleaning schedule is almost exactly the same as mine (when I follow it)…except I “mop on mondays” My chores when I was growing up were divided by days of the week too and mopping was always on Mondays and it just stuck. The others I came up with as a way to get myself on a schedule, though I suppose I could have just kept the same schedule my mom came up with when I was a kid…but like you said, the alliteration is more fun (make it fun and it will get done)

    I may have to check out that book 🙂

  13. I, too, was actually working on a schedule for our household earlier this evening. We’re not old enough for school yet, but we’re having trouble with bedtime. So I figure a schedule can only help…and may even give me some time to work with my challenging boy on things like his abc’s and numbers. He won’t count past 10 even though I have heard him go to at least 15 on his own before (and we heard him counting up in the 50’s in the car once too)…and he won’t say his alphabet past “P”…except for once, again in the car, after missing out on a “bribe” of a new playdoh set for not saying it all the way to “z” while we were in the store…s.t.u.b.b.o.r.n., but he saved me $17 that day 🙂

  14. Thank you for sharing your schedule! You are so sweet. It is always nice to look at how someone else does things. My kids are 3 &1, so I am TRYING to come up with something consistent!!!

  15. I like the theme dinners I may have to try that! Kinda gets boring eating the same things every week. I would love to be as organized as you are, I finally got off my you-know what and Got a binder at Sam’s club Sunday so yeah maybe now that will motivate me to get my binder going!

  16. Courtney, did you just blow up your regular size blank schedules (graphs)? They look great! I love them super sized like that!

  17. Courtney,
    It’s funny – I bought that book years ago and it took me all summer to put the schedule together, used it for a few weeks and then quit. I am a scheduler at heart, but follow through seems to be my problem! Good job on getting it done. At least you’ll have a guide to follow, even if the storms come and knock you off course.
    Blessings:)

  18. I really like lists and charts and to-do lists…my life has been a little more flexible since we are empty nesters. Soon, Honey Bear will be home more so I am thinking having a schedule written down might be a big help…I follow one in my head right now….also I have been planning on doing some menu plans. ..
    I would venture to say, You are a morning person.
    Mama Bear

  19. I’m also a lover of schedules and lists and routines. 😀 I don’t know if it has been said in an earlier comment, but I was feeling frustrated with my schedule and routine and started to pray about it and the Lord reminded me that our schedules, lists and routines are TOOLS. They help us achieve our goals and visions. This helped me tremendously when I wasn’t following my schedule. Besides, the Lord is not looking at us and saying, “What! you didn’t follow that schedule all week?!? What is the matter with you?” 😀 Thank the Lord that His expectations are that we trust Him and see every unexpected happening as a tweak to our sense of control.

  20. I’m slowly adding in more scheduling as I start introducing my 3.5yo daughter to homeschooling. So far, I’ve found that I prefer having an order of things I want to accomplish in the day, and only a couple activities tied to a specific time to keep things flowing at a reasonable rate. For example, we ALWAYS do reading lesson at 9am, and lunch is always at 11:30 and dinner is always at 6pm. But everything else I do throughout the day is flexible.

  21. I love the meal planning alliterations!! I rack my brain every week while planning our menu and get so frustrated, lol! I will have to give that a try next week!!

  22. I have been looking into buying Managers of Their Homes for years…….I’m just afraid of the scheduling commitment! 🙂 Last year was my first yr of homeschooling, and it went fairly smooth. This year tho I will have a 4th, 1st and pre-preschooler to school. My son went to kindergarten at the public school, and my youngest was only 2. So I’m going to TRY to teach them all. Pray for me! :))
    Thanks for sharing your schedule! Love the blog, permanent stalker of it! <3

  23. So, I thought I was detailed and organized until about three minutes ago. Ha! I have a list on my computer that I print off once a week and add to it. However, my children are in public school, so I have more time during the day and do not have to be so accurate during those hours.

  24. I have to have a schedule! I would never get school done otherwise. (I would just keep procrastinating.) I use MOTH, also. We rarely have 2 days exactly the same, but at least my schedule gives me a basic structure.
    My

  25. Courtney ~

    I think you will find Managers of Their Home to be an inspirational and practical resources which you will probably tweak over the upcoming months/years. I first implemented their philosophy of block scheduling about 10 years ago (5 children ago). I have posted several posts about how we schedule, menu plan and create chore charts so that we “make the best use of time” {Eph. 5:15-17}. My most recent post was a breakdown of how we order our days with links to prior chore charts, scheduling posts and links to additional resources to encourage those seeking to create a more orderly day.

    http://smithseasonsoflife.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-we-order-our-daysscheduling-and.html

    My philosophy is that our schedule is a “guide” to what a great day may look like and we rest in how the Lord directs it…sometimes things change due to illness, pregnancy, new babies, ministry opportunities, fellowship and other educational activities that may not be “scheduled” per sa but directed according to God’s plan for where He would have us. Then we are always able to jump back on track and over time the consistency of having and following a schedule/chore chart/menu plans not only allows for a more productive life, but can save time, money and resources.

    Blessings in Him as you seek to follow His direction over your days ~

    Jarnette @ Seasons of Life

  26. I loved your schedule and ideas on organizing. I remember being a more scheduled mother when raising childre; but not as much anymore. However, I do think that Heavenly Father wants us to be organized.
    Here is one scripture that I like a lot. Doctrine and Covenants 88: 119; “Organize yourselves; prepare every neededthing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of taith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God. ”
    Blessings to you and keep on enjoying the moments.

  27. http://organizedhomeschooling.blogspot.com/2011/08/daily-schedules.html

    Mine is pretty detailed and of course I am always tweaking it. It is our first year officially homeschooling. I have a Kindergartner and an almost 1 year old. I am always trying to find a great schedule so it could be a little different at times, but this is what is working as of now. I am still working on a cleaning and laundry schedule (I used to have a great one but since baby was born it has not happened as much). I am also working on a meal plan idea like you shared. Thank you for your blog and your heart to share. I am so encouraged by it and you. Thank you for using God’s gifts and work in your life to minister to others.

  28. I love your themed dinner plans! May have to adapt those for our family! 🙂

    Our schedule is
    5:00am Brush teeth! LOL. I can’t do ANYTHING till that is done. 😉 Hubby and I up as I help him get ready and out the door for work.
    5:15am My quiet time with God
    6:00am I get ready and start slowly turning on lamps and such to slowly bring the kids to life.
    7:00am The kids wake up and get ready while I cook breakfast
    7:30am Breakfast and clean up
    8:00am Chores for kids, I pick up kitchen and start laundry
    8:30am Free time for kids, social media time for me.
    9:00am Bible study for me and the kids
    9:30am School
    12:00pm Lunch
    12:30pm Free time for kids, social media time for me.
    1:00pm Computer lessons and reading time.
    2:00pm Free time for kids (outside when whether permits) and housework for me.
    4:00pm Afternoon pick up
    4:30pm Prepare dinner, kids help most days
    5:00pm Dinner
    5:30pm Showers
    6:30pm Relax
    8:30pm Bedtime
    Of course the evening times change constantly with church activities and the kids’ sports. But this is our general schedule! 🙂

  29. Thanks so much for sharing your schedule – i often wonder how people manage to fit in blogging, homeschooling, cleaning etc so I have bookmarked it to refer back to!

    I had a schedule like this for a long time, but I’ve recently changed it. What I now am trying out is to schedule the kids time, and then all the things that happen every day like meals. But the rest of it I am leaving blank, and instead I am keeping an ongoing to do list, and a weekly and daily checklist to work through. I am finding so far that I actually seem to be getting more done as I am motivated to tick things off the list, but I’ll have to see how it goes 🙂

  30. I look forward to receiving your e-mails each morning. I am a stay-at-home mom w/ a few of my own businesses, but have a hard time w/ time management. Although my older 2 children go to public school and I’m not planning on homeschooling, is this something I could still implement into my life? Thank you so much for inspiring other women and myself to love the Lord and our families like none other.

  31. Wow. I love all your schedules. I grew up as an only child with my mom who didn’t have any schedule…housework was whenever (my mom worked and housekeeping was last on the list). I have never been organized and I have always wished I was. I would love to be able to follow through on a schedule. I have made lists, followed through for a few days and then slacked off again ;p I homeschool a 6 and 7 year old. I need to make a schedule and stick with it. I think it would help my family so much. Thank you for this post. I am able to see how people do things and maybe it will help me get a schedule going.

  32. These are great ideas! Love the alliterations. What are some of your family’s favorite meals in each category? I’m always looking for new dinner ideas! 🙂

  33. Awesome Schedule! Here’s mine:
    Sunday night: clean out refrigerator and make grocery list, plan meals for week.
    Monday: grocery shopping, some prep cooking and clean kitchen
    Tuesday: catch up on laundry, change sheets, clean kids room
    Wednesday: clean bathroom, mop kitchen if I didn’t get to it already
    Thursday: more laundry, give whole house a once-over and vacuum
    Friday: slack-off day! Eat frozen pizza for dinner

    Meals:
    Monday: chicken and rice or pasta or potatoes (keep chicken breasts frozen so they’re always on hand)
    Tuesday: breakfast for dinner
    Wednesday: in the summer we do burger wednesday and usually invite someone over to grill
    Thursday: chicken or veggie night
    Friday: fun dinner like pizza
    Saturday and Sunday: usually eat with family or friends or eat out for dinner

  34. This was actually very inspiring to look at ,as with 2 children and my house duties i tended to get a little overwhelmed thinking where can i fit in time for this or that, but this is truly what God wants for my life as a mother/wife so thank you 🙂

  35. Hi Courtney,

    I am reading this and considering whether or not to make the purchase! I’m wondering how much I need it now? Is there a resource similar elsewhere for free or a blog that will give me instructions without the added cost? If so, the $ can go to curriculum! Can you tell me if you are still using this now?
    TIA!

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