My Simple Morning Routine

As a busy homeschooling mom, I am learning how important it is to have a morning routine in place.

I've never been one to enjoy strict routines – variety is the spice of life!

But, I am having to learn that winging it every morning is just not conducive to a smoothly flowing day.  If I'm not careful it will be 11 am and everybody is still in their pj's.

I know some people may say that's the beauty of homeschooling – to spend all day in your pajamas and get school done when it's comfortable for you – but I personally just find it frustrating.  It will end up being a beautiful day outside, but we can't go out because we're just getting started on school.  It also makes me feel stressed because I feel like I'm one step behind all day and can't quite catch up.  Finally, I feel that allowing things to just “happen as they happen” is not really teaching my children good habits of personal discipline and that it won't be doing them any favors when they're grown with households of their own.

We certainly have days that are more relaxed and we take things slowly, but in my household I'd rather not create a habit of every day just being sloppy and thrown together.

But what is a creative, freedom-loving personality to do?  How can a mom nail down a routine and stick to it when it goes against all of her natural inclinations?

The answer I've found is to keep it super simple.

My morning routine keeps the household on track, while at the same time being totally doable.

Here are the 4 things I do in pretty much the same order every day:

1. Eat
2. Make bed
3. Read Bible
4. Get dressed

These are all basic things, but they are my special morning time.  If the kids are awake before I am, they know not to come out of their rooms until I am finished.

If I don't have a chance to complete these basics before the kids get up and around, things seem to fall into chaos pretty quickly.  Who knows what they'll find to get into in the time it takes me to get dressed?  And reading my Bible with everyone up and around?  Forget it.

So I guard this little routine carefully.  It doesn't take me long, but when I'm finished I'm ready to face the day, and I'm available to properly supervise all the little people in my house and take care of their needs.

A little more about the things in my routine:

1. Eat

This one is first on the list because I am working through some issues with hormones and blood sugar right now.  I often wake up too weak to get out of bed, so I have to eat before I ever get up.  My nightstand right now is a little mini fridge that I keep stocked with things like yogurt, homemade granola bites, cheese, and fruit.  I can just roll over and eat before I ever get out of bed!

It sounded crazy when my husband first suggested, but now I think it was a great idea.

And I'm finding there's an extra perk to it – I don't have to try to tiptoe out to the kitchen and hope I don't wake up the kids.  It's beautiful!  As crazy as it sounds, I think it is a great idea for any mom.  I've heard the complaint often about moms not being able to be up before their kids because any movement wakes them up.  Not having to go out to the kitchen would solve a lot of that!

This mini fridge from Wayfair is very similar to the one I have:

2. Make bed

I try to not to get too busy with housework until after we are done with school for the day.  Otherwise there is always something else to do and we can't ever get started on school.

But I do like to make my bed and straighten up my bedroom.  It gives me a small sense of accomplishment as well as a relaxing place to escape to if things get a little stressful during the course of the day!

I love my quilt set, which makes me happy to get my bed made so I can enjoy it.

Here's a quilt set that looks a lot like mine:

3. Read Bible

If I haven't had a chance to sit down and have some quiet time with the Lord before the noise of the day begins, things are probably not going to go very smoothly.  I need to focus my mind on the right things instead of mentally stressing about everything I need to get done.

My quiet time usually consists of reading my Bible, praying, and sometimes journaling. (Read: Why I Don't Do Bible Journaling, And What I Do Instead.)

I'm wanting/needing to get my things for this organized a little better, though. Everything is stored in different places around my room right now, and because of that I end up not using my prayer list or journal as often as I should.  I'm thinking just a basic basket where I can stack my Bible, journal, prayer lists, pens, and maybe a devotional book would be great:

4. Get Dressed

Finally, I get dressed for the day, including shoes.  Wearing shoes just seems to keep me moving faster throughout the day!  Plus, though I like the look of our wood floors, it seems like the dust and dirt just stays around no matter how often I sweep.  I don't really enjoy walking on it, so that's another reason I wear shoes all day!

One thing I'm trying is to get everyone into the habit of taking off their shoes at the door to reduce some of the dust and dirt coming into the house in the first place.  I am just using a big basket for now, but I'd like to get something that looks a little nicer.  I like this shoe storage bench because I think those little cubbies would help the kids put their shoes in their neatly instead of just tossing them (maybe?)

We are still trying to get into the habit of remembering to take off our shoes, so I don't know for sure exactly how much it will help, but the dirt issue does seem to be a little better when we do remember.

Those 4 simple things don't take much time at all and aren't too terribly restricting for someone who likes freedom and variety, but yet they make all the difference in how our day goes!

Do you have a morning routine?  I'd love to hear what yours looks like!

5 Ways to Make Spring Cleaning Fun

Do you dread the thought of getting started on your spring cleaning?

It doesn't have to be  drudgery!

Here are some ways you can actually make spring cleaning fun!

{Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Kimberly-Clark and the Motherhood.  As always, all opinions are 100% my own.}

1. Talk to a friend.

When you're ready to dig in to your cleaning, call up a friend for a chat.  The time will fly by as you enjoy catching up with a friend, and you won't even realize you're working!

How nice to look around at the end of a conversation and see everything that you got done!

2. Listen to music.

It is so much more enjoyable to clean when you're listening to some upbeat music!  Somehow it motivates you to keep moving!

If you get tired of music, a good podcast or radio show keeps things interesting too.

3.  Invest in good supplies.

Nothing makes cleaning more miserable than trying to work with the wrong supplies!

I made a stop by Walmart before I started on my cleaning to make sure I had all the things I needed.

One of the things I made sure to have was a good supply of paper towels and toilet paper.  I love being able to grab a paper towel for quick jobs.  Viva Vantage paper towels have a scrubby texture, so they are great for scrubbing everything from stovetops to patio furniture.  And Viva towels have a softer texture while still maintaining strength, so they are great for setting the kids to work on washing baseboards or for wiping out the silverware drawer.

And once I get the bathroom cabinet cleaned out, I want to make sure we're all set on toilet paper.  We seem to go through it like crazy, so keeping a nice stockpile is part of keeping my home out of chaos!  Scott  1000 and Cottonelle Clean Care or Ultra Care are all great options to keep on hand.

My local Walmart had plenty of everything that I needed, but you can also shop for all your spring cleaning stock-up needs online.

4. Make a game of it.

If your kids are cleaning with you, give everyone a baseboard to clean and tell them you're going to see who did the best job.

Or tell them you're going to have a race to see who can get their window washed the fastest.

If you're cleaning alone, pick a job and set the timer and try to beat it.

5. Learn tips and tricks to make cleaning easier.

Thinking you'll have to spend 3 hours scrubbing your oven?  Misery!  Finding out there's a simple way to clean it in minutes?  Amazing!

Pinterest is awesome for so many reasons – it's a nice way to relax as you browse through recipes and craft ideas, bu it's a fantastic resource for learning so many useful things too!

I've been collecting some helpful spring cleaning tips on a Pinterest board, and I know that many of them will save a lot of time and trouble!

You can follow the board right here:

Follow Imperfect Homemaker's board Spring Cleaning on Pinterest.

What other ways can you add that make spring cleaning fun?

To the Mom Who is Frustrated at Her Kids

“Why?  Why?!”  I asked my husband through clenched teeth.

I could feel my nostrils flaring a bit as I tried hard to contain the frustration.

I held up the bag of chocolate chips that was now almost completely empty.  I had only bought it the day before, but I had just discovered that its contents were nearly gone.  They had become the victim of some child's cravings while I was taking a much-needed nap.

“I wanted to be a good mom and make them some cookies.  I try to do something nice for them and this is how they treat me?  Why?” I lamented.

My husband looked up at me and smiled.  “Because they're immature,” he answered simply.

I let out a big sigh.

“Yes, I suppose you're right,” I hesitantly agreed.  “I suppose you're right.”

It was a short conversation, but those words have continued to ring in my ears ever since.

When I walk into the bathroom and wonder why the water is dripping and there's toothpaste splattered all over the sink”, I hear those words: “Because they're immature.”

When they're bickering and whining and I wonder why they won't just do what they've been told a thousand times, I hear it: “Because they're immature.”

When I walk past their room and wonder why they still haven't figured out how to put their dirty clothes into the hamper, I remember: “Because they're immature.”

This parenting thing requires a lot of repetition.  I knew that in theory before I became a parent, but in practice, it's a hundred times harder than I thought it would be.

Many are the times I've wanted to throw up my hands and say, “What's the use?  The house will always have junk on the floor, my chocolate chip bag will forever remain empty, and I will never hear siblings playing together in harmony.”

But the fact of the matter is, they're still immature.

I don't need to get frustrated.

I don't need to give up.

I need to continue teaching and training and training and teaching.  Over and over and over again.

So that's what I'll do.

Because they're immature.

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Christ Centered Easter Decor

Last year around Easter time, I was thinking about how much time and effort we put into celebrating Christmas.

We decorate. We exchange gifts to represent the greatest Gift of all.  We spend weeks listening to Christmas music.  And we acknowledge all of these things in light of the fact that we know there is a bigger story.  The story that

“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;  and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”  (I Corinthians 15:3-4)

We talk about how important the whole story of Jesus birth, death, and resurrection is.

But then when Easter time comes – the time of year when we acknowledge in more detail the rest of the story – it seems we often don't give it nearly as much attention as we do the Christmas story.

Many of us don't decorate our homes the way we would for Christmas.  We don't give gifts to one another, except for possibly meaningless chocolate bunnies.   We don't spend a lot of time listening to songs about the death and resurrection of Christ.

I was challenged in my own mind to try to drive home to my children just how important the rest of the story is!  I can tell them it's important all I want, but I need to show them by my actions.

I'll be honest and say that I haven't done an amazing job of it.  I want to keep improving in this area.  I want to try to place more prominence on the celebration of Christ's resurrection in my home rather than relegating it to a single Sunday morning service once a year.

We started by putting up some decorations.  We will probably keep these up for several weeks this spring.  Easter doesn't need to be over just because that particular Sunday has passed.

I used the printable banner I made last year (grab a printable version of it for yourself right here.)

I also used some letter press blocks from Dayspring to spell the word Alleluia!

(They no longer sell these blocks, but they have lots of other Christ centered Easter decor.

I have already found myself spontaneously singing out, “Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!”

I LOVE having this addition to our decor!

Click here to shop more Christ centered Easter decor from Dayspring.

A Sobering Letter to the Wife With the Filthy House

“Is a filthy house grounds for divorce?”  

Someone's husband found one of my blog posts by googling that phrase.  Isn't that sad?

He ended up leaving a comment and further expressing his frustrations. He noted that normally you think of the wife as the one who is always cleaning up behind her family, but in his case he was always cleaning up behind his wife.

He hated the fact that he had even done such a search, but he was just beyond frustrated with the horribly messy home he had to come home to every day.

He said his wife would move heaven and earth to get the house clean before guests showed up, but every other day it was a pig sty.  He also made sure to note that he does a lot of cleaning around the house to help her, but she never seemed to do her part to keep it that way.  She was embarrassed if someone else saw her house all dirty, but she didn't care if her husband saw it that way.  He admitted that perhaps a messy house bothered him too much – that maybe he was being a little OCD, but he really was just wishing that his wife would put a little more effort into keeping things clean and tidy.

Now, I have no idea who this man is or what their marriage is like.  I don't know how good of a job he is doing at communicating his needs to his wife.  He does have a responsibility to be honest with her and tell her in a kind and gentle way how much the state of the house bothers him and affects his mood when he comes home after a long day at work.  I'm not negating that he has a responsibility to help resolve the conflict.

(And if you're Mr. Clean married to Mrs. Messy, stay tuned because my husband and I are working together to share some ideas for your situation.  Perhaps she's trying harder than you realize or she may even be suffering from depression and not even know it – depression sometimes shows up as apathy. Whatever the case, we are working on resources to help you work through this together.)

But this particular article isn't for the husbands; it's for the wives.

So if you are that wife whose husband might feel so depressed inside your messy home that he is googling about whether to divorce you over it, it's time to wake up.

It's time to pull yourself out of your funk and do something about this problem.

I know some of the things you are thinking right now.  I know because I am a wife who really struggles with keeping the house clean.  Here are some of the things that are going through your head, and I will acknowledge that some of them may be perfectly legitimate.

“I have a chronic illness which makes it hard to do any physical work.”

“The kids don't help me at all.  They make messes faster than I can clean them up.”

“I never learned how to keep a house clean.”

“He only thinks I don't do any work.  I work hard all day, but at the end of the day it looks like I haven't done a thing.”

As I said before, I completely believe you that some of these statements are true.  But I also know that sometimes laziness is very sneaky.  Can't is a very relative word, and sometimes when you determine in your heart that you can, you will make a way. (Remember the guests?  You can make a way on the non-guest days too.)

If your heart almost stopped when you read that there is a husband out there somewhere who just wants OUT of the mess, and you know it could easily be your husband, read on.

I want to help.

Let's address some of the reasons/excuses for a messy house one by one:

“I have a chronic illness which makes it hard to do any physical work.”
I get it.  I live with this every day of my life.  I've had to learn that when I'm having a good day, I MUST use my time wisely.  If I procrastinate on a job that needs to be done, there is no guarantee I will be able to do it later.  It is also important that you communicate clearly and openly to your husband about your needs.

My husband has asked me to please let him know when I'm having a hard day so that he can at least mentally prepare himself before he comes home.  It is absolutely deflating to him to be all geared up to do something he needs to get done that evening and walk in the door to find out that he has to fold piles of laundry, wash dishes, and help the children clean up whatever messes they made because I am unable to do it.

Also, if you need to accept outside help (volunteered or hired out), don't be too prideful to accept it.  I've had to do this, and I cried (and cried and cried and cried) when the decision was made to get some help.  I felt like such a failure.  But I knew that ultimately for the sanity of my family, I needed help.

“The kids don't help me at all.  They make messes faster than I can clean them up.”
I understand this one too.  Young children don't automatically know how to pick up after themselves.  They have to be taught.  You can't just say “Go clean your room.”  You have to say “Pick up all the dirty clothes.”  “Now put all the race cars in the container.”  And if you don't stay on top of it, things will be a mess all the time.

They need constant supervision.  I try to keep everyone in the same room at all times whenever possible.  It doesn't mean things go perfectly, but I can at least catch my toddler when she's only dumped out half the bag of potato chips instead of the whole thing.  And I can get them swept up before anyone walks all over them and tracks the crumbs throughout the entire house.
Read this article for more help on avoiding children's disasters.

“I never learned how to keep a house clean.”
Then, honey, it's time to learn!  The health of your marriage and the happiness of your family is on the line!  There are multitudes of sites online that will teach you housekeeping basics.  If you don't know where to start, I recommend starting with Flylady's Sink Reflections book.  She has a website too, but it can get very overwhelming very quickly.  If you need something more step-by-step, the book will be a game changer for you.

“He only thinks I don't do any work.  I work hard all day, but at the end of the day it looks like I haven't done a thing.”
Once again, I am going to strongly recommend that you get the Sink Reflections book.

If you want to learn how to work effectively and get things done, it will really help you!

The book is based on a baby-steps philosophy, and I am constantly reminding myself of that when I get discouraged about my progress (or lack thereof.)

I may not have the entire house sparkling, but I can have the one area that I have chosen to focus on done.  And when I look at that area I can see that “I did it!” and it only encourages me to get up and keep trying.

This is also another area where communication with your husband is super important.  He needs to know that though you may not be perfect, you are at least trying.  If he feels that you are not even trying, he is going to feel very unloved.  But when he knows that you are working to learn how to be a better housekeeper and to overcome bad habits, he will be encouraged.

Ask him which area he would most like you to focus on.  Does he like a clean bedroom to relax in at night?  Make your main priority every day to keep it tidied up no matter what.  Do crunchy, crumb-infested floors make him cringe and want to scream?  Make it a habit to sweep the floors every day before he comes home.  The rest of the house may still need some help, but he will notice that the areas which bother him the most are clean.  (Which will encourage you too when you feel like you've been working hard but that all he notices is what you didn't do.)

Finally, be honest with yourself.
The things listed above are all circumstantial and don't have much to do with your character.  But you also need to be willing to admit it when your problem is that you are lazy and undisciplined.  It's very possible that you are dealing with a combination of legitimate obstacles and laziness.

Ask God to show you where you are being lazy and don't realize it.

Are you:

• Browsing Facebook and Pinterest
• Watching TV
• Reading a Book
• Crafting
• Etc.

all while dirty dishes sit piled in the sink?

I'm not saying you should never take time out of your day to rest.  And the work will honestly never be done.

But deep down inside, you know whether what you're doing at the moment is what you ought to be doing.

Make a list of the absolute must-do priorities that you will promise you'll get done before you sit down to relax.  Here are some of the biggest things that make a house look filthy if they're not done and can create great improvement when you do keep them done:

• Dishes washed and kitchen tidied (my personal problem area!)
• Floors swept
• Laundry going
• Beds made
• Clutter put away
• Focus area cleaned (the one that bothers your husband the most)

In conclusion, let me balance all this out by saying that this post isn't meant to browbeat you and make you sink into despair about your failures.

It's not about perfection.

(If it were, I would still be in big trouble!  I'm very much a work in progress!)

No, it's not about perfection; it's about providing hope for your family.  It's about eliminating the stress and strain between husband and wife and helping you create a game plan for being the good homemaker that
you're wanting to be.

That may mean admitting some hard things and making some difficult changes.

But the end result of bringing peace to your home will be worth it!

Need some more help managing your time and getting more done?  Sign up for the free 5 day time management ecourse!

5 Steps to Stress Free Potty Training

When I was potty training my first child, it was one of the hardest, most stressful things I ever did.  (A lot of things were that way with my first!  I had so much to figure out – poor little guy had a mom who had no clue what she was doing!)

I learned a lot of things that first time around that have made potty training all the others a MUCH less stressful experience!  When I was contacted about writing a sponsored post for CVS Training Pants I knew it would be a great time to share some of the things I have learned over the course of potty training 4 children!

Here are some of my best tips for a stress-free potty training experience:

1. Relax!  Your child will be potty trained before they graduate from high school 🙂  If you are uptight, your child will sense that, and it will only make it stressful for them too!

2. Let your child lead.  Watch for them to be interested in sitting on the potty.  If they buck at the idea, back off and try again at another time.  Trying to force it will not work! It's fine to try to get your child excited – say things like ” Do you want to go on the potty like a big girl/boy?” but don't make them if they don't want to.  They will want to sooner or later.

3. Make it easy to go potty.  You can either have a separate potty seat for them, or use a toilet seat that has a toddler seat attached to it.  (This is what we use, along with a stool in the bathroom where they can easily climb onto the toilet – it eliminates messy potty seat cleanup which equals less stress for mom!)

  Our toddler potty seat – the adult seat is underneath

Also, be sure to have loose fitting clothing for your child so they can get their pants down easily.  I often find that if I am laid back about potty training rather than trying to force my time table onto them, I will find my child in the bathroom going potty on their own!  This can't happen, though, if they can't get their pants down by themselves.

4. Choose the method that works for you.  You'll find lots of different potty training methods and ideas, and all of them will claim that this is the way to do it! But don't force yourself into a certain method just because you feel that's the way you're supposed to do it.  For instance, I use the “underwear method” where I just let my kids go straight from diapers to underwear.  I feel like it helps them get the hang of how it feels to go to the bathroom a lot quicker.  But some parents might actually find cleaning up messes stressful.  In that case, try a different method that fits your personality better.  For example, you could try putting training pants on to control the mess, but set timers for every half hour to take your child potty.  (I would suggest making sure that if they go in their training pants, that you get it changed right away.  You don't want to let them get comfortable with wet pants or they won't have any reason to go on the potty.  CVS Training Pants have a wetness indicator that will help you visibly see from the outside whether they have wet their pants or not.)

5. Have a plan for leaving home.  As I mentioned earlier, our family usually puts our children straight from diapers into underwear.  But nothing says stress to me like trying to find a bathroom RIGHT NOW when your toddler has to go potty or cleaning up soiled pants when you're out and about!  I make sure that if we're going anywhere I have a pair of training pants on my child.  I still try to take them potty with the goal of their staying dry, but I have the peace of mind of knowing that we've got protection should we not get to the potty in time.

We were sent a package of CVS Training Pants, and it came at the perfect time!  This little girl is SO interested in potty training that she cries if the church nursery workers take other kids out to go potty and they don't take her.  I think that is a pretty good indication that she is ready!  When we got the package of training pants in the mail, I showed them to her and she was so excited!  She said, “I wear it, mommy!” and started trying to put one on immediately!

I'm glad that they have refastenable sides too, because I can definitely see her just ripping it of like she currently rips off her diaper, but I wouldn't want to waste them if she has kept them dry!

So that is how we do potty training around here!  You can use these tips to make the process work for your family – either jump in right away with trying out the underwear method or take a slower, more relaxed approach by letting your child try out the potty here and there over the course of several months or weeks until they really seem excited to jump in full force.  Make sure you have some training pants on hand for outings to save yourself the stress, and that's really all there is to it!

Don't overthink it, and most of all relax and have fun!

This has been a sponsored post written by me on behalf of CVS Training Pants.