There were a few questions about my planning page, here’s the link.
6 Ways to Create Balance in Your Schedule
August 15, 2010 By 10 Comments
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About kmorrisKelly Morris is a sustainable-living expert who lives in a small Ohio town with her husband, their 9 children, 10 miniature donkeys, chickens, goats and lazy Basset hound.
Those are GREAT suggestions! Thank you so much for taking the time to share them…
Thanks, Misty! Always enjoy your comments!
very good points – that mommy guilt is a tough one to get over when saying no, but I know it is in the best interest of my family so I need to stick to my guns. I say no a lot – to sleepovers, playdates, and much to one of my boy’s dismay I’ve said no to football – it cuts the summer WAY too short and is every day, and between my job, my youngest son who will be giving up naps for pre-k this fall, and the rest of our activities (my daughter has quite a few), its not something I’m willing to do and although my son WANTS to do it, I don’t feel at this time its his passion, so I’ll put it off until then.
Another thing to keep in mind – the more activities and such that the kids do, the more you’ll see other invites climb such as playdate invites and party invitations. My kids don’t get invited to a lot of parties and I’m PERFECTLY ok with that. They are disappointed sometimes when they hear others talk about a party, but they go to enough (close friends, good classmates) that I’m good with it. So before you say yes to a particular activity you might be on the fence about, just remember – it opens the door for other things (snack committees, parent meetings for sports, extra shopping trips for equipment, end of season parties, and additional party invites to name a few!)
Very good points, S! The more involved your kids are in different activities, the more invitations they’ll receive to do other things. This is totally happening in our lives right now with the kids going to public school and playing sports. In the past, we’ve had a “2 birthday party” limit per kid per year. It was really difficult to stick with it this year! But that’s 16 gifts that need to be bought (8 kids).
Thanks for chiming in!!!
If I lost my calendar I am not sure I could function! I have two laptops and a phone. I use iCal on my work machine, iCal on my personal laptop, and iCal on my iPhone. I have all three calendars liked to my Google Calendar. That is important because if I add something to one calendar it links to the others. So no matter where I am I always have an accurate calendar in front of me.
I like having all of my calendars online so if I wanted to share it with someone else, it is easy to do. I can also set reminders for my events so I never miss an appointment. I can add links for further information, personal notes to keep me up to date with what I am doing, and everything else I might need. Even the location can go in there.
Oh, how I love knowing you! Thank you so much for the wisdom you share.
I especially loved the “keep a paper form of things that need to fit in the schedule”–that prompted me to label a paper holder on my desk just for that! I realized I often have those type of papers all over the desk or in a drawer. Not good.
I also loved “pace yourself” –such a great reminder and for me, an affirmation that it is ok to be the mom, be aware of what my family needs, and make good decisions by saying “yes” and “no”
Thank you, thank you, thank you for linking up to “AP Tuesday!”
great job getting it done…
my 1st time @ Amy’s meme
enjoyed!
I loved your video and I agree with you. I don’t have a central, or maybe I do it’s just a little fuzzy. I have a calendar on my wall where I jot down everything and then I have google calendar on my cellphone which is my main reminder throughout my day. Every Sunday I make sure the upcoming week is updated on both calendars and I make a todo week list that I add to my todo day list. It works for me mostly during the school year because I just get lazy with it in the summer.
Being a foreigner in the US I often find myself lonely because my friends are always so busy taking their kids to one activity after the other. Especially when we only had one kid each and they were pre-schoolers.
I believe in letting the kid slowly get used to the workload that is school, before adding on activites. Last year we signed our kindergardner up for girlscouts with two meetings a month and that was it for the whole year. This year she is a firstgrader and she will be doing girlscouts and one sport. Next year we might add music. There just need to be days where there is no activities after school.
To us it is more important to do things together as a family than having my kid exhaust herself doing activities.
This is great stuff and has the potential to get me seriously organised. I don’t use any type of planner/calendar at the moment but your video has motivated me to get one. Thanks for sharing!
Wow…as a mom of four boys ages 7-12 I found your tips very useful. I especially appreciate the reminder that I dictate the pace in our home. We have some children that are high energy and into friendships whereas others like their quiet time and are content to being alone. Thank you so much for your wisdom and insights.