New Year Goals and Planning

This is the time of year when many of us write down New Year resolutions ( I like to think of them as goals) and plan new daily/weekly schedules. I have been busy putting Christmas decorations away and deep cleaning the house. A new week is beginning and I have a plan of going to bed at a decent hour and getting up before....oh, let's not go there. ;0)

Here are my New Year Goals:

~Read my Bible everyday
~Exercise 3-4 times a week
~Give the girls and Benjamin piano lessons
~Do a monthly nature study
~Weekly family night (we will make homemade pizzas and play board games)
~Learn how to crazy quilt
~Teach girls new skills (Benjamin is in boy scouts, so he will be learning plenty of new things)

I work on my weekly and daily schedules several times a year, but it always feels good to get things back to normal (whatever that is!) after Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Daily schedules are very personal things. What works for one person, doesn't work for another. Different personalities, family size, ages, size of home, schooling, extra curricular activities, etc. have to be taken into account. My schedule was much tighter when the girls and Benjamin were younger. Now, after schoolwork is finished, I like to keep the afternoons more flexible.


I found these simple planners at Walmart for $3.50 each. The girls and I spent some time this weekend filling in birthdays, address, and our weekly and daily routines.


I had a wonderful visit with my friend, Revee this past Friday. She and I brainstormed new ideas for the New Year. She had her girls write down specific skills they want to learn this year. I loved this idea and had Grace and Emily make a list. You can see Emily's list in the above photo.


Morning, afternoon and evening routine for the girls.


There is a small section for each day. Mondays are "deep clean bedroom" day. We will be concentrating on cleaning under the beds and organizing nightstand drawers tomorrow. The post-its can be moved around: showers are for every other day and letters are written once a week, so Tuesday's section won't have them. The girls and I will take a few minutes every evening and go over the plans for the next day.


Benjamin's list is posted on the fridge for easy access.


For the weekly menu I took a sheet of paper and used a post-it note for each day of the week's dinner. This way if I'm not in the mood for Chicken pot pie on Tuesday I can move the post-it to Thursday, etc. Here is a perfect example of different schedules : Grocery shopping once a week doesn't work for me. I would always forget things or not get enough of something, so now I go twice a week. Usually Monday and Thursday afternoons.


I have one more thing to show you. The girls and Benjamin each got a "Webkinz" for Christmas and have been spending too much time on the computer. (But mom, my frog needs to eat!). I'm pretty sure this is another idea I got from my friend, Revee that has worked great. Each child gets daily "computer tickets." I chose 4-15 minute tickets per day and once they get used up, that's it until the next day!

Thank you for taking a peek at my scheduling and planning goals. I can tell you from experience that our days won't go exactly as planned, and that's ok. Clothes will be left on the floor, there will be dust bunnies in the corners, and dinner will turn into "make your own sandwich" night. My new year's goal list looks very similar to last years, but I feel better with a plan in place and goals to better myself and my family. As we start the new year, I am reminded of this cute little verse we learned several years ago:

Try, Try Again

'Tis a lesson you should heed,
Try, try again;
If at first you don't succeed,
Try, try again;
Then your courage should appear,
For, if you will persevere,
You will conquer, never fear,
Try, try again.


I will be happy to answer any questions you have about our weekly/daily schedule plans!