Journal Jar Tuesday #3

Welcome to the third Journal Jar Tuesday!!  This week's question is:

What rituals and routines do you have?

Ha ha I could honestly go on and on and on about this one!  I am very much a routine person, and if my routine gets off track, it completely messes me up!  For the sake of everyone that reads this, I will do my best to keep this post from getting too long...

Every morning I have an hour of "me" time.  I drink my coffee, check my e-mails, look at the weather forecast, and read through some of my favorite blogs.  I wake up before everyone else so that the entire house is quite and still.  It gives me time just for myself that I can do things I enjoy without any interuptions!  If I don't get this time for some reason, it just makes my whole day feel rushed and out of control.

I also do certain household chores on certain days:
Mondays I dust, clean glass surfaces like mirrors and windows.  I pick up the house, which is always a job after The Hubbs has been home over the weekend.  And now that we have Miss Fancy Bunny, I change out her litter.
Tuesdays I wash our white clothes and get them put away.  I also clean the bathrooms.
Wednesdays I wash our light clothes and put them away.  And I sweep our back patio.
Thursdays I wash our dark clothes and put them away.  I give the kitchen a good cleaning, and clean Fancy's litter again.  I also prep the trash and recycle for The Hubbs to take out.
Fridays I vacuum and mop our floors.
Satrudays I sweep our front porch.  The Hubbs and I alternate between who cleans Fancy's cage and litter box.  And we pooper scoop the yard.

I do switch up this cleaning routine from time to time to make sure that it still fits our schedule in the best way possible.  But I have found that for me, it is easier to keep our house under control if I do a little bit every day.  Now, sometimes, things need to be done more frequently than just on the scheduled days, but what else can you expect with a three year old!?

Oooh and one of my favorite cleaning tips is to swiffer while you vacuum.  I have one of those swiffer dusters with the extension pole.  Carry it while you vacuum and wipe down your base boards with it.  It is such a simple thing to do, but it saves your back and knees a lot of pain!!

I am also big on meal planning. I keep a monthly calendar to keep track of all of our activities, and also to plan out our meals. It makes grocery shopping SO much easier! I typically make one big shopping trip a month, and then I pick up small perishable things like milk and produce each week. I also plan several "flex" meals just in case what I have planned doesn't sound good that day, or in case we do not have time for that particular meal. By doing this, we seem to eat a lot less take out and fast food! If you do not have a monthly calendar, I would definitely suggest using one!!

Example of our Monthly Calendar:

Another routine that I think is incredibly useful is for holiday or event meal planning.  I try to plan big meals out about a month in advance.  I write down the menu, including appetizers, drinks, the meal, and desserts.  It allows me to get my shopping done early, and to give people plenty of notice for things am delegating to other people.  I then plan what I am going to bake or cook each day for about one or two weeks leading up to the event.  I start baking the things that can be frozen like cookies or bread two weeks out.  Then, early on in the week of the event, I start prep work like chopping and shredding things.  I refill my salt and pepper shakers and make sure my butter dishes are full.  I also run through my list of needed ingredients for the big way to make sure I have them all.  Then several days out from the event, I start cooking things that will reheat well.  The day before I select all of the serving dishes I will use and get them out along with the plates, flatware, napkins, and cups.  I plan where each dish will go, and go ahead and set out anything that I can.  I put up any decorations that will be used.  I also make sure my dishwasher is empty and ready for the next day.  Then the day of, I generally have to cook a few things and then just reheat the rest.  If I will be cooking several things, I write down a basic oven schedule so that I can make sure that everything is ready in time.  It is a bit of a process, and it takes a few times to get a good system down...but it is SO worth it!  My holidays are a lot less stressful when I use this technique!

I have a lot of other rituals and routines, but I think that these are probably the most helpful ones!  What sort of routines do you have!?