How I Create Minimal Wardrobes For My Kids

The past few months have been a whirlwind. James was working out of town 5-6 days a week for most of the winter which made the whole season somehow fly by and slow way down simultaneously. His return to a normal schedule coincided with the official beginning of spring, so we were looking forward to mid-March even more than usual!

As per usual, spring is making a slower start than I would like, but while we've been waiting for the weather to heat up and for some color to return to the world, I've been working on putting together the kids' summer wardrobes. This didn't used to be such a chore for me. I'd go to a consignment sale or two, hit up a good Carter's sale, and call it a day. What did used to be an overwhelming chore for me was laundry. Laundry and somehow keeping everybody's clothes contained in their designated dressers and closets. I constantly felt like I was absolutely drowning in kids clothes, yet putting together outfits for them was still a headache because they'd have this one pair of shorts that only matched with one or two shirts and maybe one of those shirts were dirty (or somewhere at the bottom of Mount Laundry). A couple years ago, fed up with shoving clothes into drawers and stacking yet another bin stuffed full of off season clothes in just one size and gender in the basement, I decided to drastically minimize the kids clothes.

And then my life changed. I am not even kidding.

I realized if I concentrated on buying neutral bottoms and mostly basic tops in solids or stripes, I could get away with a lot less clothing for all of them. When I switched to one load of laundry every day, having less clothes got even easier (and Mount Laundry was conquered once and for all, never to make an appearance again) This meant shopping for new clothes was a lot more difficult that filling up a huge bag at the consignment sale, but it was well worth the challenge.

When I first started, I wasn't super intentional. No specific lists or numbers, I just focused on neutrals and solids and not overbuying. It worked for the most part, but I still ended up with some holes that needed filling here and there. Now I go into each season with a list. Before making my list, I pull out bins (all drastically purged so that each now fit several sizes in both genders for one season) from last year to find what might still fits. Once I know what can be worn again for a second year, and what size each kid will be moving into, I can make my lists. Then, lists always close by, I go to one consignment sale and then fill in with end of winter and early spring sales. I shop more at Old Navy than Carters these days since I feel like their clothes tend to mix and match a little better. I also discovered Primary, a super cool company who makes basic kids clothing in a wide range of solid colors and some stripes. They tend to run a little pricier than my frugal self likes, but they run sales all. the. time.

Sticking to my list, I slowly piece everything together and keep it all in one small bin in the basement. Once it seems everything on my list has been taken care of, I lay it all out to make sure I'm not missing anything important. If we're all good, I wash everything and we're good to go! Laundry is easier, managing where everything is put away is easier (I can easily fit Sam and Kate's non-hanging clothes in one of those plastic 3 drawer bins, Henry and Anna share a 3 drawer dresser with tons of extra space), and dressing them is easier. I try and include a few matching or coordinating pieces for special occasions or for when we go to amusement parks or museums (because it's just easier to keep track of everybody when they're wearing one main color). I also try to make the girls' holiday dresses (for Christmas and Easter) be dressy enough to be special, but neutral enough that they can wear them again several times throughout the season.

These are everybody's summer clothes for this year.

This is the list I worked from for this summer. My winter list was similar, only with a few more tops and bottoms for layering purposes.

Boys-

3-4 pairs casual shorts (including 1 pair khaki shorts)

3-4 pairs athletic shorts

7-10 tshirts (2-3 graphic ts, the rest solids or stripes)

3-4 collared shirts (including something suitable for Easter)

2-3 pairs pjs with shorts

1-2 pairs pjs with pants

1 bathing suit

1 pair sandals (sturdy enough for hiking, decent looking enough for church)

1 pair flip flops

Girls-

2-3 pairs shorts

1 pair white undershorts to wear w/ dresses

5-7 tshirts

7-8 dresses (including something suitable for Easter)

2-3 pairs pjs with shorts AND/OR nightgowns

1-2 pairs pjs with pants

1 bathing suit

1 pair sandals

1 pair flip flops

1 pair white, dressier sandals

To some people's standards, this isn't at all minimal. I could easily pare this down even more, especially since I do laundry every single day. This is what works best for us right now though. The boys are semi-interested in their clothing choices and Kate is very interested in her clothing choices. Anna doesn't care yet. These numbers have struck the right balance between keeping things manageable and giving everybody choices! This also accounts for those crazy days were people are just spilling drinks and rolling in dirt and peeing all over themselves left and right, requiring multiple wardrobe changes before dinner.

Right now everybody is old enough to mostly stay in one size for a whole season. My kids usually move up a size in the spring, so I don't buy multiple sizes for the summer unless a growth spurt sneaks up on us. Sometimes towards the end of winter I need replace some of their pants and long sleeve shirts with the next size up that I then roll into their winter wardrobe for the next year. When I have had a baby who was probably going to change sizes mid-season, I'd just do maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of this list for each size.

I keep underwear, socks, and outerwear to a minimum as well. That all looks something like this for the spring/summer:

Undies- 7 pairs

Socks- 5-7 pairs

Zip-up hoodie- 1

Sweater/cardigan- 1

Sun hat/baseball cap- 1

Sunglasses- 1

Here's everybody's summer wardrobes laid out for those of you who need a visual.

Sam's

Kate's

Henry's

Anna's (Anna ended up with more tshirts than I originally planned because she still sometimes requires a shirt change after lunch)

So does this take planning and work? Yup. Was it easier to just buy a bunch of stuff and wing it. Yup. Is it worth all of the planning and work? YUP x1000000. I've even rolled this over into my own wardrobe, purging a lot of unnecessary items and only keeping neutrals and solids that can mix and match. 

I can say with 100% honesty that drastically minimizing my kids' clothing has made a huge, positive impact on my sanity and on our home life. I know it's not for everybody. For some this is still too much clothing, and for others it's far too little. But this is the balance that I've found works best for us and makes our life run as smoothly as possible ❤

Our Daily Routine at the end of 2018

Last fall I wrote a post detailing what our daily routine looked like at that time and already, just one year later, when I look back at that post that particular rhythm of days seems foreign. So here is this year's installment which, I'm sure, in the fall of 2019 I will look back on and marvel how much just one year can change things!

The easiest way to make me feel frazzled and overwhelmed doing this mom thing is for us to go way off of our routine for a while. I feel lost, un-anchored, just sort of drifting along and fuzzy. I know this isn't true for everybody, some people thrive on a more spur of the moment, every day is a different adventure, kind of life. And that's great! But that's definitely not me. Right now we're coming off of several weeks of disrupted routine. Between trips and illnesses and some snow, our usual routine was nowhere to be found. Being in our normal routine this week has felt like slipping into a hot bubble bath after a really, really long day. So cozy and so comfortable. I feel like the whole week has just been one gigantic sigh of relief. I feel calmer, happier, and even the kids' behavior is markedly better. With this fresh gratitude and appreciation for our routine, now seems like the perfect time to write this post. The rhythm of our days brings me such joy and that's what is important, right? Whether you thrive on a structured day or not, the end goal for all of us should be days that bring us joy. Here's what joy looks like for me.

6:30- On a great day, when all the stars have aligned, Anna has slept through the night or only woke briefly once, nobody else has needed me in the night, and anxiety over one thing or another hasn't kept me awake at any point, I will wake up at 6:30 and have some quiet alone time downstairs. Given those specifications, I imagine nobody reading this will be surprised when I say that this doesn't happen often. When it does it is glorious and changes my whole entire day for the better. Someday, someday I will be able to make this happen more regularly. 

Sigh. It's so peaceful when it happens. Tea, devotions, journaling, reading.

7:00- We still have our 'the day starts at 7' rule, meaning anybody awake before 7 can play or read quietly in their beds until they see the 7 on the clock, at which point they can come out to start the day. More and more lately, the only one awake prior to 7 and coming out at 7 is Kate. The boys and Anna tend to sleep later (or Sam will get up at 7 and opt to stay in bed reading until 7:30). If I haven't been up since 6:30 I'll try to snag a little quiet reading time in my bed for a few minutes before getting up and getting myself ready. Alternatively, I just sleep til 7:30, read for 5 minutes (I just like to start my day by reading a page or two at least, it just sets a good tone) and then get ready. I've learned this year that I am my most productive self if I immediately wash my face, brush my teeth, make my bed, fix my hair, and get dressed in the morning. I used to wait until after breakfast, but now as soon as my feet hit the floor I do this routine. Even on mornings where I've had less than 5 hours of sleep and I feel horrible, washing my face and getting my bed made performs some magic on me and I feel like I can at least shuffle through the day. 

While I'm doing this, kids are slowly waking up and going to play. Sometimes if Anna wakes up and I'm not quite ready yet, one or two of the bigger kids will go in her room and sit and talk to her. I love it. It's the sweetest thing and so helpful! Once I'm ready for the day, I run downstairs and put away the dishes on the drying rack from dinner the previous night, open up the curtains (if Kate hasn't already, that's a morning job she does really like to do since she's usually the first kid up), and wash any dishes James left behind (usually just the coffee pot and the knife he used for his bagel). Then I go up to nurse Anna in her room before bringing her down to play with the big kids who are, by now, playing in the playroom. I get breakfast made while they play and wander in and out of the kitchen to tell me about something from a dream they had, or a fact they'd just read (Sam), or ask what we had to do that day. 

8:30/9ish- Breakfast on the table and, on school days, we read our Bible reading, our daily devotional, some poetry, and pray and practice a memory verse together. I'm usually multitasking and making my breakfast while we do this reading and sit down to eat after they've all finished. Sam and Kate go upstairs to do their morning chores (get dressed, pjs on their dresser or the hamper depending upon whether or not they'd worn them twice yet, make their beds, brush their teeth, and Sam cleans the upstairs bathroom sink). Henry goes to play in the playroom and Anna usually sits on my lap and shares my breakfast and my tea. I read a little while I eat and then wash the dishes and get Henry and Anna dressed. If Anna has been especially.... creative... with her breakfast, she gets a sink bath. (Bananas = hair gel to this girl)

9:30/10ish- The kids pick up the playroom a little. Mostly they just need to be sure the desk is clear and there's a little free space on the floor. They bring in two chairs from the dining room that we need and I get our pile of books for that day. We aim to start by 10, but if they're playing really nicely and/or I'm really into whatever I'm reading that morning, sometimes we start a little later.

10ish- This is our school 'block' of time. I make an effort to be home for a morning school block of time at least 3x a week, but ideally 4. We start with something called Swedish Drill which is basically a more structured Simon Says. We have started school days with gross motor activities for a few years now. It's a really great way to start a school day with at least halfway decent attitudes. Then, now that Kate is doing little bits of Kindergarten work, I start trading off who I work with. First I'll do some letter games with Kate (usually while nursing Anna) while Sam independently works on his copywork. Then I do a reading and narration with Sam while Kate does something in her binder (no real structure for her there, she might write letters she knows, or draw a picture, or play a matching game with clothespins, and sometimes she just goes to play dolls). Then Sam and I go over his math lesson and he works independently on that and does a page in his cursive workbook while I read a few books to Henry and Kate. Then another reading and narration with Sam while everybody else plays or listens in. By then we're pretty much finished. Anything else we save for later in the day. We stack the schoolbooks on my desk and everybody scatters to play.

11:30ish- Once we're finished school we might have a snack, or run a quick errand (I now try to schedule all of our errands on one, non-school day, but sometimes we might need to run out after school for just one small thing). If the weather is nice we'll go outside, or just the big kids will go outside and I'll stay in with the littles. This is my time to workout and do my weekly chore for that day and sometime in there I nurse Anna. If I'm lucky I'll snag a quick shower after my workout.

12:30- Lunch. During lunch I read something else for school, or we work on French words, or they do their artist or composer study. Once they're finished eating they go clean up the toys and race me while I wash lunch dishes and clean up the school books. Racing me makes them do a better job. Some days it's like pulling teeth to get them to pick up any toys at all, but some days it happens quickly and smoothly.

1:30/2ish- The big kids are settled in the playroom with the door closed and I take Anna up for a nap. When she's down I make my lunch and sit down to eat while I read or watch a show (though tv is pretty rare for me lately). The big kids come out of the playroom to ask me questions or for help fixing something/breaking up a fight, or to tell me about a bird they saw at the feeder approximately 40000 times so 'quiet time' isn't as quiet for me as it once was, but it's a good chance to recharge.

3- If we have any other (quiet) work for school, we'll do it now. Painting or drawing in their nature journals, or sewing or paper folding are good things to do now while Anna is asleep. In nice weather the big kids will go outside (and Henry is now allowed to go too, as long as he stays on the swing set where I can see him). I read a little more, or start a little dinner prep, or fold laundry, or I go outside with them. Once or twice a week I'll put on a movie for them around now.

4- I wake Anna up from her nap and nurse her. This is when we get the keyboard out for Sam to watch a piano lesson or just to practice, but not everyday. It's pretty random and sporadic actually. I'm hoping to structure this a little more in the new year. Everybody is playing now and I'm starting to prep for the evening. Dinner prep, finishing the weekly cleaning chores, tidying up any mess I made during quiet time, prep for the next day or week of school, catching up on emails (or, at this time of year, doing some online Christmas shopping), working on a menu or grocery list, finishing bullet journal spreads or filling in our schedules if it's the end of the month, working on our budget or paying bills, just busy work. Or Anna wakes up clingy, nurses forever, and then we snuggle a bit.

4:45- Around now I really like to have a snack and a cup of tea before starting dinner. A moment of zen because the rest of the day is going to be nonstop and a little chaotic just because once 5 o'clock hits something happens and kids get crazy.

5:00- I start dinner. Most days I put a Spotify playlist on the tv and the kids are running laps around the house and having a dance party while I cook. Sometimes I play a podcast for myself, sometimes I read while I'm cooking if I'm in the middle of something super good. If I haven't folded that day's laundry yet, I often try to do it at some point while dinner is cooking. The kitchen is the best place to fold laundry lately because Anna can't reach up onto the counter to "help". I do one load of our clothes every night, so it doesn't take long at all to fold it. If I have a timer going for something that's part of dinner, I race the timer while I fold. That makes me sound super weird probably.

Sometimes when they're not running around they sit like this in the hallway next to the kitchen. 

5:45/6- We eat. Sometimes James is home, sometimes he's not. I used to try to plan dinnertime around when he would be home, but it seems to work better to just have it ready by 6 and then we either eat with him or without him. Eating later just makes bedtime a mess. 

6:15/6:30- If James is home he cleans up dinner (because he's awesome) and packs his lunch and breakfast for the next day. We keep the kids in the playroom so we can have a little time to talk to one another without constant interruption (though we still end up being interrupted a whole lot, but such is life right now). If the laundry still isn't folded I fold while we talk and he cleans up. The house is loud at this time of day. The kids are all the way wound up and I always have music on. I try to play more relaxing classical music from dinnertime on. Sometimes it works, but a lot of times it doesn't. It helps me feel calmer though, so, there's that.

6:50- Here we go. It's bedtime. The kids have had several warnings (10 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes) to which they always cheerfully reply, "Okay!", but it's almost never actually okay and, "It's time to clean up and get ready for bed!" is usually met with, "Awwwww! No! Not now! We haven't had enough time to play!" (You all have just read the description of their day. Tell me they don't have enough time to play *eye roll*) Just like after lunch, sometimes clean up happens easily and quickly, sometimes it's a nightmare. Sometimes Sam and Kate are trucking along, doing great, and then Henry comes along and dumps the whole Duplo bin because he, "just needed that one piece for a minute!" Although lately Henry is starting to be a little more helpful during clean up time, a lot of evenings I take him upstairs along with Anna and he looks at books in her room while she's in her crib with books and I'm putting away the laundry.

7:15/7:30- The playroom is hopefully clean by now (we are really working hard at cleaning things up when we're finished with them, before getting new things out and they don't have many toys in the playroom to begin with so, as long as there isn't a whole lot of whining and/or goofing off, they are capable of cleaning up super quickly). Sam and Kate get their pjs on and brush their teeth and either James or I do Henry and Anna. I love the nights when James is home to help out with dinner clean up and bedtime, but it's not a given so I've gotten pretty efficient doing it all myself. If it's a bath night for the little two, I give them a bath while the big kids are finishing up downstairs. On shower nights I help Kate after she's finished in the playroom and then Sam showers after her (just needs help with his hair) or I do their showers on separate nights for my sanity's sake. The days of bathing everybody on the same night are past for now. It was too chaotic. It works better to spread them out. 

7:40ish- Ideally everybody is ready for bed by now and they've put their dirty clothes in the basket I've left in the hallway. I run downstairs and throw that in the washer and then go back up and read a few books to them in Anna's room. If James is home he takes her so she doesn't yell and climb all over everybody, or try to snatch the book out of my hand. Anna is not her best self at this time of day.

8- In bed. Henry nurses for a couple minutes (though he and I are talking about not doing this anymore after Christmas). Sam and Kate may have their reading lights on as long as they are quiet and don't stay up too late. We don't have an official "lights out" time for them, but we may need to implement one soon because Sam is starting to stay up pretty late reading some nights. After a couple minutes, I have laid Henry down and I go get Anna. If James is working super late, she's been in her crib this whole time (if she's fussy Sam will sit in there with her because she isn't always okay with being alone, and then he goes to bed once I come in). If James is home he and Anna are snuggling downstairs or in our bed. I nurse and rock her and she's usually down by 8:30.

8:30/8:45- I go downstairs to switch the laundry to the dryer and then I either sit on the couch with James, reading while he watches tv, or I just go upstairs to read in bed (and James usually follows) because I'm totally beat and want to be able to pass out right away after a chapter or two. Our evenings are not very exciting right now. James works very hard and my days (and nights) with the kids are very full. The other night we were both in bed with the lights off, half asleep already, by 9. If we're a little less sleepy we'll watch something together or play a game (I can kick James' butt in Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit, but still he challenges me to a game)

So that's our day! Or our day 3-4 days a week anyway. I've been trying to be very intentional this year to make any out of the house activities on a non-school day and lump errands in then too. If we go on a field trip or something, we'll do a little school work in the afternoon so we're doing school 4 times a week. On Thursdays, we leave at 3:30 for ballet so that shortens quiet time, but since Kate has an early class this year we're home in time to not have to rush to get dinner on the table. 3 times a month Sam and James leave after dinner on Thursdays for Cub Scouts (and if James can't get home in time, I take all 4 to Scouts, but since that ends at 8, we try to avoid that). While they're there I put the other 3 to bed and Sam creeps into their room quietly when he gets home. 

I'm really, really happy with the flow of our days lately. And by lately, I mean the past several months. It feels like we've found our groove. Not that there was anything wrong with our routines in the past, we've always been a very routine oriented family, but in the past I've felt a struggle to fit everything in and things would often slide. Usually working out, sometimes the weekly cleaning chores, often laundry. This current routine doesn't feel forced or crammed at all, but mostly things are getting done when they're supposed to. It feels good to wake up in the morning and already be able to see at least the bare bones of what the day will hold and to know that at the end of the day chores and tasks will be accomplished without ever having felt rushed. Most of the time anyway! Of course there are days where bedtime rolls around and it feels like a tornado came sweeping in while I was eating breakfast and, somehow, spit me out at 7:30 in the evening, the whole day a blur. But this that I've written up is what we strive for and what we achieve most days. I'm so grateful for our slow, quiet days. So grateful for how hard James works so that I can stay home. So grateful for our homeschooling curriculum which brings so much beauty through music, art, and literature to our days. And so, so grateful for this life I have and these people I get to do it with day in and day out.

Once a Reader...

I know we aren't even halfway through this year, but I'm going to go ahead and claim 2018 as 'The Year I Re-Discovered Reading". I've already written about the reading challenge I'm doing this year, and how a big goal of mine for this year has been to read more and to read better quality books. It's honestly going a million times better than I had ever hoped. I set the goal hoping it would help me make my limited downtime more purposeful and to set a good example for my kids (especially Sam as his reading is becoming more and more fluent). What I didn't expect when setting this goal for myself, was that I was going to rediscover a part of me that I had lost, an unfortunate casualty of motherhood. I discovered the part of me that had always identified as a "reader".

Books have always been just as much a part of my life as family members. All of my memories include books in some way. My earliest memory, watching my brother Billy's birth when I was 4 years old, includes the memory of sitting on a worn birth center couch being read to while my mom was in labor. Without any effort, I can hear my dad's voice changing for each character as he read Berenstein Bear books to us in one of the boys' beds before we went to sleep, my mom's voice reading Harry Potter to us in their bed.

I remember the absolute thrill I felt when I finished reading my first chapter book all on my own (Little House on the Prairie). I remember book reports in school, before we started homeschooling. One year we gave oral presentations of a book we chose ourselves and got to bring in a snack to go with it. I read Listen to the Nightingale and brought iced tea and tea sandwiches. One of my classmates (I don't remember who) read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and brought in Turkish Delight.

When I was 13, my mom and I flew out to San Fransisco to visit my aunt, uncle, and brand new baby cousin. My biggest memory of my first plane ride was that I was reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which I had purchased with my own babysitting money when it was released at a big midnight party shortly before leaving for our trip. I remember finishing it on the plane ride home and gasping so loud when I read about Lord Voldemort returning that my mom jumped and asked me if I was ok. I told her I needed her to hurry up and read the book so that we could talk about it.

When we started going to the beach in Lewes every summer, my favorite part was re-reading The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (a tradition) and then diving into a huge stack of library books. "Go to the library" always topped my mom's to do list when getting ready to leave for vacation.

One Christmas Eve I decided to stay up almost the whole night and read most of Little Women. I was a little bleary eyed the next morning, but it was worth it. I had just really wanted to spend Christmas with the March sisters.

My first summer ballet intensive (Washington, DC 2003) was so memorable in so many ways, but a big one was that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released right before I went away and it was on the top of the big pile of books I had packed. Several other dancers were reading it and a friend and I made sure to read it around the same pace, meaning we both learned of Sirius Black's fate on the same day and could comfort each other. 2 years later, at a summer intensive in Carlisle, PA I was reading the just released Half Blood Prince and finished the day before a friend, which meant I needed no explanation when she came bursting into my room sobbing with the book in her hand.

I remember in high school, the Language Arts curriculum my mom had me using introduced me to Emily Dickinson's poetry and from there I went through a phase of reading a lot of YA books written in verse. Some of better quality than others. One of my high school years I read Jane Austen's Emma and it made it's way onto my favorite books of all time list. I remember sitting in my loft bed (where I ended up doing most of my schoolwork a lot of days) actually eager to do my Language Arts because answering the questions felt like talking to somebody about the book I had loved, and who doesn't love discussing a book you really enjoyed?!

When I graduated high school and moved to Annapolis to dance, I had a part time job in a coffee shop/book store and it took incredible amounts of willpower not to blow my entire paycheck on books. As it was, I often went home with a few.

During a dark period in my early 20s, when a boyfriend had broken my heart, I hurried home from dancing and teaching every evening to read for hours. I read really sad books that helped me escape my own feelings. It felt oddly nice to cry for other people instead of myself for a change. (Said boyfriend is now my husband, so this memory has a happy ending!)

When James and I first got married, our combined libraries made up most of our moving boxes. In our tiny apartment, and with our meager budget, we made displaying every single book on a bookshelf a priority. An entire wall of our living room in that apartment (and the one we moved to a year and a half later) was filled with books.

The first summer we were married, I was often alone, since James spent most of that summer in the field. Once I got over my initial terror over driving on base, I went weekly to the library, and spent my days sitting by the pool, devouring everything by Emily Giffin and big stacks of other novels.

Taking the train home to PA to get ready for our 2nd wedding, a week ahead of James, I plowed through most of The Biography of Henry VIII, one of the longest books I'd ever read (and one of my favorites).

When I found out I was pregnant with Sam, I called my mom and when she asked what I was up to that day, I said, "Oh, just on my way to Barnes and Noble to buy some pregnancy books." by way of sharing the news. Immediately beginning to read every pregnancy book I could get my hands on was my very first instinct when I saw the positive test.

But then came babies. After Sam was born, I struggled to find time to read. There seemed to be so much else to do and we were having too much trouble figuring out the nursing thing for me to be able to read and nurse at the same time. As he got older, I seemed to have more time, but that quickly reading had ceased to be a habit and books were no longer my constant companions. Through the next few years of motherhood, I still read, and certain memories are still tied with books (When we moved to our house on base, while I was pregnant with Kate, I remember reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society on a camp chair in our mostly empty house, waiting for the moving truck to arrive), but I wasn't reading nearly as much as I always had before and long stretches of time would go by where I didn't finish a single book.

I honestly didn't notice it for a while. There were just so many other things going on in my life. I'd still mention reading any time I was asked what my hobbies were. I still went to the library a lot, mostly to check out children's books, but only ever checked out 1 or 2 for myself. I read daily to my kids, we still had big bookshelves in our living room. Eventually though, I started to realize how little I was actually reading. And when I realized that, I realized something else. I missed it. I missed reading so much. I missed being able to lose myself in a book and I missed becoming invested in characters lives. I missed that little break from your own life that reading gives you.

Missing it wasn't enough to get back to where I had been though. It was enough to make an effort here and there, but after spurts of reading a small stack of books, I'd go back to rarely picking one up.

I had all the excuses. "I'm too busy.", "I'm too tired.", "My kids won't let me just sit down and read." Then I started to realize I was full of crap. I remember my mom telling me that everybody has time to read, but that it's all about how you prioritize your time. I also remember brushing that off and insisting that, no. Really. I had no time to read. Eventually, I realized my mom was right and I should have listened to her sooner (about this and about a million other things 😉 Love you mom!) I thought back to my own childhood and remembered her reading while she ate, while she cooked, at red lights... Everybody has time to read.

Many factors went into my decision to make reading a priority again, but chief among them was definitely the homeschooling curriculum we have been using this year. I've spent this whole school year (we only have 2.5 weeks left!!!!) reading so many really awesome books to my kids out loud and it has been such a wonderful reminder of the power of words! Along with that, watching Sam read better and better, and seeing him go through piles of books on his own has made me think about how much I loved books and reading as a kid, how excited I am for him to meet all of the characters I remember and still love, and how much I want to raise readers.

Now I feel like I'm 'back'. Like I can, once again, really for real be classified as a 'reader'. I stay up too late sometimes and neglect other things I should be doing sometimes (breakfast was a tad late this morning because I just had to finish the last chapter of Unbroken). I didn't realize just how much I missed this part of myself until I started finding it again, and I am so, so very glad that I did.

Our Daily Routine

In all of the different Facebook groups I have ever seen, there's a common question. "What does your daily routine look like?" It comes up in homeschooling groups, minimalist/intentional parenting groups, fitness groups, cleaning groups, and just general parenting/birth month groups. It's my favorite question to answer and my favorite thread to read. It's so interesting to me to get a peek into other people's lives. I've gotten so many different ideas from these sort of posts. I also like to share our routine because it's really satisfying to me to see it all written out. It reminds me of a blog post I read once (I can't remember which blog, otherwise I'd be sure to link it here) that suggested making a 'reverse to do list' when you're having one of those days where it just feels like you've done nothing. Instead of dwelling on all of the items on your to do list that you haven't been able to cross off, you write down what you did do. For me, more often than not, it makes me feel so much better and more accomplished.

I'm going to go a step further than just leaving comments on routine questions in Facebook groups, and actually make a blog post about what our current routine is. It's something I'd like to do every year or so, to see how things change as time goes on and the kids get older (an idea I've stolen from a friend of mine who does this in her own blog 😉). So here we go. Here is what our routine looks like as of right now, in the fall of 2017. Sam age 6, Kate age 4, Henry age 2, and Anna 2.5 months.

I break our day up into blocks. I crave and thrive on routine, as do my kids for the most part, but homeschooling and raising 4 little ones requires flexibility. Breaking the day up in blocks honors both of those needs. I keep our waking, sleeping, and eating times the same and everything else just fits in between.

7am- Wake up. I'm a stickler about our wake up time. Sam and Kate watch for the 7 on their clock to know when to come out, and they read or play quietly together until then (except for bathroom breaks of course). Henry isn't old enough to really follow that rule yet, but before 7 I bring him some trucks and he's usually happy to wait until 7. Someday when I'm not waking up several times throughout the night, and when I don't have a baby in my bed by morning time, I'll be grateful for the chance to get up around 6 or so and have some quiet time to myself. For now though, I'll take any extra sleep I can get!

7-8:30am- A quiet, slow start to our day. Anna and Henry nurse and get their diapers changed. Sam and Kate play in their room or downstairs. I make my bed, wash my face, and get dressed. Anna is entertained in her crib upstairs or pack-n-play downstairs by watching what's going on around her or "talking" to a big sibling or two. I put away the clean dishes from the night before, get out everybody's clothes, possibly throw in a load of laundry depending on what day it is, and make breakfast. It sounds like a lot, but it's really a peaceful way to start the day.

 A few times a month we have to be out of the house first thing in the morning, so between 7 and 8 we are getting dressed and cleaned up, and having a little playtime. When we have morning activities I pack our breakfasts to be eaten in the car. The kids all do much better if they have a chance to play in the morning, rather than eating and then rushing out the door.


8:30-9:30am- This block of time is for breakfast, morning school readings, clean up, prep for the school day, and getting dressed. Anna is typically napping at this point and her first nap is the one that she's most likely to take without me holding her, so she's usually in her swing. We do our Bible reading, devotions, prayers, and poetry readings/recitations over breakfast. My post-meal rhythm is always the same (it's so much of a habit at this point that it doesn't even feel like work anymore). Sweep under the table, wipe down the table (sometimes Sam and Kate do these tasks), wash dishes. We have a dishwasher, but tried a few days without it last winter and haven't looked back since. I lay out all of the day's schoolbooks on the kitchen counter and help Henry (and sometimes Kate) get dressed. Sam gets dressed on his own and then goes and does his copywork in the dining room as Anna is waking up from her nap and I'm sitting down to nurse her.

9:30/10ish- 11/11:30ish- This is our school block. While I'm nursing Anna I sometimes do one of our daily readings and Sam narrates it back to me while I'm changing her and getting her dressed. Anna has some floor time to wiggle and work on her rolling (she won't stay on her belly for very long at all now that she's discovered rolling onto her back!) while we do our "good morning board". The good morning board is mostly for Kate at this point. Days of the week, seasons, weather, etc. After this we'll play a game to get out some energy before doing some sit down work. Red Light, Green Light is a favorite, or we do freeze dance with whatever folk song our curriculum has us learning for that month. I usually do another reading while we're in the playroom. Especially if we have Shakespeare on the schedule, since we use toys to keep all of the characters straight. Next we move to the dining room for math and language arts. Kate and Henry stay in the playroom, or they come in the dining room to color or play one of the fine motor activities I have. Kate has been asking for help writing some letters and now that she can write her name, she likes to just write it over and over again. This has been going really well and her handwriting is fairly neat for a 4 year old! If we have any readings left, Sam and I move to the couch after his other work is finished and do a reading while Anna falls asleep in my arms.

11/11:30ish-12:30- This block is different almost every day. If we have errands to run, this is when we go out and run them, or I send the big kids outside on their own, or we all go out, or they play in the playroom while Anna naps. If we're home and inside, I do some chores if Anna lets me lay her down or if she falls asleep while wrapped. Sometimes she just wants to snuggle on my lap and I take some time to sit and snuggle her while I read or something. She's going to be too big for naps in my lap too soon, I'm taking full advantage while I can!

12:30-1ish-  Lunch. I just have a snack while the kids eat. We practice French words during lunch, or do our art study, or do another reading if there's one left that day. Same rhythm for me afterwards. Sweep, wipe, dishes.

1-1:30- Clean up. Kids clean up the playroom (sometimes easily, sometimes with much arguing. Depends on the day. But the rest of the day goes a million times better when we clean up after lunch). I put school books away and get rid of any surface clutter that has accumulated throughout the morning.

1:30/2ish-3:45- Nap/quiet time. Kate stays in the playroom to play quietly on her own, Sam goes up to their room where he usually reads and/or builds with Legos, and Henry naps in his room. Once everybody is settled, I make my lunch and eat and watch a show while getting Anna to sleep. Sometimes she'll let me put her down and I'll workout, read, watch another show, or take a little nap myself. I try to keep this time chore free. If anything I sit and write a grocery list or menu. I need the time to rest before the late afternoon/evening gets going. Sam comes downstairs at 3 and he and Kate play together without Henry for a while. This is usually a good time to pull out messy things like paint or play doh, or like to make marble runs with a magnetic set we have. Not Henry friendly activities 😉 I wake up Henry between 3:30 and 3:45 (or bedtime is way too hard). He hates waking up from his nap and pretty much throws a fit at this point every day. I try to make it a very gentle wake up, but no matter what, it's a rough 15/20 minutes or so. He and Anna nurse. I usually have them go one after the other. Nursing them at the same time is just too much for me. I feel touched out enough as it is. On really difficult days, I just nurse them together though.

4- On Thursdays we get ready to go to ballet. Boys pack up toys in their backpacks and I pack coloring, stickers, and snacks. Anna nurses again and then I get Kate dressed and do her hair. We leave around 4:30 and get home around 6:15/6:30ish.

4-6:30ish- On any other day we go outside (but right now it's already starting to get dark, so outside doesn't last very long) or just play inside. This is when I'll work out if I didn't do it during naptime. Sometimes though (a lot of times lately) times gets away from me and my workout doesn't happen. Trying to work on that! A couple times a week I'll put a movie on, but I try not to do it every day. I'm finishing up that day's chores, starting dinner, doing any prep necessary for the next day (packing lunches and laying out clothes if we are going to be out of the house the next day). I fold laundry on the kitchen island and dining room table in the late afternoon sometimes. It forces me to finish and get it put away so we can eat! Anna nurses frequently throughout the evening, so I take a lot of breaks for that, not to mention all the "breaks" in my work to extract Henry from somewhere he isn't supposed to be. The house is too chaotic at this point for Anna to have any more solid naps, so she's cat napping off and on in her bouncer or in a wrap.

6:30- We eat. James' schedule is fairly inconsistent lately, but if we're lucky he's home by now and we eat together. If he's home he cleans up the kitchen and does the dishes for me because he's awesome like that. If he's not home I do it as quickly as I can, and leave dinner somewhere to keep warm for him.

6:50- I take a really deep breath and we start the process of cleaning up and getting ready for bed. I am really, really working on making it more peaceful, but currently it's rather chaotic and everybody is pretty whiny and argumentative. We're working on it. It'll get better. If James isn't home, I'm cleaning up the kitchen still while the kids get started on the playroom. When I'm finished, or while he does it if he's home, I clear any clutter from the living room and get everything ready for bedtime. Diapers on my nightstand for Anna, everybody's pjs and toothbrushes laid out. On bath nights I go bathe Anna first on her own. Once I have everything ready and Anna is bathed, if it's a bath night, I take Henry and Anna into Henry's room. Henry is more of a hindrance than a help during clean up, and I need to nurse Anna before everybody else needs me. So the little two and I have some quiet time in Henry's room while Sam and Kate finish up in the playroom and then pick up their room. On a bath night we then all go in the bathroom and get a bath. It's always a quick bath. I do not like giving baths. I would love it if the big 2 would shower, but right now it's not worth the screaming that ensues if I even mention the shower. Out of the bath, or just when everything is cleaned up, we do pjs and teeth and then everybody in Mama and Daddy's bed, or in Henry's room, for books. If attitudes have been less than stellar during clean up time, we will skip books. They love being read to, so that's a good incentive to behave and do their best cleaning up.

8- By now everybody and everything is clean and it's time to go to sleep. Sam and Kate get tucked in and kissed goodnight first and then it's Henry's turn. If James is home, this is his time with Anna while I nurse Henry and snuggle him on his own a bit. When James isn't home, Anna lays in her Moses basket on Henry's floor. By a quarter after/20 after 8, Henry is quiet enough to be left in his room to go to sleep and I take Anna to our room. James is usually home and showered by now, even on his long days, so we catch up with one another, read, or watch a show on my computer. In our current season of life, we are in our bed at 8:30 and are too tired to venture downstairs again.

9- Anna is ready for bed by now, so she gets changed, nursed, and snuggled until she's good and asleep. She starts out the night in her crib (in a corner of our room), and comes into our bed the first time she wakes up. Once she's down for the night, we usually are too! The first kid wake up (and James' alarm!) will come way too soon! Right now Henry is actually sleeping though the night about half of the time, the other half he's up once or twice. Kate is sometimes up once a couple times a week as well. Plus Anna of course. So my day continues on throughout the night.

Obviously this isn't what every single day looks like. Sometimes we scrap it all and go to Longwood Gardens instead (that's what we're doing tomorrow!), sometimes if we're out at MOPS or something all morning on a Thursday Sam and I will do schoolwork while we're at ballet that evening, sometimes we'll go run our errands during what is usually our "school block" and do schoolwork once we get home. The majority of our days go like this (or fairly close!) to this though. The kids behave so much better and are so much happier when they know what to expect next. There's less arguing (still arguing, just... less) when we're consistently cleaning up the toys right after lunch. Like I said about cleaning up after meals, it starts to just become a habit and doesn't feel like work.

I know our routine might seem way too structured for some people, and maybe nowhere near structured enough for others, but it works so well for us. Clutter and disorganization makes me feel very anxious, but with this current routine, I feel like I've struck a good balance that doesn't have me cleaning and tidying up all. day. long, but leaves me with a picked up house when we go to naps and when we go to bed.

And now I can't wait to make a routine post next fall! I'm sure SO much will have changed at that point! I hope you've all enjoyed this little peak into our life ❤