SMART Habits Saturday

Things were going so well and then I made the same mistake I make EVERY time things get going good. It is very well summed up by these quotes from Karen Andreola, author of A Charlotte Mason Companion,

"The dangerous time to run out of determination is just before the habit is formed. For instance she may think, 'Becky has remembered so well up to now that I won't bother to call her back to put away her things this time.' "

"Years ago I made the mistake of allowing my children off from certain good actions on the weekend before certain habits were were solidly formed. My failing became apparent to me when I discovered that--like the month of March--Monday morning came in like a lion! To insure that Monday comes in like a lamb, those weekday actions of neatness, politeness, obedience, must be employed on the weekend too."

I do this all the time. I will get things running smoothly with steadfast routines, then all of a sudden I think, "We have worked so hard and things are going so well I think we all deserve a day off." I always think the kids will love me for giving them the day off. I always think I will get a sudden burst of energy after relaxing all day. WRONG! instead my house gets very messy, very fast, and suddenly my kids are surly, they fight (because they have nothing better to do), I get grumpy because they are fighting and the mess is so big that it makes me tired just looking at it. DSSH comes home to a messy house and no dinner and then I feel ashamed because he didn't get a day off and now he has to suffer the monster I've created. The list goes on and on. Why do I do this to myself? I think, even though I logically know better, that I have bought into the world's view of thinking that the highest goal to have in life is to have nothing to do. Well, I am way to young to retire, I haven't even come close to earning retirement, and it is a known fact that people must have something to do in life or they go crazy (why else do they have basket weaving in nursing homes?).

Therefore, my new SMART Habit this week is going to be keeping the momentum going. To get back on track with my other habits and stop taking "time off for good behavior." Here is my report on the other habits:

1. Jumping out of bed, making bed, shaking my booty till DSSH gets out of shower. I'm happy to say that I did this fully. It felt good to stretch and shake again.
2. Walking with kids to pick up Cookie from school. Eh, I only get a D- for this one. We drove 2 times and one time I actually left the kids at home because Sweet Terror was sleeping. Pablo is very good at watching the kids but I promised that would NOT be an excuse this year.
3. Dinner on the table no later than 10 minutes after DSSH gets home. Not good. I think I only did this twice.
4. Reading with my children. I am happy to say that reading the scripture stories with the boys every night has become a habit. We didn't do it on Halloween night and it just felt wrong. I'm still not getting in the reading with the girls though.
5. Organizing one thing every day and no T.V. until Friday. Totally bombed these. Watched TV 3 days this week and only organized 2 things.
6. No computer until AFTER school work is done. This one I get a big fat F- for. On Monday I stayed off the computer but we didn't get any school work done. Every other day I was on the computer before I'd even had breakfast. Not good, folks, not good.

Here is my game plan (today's to do list) for doing better.
-Make Homeschool Packets. I made a bunch of these and they work great but i ran out and was too lazy to make more. I get all their assignments together for everyday of the week, then all the kids have to do is grab and get to work.
-Get caught up on all chores so that on Monday the chores aren't so hard that the kids can't do them.
-Write two blog posts and answer an advice question today so that I don't have an excuse for getting online.
-Plan next weeks menu
-Get all laundry done so that we have socks and gloves ready for our daily walk.
-Figure out a reading plan for the girls and myself.

As I get these done I will come back here and turn them red. Happy SMART Habits Saturday to you all. For more great habit ideas check out The Lazy Organizer.

SMART Habits Saturday

I've been doing a fairly good job with all my habits and am liking the results. I find that our home has been a lot more peaceful and I feel more joy in the things I've accomplished everyday. Now, before you think I've gotten cocky with my big A+ here let me just say that this is not a grade for myself but is the image for this week's new goal. I think one of the trickiest parts about this habit building is picking the new habit. I think I am finally ready to work on this very much needed habit: No computer AT ALL until after we have done our minimum requirements for homeschool. I am excited about this because I know it can only make my day better and will drastically improve our homeschool experience.

Organizing one thing a day. Ok, technically I haven't been doing this. I did organize my armoire, and I did organize our chores routine, but that was about it. I was thinking of using the fact that we have been habitually doing all our chores as a loop hole but I really do need to do this habit the way I intended to. So I will either do it all this week or I will take it off my habit list (and I HATE doing that).

No TV until Friday. I did this one 100%. I didn't watch any TV until today. I have to say that after not watching it I actually felt annoyed having to sit for so long to watch stuff that wasn't all that fabulous. I think I am going to fine tune this habit to say No TV until Friday, and only 1 show on Friday.

Reading to my children every day. I have tried reading to Sweet Terror and it is pretty hit and miss. She just doesn't seem interested. I think it would help if it was routine and in the morning. Hopefully doing homeschool first thing will help this. I also still need to incorporate Cookie into this habit. I am glad to report that the boys and I have faithfully been reading the Illustrated Book of Mormon Stories every night. One night I wasn't there so we make up for it by reading early the next morning. It has been such a lovely experience.

Dinner on the table no later than 10 minutes after DSSH gets home. I did it! Even on the night that I tried to get out of it I still had it on the table (DSSH was late coming home and I had nothing else to do so....).

Walking with the kids to pick Cookie up from school. Ok, some days we took the car because of rain, or running errands, but we were all together. This has been a big improvement over last year and the kids love taking the walk.

Jumping out of bed, making the bed, and shaking my booty. Jumping, and making were great, still having problems with the shaking. In my defense I have started doing morning scripture study, but not during the same time that I usually shake it, so no excuses this next week. I either shake it or I loose the habit.

To learn more about SMART Habit Saturdays head over to The Lazy Organizer and see what everyone else is doing.

Trying To Stay Smart

Happy Smart Saturday to everyone. This has been a good week but I'm starting to feel myself slipping in several areas. I seem to get so excited about the new habit that I start forgetting past habits, but I managed to crawl through the week with a passing grade in all areas; I am proud of myself for that. One of the things holding me back right now is a certain problem I have. I don't own TiVo, I don't get cable, I don't even have the TV hooked up to the antenna. This is because I am a TV addict and in a bad way. I can sit and stare at a screen for hours, without ever watching anything of value, while my life just wastes away. So, I don't get TV. BUT, sadly my sister alerted me to the fact that you can watch new TV episodes for free online. BIG MISTAKE. I tell myself I will just watch one but then 4 hours pass by and my kids are running around like heathens and my butt hurts. That is why I am doing a two sided habit this week.

No internet TV watching at all except on Fridays. I don't have the time or the desire to waste my life on stupid shows anymore. If I can't stick to this once a week goal then I will cut it out all together or I will somehow force my husband to get rid of our high speed internet so that I can't watch it anymore.

And, since I will have more free time in my day now that I'm not watching TV I will restart an old habit I used to have of organizing/deep cleaning one area of the house every day. I am in desperate need of this wonderful habit and hope I can do it.

The reading is holding steady at a very strong 50%. I have read scripture stories with the boys every night this week and I am loving it. There were two nights when I almost tried to get out of it but reminded myself that it was a habit and did it anyway, and I was so glad I did. It is amazing to me how much they are learning and how special this time is for us. Now I need to work on reading to Sweet Terror and with Cookie as well.

I met this goal and was only late with dinner 2 nights but even then they were on the table in no more than 20 minutes after DSSH got home. I need to be better this next week, and I think the no TV thing will help. As long as I start prepping dinner at 4 I always have it on the table in time (I usually prep it early then attend to other things until right before he comes home. I'm not really cooking from 4 to 7). I must say that the times it is on the table when DSSH comes through the door, I feel so happy with myself and I like that feeling.

We did great on this one. We did take the car to pick up Cookie yesterday but that was because it was raining elephants and water buffaloes out there and I didn't want any sick kids this weekend.

Did this one every day but there wasn't much jump in my Jumping out of bed routine. And I wouldn't call my booty shaking an actual shaking, more like a scratching. If this keeps up I'm going to have to give up making a new habit next week and try to rejuvenate this one instead. That can't happen because I have a long list of habits to get through.

For more SMART Habits check out The Lazy Organizer and join the club. Oops, it looks like Laura's blog isn't working today so you should go to An Ordinary Mom's to post your SHS link and to find other great habits.

SMART Habit Saturday

Why do I participate in SMART Habits Saturday? Because it helps me to stretch myself and it gives me opportunities to see wonderful things happen. This last week I have been working on having dinner on the table no later than 10 minutes after DSSH gets home from work. On Tuesday I was preparing hamburgers and I had everything ready so early that I decided I had time to cook them on the BBQ. That evening my DSSH walked through the back door with a big smile. He gave me a big kiss and then told me, "I was walking up the street and I could smell that someone was having a BBQ. I was thinking, 'Man, some lucky dog is getting BBQ tonight.' Then I get in the backyard and I see that I'm the lucky dog." That made me smile the rest of that night because my man deserves to feel like a "lucky dog" for all he does for this family. Another wonderful thing that has come from having dinner ready on time is a clean kitchen afterwords. Because I am preparing dinner earlier I have more time to clean as I go so there is less mess, I also empty the dishwasher so it is ready for the kids to load with their dirty dishes. Oh, and on Sunday I was completely prepared and able to ask a recent divorce (His wife left him and took the kids and it has been really hard for him) to stay and have dinner with us when he stopped by to talk with my husband. So, I want to say THANK YOU to Laura for starting this wonderful program.

I did great on jumping out of bed. I started Monday rather sluggishly but then I told myself, "If you don't do it it won't be a habit and you will have to take it off your habit list." That made me jump out of bed, make my bed, clean my room, put on my walking clothes, and rotate a load of laundry. WooHoo!

Walking kids to pick Cookie up from school is going well too. I need to work on getting them ready for the walk BEFORE 2:55 so that there is less rushing, but we have had a great time looking at spiders along the way and getting the mail on our way back. This has also helped Cookie and I to have some nice, relaxed, carefree conversations as we walk back.

And now for the new habit... What part of my life could use some good ol' stretch marks? I never thought that this would be an area that would need work but I seriously need to start habitually reading WITH my children everyday. My kids read all the time. Every night as we tuck them in they are all reading something, even little Sweet Terror has a book in her hands. She likes to talk to the pictures. but for some sad reason I have stopped sitting with them for a good reading time. So, Mon-Fri after I come home from taking Cookie to school we will all have breakfast and then we will have reading time. This will require special effort on Tuesdays because we leave rather early for a co-op that we go to. It will make me stretch, but it is definitely going to be worth it.

SMART Habit Saturday

I want to thank everyone for all the great ideas for creating more sunshine yesterday, I will be trying them throughout this next week (especially the ice cream ideas). Misty, I do plan on getting a sun lamp, I'm just lazy and don't know where to find them.

Is it Saturday already? I guess so, and so it is time to try and improve myself yet again.
This week I am aiming very high and it will be quite the challenge, but it is a habit that I have wanted to instill for quite awhile now. I am going to attempt to have dinner on the table no later than 10 minutes after DSSH gets home. This will require me to think and prepare ahead of time. I will also be trying to use my slow cooker more often so that I can justify getting a bigger, nicer one for Christmas. DSSH hubby gets home from work pretty late in the evening and having dinner ready will mean that I will have more time to spend with him before bed, and it will help us get the kids in bed earlier as well. I'm really hoping that I can make this a habit.

I have been slacking on jumping out of bed lately. I think I even left the bed unmade one day. If I were allowing myself excuses I would say it is because there has been a lot of sickness going on here. NO EXCUSES, I will JUMP back on this habit and do it.

Family walk to pick Cookie up from school. This was an easy goal to keep because we only had to do it twice. Cookie stayed home from school sick for two days and one of the days we picked her up in the car on the way home from co-op class. (next week I will try to park the car after co-op and still walk her home).

Good luck to everyone else out there trying to improve even when it hurts. For more SMART Habit Saturday ideas visit Laura the Lazy Organizer.

Smart Habits Saturday

I started participating in SMART Habits Saturday quite a while ago and promptly stopped just a short while later. Now that all the vacations are over I'm ready to jump back in again and get SMARTer. I am still JUMPING out of bed every morning and loving the habit. I'm ignoring all the other habits I proposed because they are not habits. I'm going to have to rethink them and try again. For this week I am going to make picking Cookie up from school my new habit. No, I don't forget to pick her up, its all about how I pick her up. I want it to be a habit to have all the younger kids dressed and ready to walk to Cookie's school by 2:50 every day. This way I don't have to leave them, we don't have to hurry, and we can all have a nice leisurely walk to and from her school. We will do this rain or shine, the only exception will be if one of the kids is too sick to be outdoors.

S.M.A.R.T. Habits Saturday

S.M.A.R.T. Habit Saturday on a Sunday. I'm just trying to prove that it is never too late to start another good habit. Actually I didn't want to post my habits until I had fulfilled my last week's habit and got all my letters in the mail. For this week's habit I want to spend at least 15 minutes of alone, awesome, quality, 'building memories' time with each of my children every week. I have the scary feeling that my children have many fond memories of times with their daddy, but nary a one with me. how sad is that when I definitely spend more time with them through the day? I am starting out only expecting 15 minutes of myself because I want this to work. Babystepping is the best way for me to do things and trust me, 15 minutes is WAY more than they are getting right now.



Jumping is a habit now and I love it! Even my hubby has noticed and appreciates going to sleep in a pre-made bed every night.





Wrote 4 letters. Easy. The hard part was getting them in the mailbox because I didn't have current addresses or 41 cent stamps. I didn't let that stop me, though, and put 3 letters in the mail yesterday.





I also answered another question this last week. Check it out.

S.M.A.R.T. Habits

It is funny to me how much one good habit can affect my behavior and apparent abilities. It reminds me of the overly used metaphor of ripples in the water, or jiggles in the jello. Last Saturday I jumped on the bandwagon and joined Lara Gallagher's S.M.A.R.T. Habit Saturday (Basically we make new years Resolutions every Saturday, instead of just once a year. Are we gluttons for punishment, or what?). My first goal was to jump out of bed when DSSH gets up for work, to hurry and make the bed, and then to move my body while he is in the shower. It has been interesting to say the least. I did it faithfully every morning and here are some of the side effects I experienced as a result:

Now it seems like DSSH showers take longer (when I stayed in bed until they were done I thought they were never long enough).

My body is sore from moving my hibernating muscles.

I have taken more showers this week than I am used to getting AND they have been before I even take Cookie to school.

Because I am up and ready on time I have walked Cookie to school every morning instead of taking the car (more exercise).

My room has been clean (not just the bed, the FLOOR)

I have been more on top of my laundry because I bring my dirty laundry down with me when I wake up the kids (Before this habit my dirty laundry was still mixed with other things on my bed).

I have been eating breakfast.

And all this comes from one little good habit. I wonder what treasures this week's goal will bring me?

My new goal is to write a personal, handwritten letter once a week to someone I care about. First one goes to my Grandpa, and it is long overdue.

S.M.A.R.T. Habits Saturday

Lara Gallagher, creatoress of The Lazy Organizer, has a great weekly feature entitled S.M.A.R.T. Habit Saturday. It is all about building better habits a Saturday at a time. I need this very badly right now because I have been letting so many of my good habits slip. I started the year out exercising four hours a week, loosing weight, having morning exercises with my children before walking Cookie to school, reading my scriptures every time my hubby read his, etc... All that has stopped. SO, I am going to take the S.M.A.R.T. challenge and rebuild those good habits. To start with I am going to JUMP out of bed when DSSH gets up for work. I am going to make my bed before I take one step, and then I am going to move my body around (exercise) just until he gets out of the shower (that should be about 7 minutes of moving, and that is 7 more minutes than I'm doing now). This is a Mon-Fri goal, and on Mondays my movement will include changing the sheets.

I will report my success and a new goal every Saturday. Oh, and I should thank No Ordinary Mom for setting a good example and helping me find the S.M.A.R.T. habits idea.