Okay, so as I’ve gotten older and now have a home of my own and have to handle daily responsibilities, I am learning that my mom wasn’t so crazy for creating charts for me to check off every week/month (granted mine were medicine charts, but still).
During this quarantine, my life (along with most of you reading this I’m sure) has been topsy-turvied to say the least. Zach and I have been trying our hardest to create new rhythms and new daily routines. For him, it’s much easier. He works a 9-4 ministry job and has tasks that absolutely HAVE to get done.
For me, I am a stay-at-home-wife even before quarantine. So my day-to-day is VERY different from his.
Of course, I had my routines and rhythms.
-Wake up
-Dogs
-Breakfast
-Quiet time
-Medications
-Blog
-Clean
-Lunch
-Grocery shop
-Dogs
-Laundry
-Dinner
-Spend time with Zach
-Bed
I mean, that was pretty much it. Tuesdays and Wednesdays were different because those were my days to go to the church and help Zach with ministry things and plan and have service.
However, with two people in the house who have VERY different 9-4 days, how do you balance everything and find that new rhythm?
I’ll admit, I’ve really struggled with this quarantine. Mentally, physically, emotionally, etc. and I just haven’t found my niche to thrive in. Most days, I still do those things listed above (minus the grocery shopping..which is an ENTIRELY different story), but it’s not the same as it was.
Some days, I really just find myself wandering around the house. Finding different things I have to clean up, or finding things to piddle with. I’ve done A LOT of home projects and painting. But even on the days where I’m the most productive, I still find myself dissatisfied with my day.
Thus, the charts were created…
Now, I’m not an obsessive chart wife by any means. In fact, I can’t stand that mentality most of the time. But in this case, I’m 100% on board with the chart life.
One thing I will say about this quarantine time together with my husband is that it has given us the time to truly have heart-to-heart conversations; and in those conversations, we have discovered that we both need help. We both need to communicate better. And we both need to have the “team” mentality. And we discovered that though we have a pretty great marriage, we still have a lot to learn and grow in.
And these charts are already helping us achieve those needs in both of our lives.
While I am honored to take care of our home so that he can work hard and focus, that doesn’t mean that I can do everything by myself *not that he expects me to* but that was a false pretense I had created in my mind.
Thus, the chore chart was created. Everything I do in a day/week/month around the house. He can see it and help me with what he can. Then check off that it’s done, so I don’t have to question it.
Another area I have really struggled with is coming up with lunch and dinner every.single.night. Can I get an AMEN wives/moms??
Thus the lunch/dinner chart was created. There is a list of our favorite meals (20-30) for lunch and dinner and I can check which days and nights we’ve had them. They’ll get repeated, but not so much that we get sick of them.
And these are the keys to a happy home for us right now. It’s truly a blessing to see us working together and having these structures in our life.
So if you’re struggling with rhythms and routines in your home in these areas, rest assured that you’re not alone and there is a way to get on top of it!
I’ve attached the charts that are accustom to our life, but if you’d like the blank digital copy to make your own, email me and I’ll be happy to send it to you!
If you have any tips/tricks on how you’ve created certain rhythms and routines while on quarantine, leave a comment and let me know! We’re all in this together!
