List of Little Changes for a NEW year : January Edition 2020
Dear Readers-
I'm not in a season of life where I can welcome big change without big anxieties- too much uncertainty in my future- can't do it.
So, for 2020, my big plan is to make little changes in my daily routine and try to stick with them for longer periods of time.
For January, here's my plan:
1. Organize, organize, organize- Before I returned to work, I went through my kids playroom, and my daughter's clothes (since she's my only girl), the kitchen, and the garage to organize/purge things. I made sure everything was organized in a manner that my kids could easily put away their own toys. I wanted my daughter to have already premeditated on what clothes she likes and what she doesn't like- before we have to pick outfits for school again. Moreso, I wanted to know what type of food was left in our kitchen after the holiday binge of *whatever. My husband and I would like to clean up our eating habits.
Lastly, my husband and I just like to spend time at home and preferable outside with the kids. Our garage is full of strollers and riding toys. I went ahead and organized all our gear so our kids can easily ride things in and out. My husband can easily get what he needs from gardening tools to storage bins.
2. Smarter eating choices- I can't help but hate the way I eat when I'm busy. However, I'm at the stage of life where I have kids to feed and then there's me and my husband. So, I give in- kind of.
My husband and I may have done well with a weekly meal plan schedule in the past. However, our nights since moving to Chesapeake and having now four kids when Ben works two different work locations and I have a "me" day in the middle of the week- can be very tricky. So, we settled on the TRUTH that we can't cook every night.
Wednesday- when it's my me day- I'll help Ben out and make sure a crockpot meal is ready for him for Wednesday night- helps him with the kids.
Tuesday- Reggie and Reagan have Little Gym- They are going to eat a Lunchable; I'm going to feed Wyatt and Jude- PB &Js. Ben and I will figure it out on our own for our meals.
Thursday- Ben and I have date afternoon, so we eat dinner and pray before we pick up the kids. The kids will eat chicken nuggets and a veggie/fruit that night.
Friday- we are carrying on the tradition of Pizza/Movie Night.
*We got other ideas for Monday, Saturday, and Sunday- but honestly, we'll start with the above and see how it goes.
Beside getting my kids fed during the week, I am making three minor habit changes with eating.
1. If I eat my kids leftovers, it's only stuff that's good for me.
2. When I pack lunch, I pack either an apple or carrots/hummus- eat one of those things first before eating me real meal.
3. I won't eat past 8:00 pm M-F. It's a fast my husband does and, in the spirit of mindfulness, I am joining in.
3. NO TV until the weekend. Limiting my work done at school.
These have been the hardest changes because we got a really big, cool TV for black friday, but it's such a distraction from work I could get done and the book I'm trying to write. I used to like the TV on as background noise, but I find it being *not so great* for me when my thoughts linger to scenes or characters of shows that I really don't have heart and mind space to think about. I end up getting annoyed with myself or my family when I'm not given the time to "watch" or do what I want.
So, I'm fasting from this too during the week.
Lastly, I will forever still have to do work after school, but I don't have to stay at school to do it. I am trying to be more strategic about what I can do at home *lots of planning, organizing, and pre-planning because I don't always want to be at work. I'm not even allowed to copy on my own anymore, so it pushes more of a pre-planning mentality. I have an awesome room at home to do that (*my freedom room) so I can use it as a sanctuary from the stress. Also, since I'm writing about my experience in the classroom, it's cool to write about it in a free space away from the actual stress. I'm super proud- thus far, I have about 6400 words written! Thank you Lord!
Today's post is 1/02/20... here's to progress. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!
I'm not in a season of life where I can welcome big change without big anxieties- too much uncertainty in my future- can't do it.
So, for 2020, my big plan is to make little changes in my daily routine and try to stick with them for longer periods of time.
For January, here's my plan:
1. Organize, organize, organize- Before I returned to work, I went through my kids playroom, and my daughter's clothes (since she's my only girl), the kitchen, and the garage to organize/purge things. I made sure everything was organized in a manner that my kids could easily put away their own toys. I wanted my daughter to have already premeditated on what clothes she likes and what she doesn't like- before we have to pick outfits for school again. Moreso, I wanted to know what type of food was left in our kitchen after the holiday binge of *whatever. My husband and I would like to clean up our eating habits.
Lastly, my husband and I just like to spend time at home and preferable outside with the kids. Our garage is full of strollers and riding toys. I went ahead and organized all our gear so our kids can easily ride things in and out. My husband can easily get what he needs from gardening tools to storage bins.
2. Smarter eating choices- I can't help but hate the way I eat when I'm busy. However, I'm at the stage of life where I have kids to feed and then there's me and my husband. So, I give in- kind of.
My husband and I may have done well with a weekly meal plan schedule in the past. However, our nights since moving to Chesapeake and having now four kids when Ben works two different work locations and I have a "me" day in the middle of the week- can be very tricky. So, we settled on the TRUTH that we can't cook every night.
Wednesday- when it's my me day- I'll help Ben out and make sure a crockpot meal is ready for him for Wednesday night- helps him with the kids.
Tuesday- Reggie and Reagan have Little Gym- They are going to eat a Lunchable; I'm going to feed Wyatt and Jude- PB &Js. Ben and I will figure it out on our own for our meals.
Thursday- Ben and I have date afternoon, so we eat dinner and pray before we pick up the kids. The kids will eat chicken nuggets and a veggie/fruit that night.
Friday- we are carrying on the tradition of Pizza/Movie Night.
*We got other ideas for Monday, Saturday, and Sunday- but honestly, we'll start with the above and see how it goes.
Beside getting my kids fed during the week, I am making three minor habit changes with eating.
1. If I eat my kids leftovers, it's only stuff that's good for me.
2. When I pack lunch, I pack either an apple or carrots/hummus- eat one of those things first before eating me real meal.
3. I won't eat past 8:00 pm M-F. It's a fast my husband does and, in the spirit of mindfulness, I am joining in.
3. NO TV until the weekend. Limiting my work done at school.
These have been the hardest changes because we got a really big, cool TV for black friday, but it's such a distraction from work I could get done and the book I'm trying to write. I used to like the TV on as background noise, but I find it being *not so great* for me when my thoughts linger to scenes or characters of shows that I really don't have heart and mind space to think about. I end up getting annoyed with myself or my family when I'm not given the time to "watch" or do what I want.
So, I'm fasting from this too during the week.
Lastly, I will forever still have to do work after school, but I don't have to stay at school to do it. I am trying to be more strategic about what I can do at home *lots of planning, organizing, and pre-planning because I don't always want to be at work. I'm not even allowed to copy on my own anymore, so it pushes more of a pre-planning mentality. I have an awesome room at home to do that (*my freedom room) so I can use it as a sanctuary from the stress. Also, since I'm writing about my experience in the classroom, it's cool to write about it in a free space away from the actual stress. I'm super proud- thus far, I have about 6400 words written! Thank you Lord!
Today's post is 1/02/20... here's to progress. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!
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