How Do You Plan Your Day? - Fair Oaks,CA

I have 2 kids and have been a SAHM since the birth of my daughter.

I have always, done things around the house and did things with them.
It is just a matter of having a routine.
And when my kids got old enough, they helped me, in their own way.

When I have to do chores around the house, I just tell them "Mommy has to do chores now." And I do. Then the housework gets done. They KNOW... that on a regular basis everyday, Mommy does household chores. It just is.
Then, we also have time to do things and play. When that is done or we do it beforehand.
There is a time and a place for everything.
A child, learns, that.
And they need to... learn that, as they grow up.
And to learn that chores and household maintenance is important. Too.
And I always tell them "After Mommy does cleaning, then...." and I tell them what is coming up.
So they learn.
My kids know that I cannot possibly spend every.single.second with them playing etc. I have to do things too, around the house.

My kids are 12 and 9. The thing that has helped most with housework is that I have downsized a LOT and am still trying to do more.

I don't like cleaning and I'm not good at it. Eventually when we are rich, we will hire a full time housekeeper. Until then, we do the best we can.

I do all the shopping and cooking. Hubs does all the laundry for all of us. Kids put away their own clothes.

I load the dishwasher, my daughter unloads and puts away. My son takes out all the trash and the cans down to the street.

I cook Mon-wed. We eat leftovers from those days on Thurs. Friday is always pizza, salad for Family Movie Night when we have the kids every other weekend. On the Friday's we don't have them, its usually date night for us and we will eat out. Whether we have the kids or not, we just wing cooking on the weekends, depending on what is happening.

We sort of clean as we go, no real schedule. Honestly, I dust maybe once every 4 months. Hubs cleans the floors as needed. Same thing for the bathrooms.

We do family devotions from a book every night before bed with the kids. Gives us a chance to talk to them about what is going on and let them know how to appropriately handle different situations. Hubs and I have a couples one we read while we are in bed before we go to sleep. Wed night is Family Game Night where we sit down and play board games.

We have accepted that the house will not be spotless and dont' care. It is lived in and we are not embarrassed if people come over. You have to really decide what is your priority. Dusting the house every day is not mine, spending time with my kids while they are still young and at home is. I hope you find some thing that work for you! Good luck!

I don't do a schedule. As my boys have gotten older, I pretty much just say "lets work for a few minutes really really fast" and in about 20 minutes wth my husbands help too, it is really looking nice!! I figure 20 x 4 is 80 minutes worth of work so that is very helpful. I also tell my kids that they can't leave the house until X is done. That works too. I used to have a neighbor, that when my husband and I would work in the yard, or on the outside of the house, she'd say "don't you feel guilty doing that, and ignoring your kids?" and it really changed my mind about things, to get them more involved with us and working, which they mostly do anyway. But that was years ago, and i also wanted to instill in my kids a good work ethic and pride of ownership in what you have, so that is why they work too. My old neighbors never instilled any of that in their kids, and their house looked like a dumping ground, so we moved. Anyway, hope you find something that works for you. Good luck.

I think it's mostly about being efficient in how you use your time.
Most days I would tidy up the kitchen after breakfast while the kids watched sesame street and played in the family room. I took that time to do whatever needed to get done that day, pay bills, mop, vacuum, do an exercise video (after sesame street was over, lol!) whatever.
Most days we packed our lunches and went out somewhere, to the park, the pool, a friends house, etc. I'd do a bit more housework (or sit and read!) while the kids napped or had quiet time. After nap and before dinner they played while I kept doing my thing. If I was working outside in the yard they played nearby and sometimes worked with me. I always had them involved in whatever I was doing (like making dinner) and I was always engaging them, talking with them, laughing with them, teaching them as we went throughout the day (talking about colors, counting, sorting.) I usually cleaned the bathroom while they were in the tub, and I folded laundry while we all watched a movie together. I tried to do my grocery/Target runs in the evenings or on the weekends so I didn't have to drag them along with me. That was my general schedule, which of course varied day to day.
So you see, even though I rarely sat and played with them it was still quality time, we were together AND the house didn't go to Hell!

I work full time m-f. I go to church Wed night and workout mon, tues, and thurs. Organziation and prioritization are essential.

I do the real cleaning on the weekends, along with a whole lot of help from my husband. If I just leave it till the weekend, it's overwhelming and etas the whole weekend. Instead, I do regular upkeep with special emphasis on are each evening on a nightly schedule. Mondays is straighten up kids rooms, tuesday is bathrooms, thurs is kitchen. I try to do 1 or 2 loads of laundry each night so it's not so overwhelming on the weekend. I don't plan anything on Wed or Friday nights.

The kids help sort and fold laundry. They wipe things down with anti-bacterial wipes and glass cleaner wipes. They pick up thier rooms. We play music loud and dance in between chores.

We have a schedule. I also have my son help with maintaining a clean house. He is four years old now. From the first time he had toys,cleaning up after playing was part of playing. He cleans up his toys without being told now. All his toys have an assigned box or shelf. He is allowed to play with his toys on either our large rug in the living room or the floor area, but not in front of doorways, and there must always be enough space for mom and dad to walk through. He wipes the table before and after eating meals, while I wash dishes or unload the dishwasher (It's small.) and dish racks. He also helps with laundry. He hands me clothes pins and hangers. We live in Japan. All laundry gets hung on a line, except bath towels. Running a dryer here is expensive and takes a long time. He puts the clothes pins and hangers away when taking the laundry down. This week I have been teaching him to fold t-shirts. He can already fold socks, his underwear, his pants, towels, and washcloths. Then he puts them away. We talk when we are doing laundry. He loves making up adventure stories about his imaginary friends. We also talk about fun things and any problems he might have. Here is a typical schedule for us:
7:30 wake up, dressed, faces washed, laundry machine started, clothes laid out for bedtime, scripture study and prayer (10 minutes), and beds made
8:30 dishwasher unloaded, (He wipes table, changes daily calender, opens curtains, and colors or draws while I make breakfast.)
8:50 breakfast, dishes, table wiped, and teeth brushing
9:30 hang laundry, sometimes do a second load, fold previous days laundry
10:30 vacuum, son plays on his own
11:00 play games with son to practice reading and writing
noon lunch, dishes, wipe table down, teeth brushing
1:00 story time
1:30 playtime, go out
3:30 yoga together, or dancing together
4:00 start cooking dinner
Usually while I cook, we have individual free time, and sometimes I will play with my son.
6:00 dinner, dishes
7:00 bath and teeth brushing
8:00 bedtime stories with daddy, bedtime stories with mommy and prayers
8:30 son goes to bed
After he goes to bed we spend a half an hour to an hour pre-cutting veggies, loading laundry, and watch tv or free time together. My husband and I always share kitchen work. Everything I make gets at least two meals out of one time cooking. I can get three or four meals out of some of my recipes. Some days I do not cook. Some days I do not do laundry. Saturday and Sunday are usually laundry free unless the weather is rainy during the week, or there are accidents with the sheets. On an average day, I do a lot of fun things with my son, and still manage to keep the house clean enough to have unexpected guests. It took some time to get into a routine, but it is so worth it to have one that works now.

I prioritize my day. What is the most important thing to accomplish today? Well, for me today it is allowing my ankle to heal so, nothing will really get done unless daddy wants to do it when he gets home (it is his late day so that's a no). However on a "typical tuesday" it's all about getting to the gym, making dinner, doing some light cleaning and possibly volunteering at school. For me each day has different tasks mixed in with routine - when/how things get done depend on priority and what the job entails.

We have the clean up game, but that is mostly on Sat am and the house is lived in, but not dirty during the week. I spend 20min in the am and 20 in pm to get things done - otherwise I do not stress it. I have a life to live.

I wing it lol. My kids are younger so I don't have to worry about the homework thing yet. I try to get little things done when I can. I fold some laundry but not the whole basket ect.

I'm a SAHM so while my children are in school I get cleaning done. My children do their chores before going off to school in the morning and a few times a week do other chores after school. Once they're home after homework is finished and dinner is done we spend quality one on one time together at various points until bedtime. For instance, last night at about 7:30 I was relaxing in a bath and my daughter, 8 came in and we had a candid girl-talk and spent time laughing and enjoying our time together. After we were finished my son and I spent time together reading and cuddling on the couch until bedtime.

Do the boring and tedious chores BEFORE they awaken.