Spring Cleaning

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. When I got home I started on a cleaning project that has been bugging me for months, my attic. We kept shoving stuff up there in whatever container we had that it finally only left us with a little 1" by 3" spot on the floor at the top of the ladder. I had to fix that. 

We don't have much attic space to begin with because of the way they build roofs down here. But shove 5 boxes of christmas decorations, 2 years worth of baby gear, 5 boxes of DVD cases, a bunch of suitcases and old furniture and it's pretty much full. 

So I've been taking it down bit by bit this week, sorting through it, organizing it better and making a pile of stuff to get rid of. We don't have quite enough for a garage sale, but a few items will go on craigslist, some on ebay and the rest will be donated. Hopefully they'll be of use to someone else. I've still got to sort through the suitcases and DVD boxes and then I can start putting stuff back up. Then I will finally have some peace of mind and my bedroom back. I'll post a picture when I'm all done. 

Schedules

This is the basic schedule that I'm working with now. 

8am-Wake Up, Eat Breakfast, Get Dressed

Noon-Lunch

1-3pm-Naptime

6pm-Dinner

9pm-Bedtime

There's a lot of hours in-between that I'm working on filling up with fun but educational activities. I'll start filling in the blanks tomorrow. For now, enjoy this silly picture!

Lists

I love lists. 

They help me feel organized and accomplished. My first post-college job involved a lot of tasks that needed to be done at specific times. So in order to keep them all straight, our department had a Task List. We would meet everyday and sign up for the next day's tasks. It was very organized and wonderful. The next job I took wasn't quite like that. I was forced to make my own lists and what needed to get done changed all the time. But there was still some sense of stability. I felt productive whenever I checked something off my list. 

So when I became a stay-at-home mom, I was a bit lost. Kids don't come with lists. With a baby, there's basic needs that are fairly easy to take care of. They're exhausting and needy, but you can check things off in your head. 

Feeding. Check!

Burping. Check!

Diaper Change. Check!

Sleeping. Check!

Make crazy faces at baby to get a laugh. Check!

But as time goes on, the list gets bigger. You worry about them learning words. Are they practicing gross and fine motor skills? What's the difference? Am I reading to him often enough? Should he be having more playdates? You want your child to have everything he needs to become a well-adjusted, successful adult. So where are the lists to help you accomplish that? 

I scoured the internet looking for advice and suggestions. I found some helpful websites, some funny ones, and a lot of mediocre, general advice. I wanted specifics. I wanted "On Tuesday, practice letter recognition by doing x." But that doesn't exist. So I've been forced to come up with my own lists. I'm still working on them.