Mondays

Since my kids are all in school and I do not work full-time out side of the home, I get asked alot "what do you do all day long?" In order to answer that question I am going to spend the next 5 days outlining my weekly schedule.

Mondays are the most important day of the week for me during the school year (this will change once the kids get out of school, but we still have two weeks of school left this year). Mondays are my cleaning and organizing day, the day I set aside to get the entire week ready and organized.

Here is my typical "Monday To Do List":

1. Laundry
Other then bed sheets, all the laundry in the house needs to be brought down to the laundry room. Our laundry room is in the bathroom on the main floor, and although it is nice not to have to bring the clothes all the way to the basement (especially since that would mean hauling it up and down two levels for 5 of us), the bathroom is not big enough for any laundry piles. So everyone keeps a basket in their room for dirty laundry and on Mondays and Thursdays they need to bring it down to be washed. If they forget (it has happen a few times), they need to wait till the next laundry day to get it done. I do the laundry and put it back in the baskets for the kids to haul back upstairs (or downstairs for my eldest son who is a basement dweller) and put away.

Typically I do about 4 - 6 loads of laundry on Mondays, which unfortunately takes way longer than it should due to the fact that I need a new dryer. I would hang some clothes to dry, but my middle son Justin is very allergic to many different pollens, such as grass, Birch trees and so forth, which causes a rash all over his body, therefore, we do no outside drying.

2. Cleaning
The weekend seems to destroy my house every time, I don't know what happens exactly, but by Monday morning my fingers are just aching to clean, clean, clean!! On Monday I clean the entire main floor (kitchen, dinning room, living room, family room, bathroom, hallways and entrance ways) as well as the two bathrooms on the second floor and the master bedroom.

3. Meal planning
I follow a monthly meal plan and buy all my non-perishables and everything that I can freeze (meat, bread, etc) once a month. I have a list of fresh fruits, vegetables, and dairy from my meal plan that I pick up on Mondays (and any baking supplies that I have ran out of), although sometimes this is done on Sunday evenings, whichever is easiest and most convenient for me.

On Mondays I always plan my biggest meal of the week and lunches for the week. For instance, I will cook a roast of beef or pork that is large enough for dinner, then lunchmeat for the remaining four days of the week. If I am planning on a pasta salad or soup for lunches that week, then I would also prepare that.

Monday is also my yogurt making day, since I am typically at home for the majority of the day, this is the best day for me. Although making yogurt is not difficult by any means, it does take some monitoring and planning, this is easiest if you are planning on being home.

4. Weekly planning
I have a basic schedule that I follow, but sometimes we have field trips, or special evening events or extra things that need to be done (like getting my wheels aligned or baking something for a class snack or any other of the hundreds of things that come up with kids!). On Monday I plan out my week, adding appointments, tasks, or making any changes in my weekly meal plan due to evening commitments (which often is as easy as swapping meals around a bit, like Tuesdays crock pot meal on Wednesday), but sometimes that means that due to time constraints, we get a fun pizza or mac and cheese night.

So there you have it, my typical Monday…and since I have the majority of these chores left to do I better get at it!

Have a great week!
Christine