Mostly Other Things Happen

Yesterday was the first day of school.

It was also the first behavior slip home. The first school subject related meltdown. The first day of going to the wrong building. The first day of not being registered for a class you thought you were in. The first day of going the wrong lunch hour and the wrong room. The first things forgotten at school.

Yesterday was the first day of school after an up all night house of chaos too.

A puppy ate some undies. A pair of glasses broke. Many people got up to go potty many times. Fingers got super glued to broken glasses. Kids crawled into beds that weren't theirs. A bed got peed in. Jammie's got changed. A puppy went out to romp in the moonlight. Someone got kicked.

And somewhere in all that, a mommy yelled.

We had a plan.

We have a plan.

Years ago I used a time and activity organizing system called Managers of Their Homes, MOTH for short. It was very popular in Christian home school circles. Maybe it still is, I don't know.

For a while, I put it away. I didn't really need it.

But now their are 7 of us all trying to get things done and be places. There are 7 of us that need to have clean laundry, meals, rides and quiet time.

Organization helps bring peace and calm to a house.

I am not gifted in organization. I struggle with it. Pretty much all of me loathes it.

But, I do like peace and calm, and I like my family when they live in peace and calm and clean and organized.

So, out came the book and the charts. Good old MOTH.

We now lovingly call it Mostly Other Things Happen.

I have learned to use it my way. I have learned when to skip the schedule or modify. I have learned which things on which times slots I just have to suck it up and do. I have learned how to be fluid with it and respect the work it brings daily by looking forward to the things it helps me to prioritize.

It means the things I'm lazy about happen. Dishes get done daily. Laundry is relatively under control. General cleaning is on a schedule so I can't forget or ignore it while I am busy being distracted by something else more interesting than washing a toilet. Errands and phone calls have their time slot.

It also means the good things in my life that I'm equally lazy about get done too. There are hours on the schedule for writing and reading. I can see where to put in some social time without having chaos in it's wake. Meals aren't spur of the moment. Budgets stay on track.

It's a win-win as they say.