Goals, for me, are a way to track what I want to accomplish and give me a place to start; something to work towards; and something to celebrate once accomplished.
In May I posted a list of 5 goals I wanted to work toward. I didn't post the list until almost half way through the month and knew I wouldn't get a lot done but I did it to get me back into the mindset of goals after taking a month or so off due to a super busy schedule. Here's a quick recap.
1) We did have the 1st ever (annual) Memorial Day Family get together but I didn't really have to plan much. It got moved to my brother's house in order to it possible for my brother and niece to be able to spend time with famly after her soccer games.
2) I did start the decluttering of the basement but haven't gotten far. It's a task I need to break down into sections or it is overwhelming!!!
3) Our summer plans are finalized - at least through June. July and August are tentative right now as things always change but June is set.
4) This was my disciplines and I'm still working on this stuff
5) I don't think I did a single thing in my misc list!
So, now on to June - here's a list of what I am planning to get done (or at least hope to get done!) throughout the coming month. I can tell you this right now - if the temps soar into the 90's (or even the 80's with high humidity) my productivity drops to zero. When you live in a house without A/C you learn to survive by doing nothing and watching TV HA!
1. Summer Activities - My goal is to have all of the activities ready to go for the following week by Saturday. This means having all of the things I need prepared and ready to go, checking the weather for our "field trips" and making any funds I need are set aside (for entrance fees or special trips to get ice cream) This also means preparing for our weekend plans - we have three festivals we want to attend, a family party, and family photos coming up this month. I need to make sure that our plans our finalized the week before which, again, includes planning out the funds needed, the scheduling (what time we need to leave, whether to pack a lunch or get a treat out, and checking the weather to make sure our plans will work! I am ready for June 1st - we are planting Sunflower seeds!! This celebrates family.
2. Declutting. I actually have two decluttering projects I'm working on this month. First, the basement. As I mentioned above, this has to be broken down into small sections in order to get it done. So the first step in this project is to write my plan (which I am working on this week). Then, I will begin conquering the plan one week at a time. Obviously, to be finished by the end of the month it is only a 4 week plan which, I know, is more than doable. Second, is the rest of the house. Over the course of the next 4 weeks, I'm going to do a "survey" of every room, closet, cupboard and drawer and get rid of the things we have never used or have not used in over a year. I did this about 3 years ago so I know if stuff is sitting in those places and we haven't used it since then, it needs to go. I do have a few things I only use once or twice a year (round cake pans, chocolate fountain, etc) that I keep but I know I use those things for a purpose. Having 6 pie plates is a little over kill especially since 90% of the pies I make I use frozen crusts for so I get the throw away pans with the crusts. (Best thing ever invented HA!). I'm really not sure what this celebrates except making my life easier because I'm not stuffing stuff into closets where there is no room!!
3. The big room switch. We have made the decision to home school so we also did a lot of thinking, measuring, and talking and have decided that the best way to do this is to move bedrooms around. The short version is that the boys are going into the biggest bedroom, which is currently ours, we are going into the second bedroom, which is currently Josh's and the school room is going into Nate's room, which is the tiny room. We have a long list of things that have to be done in order to make it work smoothly. This months goals are to get the treadmill out of our bedroom - it is being given to my parents. As much as I hate losing it we have zero room for it. Sometimes something has to give and the treadmill is it. Not to mention that in this phase of my life, trying to find time to walk on it is nearly impossible. I'm glad it is going to a "good home" and it will get lots of use! Once the treadmill is out, we need to pull up the carpet and carpet tacks in our room getting it ready for a hard floor to go down. We have many reasons for putting down a hard floor - the most fun reason is so the boys can play cars on it :-) I also need to clean out my filing cabinet, putting all of our files into a portable box to keep elsewhere (we seldom need them) so that the cabinet can be moved into the homeschool room when we are ready. If we can get that far by the end of the month, we are doing good. The actually "switch" won't happen until Labor day weekend when my husband has time to put the floor down so we are working towards that at this point. We also plan on putting the same flooring in the home school room and hope to put it down at the same time but we'll see!
4. Potty Training - Seriously. I have one child who refuses this. I know you can't force them to do it but we are continually working towards getting them both potty trained. Don't judge me - I've tried every trick in the book and tricks don't work :-)
5. Clean out the Garage - this is a project that is on the books every summer. We like to take time to clean out any junk that has collected and make it nice and neat. I also need to go through our camping stuff and organize it for camping in July. (On a side note, one of the things on my wish list for next year is a new garage door/and opener so that we can use the garage to park in more - the door is so heavy and cumbersome without an opener, we don't tend to use it unless a blizzard is coming!)
I think 5 goals for the month is pretty doable. There are all kinds of misc things to do like sell my nephews books, finish a growth chart we started a year ago (it's hung up, I just need to update the "growth" part of it), work on various art projects for the boys rooms and homeschool room so they are ready when the rooms are ready, learn how to use my cricut a friend has given me and more! !
I'm praying for some beautiful 70 degree days this summer so I can get all of this stuff done!!!
3 comments:
Wow! I am sure all will fall into place by fall. Need any help, I am available.
Great goals! You are inspiring me today to start some big projects too. I also need to clean out our basement since we are having some cabinets installed (for storage purposes) but unfortunately not everything that needs the storage will fit so it needs to find a new home. I'm just so bad at getting rid of stuff we aren't using (but might need in the future if we remember that we have it and where we put it). Maybe we could have a little challenge here on your blog each day to inspire us and cheer each other on?
As far as potty training, I would suggest a book that my boss loaned me that his wife used successfully with their 6 children and it worked very well with my kids as well. It's Toilet Training In Less Than a Day. It's stressful and INTENSE (I don't think as much for the child as the mom) and it does take some preparation beforehand but it really did work. It's not for everyone...some of my friends didn't think it's right to push a child who isn't ready but there is a checklist in the book to determine if you think your child is capable and ready.
Sorry for the long comment. Have a great day and good luck with those goals!
I love the idea of a challenge - I am going to try and post weekly what I get done . . .we'll see how that goes LOL And I'll check that book out - I'm fully behind the idea of waiting until they are ready but I don't want to wait until they are 18 HA!
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