Controlling the chaos

I struggle with chaos.  Left to my own devices, my purse, my kitchen, and my life can quickly become devoid of any sense of organization.

Last week, I had a minor breakdown because of the messiness and chaos of my life.  Everything was a disaster!  I refuse to let myself become a chaotic mess, so this week I got to work.

I have to say that yesterday was one of the most productive days I've had in a long time.  I worked on laundry, cleaned the kitchen, set up a schedule for each day, and made a very yummy dinner.  I also conquered 2 days' worth of dishes, and in doing so isolated our mid-week chaos problem, at least a big part of it.  On Tuesdays, I am coming and going all day.  Out the door in the morning for MOPS, dropping Miles off to Brandon so I can go lead a WW meeting, back for 2 hours, then out for another WW meeting.  When I get home, Miles is in bed and dinner has been made...but an entire day's dishes are waiting for me on the sink.  And I would tackle them that night, but I have WW paperwork to do because it must be mailed out in the morning.  So the dishes sit.

I would do them on Wednesday, but Miles and I have to be out the door by 10:15am to get him to the babysitter while I lead a WW meeting.  When we get back around 2:00pm, he is ready to nap and I'm ready to eat my lunch.  Then we leave again at 3:30pm for praise band practice, then dinner with Brandon, then back to church before church at 6:30pm.  Miles is dressed in his jammies before we come home from church and he goes straight to bed from the car.  So Wednesday is chaos as well.

Yesterday I dropped the bomb on Brandon - On Tuesdays, his day off, when he is home with Miles, he HAS to keep up with the dishes.  No longer will I go to bed with dishes in the sink.

So now, most days will look like this (alterations made for days when we have to go somewhere):

Wake up
Check Miles's diaper
Wash M's hands
Put away last night's clean dishes
Breakfast
Wash morning dishes
Brush Miles's teeth, wash his hands/face
Change diaper and clothes
Playtime
Naptime (choretime for Mommy)
Lunchtime (wash hands, put away morning dishes, eat, wash lunch dishes, wash hands again)
Playtime
Naptime (choretime for Mommy)
Brandon comes home
Playtime with Daddy while Mommy makes dinner
Dinner (wash hands, eat)
One of us brushes his teeth and washes his hands/face while the other washes dinner dishes
Bathtime for Miles (basically every other night, we just can't do a bath every night)
Bedtime for Miles

I know it sounds a bit crazy to write every little step out like this, but having a schedule will really help me keep the chaos under control and it will definitely help Miles learn to anticipate what comes next.  And I had admittedly gotten a bit lax about handwashing and I was only brushing his teeth on bath nights (oops) because his toothbrush/paste was back in my bathroom with the tub.  I put a little stepstool in Brandon's bathroom (the one in the main living area) and his toothbrush, toothpaste, and little cup there as well.  He loves washing his hands in the sink like a big boy and is starting to like brushing his teeth too.

The next thing I need to work on is getting out of bed when Miles wakes up.  All week I've been bringing him into our bed and snoozing while we watch Curious George, Sid The Science Kid, or Super Why (depending on what time it is).