Someone commented on the goals post last week lamenting the fact that she wasn’t able to get many of her goals accomplished since she had a toddler and a newborn. You know what? I wouldn’t be doing much of any of this if I had a toddler and a newborn, either! In fact, it’s hard for me to even remember what those days were like now that my children all sleep consistently through the night, can dress themselves, help with the chores, and are pretty independent.
I’m sharing my goals as a way to keep myself accountable and to (hopefully!) inspire you to live life on purpose, instead of just letting the hours and days slip by without intention. However, please do not feel like you need to be accomplishing similar things to what I have on my list.
I’m in a relatively easy season of life since my children are 6, 4, and 2 (compared to having them be 4, 1, and newborn, it’s definitely much, much easier!), so I can challenge myself to do more than I have at other seasons because I’m sleeping at least 6 or 7-hour stretches every single night (this makes a world of difference!) and my children are now at the age where they can help out and play independently instead of needing me to do every single little thing for them each day like they did when they were younger.
If you are the mom of very young children who depend upon you for just about everything, make sure and read my post of encouragement to you here. If you accomplish nothing more than keeping everyone fed and diapered and you spend quality time enjoying your children, you are accomplishing a lot! Set microscopic goals and don’t be discouraged if even those don’t get done. Really and truly, it will get easier.
Don’t compare yourself to other moms and feel inadequate if you’re not doing as much as them. Give yourself grace, smile, make your own health a priority, and just love on your babies while they are little! You’ll never regret making them a much higher priority than a clean house or a checked-off to-do list.
Now on to the goals. Here’s what I accomplished off of last week’s list:
Mothering Goals
1. Finish reading Homer Price aloud to the children. {I ended up doing some other reading to them for our school weekly theme and didn’t get to Homer Price. This week, hopefully? :)}
2. Take children on a Nature Walk.Personal Goals
3. Run 12.5 miles (total).
4. Finish reading Good to Great and Raising a Soul Surfer.{Still working on finishing up Quitter — I’m enjoying it so much that I’m just slowly reading it to try and soak everything up!}
Home Management Goals
5. Vacuum underneath beds.
6. Make homemade soap.{Still haven’t tried the Homemade Scrubbing Bubbles — must do that this next week!}7. Wash, dry, fold, & put away one load of laundry every day. {Well, I didn’t quite manage to do this, but I did a pretty good job of staying on top of the laundry this week, so that’s progress, right? :)}
Business Goals
8. Re-shoot videos and send to publicist. {Hopefully I’ll get to this this week, time got away from me last week!}
9. Go through my formatted and edited manuscript from the publisher to check for errors in format or content.Ministry Goals
10. Meet with a friend who asked for counsel.
And here’s this week’s list:
Mothering Goals
1. Finish reading Homer Price aloud to the children.
2. Continue teaching children table chores.
Personal Goals
3. Run 13 miles (total).
4. Finish reading All The Money in the World (advance copy that I was asked to write an endorsement blurb for), Quitter, and Friendship for Grownups.
Home Management Goals
5. Keep the master bathroom clean. (This seems to be the one area in the house that has been sorely neglected recently. I want to implement the ideas from Totally Together to see if I can keep it looking great with just 3-5 minutes of maintenance every day.)
6. Make Homemade Scrubbing Bubbles (third time’s a charm, eh?)
7. Wash, dry, fold, & put away one load of laundry every day.
Business Goals
8. Re-shoot videos and send to publicist.
9. Start working on my presentation for an upcoming speaking engagement.
Ministry Goals
10. Meet an acquaintance who asked for counsel regarding her business.
How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? If you feel comfortable doing so, I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!
You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
I am curious about your running.
I am also a runner .
How much do you run in one setting?
Do you have a goal to do a 5k 10k or half marathon?
I’m usually doing 1.5 to 3.1 miles per day (taking Sundays off). My current goal is to increase my mileage and decrease my time in order to build up towards running a 10K.
(By the way, I’m NOT a runner–up until this past year, I couldn’t run more than a 1/2 mile without stopping and thinking I might die. So it’s exciting for me to see my endurance and stamina slowly increasing!)
Whew! Busy week this last week – but I used my to-do list to help me better focus on what really needed to get done! Thanks so much for this idea! Here’s my short-list for this next week:
http://berghermlife.blogspot.com/2011/08/to-do-list-revisited.html
Thank you Crystal for another great idea. I think that I am going to begin adding “My Goals for the Week” to my blog as well. I have a one year old at home, and sometimes get so discouraged with not getting anything done in the worlds eyes, forgetting that taking time to read and play with my son is one of my most important responsibilities in this stage in life, and extremely honorable, sometimes it is so hard to remember that though.
Blessings, Joy
I love this! it definitly helps motivate me and makes me feel go about what i am doing. I’ve been reading the book “Heidi” that i got in the dollar section at Target to my 5 yr old. i told her if we read a chapter a day we will be done in 18 days. the chapters are pretty short so some days i read a few. we only have 5 chapters to go and she seems pretty interested in the story. i plan to watch the shirley temple version of the movie after we finish. i also have a goal of a load of laundry a day.
I made 18 goals last week and completed 10! I was absolutely overjoyed that I finished that many! I have a 3.5 year old and a 3 month old. We spend a lot of time nursing but I am proud to say that we have successfully started homeschooling! I have 20 things on my list this week and am done with one item already, as well as halfway done with three others! As you can tell by all the exclamation points I’m pretty happy with my progress the past few weeks!!
Way to go!!!
I know this is a public forum and you don’t go into your Marriage goals much, but I feel like that is the area with the least amount of focus for me an I don’t know how to change that…if it was up to DH he would concentrate on the bedroom! I want to focus more on our relationship and our family…any help would be appreciated.
One of my marriage goals last week was to do one selfless act for my husband and this week I have write him a note of encouragement and appreciation on my list.
Thank you so much for your encouraging words!! I needed this reminder tonight. I am a stay at home mom to a 3 year old and 17 month old. My husband also works out of town so we only see him about 1 week out of the month. This has been quite an adjustment for our entire family. I love to have lists and feel organized but sometimes I can’t get everything done especially when I am the only one tending to the children. I need to remember that this is OK! A hard thing to remember but just need to keep leaning on the Lord’s strength.
I was just wondering where you all post your goals? I have mine written on a small wipeboard that I keep in my living area. I need to see them so I am reminded, but I would like to hear other ideas.
Thanks
i have a checklist app on my phone. i love how it crosses stuff off when you complete it, but i don’t have to delete completed items if i don’t want. i like to see i completed some things. for items that i need to do everyday, i uncheck those on the next day until they are done again.
I remember awhile ago on one of your Financial Updates there was a comment made that although this women was completely overwhelmed with setting financial goals, that your post had encouraged her to do her dishes. I try to do one load of laundry every day and at least one sink full of dishes. Some days I get floors scrubbed and some day my house looks like a tornado hit, but keeping up on the dishes and laundry feels manageable and brings a little peace to our home and schedule.
My list looks different from all y’alls:
Mothering/Marriage catergories are non-existent.
Important things to do: Prep for Thursday night’s class
Work on painting (still trying to get going)
Unload/Reload Dishes
Fold 2 loads of laundry/Wash work clothes
Grocery Shop by Wednesday
Work on other coursework
Take recycling
Thank you so much for the encouragment for moms with toddlers and newborns. Today was my first day home alone with my 22 month old and newborn and already I was trying to do too much. Thanks again, I really needed to read this today.
Here are my goals: http://thedollarholleringhomemaker.blogspot.com/2011/08/weekly-goals.html
I agree there are times when I can accomplish a ton and times where I am lucky that I can even get dressed in the AM. We can only do our best in whatever season of life we are experiencing.
I have really been enjoying your weekly goal posts. It’s just encouraging to me to read what others have been accomplishing!
Here’s my list of the week (excluding marriage goals):
1) Listen to and summarize at least 5 lectures for my current college course 2) Work out at least three days.
3) Take time to plan preschool activities for Katie (my 2 1/2 year old)
4) Spent 20 minutes/day reading pictures books with Katie
5) Organize/de-junk our toys
6) Teach Katie to tidy-up her toys for 5 minutes before bedtime
7) Work 10 hours for my part time, at home job
8) Get my blog facebook page up and running
9) Evangelize to at least one person
10) Make a plan for a family from church to come to our home this month
Thank you for the reminder about having a toddler and newborn. You post things like this from time to time, and I need the reminder EVERY time. Why, oh why do I keep comparing myself to moms who have older kids? It’s not the same. And I don’t want to spend their baby years wishing they were older so we could do more. I want to soak up this special time with them!
Well, after last week, my first goal is to make fewer goals. I’m going to stick with 5 instead of 10:
Personal: Exercise at least 3 times.
Work: have my work completed and documented within 48 hours.
Household: Effective meal planning for the week
Volunteer: Catch up on my cub scout responsibilities.
Family: hold a family meeting.
are you training for a race or just trying to up your mileage? I just signed up for my 1st 1/2 marathon to celebrate my 30th Birthday next year. I’m so nervous! I never considered myself a runner before last year! I completed a 5 k last year and a 10 k this spring. 1/2 seemed to be the next step!
I’m slowly trying to up my mileage while at the same time improving my time. My goal is to be able to run a 10K sometime in the next year without being the last person through the finish line. 🙂
You can do it! I actually was the last one in a 10K once, a lady and I figured out all the slower runners ran the 2 mile race (it was a 2 mile and a 10K same time) and we knew we were the last ones. We just decided to push through the last mile together. A few mos later I ran my first marathon and I am running my 13th marathon here in a few weeks. It is so much fun and has been great for my physical and mental health. I wish you the best and will be cheering you on!
Thanks for your kind encouragement!
Crystal,
Thanks for the encouragement! I have just become at SAHM of a 4 year old and a newborn! Sometimes I feel like I’m not getting enough done when I read all that you do but your post today really helped me out! I’m going to be starting preschool with my son in September which will be my first go around with homeschooling so I’m hoping to do well with that along with getting my newborn on a good sleeping pattern 🙂 Thanks again for reminding me that having a clean house is not the top priority but spending quality time with my kids and husband and God are!
On the mothering goals, you have teaching children table chores. What does that encompass? I have a 3.5 yo that is a great helper. I’m trying to find chores for him to be responsible for, but am not sure what should be included. He is responsible for getting dressed, brushing teeth, and picking up his toys. I’m interested in hearing what your kids do. Thanks for the motivation to live more intentionally – needed that having just had #2 3 weeks ago.
They are just all learning to work together to clean up the kitchen after lunch. They all help clear the table, Kaitlynn rinses the dishes, Kathrynne loads the dishwasher, and Silas starts it. I oversee and wipe down the countertops/table & sweep the floor, if needed and I have time.
I so wish I had waited a week before I started searching for similar templates for my list. It took me a while before I found a semi-acceptable one and then printed out several weeks worth.. and now this beauty is right here… =) I am torn.
I love the way you’ve broken down your goals. I’ve been good about re-capping my week each week, but not in being intentional about what I work on. Thanks for the encouragement.
This week I want to:
Make a loaf of Rosemary Olive Oil Bread (from The Prudent Homemaker)
Go through my kids’ dressers and pull out anything that’s too small. Decide what to keep, what to give away and what to consign.
Plant lettuce seeds for Fall harvest (weather permitting).
Irene kind of put me behind since we didn’t have power for most of the weekend, but I kept the list short specifically so I could accomplish it all!
Thanks for the encouragement, Crystal, about those with younger children sticking to the most basic things. It’s something I tend to forget and then get upset when I don’t accomplish as much as I used to or as someone with older children would. I have a 19-month old son who climbs EVERYTHING in sight and keeps me so very busy. I’ve also been pregnant 3 times this year, so my body is very tired.
Update on last weeks goals:
Home:
1. One load of laundry completed each day – I usually get it washed and dried, just not folded and put away
~Not sure I got a load per day, but I did keep up really well
2. Clean bathrooms
~Nope
3. Vacuum at least twice this week
~Just once!
4. Menu plan
~Nope, but we did survive without too much take out
Children:
5. Plan school
~Nope
6. Spend time going to a park, swimming or doing something fun
~We did swim in the back yard and spent lots of time reading and just sitting and having fun! It was wonderful!
Business:
7. Organize for stamp camp
~Getting there
8. Make challenge card
~Nope
Ministry:
9. Organize baby shower and wedding shower I am hosting. Find out details of projects I am to make for my bro-in-law and sis-in-law-to-be’s wedding
~Did some organizing. Found out that 3 of the hardest things I was supposed to do for the wedding got canceled, woot!!!
10. Make cards and wrap gifts for 5 “occasions”
~Not this either
I’m keeping it simple this week as we are still unsure how this pregnancy is going and my husbands grandfather has been ill for quite some time and this week could be really rough.
This weeks goals:
1. Menu plan and grocery shop
2. Keep up with basics – laundry, dishes, basic cleaning
3. Enjoy more time with my son like last week, we had so much fun!
4. Work on projects – not particular, just something to keep up
5. Take care of cards and gifts
I would like to encourage mothers with littles to read;
The Day Momma Played!
And then perhaps, do a reenactment! 😉
I find it really interesting that when it comes to business I am all about schedule and tasks, but when it comes to my home life it’s usually fly by the seat of my pants! I’m trying to get better at it. I’ve set weekly and a monthly goals for September, we’ll see how many I can accomplish! Thanks for all of your wonderful tools, my household binder is getting better all the time.
Okay – you are going to think I’m crazy. However, I believe I have found the solution to the every-present laundry issue. I have two teenage boys and a husband that spend a lot of time in the dirt. Thus, laundry was taking up my whole life. Then my washing machine broke. My first reaction was, “the world has ended”. My second reaction was to pack all my laundry to the laundromat while waiting for the repair man. What I found is that I was able to get all my laundry washed, dried, and folded in two hours. In between washing and drying I was able to go get a coffee, do a little reading and play a bit of Fruit Ninja on my iPad. Laundry has now become an afternoon out and about. When I get home everything is folded and already sorted in baskets by person. If they don’t put their laundry away the same day, I don’t fold it the next time around and they have to do the folding. Everyone is accountable and I only do laundry once a week and only spend 2 hours a week dealing with it. I have been freed from the ever-lingering laundry of home. Yes, my washer is fixed. However, I only use it on ocassion when something can’t wait for my weekly trip.
Finally someone else who “neglects” their master bathroom as well! Cleaning bathrooms in general is my least favorite chore, which is why I always put it off. 🙂
1. Turn off the computer for 3 hrs every day.
2. Go on a picnic.
3. Workout 2x’s (threw my back out on Saturday, so I need to ease back into it!)
4. Eat more fiber.
5. by Tuesday night have all dishes and laundry done, due to sewer line work on Wednesday.
6. 15 minutes in every room this week, decluttering.
7. tell anyone about my piano teaching business.
8. have hubby tune pianos.
9. pray everyday.
Thanks so much for inspiring me to set weekly goals for myself. I have a 3yo and a 15mo, and feel like I have not accomplished anything in the last 15mos. I started writing goals last week, and was on my way to reaching them, when the hurricane disrupted them. Hopefully I will accomplish them this week, and move on to others next week. I have them posted in my kitchen where I (and my husband) can see them. I find it helpful for him to know what I’m doing so that when he is home he can keep the kiddos out of my hair!
I’m very interested in hearing what you have to say about All the Money in the World. Can’t wait!
I just made my list for the week, and I feel more intentional already! 😉
What is supposed to go in the column on the right on the downloadable form? (Thanks again to both of you for making and posting it!)
I use it for things I need to remember (birthdays, anniversaries, special events, weekly theme, verses, quotes) — or you can just leave it blank to make you feel like you have more margin in your life. 🙂
I didn’t read your post last week but this post was for me. I too have an infant and want to conquer the world! Sometimes when I see some of you phenomenal bloggers writing about all that you are able to accomplish in your day I get discouraged. So I needed to hear that it was not as easy for you when you were where I am . That there is progress over time and it gives me hope that I dont have to give up my super mom dreams!
THANKS!
Do not give up! You are in a hard season–but it will get better! Give yourself grace, breathe, cuddle with your infant, and know that they’ll grow up all too soon.
Thank you for this post and template…I needed the pick-me-up as I am a mother of a lively 2 yo and although I am mother of a single/only child, I struggle with keeping up on tasks while being a mommy, a wife, a playmate, and a homemaker. I seem to get all that needs to get done…done, but without much order and I just seem to be going through the motion. It would be nice to have a detailed list of things to do and to feel the sense of accomplishment at the end of the week.
You are so welcome. Setting written goals has been very helpful for me in living an intentional life–even though I never actually get all of the goals accomplished!
Failed miserable last week!!! Life just happened! I looked back this morning and realized the week took a completely different direction than I thought it would. Oh well… Push the reset button and start again today. It is wonderful to look at every week…even every morning… as a fresh start. Here are this week’s goals…
Parental – Spend 1 hour alone with each child; Read bedtime stories every other night (Daddy takes the off nights!)
Household Management – Switch craft and office supply closet (This is one of those “third times a charm” goals
Get two weeks worth of breakfast in the freezer so school year starts off well.
Marital – Have all chores done before he gets home (always an on-going goal), Have a away-from-home date night.
Ministry – Write first time Sunday school visitors and absentees, Prepare one month’s music for choir class which starts next week.
Personal – Work out four days, Paint toe nails, Read Total Money Management
Crystal,
Thanks so much for the inspiration! The things I’ve learned on your site regarding home economics and home management have revolutionized my thinking. We are seeing major differences in our financial situation.
Love your goals. So inspiring to me. And it’s a new day, a new week, and a new beginning–aren’t we thankful for those?! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your goals! It reminds me that I’m only human and can only accomplish so much. I have a 3yo daughter and am expecting my 2nd baby girl in only 7 weeks! I also work full-time so time is limited. I have set one goal to accomplish every weekend to help me get organized before baby girl #2 arrives!
I love your idea of setting one goal for each weekend!
I love reading your goals!!!
Thanks for the encouragement, Crystal! It’s so good to hear the reminder that when we have toddlers and newborns we’re doing just fine to simply take care of the kids and love on them. That’s often plenty!
And sometimes (at least for me!) it can feel like more than plenty. 🙂 May you have a blessed day as you love on your littles!
I have a question (and since it will become one on my goals I thought I would post it here). I am a substitute teacher during the school year. Due to health issues I cannot eat processed foods (or have to limit them greatly). I struggled at the end of the school year with lunches for myself. Since I can get a call at 7:05 and have to leave by 7:15 to get my kids to school I don’t have time to make myself a lunch on these types of days. I need something I can make ahead and store in the freezer that I can just grab and go. Anyone have any good recipes for things like that? Thanks for your help!
I freeze single serve portions of soup or other leftovers that I can just grab in the morning. By lunch they’re thawed. Also, search on this site for brown bag burritos.
I put leftovers in tupperware containers the night before. I like having a hot lunch that doesn’t come from the cafeteria!!
Here are links to a few posts with make-ahead lunch ideas.
http://lifeasmom.com/2011/08/back-to-school-recipes-meal-ideas.html
http://lifeasmom.com/2011/08/tips-for-packing-affordable-school-lunches-eat-well-spend-less.html
http://www.frugalupstate.com/frugal-living/lunchbox-planning-for-school/
This audio also has some good suggestions for things that can be packed/frozen ahead of time:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/frugalcoast2coast/2009/08/18/pack-a-lunch-save-a-bundle
Check out 100daysofrealfood.com for some great ideas. Look at the post from August 19 on planning school lunches. Lots of great ideas for kids and moms!
A few ideas: Homemade burritos, homemade pizza slices, homemade hot pockets, leftovers (stored in one-size serving containers), sandwiches (you can freeze PB&J).
I’m with the rest of the bunch! I do a lot of freezer casseroles, and divide them up in pans that are big enough to put together a lunch or two. It’s much cheaper than buying lunches everywhere. Since the Mr. and I don’t have meal schedules that align very well, it makes it easier for one of us to have a thawed casserole waiting to be popped in the oven!
Thanks for this encouragement! I also feel I am in an “easy” time with a 5 year old and 3 year old. Some friends and I were talking about this very subject last night at church.
I find making the list and checking off the few that get done still helps that way when you are sleep deprived you can still have that piece of paper to focus my five minutes of alone time. I put simple things on it too like take a shower so hopefully I get one done. But the most helpful thing I find is that at the end of the day before bed is to also write down what I did do that wasn’t on the list. Such as:
..mopped 9ft of floor where the sippy cup leaked
..sang five lullabys innumerable times
..picked up spilled cheerios 3 times
..reshelved the dvds
..etc.
That way at the end of the day I can feel better about the unfolded laundry.
Helps me write goals for tomorrow too, such as, move dvds two shelves up on the bookcase! 🙂
Oh, the reshelving of hte DVDs. I can sooo relate!! (My daughter is 16 months!!)
Love this!
That list is my life!
What a great, yet simple thought. I need to spend some time every evening before bed thinking back over my day and all the small unplanned for things I DID accomplish. That should help me feel better about the items on “the list” that didn’t get done. What did I do today that wasn’t on the list?
I…
1. scooped the litterbox
2. took out all trash
3. washed, cut & froze 8 pounds of strawberries from Aldi 99c sale
4. ran an unplanned errand with a friend
5. stopped at the grocery store to pick up a couple sale items
6. stopped for gas (didn’t realize how low tank was)
These may be silly things. I never put “get gas” on list, it’s just something I “do.” But it takes time (that I hadn’t allotted.) Those berries weren’t going to wash or cut themselves, but I didn’t set aside the time (and they took longer than I anticipated once I got started.) EVERYTHING seems to take longer than I anticipate. Especially in the kitchen!!
So thanks for helping me feel better about myself today. Yes there are things I didn’t get to, but that’s okay, because there were other things I DID get done 🙂
You did a ton of stuff; good for you! My littlest one napped early yesterday so I actually did too. I didn’t get my shower, but I made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies while the beans were taking twice as long to cook as they were supposed to.
P.S. So jealous of you folks who have an Aldi. The cheapest I’ve seen berries was $1.50 and that was only one week this summer. Glad for you though! Enjoy!
I find it so relieving to put things on my to do list that I have already done, just so I an check it off!
Thank you so much for sharing your goals each week! Also thank you so much for posting the first part about having young children who are still completely dependent on you. I went back and read the link to the previous post you did and it was very helpful. I have a two year old (will be two in a month : )) who was born with some significant challenges and requires a great deal of care. Your post was very encouraging regarding keeping goals simple and being okay with not being able to do everything.
I love that you set a total mileage for the week that you want to accomplish – I’ve always set a daily goal, but I like the weekly goal because it gives me some wiggle room – I don’t have to feel like a failure if I just don’t feel like running one night, I can just add some time on another day to make it up! That’s a great system, thanks for the inspiration!
I work full-time outside of the home and have a 4 year old and a 3 year old, and I find that setting goals just makes it so much easier to accomplish everything that I need to! I have a daily goal list I write out in the mornings, a weekly list (I’m using the template you provided now, love it!), a monthly list, and then I have a long term (1 year, 5 year, 10 year) goal list that keeps me incredibly motivated (especially on the finances).
And yep – I didn’t see the comment you’re talking about, but I know how difficult it can be some days with little ones to just get everyone dressed in the mornings. That’s where writing down a whole bunch of little goals comes in handy – because even just scratching off “pick laundry off floor” will feel like an accomplishment and keep you motivated! 🙂
Setting a weekly mileage goal has been great for me, because some days I have more time, energy, and motivation than others.
Crystal, I really appreciate your encouraging spirit. It has an air of humility that I find refreshing and helpful. May you be blessed!
I did not accomplish much, but writing things down helped me identify some problems areas I am trying to correct so I can be more efficient and spend my time doing the things I really want to do instead of mountains of laundry and such.
I did so much better this week with my goals! I think I had to because we had a birthday party Saturday for my daughter and I had to get a lot of the stuff on my list done.
Mothering Goals
1. Take the girls on an outdoor outing (have to be strategic with this one because it has been HOT)
2. Read to the girls at least 15 minutes twice a day
Personal Goals
1. Begin reading through the Bible in a year (I have never made it all the way through in one try)
2. Take at least 15 minutes during naptime to do something for myself…read a magazine, paint my nails, etc
Household Goals
1. One load of laundry per day (I did this last week and it made my life so much easier. Now I just need to make it a habit)
2. Freezer Cooking-Pizza Dough, Breakfast Burritos, Baby Food
Business Goals
1. Finish adding Couponing tab to Coupon2Give website
2. File/organize tax receipts
Ministry Goals
1. Work on outline for budgeting/finances workshop at church
Great list!
When my fourth daughter came along I had four little ones four-years-old and under (three being in diapers). Feeling completely overwhelmed most of the time, my goals were simple: empty the dishwasher or, clean one bathroom. It’s all I could manage; however, the accomplishment I felt when the task was completed was wonderful.
You know, sometimes having goals such as wipe the table and read a book to the kids, even if that’s all there is because of the season, is nice at the end of the day to know….something got done!
I remember reading that same comment from the mom with a toddler and a newborn and I hoped that she would realize it’s ok to go easy on yourself sometimes! I have a 15 month old and we’re expecting another so I’m in the throes of morning sickness. Lately I consider it a good day if I can love on and take care of my little guy, make dinner, and (mostly) keep up with my Fly Lady routines.
This will all be shaken up again when the new baby arrives, of course! But we’ll adapt. 🙂 And for now it’s good to see a reminder that we can, and should, extend ourselves some grace in especially busy seasons of life!
Wow 12.5 miles, that’s great!
My husband left yesterday for training for 5 weeks. So my goal this week is to plan out the next 5 weeks to make them purposeful and productive so that even though I’ll be missing him like crazy, I won’t be sitting around and not using the time to accomplish things!!
1) Work on Mealr’s meal plans for each of the grocery stores: Mon, Tues & Fri
2) Laundry: Mon
3) Finish and send proposals: Mon
4) Spend a few hours this week doing “school” with my kids: Thur
5) Read to my children:Mon, Thur & Fri
6) Work with my 4-year old on her reading skills: Thur
7) Workout 3 more days: Tues, Thur and Fri
8) Get the kids ready for school (which starts next week): Thur & Fri
9) Get thru Tues with grace and joy.
10) Spend some time reading God’s Word.
Here’s my goals for the week!!! 🙂 http://jandjnewleaf.blogspot.com/2011/08/life-style-goals-for-this-week_28.html
Thank you for that encouraging reminder! My boys are 5 and 2 and in the past few months there has been a huge shift in how our household runs. We went through hell the first year of the younger one’s life because of extreme sleep deprivation and my husband being hospitalized 46 days that year. Until this summer he was a very inconsistent napper and “little” things like sleeping through the night and having a semi-reliable naptime make all the difference in the world.
You’re so good about reminding us not to compare ourselves to others and to find what works best for our families. It’s one of the best things about this blog, in my opinion. 🙂
I love that you set “Mothering” Goals… Too often, I set Chore Goals and Volunteer Work Goals, etc. but I don’t put my Mothering Goals in writing. I am going to do that TODAY! After all- those are the most important ones!
I love that too. It never would have occured to me to set mothering and marriage goals on paper. I mean, they are things I constantly think about and things that are on my mental list of things I want to do more of (read to kids each night, weekly home date nights, monthly date nights out, etc), but they never got written down on my actual to-do lists.
For those of you that feel that you can’t accomplish all that Crystal is remember that many of us work 40 hours a week outside the home and still do all of the housework, cooking, bookkeeping, laundry, shopping, child rearing, homework . . . Crystal also has an assistance which doesn’t hurt either so ladies keep your chins up!!!
Thanks for adding this, Tracey. I feel left out sometime (and a little guilty!) and like I am one of the few women out there that have to work 40+ hours a week, drive at least 5 hrs a week and then try to do everything at home with a 4 and 6 yr old also. I wish I could stay home but it’s just not feasible as I am the breadwinner.
We have thousands of readers who work full-time, so know that you are not alone. I think most of them are just so busy they don’t usually have a lot of time to comment! I can’t imagine all you all have on your plates!
I really appreciate you sharing your goals! I’m in the season of life where I have a 20 month old, 8 month old, and I’m pregnant again (got preggo this time while on birth control!) 🙂 so life, housecleaning, cooking, etc is pretty overwhelming at times. Your goals have inspired me so much to write down simple goals each morning to accomplish each day. Thank you!
Have you considered investing in a larger, HE, washer and dryer? I was doing (or needing to) a load everyday, but we decided that between the cost saving with an HE and the time saving, we wanted to splurge. I am SO glad we did. Now I only have two loads of laundry a week (plus a load of blankets) and I feel much more efficient. Happy goal accomplishing! 🙂
I actually prefer to do smaller loads, rather than larger loads. It’s much more manageable for me, and then I can get them folded and put away really quickly–as opposed to a massive load! The one per day works very well for me, though I know it wouldn’t necessarily work well for others.
I can remember when I just had my one as a newborn. I did think that I would never be able to go to the bathroom right when I felt the urge. It took four months, but she slept through the night and things did get better. 🙂 Even setting a very small goal was better than nothing. It wasn’t moving mountains like I wanted it to be, but I am a goal-setter and a list maker so it was helpful.
You are inspiring me now to set goals for each week and cross them off to see my accomplishments. These goals can potentially be kept and when I jot notes about each it can even turn into a little journal. 🙂
Some things that I set out to do before the summer fell by the wayside because of all that went on. I could have completed them if I had a system in place to keep those wishes in my face!
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I have been doing better since you started this too! And for some reason, not getting so disappointed if I don’t accomplish everything. I am seeing progress, even if it is slow. I know we’ll get there one day. My youngest will be 18 months old soon and he doesn’t want much to do with me (he’s too busy trying to be big) and I already miss the snuggle time!
I make daily goals, but am flexible. If I’m not feeling very energetic one day, then I may choose to do a “sit down” chore that day instead.
My goals for this week are:
*work for 15 min (minimum) in: master, bathrooms, dining room, kitchen, office, storage room, toy organization
*read 7 chapters in my book
*start reading Stuart Little to the kids
*do my nails
*5-6 loads of laundry
*spend 4 hours blogging
Hmmm…I think my goal is to make a list of my goals! I’m in that 2 toddlers and a newborn stage right now, and my lovely schedule that I was into where my day started at 6 am is out the window! I’m in “survival mode” right now, although thanks to some Flylady that’s become ingrained into me, the laundry has been taken care of, dinner’s in the freezer (thanks to your inspiration over the years!), and the house has stayed decently clean. Since I’ve been able to keep up with the basics, I’d like to try slowly adding a little more to my day. Today we’re starting our first day of preschool, but I’m definitely going to take it easy! You’re right, if your children and family’s basics are taken care of and they know they’re loved, you’re accomplishing a lot!
Sounds like you are doing a fabulous job as a mom! Way to go!
I have twin 15 month olds so I do a daily list. Today I hope to mop the kitchen, make homemade pizza for dinner for the first time, read for 30 min, fold clothes, and make the grocery list. Love your list!
Love this post! It is daunting to do the everyday tasks with young kids but as they get older is gets easier, mine are now 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 and I am actually getting to have a few projects here and there! Thanks for being an encouragement to moms of young ones! There are so many out there that REALLY need it!
But I am loving this list now, the last 2 weeks I’ve tried it and it really helps vs trying to have 1-2 goals a day, just having it all in a week seems more manageable and flexible.
If you have a newborn, taking care of the newborn takes so much time give yourself credit for that! When I had a newborn I tried to do one thing a day in addition to all the work I had involving my baby (I had to spend many hours a day pumping and breastfeeding). Some times the one thing was doing 1 load of dishes. And we survived.
You have inspired me with the goal setting! I am the mom of a 2 year old and a still nursing 1year old. Neither of my boys are big sleepers. One doesn’t sleep through the night and cat naps. The other has been fighting me to nap at all. It does get easier as they get older. At this point, if my husband has clean work clothes, if the family is fed, and the house is livable, I feel pretty good about things. Loved the article about nursing with two young kids. At one point, I was nursing constantly, and chasing a 15 month old! Very interesting!
I clicked on the book links and am so excited to see that “All the Money in the World” is written by Laura Vanderkam! I’m currently reading her book, “168 Hours” as per your suggestion and it is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! I’m not finished reading it yet and it’s already made a huge difference in how I manage my time. The other books you’re reading also look excellent – I may add them to my list to read next. Reading regularly is something I’ve been able to add in my days now that I’m not using Facebook anymore 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your goals – this has inspired me to set weekly goals also, and even though I have yet to reach all of them, I’ve been accomplishing more and it is encouraging to see the little check marks beside the things that I did complete.
PS – I think that, where you have the little blip at the end of the post about others sharing their goals, it’d be nice if you also link to the weekly goal sheet so people who haven’t yet saved it (like me – I’m about to do a search) can just click on the link and save a few minutes!
Thanks for the great idea; I totally didn’t think of that–you’re brilliant! 🙂
Thank you so much for your inspiration!! I was laid off two weeks ago from my teaching job, and it was so close to the start of the new school year that my husband and I decided that I would sub this year to try to get me exposure in the local school districts. Having a list of goals has kept me from going crazy with all of my new at-home time!
Here’s my new weekly list!
http://symphonicinsanity.blogspot.com/2011/08/update-and-new-weekly-goals.html
I am in the same boat. I was laid off in June 2010, found out I was pregnant, couldn’t find a teaching job and subbed until January. I had my daughter at the end of January and I have not found a teaching job yet. I would sub this year but I would have to sub 3 days to pay for good Christian daycare, so I am at home until a teaching job comes my way. It is very political around here and it isn’t what you know or your credentials that matter, it is who you know. I know God will make a way and must want me home with the baby for now. My husband teaches and we do alright…we will be a lot better in October when he can drop me off his employer insurance because it is costing us $700 a month right for 3 people. It will drop to about $150 when I am not covered….stupid, right? Especially when a private plan for me runs about $60.
Great goals, Crystal. I completely agree that when we are in the season of having a toddler and newborn that we just are not able to accomplish much by the world’s standards. And that is okay. There will be years and years of my life when I can do those other things, but only a few years that I get to rock babies or read “Goodnight Moon” 50 million times a day.
I often wonder how many times I’ve read Goodnight Moon. We may have set the world record at our house. 🙂
That is a wonderful story! I loved it as a little girl and now my little girl loves it, too. 🙂
Katie LOVES Goodnight Moon, and I’m sure Benjamin will one of these days. 🙂
The newest obsession in our house is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. My 3 1/2 year old has it 100% memorized and now “reads” it to her 2 yo sister every night at bed time! GREAT for letter recognition!
Same at our house!! We read that book a ton! My daughter turned 2 yesterday and she still loves it and we find all of the different things in the room.
It is definitely a hard stage to get anything done my son is 2 1/2 mos old and I feel like he is always nursing!! I feel like I should be getting more done but I’m just SO tired. I feel like such a failure when my hubby comes home and asks me what I did all day… but my kids are happy and healthy and things will get better I’m sure.. I hope anyways!! 🙂
One of the things I did when my children were younger (they are now 17,15,13,11,9…and 2) was ask my husband what 3 things were important for him for me to have done each day. Interestingly, the 3 things weren’t what I would have picked. Those things have changed here and there over the years, esp. as my children have gotten older and can help with chores. If I’ve kept up with those things, I feel pretty good about my day.
I should ask my husband because I bet he would choose things that I woudn’t think are most important too. He is usually pretty good about not being too disappointed that things aren’t as clean as he’d like but I almost always feel like I’ve failed. I bet that would help a lot!! Thank you so much for the advice, as a young mom trying to figure everything out I sure need it!! 🙂
I have a 3 year old and a 5 week old. I too feel like I never get anything done. We are doing good to be feed, bathed and have clean clothes and dishes. Never mind that the dishes and clothes never make it to the cabinets and dressers. This is hard for me because I am used to doing much better than this (I want to say doing it all but really I have never even done it all as there is always something else to do.). I too do not like for my husband to come home to a mess and have him wonder what I have been doing and why there are dirty dishes everywhere, toys on the floor, clothes on every surface (bed, couch, dresser top, and floor) but sometimes that is just the way it is. I am trying to give myself lots of grace and time with my little ones! In my tiredness God can be glorified as I learn to let it all go and seek him and what he would have me do at this time even if things aren´t perfect or never get done. He daily reminds me that my children are much more important!
My baby is very fussy and wants to be held a lot so I just found a moby wrap used and bought it and it is so nice. I can have my hands free to at lease do the minimum things. It is a blessing! Mama and baby are both happier!
My heart goes out to you, Rachel. I assure you that while the days seem to go on forever, the years really will pass by quickly. I’m sure your husband understands. I’ve been amazed at how much more my husband understood my tiredness than I did.
Also, we ate on paper plates for breakfast and lunch for many years. I know it’s not very frugal, but I just couldn’t keep up. We would eat on real dishes when my husband was home.
The moby wrap is amazing!!!
I struggled with this a lot after our son (Baby #2) was born in December. He took longer to sleep through the night than our first child and he wanted to nurse and be held a lot more during the day. I was exhausted and felt like I got NOTHING done during the day, and it was just kind of depressing.
He’s now 8 months old, sleeping through the night, and happy to play independently for a while every day. Even a few months makes such a difference in Baby’s behavior. So, take heart. 🙂 It does get easier–and, your children are young enough that they won’t remember the messes.
And you’re right–your children are WAY more important than the chores. Enjoy them while they’re little. As I’m sure you’ve seen (I know I have!), the months with sweet babies *fly* by.
That was my youngest, if I even LEANED with her she would start wailing thinking I was putting her down! The carrier was a blessing for sure! Put your 3 yo to work! My oldest was only 17 mos when I had her sister, so she was still very needy too. Now at 3 1/2 she is very happy to help with stuff. She loves to help unload the dishes, so I do all the super delicates and sharp stuff and let her help with the rest. She likes to vacuum so, we have a little dirt devil that she uses to help. When I ask her to get me things she loves too! Don’t underestimate how capable they are at this age…I learned all that from this website!!
Congratulations on your new addition…and ENJOY it…I really regret worrying about the house when my youngest was that little…I also had to return to work 4 weeks earlier with her and I pulled my oldest out of DC, so she did not get anywhere near as much focus as her big sister did! I don’t think that bit of guilt will ever go away!
When my older son was in the NICU I felt so helpless, being unable to do anything for him. I had read Goodnight Moon so many times to my older daughter that I had it memorized, and he had “heard” it so many times in utero when I was reading to his sister, that it helped to soothe him, his oxygen sats went up, and I felt like I’d accomplished something. He went off to his first day of 4th grade today.