Staying organized and in love in a chaotic season of life – Mommy Blogger

02/02/2018

Hello! My name is Julia Dawn and I am a singer-songwriter, blogger, hula hooper, worship leader, and full-time Mom. My little girl was born May 2016 and has turned our lives into a beautiful chaotic whirlwind. I live for her giggles, make it through the day with re-heated coffee and unwind with beautiful stationary and a nice fountain pen in my hands. Oh, how I love my stationary. My goal is to be real, raw and honest about Mom life, marriage, friendships and living life with passion.

For more of Julie’s articles check out www.warrior117.wordpress.com!

If you are anything like me, you have a lot going on. Maybe you are a working mom, maybe you have a side hustle, maybe you have time consuming hobbies, maybe you have play groups, workout classes, friends to keep in touch with, not to mention the chores at home that never stop. The Laundry and dishes, the never ending wiping and dusting and putting away. Whatever your days look like, you’re busy. With little kids on top of it all, it’s sometimes overwhelming to even get up in the morning because your thoughts can’t keep up with all that needs to happen this week.

That’s why I’m suggesting a simple way to stay organized, keep on top of your doctors appointments and grocery runs, and still have time for your partner.

Pick a night this week with your partner. A night the kids can go down and you two can have an hour of peace together. Make yourself your favorite cup of tea and dig out your planner/calendar. I promise you it will be worth it. I personally love paper planners. I find writing this down helps me remember better and
process easier. But that’s just me. Pick your poison my friend.

For every month of the YEAR (yes go through the entire year, you’ll thank yourself later) write down the following reminders either in a side bar as a note, or on the first of the month that that task is due.

Doctor Check ups for the kids

Dentist Check ups

Eye Exams

Babies that are due that month

Anything else you need reminded of (Ring checks, Car services
etc)

Then on the specific days of each month, together with your partner write down these things.

Birthdays (especially the ones you’ll have to buy a gift for)

Anniversaries that are important to you

Weddings

School days off that you’ll need to be home for or find
a friend to babysit for

Vacations

Holidays (Long weekends, Valentine’s day etc)

Then together talk about who you want to make time for this year. Grandparents visiting, friends you haven’t seen in a while, a sister that lives far away that you’ve been promising to go see… decide who is a priority and decide what months / weekends you are going to set aside for them. In my family this is a hard one because my husband’s parents and mine are all divorced. That means 4 sets of Grandparents that want to visit every month. That for us, just isn’t possible. So we sit down, and mark what month is who’s turn, what months everyone comes for birthday parties etc. Again, you’ll thank yourself later.

Next, go back to TODAY in the calendar and set aside AT LEAST 2 date nights a MONTH just for you and your partner. Now this is where I lose some of you because we don’t all have a million dollars for such things. Well my friends, date nights don’t have to be a $50 movie and $100 dinner. Go for a walk by the river
in the summer, take a stroll down 20th street and look in all the beautiful shops they have. Go where you met your partner and try to remember every detail of that day. Be creative and take turns planning! Don’t let it sit on one person every time to come up with the plan, if you need to, write someone’s name by each date night so you know ahead of time who’s planning it. My favorite dates with my husband are what we call “Book Date Night”. We go to our favorite book store, we each wander and buy a book and
then spend 2 hours in a coffee shop. Sometimes we start reading, sometimes we just talk. But it’s awesome everytime.

Please don’t skip that one. Make time for your partner.

Last but not least, pick a day of the week to meal plan
and a day to buy groceries. This is going to save you wasted time and money. How? If you have ONE specific day to buy food and you go with your list that you need for that week alone, you a) don’t buy unnecessary food items and b) don’t run to the store for
milk half way through the week and end up with milk and a pizza and some more chips to go with the pizza and you might as well buy julice and…. Get it? One trip. One list. BOOM. Try it.

And now your done! When you get to the beginning of every
month you can easily see what’s coming up, who’s birthday gifts you need to buy, what days you need off etc. You also have 2 date nights to look forward to! Each week I look ahead and I know when I have time for the in between stuff and it makes life so much
simpler. I also love organizing like this because I feel a little more in control (when really I have very little control over every day… oh the life with toddlers. Am I right?). Each week doesn’t have to go exactly as planned, there will be times when things come up, babysitters aren’t available etc. And that’s okay! Move things around as needed, but if it’s not on the calendar, it’s not happening. At least that’s what I’ve found.

So there you have it. A SIMPLE way to keep organized and hopefully help you stay in love. It literally takes an hour of planning with your partner to get you on the same page. Why not just try it? What have you got to lose?

Xo.