In a bid to help my family, I wrote a list yesterday. I called it The 19 point Sunday evening preparation list. It is simply a guide to all the tasks that have to be completed to ensure the family is ready for the week ahead.
Once written and printed off, I taped it up inside a cupboard door in the kitchen. Then the inevitable happened; I remembered two further points and had to update the list in blue biro.
I created this list, in part, for my wife. She has, on a few occasions, asked if she could help me get ready for Monday morning. It’s now in black and white. If she wants to help, or if I happen to be away overnight for some reason, the list is there for reference.
Having written this thing, I then took a step back and read it. I realised that, with the exception of two items, I do everything on the list every evening, Sunday through to Thursday. The only two tasks that don’t get done each single day are putting the bins and recycling out.
You’re probably wondering what on Earth is on this document. So here you go. I’ll give you some insight into the domestic life of this family:
- Two days worth of work clothes ironed and ready for Gill
- Two days worth of school uniform ironed and ready for Helen
- Two days worth of clothes ready for Elizabeth
- Helen’s school shoes cleaned
- Helen’s school shoes put away in shoe cupboard
- Elizabeth’s shoes in storage cupboard
- Helen’s homework diary completed
- Elizabeth’s nursery bag checked and filled with spare clothing (if a nursery day)
- Nurtibullet drink part-prepared (chopping board and fruit washed and ready to go)
- Fruit set aside for girls’ breakfast and two clean glasses set aside for their use
- All saucepans washed and ready for use
- Kitchen work surfaces wiped down
- Crockery and crockery ready for use (ideally dishwasher emptied)
- Storage box cleaned and ready for use so Gill wife can take a salad to work
- Gill’s salad part-prepared
- Coffee pot prepared and ready for use
- Helen’s lunch box cleaned and ready for use
- Helen’s lunch part-prepared
- Kitchen bin emptied if full to overflowing
- If a Sunday; put out appropriate recycling
- If the Monday is a bin day, put out bin
Through harsh experience I have discovered what happens to the morning routine when one or more of these tasks is not taken care of. I won’t pretened it’s a fool proof set of instructions, but things run so much more smoothly when all these jobs are taken care of the evening before.
I’d be curious to know who does all these household chores in your family? Do you have a similar list? Do you think having such a list is a good idea? Perhaps you think I’m an obsesive compulsive. Leave a comment and let me know.
If you liked this post, you might like this follow up; My 21 point list for domestic bliss; Part II. It explains how things went horribly wrong earlier this week when my list wasn’t adhered to.
Pic credit; Image from the USA Government Works Progress Administration. Image in the public domain and reporduced under Creative Commons agreement.
16 thoughts on “Happiness is a ticked off list”
I am gonna do a list as soon as I’ve commented. I do pretty much everything as I’m at home the majority of the time and I sometimes get that ‘never done’ feeling. I think a list will help me feel like I’ve accomplished stuff.
Oh the “never done” feeling. It follows me everywhere!
Can I hire you?!
My husband is pretty well trained when it comes to helping in fact he came fully trained at a level far beyond mine to be honest.But most of these chores are down to me (this could very much be where we are going wrong!) as I am at home more trying to scape a living I feel it is up to me to do this as it seems only fair.
I love this list….I will try to do better!
I gues I could be hired, but I’d be expensive! Good luck writing your own list.
Love this. I do THE LIST. I’m not so well prepared with lunches etc as you, being an early bird I make the packed lunches and empty the dishwasher in the morning. The night before, I put the washing in the machine ready for the morning and also put any dry clothes away. I also do all the school (and Scout and ballet) letters and dinner money on Sunday evenings, which seems to take forever and deal with all rubbish and recycling with the exception of emptying the kitchen bin, which I leave to my husband!
Ah bin emptying. You know I’ve noticed the only person allowed to touch the neighbour’s bin is the man of the house. MAy need ot change my blog’s strap line; gestation, lactation and bin emptying.
It’s definitely more of a 50:50 ratio here for the most part… Not that it has to be that way, sometimes it’s 70:30, sometimes 20:80.
We used to be great a filling the dishwasher every evening, and emptying it every night – late… Now it’s turned into filling it late every night which means it’s not ready to be loaded up directly with all the breakfast things – it definitely puts a kink in the procedure.
Your list has put the shoes away, ours has: line them up by the door 🙂
You put out glasses for the kids, we put them out for all of us …You gotta take care of yourselves here too you know! 😉
The lunch preparations are an advanced extra …Love it! We’re always running around like headless chickens in the morning just to find a piece of fruit to send Miss 7 off to school with… That could definitely be done the night before!
I think our routine is possibly a bit more crazy because of the insane hour my wife has ot leave the house; 6.30am. Sher tends to eat her breakfast while walking around but I have it later and sit down with the kids. Even that is a bit complicated partly because of the awful lay out of the downstair of our house and our dreadful kitchen. Watch this space…I have penned a blog post on this very subject! It may shed some light on why the focus is on the kids.
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Your list is fab John, I totally agree that organisation is absolutely essential once life starts getting busy with the kids. I need a list like this, thank you 🙂
Wow you are so organised! My hubby does most of the house stuff, but moreof a case of fighting fires in this house. Thanks for linking up to #TheList x
I have a similar list, but it’s in my head. It’s also a bit different as we have no school uniforms. Since I’m the home dad I usually do these task, though my wife usually makes lunch for our school age child in the morning before she goes to work.
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Great post and one I can totally relate to !
Thakns for saying so. I think many people related to it!