Thursday, January 17, 2008

Routines Are Good

My evening routine has morphed a bit.

Since joining FlyLady some four years ago, I have learned the value of a good evening routine. Getting bits and bobbles put back where they belong, putting dishes away, thinking about tomorrow's calendar, packing a lunch. Evening routines are what make the workday morning manageable. They are the launching pad for a successful tomorrow.

DH and I are re-writing our evening routine. It's very cool to have him on board for the whole evening routine bit. Before, DH had his own items to deal with, in no particular order. He is always fastidious about cleanliness, so he silently managed all the hot spots throughout the great room. Now, he's actually coming over to my Control Journal to look at the checklist for the Evening Routine. Here's what he sees:

1. Put away all dishes, wipe down the sink and set out a clean dish towel.
2. Pack lunches for tomorrow.
3. Pack bottles for Bear for tomorrow.
4. Take evening vitamins.
5. Set out all breakfast items and vitamins.
6. Set up coffee and auto-brewing.
7. Set out Bear's clothes for tomorrow.
8. Set out my clothes for tomorrow.
9. Nurse Bear.
10. Get into bed by 9:30pm for quiet time.

And while he can't help me with #8 and 9, everything else is up for grabs. In the two weeks since I've been back to work full-time, DH has had several nights of handling most of the list all by himself. One evening, I saw him using the red vis a vis pen to put check marks next to his accomplishments. (Doesn’t everyone love ticking off “DONE” on a checklist?)

Getting read for Tomorrow takes up our entire evening, it seems.

On another note: We are keeping ourselves entertained with Season 1 of “30 Rock.” I gave the set to DH for Christmas because he loves “The Office,” and I figured he might enjoy getting into another award-winning comedy. We watch one episode per night after dinner. It’s amazing how a 30-minute TV episode gets consolidated down to like 23 minutes when the commercials are left out. Yikes.

I love Tina Fey. That woman knows how to make me laugh! Smart, funny and zippy little show, that one is. Alec Baldwin gets some of the best lines.

1 comment:

Lorraine said...

I totally have to get back to an evening routine. Never had that one down as much as the others but now that I'm actually leaving the house once in a while, it matters more and more!