Our Thanksgiving Holiday was a success! Everyone had a fun day with friends and family. We all ended the day with very full bellies. We saw Santa Claus over the weekend. Did a little Christmas List shopping. Watched a few holiday movies. And made an extremely HUGE mess!
I love the Holidays. But the thing I don’t love… The mess. The clean-up. The lack of routine. And getting back into the routine after it is all said and done.
Since we have six kids in our family, as well as a busy schedule, we often get asked what the secret to our sanity is. (Sanity, of course, being a relative term) And honestly, it’s our routines. Bedtime routine, cleanup, meal times, morning routine, and general expectations that keep our home running (craziness and all). Not to say that the routines mandate our day, but the consistency allows both myself and the kids to keep our frustrations in check.
Then the holidays come… And it all goes out the window! And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed my week of cooking and relaxing. I did some Netflix binge watching. Snuggled with my kids instead of unloading the dishwasher. Stayed up late, and allowed quite a bit of sugary indulgence by both myself and my littles. It was nice. Aaaaaaaand not-so-nice.
It was nice to not worry about the laundry or bedtimes and homework. Nice to use paper plates and eat leftovers and lounge around. Nice to eat to until we were going to explode. Nice to have lots of sugar and spice.
Not so nice to have grumpy kids who are sleep deprived and sugar-high hyper. Not so nice to wake up on Monday morning to a pile of laundry as tall as I am… (Not Joking! 6 loads down and 4 more to go!!!) Not so nice to see the playroom which looks like it vomited boxes of toys and books all over. Not so nice to scramble around to find jackets and gloves and hats and shoes which were not put in their proper place.
And so I have decided. My routines have ruined me and I am RUINED without my routines!
I am not delusional that I will be able to stick to all my routines during the holidays. But it doesn’t mean that every single one of them needs to disappear during the Holidays. In fact, I am pretty sure that in the next few weeks the routines will help my little ones feel more at ease and able to more completely enjoy the festivities with the presence of a few of those routines.
It comes down to this. Balance. And Attitude. If mommy can have balance and a good attitude….then my home will survive. It feels a bit daunting to look at the crazy messes in every room of our house this year. But they represent the memories and fun of the holidays. I am quite sure that there will be many more “recovery routine” days over the next few weeks as Christmas is bringing lots of events and family visiting. But it is worth it.
Maybe today, you are like me. Recovering from the holidays and undoing all the “ruin” without your routines. It’s okay. We can do this! We will recover. We will get back to the comfort and stability of the routines. And when we need to throw a few of them out the window. We will survive that too.
Breathe in and out. And recruit some help from the hubby and older kids.
Happy Routine Recovery!
Keikilani
We are ALL about routines in our family! We can’t work without them.
I hear ya! The holidays need some routine just so I don’t go crazy. I get the kiddos to help with the chores and I get all the cooking done (well as much as I can) in advance.
I just spent the last week with one very sick little girl so I can totally relate to your wanting to get back to routine. NOTHING got done while she was sick so I feel like I am a week behind on the catch up. UGH!
Poor girl! I hope she feels better soon and no one else gets it!
I need routine too! I get so much more accomplished and simply feel better about stressors if I’m able to keep a few normal routines in check especially during the holidays!
We try to stick to a routine as son has a busy life now with dual enrollment and honor band. It can get pretty crazy at the holidays so we try to stick with it.
Holidays are great but it’s always a relief to get back to the normal routine
I love my routines too and I believe my life would fall apart without them. I think you should get the kids involved in the clean up
I can definitely relate! It’s nice to get a break from the routine but new problems do tend to arise!
Yes, routines keep me organized and helps me get things done. The holiday season definitely is hard to keep my routines in check!
I love routines, but I agree that the routines have me a bit ruined and that I am just trying to recover from the holiday chaos right now
I am without human children but need structure – it’s in my DNA; I love that you said balance and attitude. I tend to overwhelm myself sometimes. Good post!
I don’t know how you do it! I have such a hard time as it is and I only have 2 kids. I should have some routines in place as I’m sure they’d help some.
The holidays really mess up our routines but it is a great time to remember to live in the moment – memories are happening!
Balance is everything! It’s the key to a happy and successful like! Easier said than done! I’m working on bringing more balance to my life as well!
I totally agree with you! I have two special needs children and without routines we have total chaos!
I don’t mind the lack of routine because it’s so fun. If it was longer than it is though, I might. 😉
I enjoy your emphasis on routines. I have a friend who is bipolar and needs routines to keep stable.
I like to stick to my routines and do get a little frazzled when things don’t go as planned.