According to the 2007 Mom Salary Survey issued by Salary.com, the work that a stay at home mom does has an annual value of $138,095. Is it any wonder? I have often thought of the many different facets of my most important job. I am a laundress, seamstress, chauffeur, doctor, chef, nutritionist, teacher, activities director, psychiatrist, judge, warden, personal shopper, gardener, sports coach, librarian, dentist, and housekeeper. I do not claim to be the master at any of these noble professions. However, the one job that I have learned and tried to master, out of sheer desperation, is the job of the scheduler.

A good working schedule, or routine, can make or break the stay at home mom. When a good routine is in place the stay at home mom knows what she should be doing, as well as what her children should be doing in order to accomplish the day’s goals. I like to think of my routine as the order in which my day occurs. I don’t have a set amount of time to accomplish each task because, let’s face it, diaper changes happen, and they rarely happen at the scheduled time. With three children currently in diapers, getting sidetracked comes with the territory. A routine allows for these little distractions to happen when they happen, and then it’s right back to the routine.

Here is an example of what a normal morning in my home looks like. I wake up around 6:30, shower, get dressed and nurse the baby. After the baby is fed, changed and dressed, I wake up the boys. I change two more diapers, and get those two boys dressed while the oldest boy gets himself dressed. I cook breakfast and we sit down and eat. I do the dishes while my oldest son make his bed, my three year old wipes off the table and chairs, my 1 year old looks at books in his high chair and the baby goes down for her nap. After the dishes are done I sweep the floor. At this point I spend thirty minutes to one hour doing maintenance cleaning, for example mopping, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, and changing sheets. I do different chores on different days. While I am working on the cleaning my oldest two sons collect the dirty laundry and take it to the laundry room. When cleaning time is through, we get the laundry machine going and go outside for some playtime.

When my morning routine occurs, we have peace in our home. When the morning routine gets shelved, regaining the structure of the day is difficult. For that reason I make sure to schedule appointments and run errands no earlier than 11am. When we follow our morning routine the rest of the day flows better. Think of it as the foundation of your day. When you have a good strong foundation, the rest of your day will remain strong and be productive.

The best way to set up your morning routine is to start with two or three things and then add on as you can. For example, I started my routine by waking at 6:30am, showering and dressing, then nursing the baby. Those three activities in that order were what I worked on for one week. After I had done that for a week, I added in doing the breakfast dishes right after breakfast. In two weeks time I went from still being in my pajamas at noon with a sink full of dirty dishes, to being dressed with an empty sparkling sink by 8:30. Making small gradual changes, baby steps, over time are the best way to build your routine. You are much more likely to stick with your new routine when it is built slowly.

The job of the scheduler is the backbone for all of the other jobs of the stay at home mom. When I finally figured out how to maximize my time within a routine, I was then able to start adding in other areas. Without a good structure, the day will fall.