Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Planning + Preparing = Wonderful

Yesterday was wonderful. Today is wonderful.  And not just because it's my birthday today.  Let me elaborate (because if I left it at the previous three sentences you'd never visit again).

All weekend I poured over a blog that I recently discovered.  Actually I didn't discover it so much as a friend "liked" it on facebook and I checked it out from there.  So really she gets credit for my lame attempt at getting the laundry done.  Thanks Nichole!  I'll talk more about what I've picked up from that blog in another post.

Since I got only one load of laundry done, and didn't feel like doing more at 10:00, I prepared for work the next day.  I pulled out everything we were going to be doing for preschool in the morning, picked up the living room, dining room, and most of the kitchen (which of course was trashed again two hours after the kids arrived, but that's just how it works), picked up the bathroom so I could clean it in the morning, detailed my lesson plan for the next day, and (most importantly) set the coffee pot to have coffee ready to pour when I woke up.

The next morning was beautiful!  I woke up and poured myself a fresh cup of coffee, got dressed, actually did my makeup (rare occurance during the day), and sat down to check my email, facebook, and blogs while I sipped coffee and waited for kids to wake up and arrive! 

This was so much nicer than waking up and seeing all the crap we hadn't put away yet from the day before, and trying to get that done before the daycare kids arrived.  It really set a positive tone for the rest of the day.

Since I had pulled everything out for preschool already, when 9:30 rolled around and the preschoolers came inside from sledding, everything was ready to go and we got started without any lag time.  I also had things pulled out for the toddlers to do during this time, but tonight I'm going to take it a step further and plan more learning center material for them to do on their own while I'm helping the preschoolers with things.

Everything went so smoothly, and it really only took about an hour of prep work the night before.  Because everything flowed smoothly the kids were in great moods, which of course means they retained information more easily and participated with extra enthusiasm.  I was in a great mood, which really is beneficial for all right?  Since I did the same prep work last night, plus a little extra, today has been going just as well! 

All morning I've been feeling the birthday love, and have been enjoying the chaos-free home, which is making me one happy lady!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

*Like*

Nichole said...

You're very welcome! I'm always happy to help friends avoid housework. ; )

Days really do run more smoothly with some prep work. I see that in my own life so often, yet so often take the lazy way out and sit in front of the tv at night only to end up with a hectic, crabby morning the next day. Thanks for the reminder on making life a little easier!

mom said...

Glad you discovered a little forward thinking made your day so much brighter. Maybe a New Years resolution?? Oh right you don't do those. Glad you had a happy birthday

Abby @ I Used To Have A Brain said...

@Nichole
Now what to do when you plan your whole next day's lesson and then LOSE it by the next morning... Totally ticked off. and I still haven't found the dang thing.

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