So, HOW did you do it all?? (More on MOTH)

I'm flattered; a few people asked me how I managed to get so much done in one day using a schedule I created after reading Managers of Their Homes.

The two points I found most helpful were:
1) Stopping after a set time, even if everyone seems happy and things are going well.
2) "Assigning" kids a place and activity for a set amount of time.

For example, here's what parts of my day on Friday looked like (not exactly in this order), and yes, I used a timer for much of it:

30 minutes -- Rebecca has "piano lesson" with me in the living room while Rachael plays with little brother Benjamin in Benjamin's room

30 minutes -- Becca and Ben watch Blue's Clues on downstairs TV while I give Rachael her "piano lesson"

30 minutes - Girls play together in playroom, Benjamin naps, and I nap on couch

30 minutes -- Girls continue to play in playroom, Benjamin continues to nap, and I run around trying to see how much housework I can do in 30 minutes

30 minutes -- Becca and Benjamin play together in Benjamin's room while I work alone with Rachael

30 minutes -- Becca plays with stickers alone in her room, Rachael works independently at the kitchen table, and I do puzzles with Benjamin in his room

See how much got done in less than three hours?

Here were some of my previous objections to a schedule like this:

How horrible for the kids! Don't they get any freedom? How would you like to be ordered around all day? How will they ever learn to make decisions if every minute is decided for them?
Actually, the kids seemed to like it a lot. I'm sure Benjamin loved getting so much one-on-one time. Rachael was very excited when I told her that she would get "play time with Benjamin" every day from now on. Rebecca has been wanting piano lessons with me for a while now and finally got it. In other words, the schedule includes many things they love, so of why would they object to a day filled with those things?

Moving things about like that kept things fresh. The kids weren't restless or complaining about being hungry or tired. They didn't fight much at all. They weren't asking when things would be over, or asking about other things they could go do.

And as far as not making decisions for themselves, they still got plenty of choices. I didn't tell Rachael exactly what she must do with Benjamin. I didn't tell the girls what they had to do while they were in the playroom for an entire hour. Becca and Ben got to choose which TV show they would watch.


That sounds so stressful and exhausting, scrambling around and constantly trying to get stuff done every minutes of your life. Isn't rest important? What about those special moments that you can't plan for? Who wants to rush through lunch knowing you only two minutes left before you have to rush off to the next thing?
I scheduled a 30-minute nap for myself, and was able to actually take it because I didn't feel the need to pop up and try to get something done at that time, which is what often happens when try to nap.
If lunch (or anything else) is rushed, just adjust the schedule to give yourself more time.
I felt like we had more special moments this way, because I wasn't trying to do 2-3 things at once, and I wasn't getting annoyed at the kids and feeling like they were keeping me from getting things done.

Another thing that was mentioned in the book: If the schedule gets disrupted or you just want to take a break from part of it, it's no big deal because you know how productive the rest of the day has already been.

In a way, I feel bad writing such a glowing review for a system I've only been using for about two days. Maybe in a week, or a month, we will just hate it. Maybe I will discover things about it that are real problems. We'll see.

If you are intrigued by the idea, but not ready to shell out $25 just yet, feel free to ask me more questions about it, and I'll try to answer them.