How could I be asking that question as a mother of three??!!  Keep in mind, all three of my kids are in school all day this year. (All day kindergarten!)  Back to my question: Where does ALL my time go???  I had this vision when all my kids go to school full day, I would have all this extra time to do whatever I wanted!!  WRONG!  I feel like I have less time than I did when the kids were home part of the day!  I’m not sure why this is, because my work schedule is basically the same (work part-time).  Is it because I know I have all this extra time & I’m somehow subconsiously filling it up with all the extra volunteer stuff with the kids??  Probably!  Am I complaining about this problem of mine … No Way!  Just curious as to why my time flys by so fast!  All I can say is thank you Lord for the calendar! Without my calendar I would be LOST!  I have a system that helps me track my time, even though I’m wondering where it all goes, that seems to work (most of the time!). I’m one of those Mom’s that color code my calendar!!  I have a different highlighter for each person in the house.  This way at a glance (even from a distance) I can see who is doing what on any given day.  Everyone knows their colors and knows the system … they even know not to deter from that system too!!  When you have a family of 5 that is extremely busy, you have no choice but use a system like this.  Yes, my friends make fun of me, but that’s what makes them Fabulous!

Here’s a sample … Misc. & myself (yellow), church stuff (green), child #1 (purple), child #2 & 3 (orange), Hubby (blue), Avon stuff (pink).  It helps keeping all the highlighters right next to the calendar, so you can easily get to them! You should also keep a “color key” on each page (so family member can use the excuse, “I didn’t know”!)  Another helpful tip … hang a dry-erase board next to the calendar.  This makes for quick notes, hanging important notices (they’re magnetic!) … again this eliminates the “I didn’t know” thing!

Does this system work?  For me it does!  Of course, you may have to tweek it to meet your personal needs.  Without this, my oldest daughter’s soccer career would drive us insane!  She’s training in NJ (which is about 2 hrs. from our house! Have to allow for all the traffic.)  She’s going to start training under the Canadian Olympic goalkeeper … yes, that means keeping a very accurate schedule, so no one misses a beat!  I’ll have to explain the whole soccer thing in another post!  What I’m trying to say is, organization is the key to my time!  (even though I wonder where it all goes!)

The Domestic Mom