Well, the honeymoon is over. My days of guiltlessly laying around the house, cuddling with LL, watching Netflix, and reading on the iPad are over. I recently noticed that when the TV is on and LL and I are playing, he becomes very distracted by the pretty flashing rectangle on the wall. We have our flexible schedule, but aside from going to the gym a few times a week, meeting Daddy or other friends for lunch, and almost daily trips to Target, we really haven’t been doing a whole lot worth mentioning.

One day someone asked me, “What do you do all day?”  I was shocked that I don’t really have an answer. 5 months of my life, and I really can’t account for where the time has gone. To an extent, I think that is just a byproduct of being a new mom. But, as I am quickly discovering, the time passes way too fast, and I want to make the most of it. I am blessed with a happy baby that has a go-with-the-flow personality, but I don’t want to passively miss these super fun days!

So, now that LL is actually aware enough to know what is going on, I decided to let Teacher Lion take over.  I bought a planner and turned it into my Mommy Lesson Plan Book.

Now, I know what you must be thinking. Lesson plans? For a 5 month old?

But really, these plans are for me.

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I found a planner that is designed for students. Rather than being broken down by time of day, it is sectioned out so that you have room for individual classes. I have been able to designate different boxes for different priorities that I have set for our day. I then have room to plan, and to then check off what we accomplish.

I sit down on Sunday night or Monday morning and sketch out what I think our week will look like. I splurged on Ticonderoga pencils… the ones with the best erasers, for you non-teachers out there. Our plans change throughout the week, so writing in pencil gives me the opportunity to move things around.

Some of the things I have decided to plan for include:

For Little Lion:

  • Gross Motor (tummy time, sitting, standing)
  • Fine Motor (holding a rattle or other object)
  • Sensory (play with bells, drums, feel different textures…I get ideas for this from Babycenter)

For Momma Lion:

  • Bible Study/Quiet Time
  • Cardio
  • Strength Training
  • Social (I try to make sure I see grown up people a few times a week if possible)
  • Blog Posts
  • Chores/Cleaning
  • Evening (I try to plan a few nights a week so that Mr. Lion and I do something other than zone out in front of our electronic devices…this is a work in progress, as usually I don’t really want to do much of anything once LL is in bed.)

Do we accomplish everything I have planned every day? Absolutely not. But, having a list to check off makes  me feel better. When I get to the end of the day and I find myself wondering where the time went, I have something to look back on. When I feel defeated at the end of a particularly difficult day, I am reminded that not every day is so exhausting. I can make sure we don’t go an entire week without Tummy Time (been there), and as LL grows I can plan fun crafts or games in advance so that I can make sure I have materials available.

These plans aren’t detailed (notice how not detailed they are in the picture above….), and I have no interest in over scheduling our life, but I am finding that having a written plan holds me accountable to use my time wisely. That way, when I decide to take a day to cuddle and veg out in front of Netflix, I can do it guilt-free knowing it is just a day, not a lifestyle.

How do you manage your time as a SAHM?