At first glance you might think this product is not a good fit for you, or that it is not something you need. After all, maybe you do not have nine children, but only two or three, Maybe you do not have a home business.
In my own situation, you might have thought it silly for me to volunteer for this review. In my situation -- all children now adults and out of the home, and no home business -- it might seem an unnecessary course to consider.
In actuality, though, in my situation time seemed to be slipping through my fingers. No diapers, no children, few deadlines... time seemed to be slipping through my fingers. I volunteered for this review -- asked for it, actually! -- because I wanted help redeeming my time. I actually have a lot of things I want to get done, need to get done, should get done... but without deadlines, time just kept slipping by and very little was getting done. I was anxious to get started!
My goal during the review period was to work on the course at least three days per week. I wanted to actually work on the course more days per week, but I think I averaged three days per week once I got started. When I first logged into the course I was actually out of town, visiting my son's college for Parent Weekend. Once I got back I did my best to get started quickly. Once I got going, I realized I could either cover sections of the course daily or read a section and then try to apply it, but I could not go at a fast pace if I was also trying to implement the course work.
I'm sure you would find it helpful to see an outline of the course. Here is the outline:
Unit 1: Welcome to Balancing Diapers and Deadlines
Unit 2: Building Your Foundation With the Basics:
- Get Your Family On Board with Your Business;
- Flexible Routines;
- Making a Plan-of-the-Day;
- Plan-of-the-Day Part 2
- A Day For Each Child;
- Keeping the House in Order;
- Let's Talk About Laundry...;
- The 15-Minute Quick-Clean;
- Morning Chores;
- Table Chores;
- Afternoon Chores;
- Ensuring Chores Get Done: The Marble Jar System
- Planning Breakfast;
- Planning Lunch;
- Planning Dinner With Themes;
- Don't Forget About Snacks!;
- Making Your Shopping List
- You Need Sleep!
- You Need Some Free Time!
- Getting Creative with Your Time;
- Setting Boundaries;
- Sometimes it's Worth Paying for Time-Saving Services
- Growing a Business with Little Ones (0-5);
- Growing Your Business with Middles (5-10);
- Growing Your Business with Bigs (11-18);
- Growing a Business with a Child with Special Needs;
- Integrating Your Kids Into Your Business;
- Family Brainstorming Time;
- Getting Started with Family Writing Time
- Mornings Matter;
- Ending Your Days Well;
- Use Think Time When You Can't Sit Down to Work;
- Improve Your Typing Speed;
- Make Your Spare Minutes Count
- You Have to Fail at Some Tasks;
- Any Questions?
The first item from the course that totally benefited me was a plan that might seem obvious to some, but it was something I was not doing. The program recommends having a daily family meeting, going over the schedule and the things that need to be done, and assign tasks to family members. For me that meant meeting with my family of one every day over breakfast, making sure I had a "To Do" list, prioritizing it, and start tackling my list.
Such a simple task, yet it has really helped me to get things done. I didn't do it perfectly, but I did my best, and here is what I found:
1) I got more done when I wrote things down so that I had a list to follow;
2) When I wrote things down, it made it easier to make sure I got important things done, that I didn't forget to do important things; and
3) When I did things from a list I had a better sense of accomplishment. For instance, yesterday I had a list "in my head", but at the end of the day I felt like I had only gotten three significant things done. When my husband got home and asked me what I'd done that day, I was like, "Dog to and from his shampoo, and two packages to the post office." Then I felt like I'd been a real slug! When I finally thought back on my day more thoroughly I realized I had actually:
- cleaned the master bathroom
- folded and put away the clean laundry
- made the bed
- pulled out my bin of winter wardrobe and completely transitioned my wardrobe from summer clothes to winter clothes
- dropped the dog off at the pet store to get his shampoo, nails and teeth done
- prepared a package I needed to mail to my neighbor who is currently out of state
- prepared a package I needed to mail to my son out of state at college
- picked my dog up from the pet store
- took the two packages to the post office
- prepared and ate a healthy breakfast and lunch for myself and also prepared and ate dinner with my husband
- reviewed information from college advisor concerning my son's coursework for next semester
- worked on Balancing Diapers and Deadlines
- worked on Guitar360 course
Another really amazing section of Balancing Diapers and Deadlines is the section where Lisa Tanner covers her meal planning system and how she prepares an Excel spreadsheet that becomes her shopping list. Lisa Tanner actually shops for her family only once a month. Eleven people, and a shopping trip only once a month -- I can't even imagine! Anyway, I really look forward to spending more time learning her method of using the Excel spreadsheet. I have a lot to learn there, and she explains the use of Excel very well.
Lisa Tanner has a method of meal planning that plans the entire year's meals for an entire year! She integrates into this meal planning system a day of the week per child (of an age that matters, so not the newborn, and she doubles up the second child with the oldest child). The child of the day helps plan the menu plan for the year, selecting meals that will be served on that child's days of the week, breakfast, lunch, dinner and shack. The child then has a vested interest in the day's meals, and that child works with mom that day to get the selected foods ready at each meal. It's a great system!
There is still so much for me to cover in this course. I can hardly wait! But I am breathing a sigh of relief now that I will have written the review, because I can slow down my pace. I really want to get into the information about using the Excel spreadsheet for the meal plan / shopping list system. I am not likely to shop once a month (I live one mile from the grocery store), and I am not likely to plan my menu for an entire year (my husband likes a little more flexibility than that), but I am looking forward to figuring out what I will use from Lisa Tanner's systems!
Other members of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew also reviewed Balancing Diapers and Deadlines. To read more reviews please click the button below:
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