running... always running

Do you feel like you're always running? Trying to get something, anything, everything done. Yeah, me too. I only wish I could look as cool as my daughter while I was running!!! (yes, those are size 4 pink hi-top Converse all-stars. be still my beating heart. oh yeah, they were free in a hand-me-down bag too. brand new.)
My problem isn't always that I'm running around doing too much, it's that I run around doing nothing important, or nothing that needs to be done. Because I was (briefly!) considering teaching again, and because I LOVE the start of school, I came up with a plan for myself. A lesson plan to be exact.
When I taught, I used Excel to print up schedule pages for myself. I loved the color-code-a-bility, the ease of arranging everything on my own, and not having to "make-do" with somebody else's schedule book that just didn't have the right times for our school's weird schedules and timing. So I applied those same principles and made up a schedule for our family during the week. With my son starting afternoon preschool 4 days a week, our days are going to look pretty different! I wanted a way to keep myself together, and also a way to look at our week and make sure it's full of fun stuff, errands, house chores, free play time, etc. Trying to find balance. (Hmmm... novel idea, huh?)

I then separated out my kids' schedules and made them each their own sheet. My son loves to know what's coming next, and although he can't read it all (yet) he will definitely be able to look at the color coding, learn that, and get used to what's coming. At the beginning of each week, we can pick a couple fun activities that he wants to do, and pick our time to do them so he has something to look forward to throughout the week. (A special craft or Lego project, computer time, whatever.)
I also realized that since it's on the fridge, I could print off some pictures on magnets and use that too for some of our regular activities. I could also insert pictures into Excel the next time I have to print off our schedule. There's so many ways you could make it work for different age levels!
My daughter can't read hers, but it's more just a way to keep activities separate, should things come up. I can also jot down little ideas of things for us to do while we wait for Conner to come home from pre-school.
"Laminate" it with contact paper, use a dry-erase marker, and there's your plan!
If you think this sounds interesting, e-mail me, and I'll send you the generic version in Excel that you can adapt for your own purposes.