Getting back to "Normal"

The holidays have wound down and now its time to get back to what our "normal" is. Work starts up this week for B, the kidlets are back from visiting with their dad and all of the many activities are starting up again including school. Its been a nice break but to be honest, I really prefer to have a routine back in place so that we can settle in.

We left the decorations up until after the kidlets returned so that they could open their gifts in a Christmas-y atmosphere. In the past, everything has come down either before New Years Eve or right after so it feels a bit weird to have them up. Now all that remains to be seen is to get the house cleaned from top to bottom so that we move ahead with clean, organized surroundings.

I'm also planning on getting a few new routines put into place. One goal is to get more home baking done. I love baking and tend to be kind of cyclical with how much I do. Now, I'm hoping that at least one day a week can be a bake day so that the kidlets have home made school snacks and treats to enjoy throughout the week. I know that this is one routine that is going to be met with a lot of support both from Master and from the children (I swear they're like locusts when it comes to home baking).

Another is a more organized approach to declutter and clean the house. Right now the house is tidy enough but we have some clutter around and cleaning usually involves at least one full day on the weekend. I'm hoping that by getting a routine in place to do a little each day the house looks better and one of my days off isn't completely taken up with cleaning.

Who know what the new year will bring though? Like I said in a previous post, B and I don't usually do resolutions and what I am suggesting is more of a goal that is going to be accomplished through baby steps and gradually adjusting my thinking until I've got things figured out.