Before moving out of the city our family life was busy we really didn’t have a schedule other than school and work hours. We spent most of our days out of the house with after school activities and commuting from one borough to another. Kids were in Martial arts, Basketball, Football, Boy Scouts. At home it was always playing the game of catchup. Cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, it never ended. It was always hectic, not enough hours in a day.
In moving out up to the mountains I decided to make a change in order to teach my children more responsibility, get more done in a day and have downtime with my husband and the children.
Although we are continually tweaking things for what works these are 5 that have maintained order in our home.

1. Designated Laundry days
As there are 6 and only 1 washer and dryer there was always a fight because everyone wanted to wash at the same time. With two teens living under the same roof this was a problem as they were always fight for the machines. I had them pick a day of the week and made it their assigned laundry day. I since have made another adjustment to the laundry schedule as my teenagers procrastinate and want to start laundry at 11pm on a school night. so I have given our laundry room hours of operation, so laundry room now closes at 10pm at our house.

2. No devices at the table
For a while we were unable to meals together, living in the city there either no time or we all were eating at different times and devices were the distraction, there was a disconnect. Another change that had to be made for us. Anytime we had dinner at the grandparents the rule was no phones or devices at the table, that included us adults as well. There was a difference in communication, the kids where interacting with each other and enjoying each others company. When we moved into the new house and handed down the family dinning table it was essential for us to continue this in our home.
Although our schedules don’t always allow us to have meals together all the time, we make it a point to have dinner together at least 5 night a week. Its brought much closer together.

3.Bedtime and wakeup schedules
Sleep schedules… During school days this is not much of an issue. Its weekends and Vacation days that it becomes an issue. With late nights come late mornings, days get waisted nothing gets done and before you know it its a school night and they are finding it hard to fall asleep. Too many summers where this was an issue not only for then but for me as well. For us it is essential for there to be a sleep schedule, I’m reasonable on nights where there is no school bedtime is extended and mornings start a little later. Its finding a balance, the time fluctuates depending on the activities for the next day and for our two teens the time is extended. I

4. Limited Screen time for kids
This was a big one to tackle, some how we let this one get out of hand. I think it was just a matter of “as long as they are not driving me crazy” its ok. Well we were noticing that they were not interacting with each other. Living in the city you want to keep them busy at home, keeping them safe and at home. Now living in the mountains and having back and front yard they were more interested in being inside on a device instead of outside playing. We now limit them to just about an hour of device time a day for the younger ones and our teens get just about 2 hours a day.

5.Weekly Family meetings
This is an important one, once a week we sit at the table and discuss the week ahead confirm schedules. It keeps us organized and on the same page. I know things always come up during the week but it keeps me from getting over whelmed, teaches the kids time management, and helps to keep them organized.

These are the things that have worked best for us, we are still finding a balance in keeping order in our house since leaving the city but these thus far have been key for our routine.