Our Family's Simple Weekly Routine

September 15, 2025

a new wreath I just made for our door

Shuffle the kids through a hurried cereal breakfast and then hustle them out to the car. Race through honking morning traffic to drop the kids off at school and then race into the office before 8 bells sound. Escaping the chatty cubicle-over neighbor and the boss’s never-ending demands, grab your stack of “take-home” work and rush out the door to pick the kids up from after-school care, hoping you make it before the extra dollars start racking up after 5:30. Swing by fast food for supper. Stuff your face in the car. Race home to help your kids through an hour (or two) of homework before dunking them in the tub and then shoving them in bed. Stay up until 11:00 to tidy the house a little and finish your unfinished work from the day. Phew! Another successful day, you mutter.

What you just read was a totally fictitious day, one that certainly does not describe my family’s life. But for many, many Americans what I wrote is not strange fiction—it’s the daily reality for millions of families.

My husband and I could very easily be living that life--if we chose to. But we have chosen not to live such a life. And to those who love the race and adrenalin of American busyness, this blog post really is not for you, most kindly said. But for anyone who may long to get out of the rat race and live a life that is more fulfilling, peaceful, and gentle on your mental, emotional, and physical health, stick around for a bit.

Today, I just want to share a typical week in the life of my family, nothing glorious or philosophical. But perhaps by getting a glimpse of a simpler life, you may find an idea or inspiration that will work for you. My family’s life may seem boring to some, but we love the simplicity and quiet. Quite frankly, there are some elements that we wish we could pare down even more, but for now, this is a window into our lives.  

Let’s start with Sunday, the first day of the week.

This is perhaps the busiest day of the week for us. By 8:15, we are out the door headed to North Carolina to serve all day in our church, located in a popular mountain town. My husband teaches adult Sunday School, and I participate heavily in the music: choir, specials, congregationals, etc. The day ends after the evening service and we head “back down the mountain.” We unload all of our stuff in the house (which looks like a bomb went off—so disconcerting to this tidy mama) and then scrounge around for something to eat. Sometimes we pick up something to eat along the way. Phew. Another Sunday conquered. It is a long and exhausting day, one that requires much grace and endurance.

Then Monday rolls around…

I try to keep this day as streamlined as possible. We still get up and going around our normal morning times, but I try to keep in mind that I need to give the children extra grace after such an exhausting day prior (and time for them to detox from extra sugar!). We always do laundry on Monday, so Monday consists mainly of school and laundry.

Tuesday through Thursday

These days are our “hard-hitting” school days. We really concentrate on our book work each day and complete all of the worksheets, reading, assignments, tests, etc. on these days. We also do chores together every afternoon. In the evenings, the children play outside in our big yard if the weather is nice.

On Wednesday evenings, we go "up the mountain" again for our midweek service which is about a 3-4 hour time commitment.

Friday

We love Fridays because they are special days for our family. I keep homeschool extremely simple on Fridays. We usually do something hands-on like arts, crafts, homemaking project, baking, etc. We sometimes visit with friends or family on Fridays.

Almost every Friday, we go to Culvers for supper. Right next door to Culvers is an Aldi—what more could a woman ask for? After supper, I grocery shop while my husband and kids sit out in the truck. Don’t feel badly for them; the kids watch a movie and hubby studies or works.

I re-styled this shelf and love the mixture of copper, whites, and blues.

My Saturday routine

Since my husband and I are “in the ministry” at our church on Sunday, we desperately need a time of rest or at least a slower pace on Saturday. For this reason, we keep our Saturdays very, very simple. We do not commit to many outside activities, and even at home we keep the pace manageable. We try to get some tasks done around the house and also spend time with our children.

My husband prefers to follow an organic work flow on Saturday, simply seeing what needs done and then doing what he can. I used to get very uptight thinking we needed to sit down and “map out” our Saturdays for the highest productivity. But my patient husband explained to me that he has had the hard-driving mentality all week long with his busy corporate job and he needs mental space on Saturdays. So I have learned to give him that mental space, and we are all the happier for it.

On Saturday mornings, I usually cook a large hot breakfast that will last us several days. I also do any other cooking or prep work for Sundays. I may work on the finances, practice the piano, or do other small tasks that I didn’t get to in the week.

By the time Saturday afternoon rolls around, I am usually spent. I often take a rest and then set aside an hour or more to read, reflect, draw, play music, etc. This quiet time for myself on Saturday is very important to me. I need a break from my children, and I desperately need refreshment before serving so heavily on Sundays. What I do on Saturday afternoon is typically what many people enjoy on Sunday afternoon.

For Saturday supper, I usually do something simple like frozen pizza. Yep---no shame there! Then we start the rounds of showers and get the children tucked into bed.

What you probably noticed in the above synopsis are a bunch of activities that we do not participate in right now: sports, outside music lessons (at this point, I’m the in-house music teacher), and homeschool co-op. I’ve learned that I just cannot “do it all” and that that’s actually okay. By focusing on the essentials at home, I feel the most successful and I believe we are accomplishing what we really need to be doing at this point of our lives.

I hope this synopsis gave you some ideas! Certainly, no two families are alike, and that’s what makes us all so special and unique. Whatever you do, I hope you can do it well and with a whole-heart!

-Ashley

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