Ten Ways to Get Things Done FAST for Families - No. 3 'Dad's in the Driveway' Blitz

 

I wanted to do a separate post on this particular blitz (read about my other blitz ideas here) because it has a lot of other points to consider than just the actual blitz, including how ready you want or need to be for Dad’s arrival home, what types of activities you and your husband want/need for Dad to do in the evenings, and the idea of “getting it all done.”

 

If you have been a parent for long, you’re probably already learned that you never truly “get it all done.” If you haven’t learned that yet, I hope you will learn that soon. It is extremely frustrating to go through your parenting years thinking that you can get it all done. Since nobody really can.

 

One of the blitzes that we used as our kids were growing up in order to be a little bit more ready for when Dad got home was that of the “Dad’s in the driveway” blitz. At the time we started this blitz, we lived down a long way – probably about an eighth of a mile long. Ray worked long hours – always eleven to thirteen hours a day at that time. While I never truly got it all done, I tried to stress to the children the importance of having things picked up when Dad got home. Ray was the kind of husband and father who never minded if it wasn’t all done – and he always rolled up his sleeves and got started helping us as soon as he walked in the door. However, I wanted to free up as much of his time in the evenings as I could since it was so short.

 

Thus, we developed the “dad’s in the driveway” blitz. That one eighth of a mile long driveway trip became another way that my children learned how quickly they could get things done. While we didn’t set the timer for the blitz, it was a blitz nonetheless. Someone would shout out, “Dad is in the driveway!” And everybody would jump into action. In the three to five minutes it took him to drive down the lane, get out of the car, gather his things, and come in the door, the four, five, or six of us could have a lot picked up. And we were ready for our evening with dad.

 

Maybe your children are too young for this kind of blitz. Maybe you need for your husband to come in, roll up his sleeves, and help get things in order. If that is the case, no guilt here. You need to do what you need to do. For our family, since we usually only had from seven to nine or so together in the evenings, this blitz helped shape our evenings and gave us more time for a nice family dinner, family worship, and family playtime.

 

Of course, another spin on this blitz is the “company’s in the driveway” blitz. Isn’t it amazing how fast you can get things done when you are expecting company? If only we could work that fast all the time!  🙂

 

 

 

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