Day Off

Monday's report:
Chores: Nope
Shopping with sister: Yep
Yesterday besides a load of laundry and a load of dishes I did absolutely nothing around the house. I did, however, have a super fun day with my sister and got some cute new clothes. Like Danielle, getting ready in the morning always feels like an accomplishment. Since having my baby I hate getting ready because I feel like I have nothing worth putting on that fits me right. I think a few new things to wear will boost me in the right direction so that I want to get ready and feel like it is worth it when I do.
Today: I'm ready to catch up on my house after a great day off.

He Noticed

I know that I am very old fashioned when it comes to being a wife and mother. I know a lot of people don't want this life but I'm happy this way. Over the weekend I got to go out with a friend and visit - it's been way too long!! She was laughing at me because I love to grind my wheat by hand to make bread for my family. "Why don't you just get an electric grinder?" she asked. My answer, "Because I like to pretend like I live on a farm." Plus my kids get to help me grind it by hand, it wouldn't be so fun to have the machine do it all. Maybe someday I'll get an electric grinder but for now I really enjoy doing it slowly, by hand.

I share this story to illustrate that I actually find joy in doing things the old fashioned way. I LOVE being a stay at home mom and it makes me so happy to take care of my children and my husband the way women did way back when. Sure sometimes I wish I could get out of here and have something else in my life to make me feel more important. But, I know it would not be worth it because I already have what really makes me happy - a family. I am so blessed to be able to stay home with my kids full time and not have to work outside of the home.

Yesterday I did all of my daily and weekly chores from the heavy duty schedule and my house looked better than it has in months. I also spent some really good quality time playing with my kids, teaching them some new skills (planting seeds and grooming flower beds), and having them sit curled up on my lap reading to them (a personal favorite). When hubby arrived home he found a house in order and a very happy family. The best part - he noticed.

I do everything that I do in my life because it really makes me happy and I enjoy it. It is the icing on the cake when I see that he also gets enjoyment out of it, and that he really appreciates what I do being at home. Plus, I really just love making him happy. All in all, it was a great day and today is already shaping up to be just as good.

New Idea

So I was talking to a friend this week about the blog. Our conversation has inspired a new idea for this blog (thanks Laurie). She said she was amazed if I do everything I say I do in the heavy duty schedule, I quickly told her that I do not. But then as we were talking I explained that I do have a printed schedule that I check off what I've done so that I can look back and actually know when the last time was I did each chore. For example, even if I don't get my bathrooms cleaned that week I can look back and realize, wow it's been 3 months, I better go scrub some toilets before mold starts growing in there.

So what is this new idea?? Have you seen Julie & Julia the movie? Well I know I'm way behind the times here but I just saw it about a month ago. My new commitment is that I am going to follow (as best I can) the heavy duty schedule for one year and see how it goes. I figure next week we start a new month and kids just finished school - it is the perfect time to start a new routine for my life. Feel free to join me or just check in and laugh at me when I don't get my chores done - we all know I'll miss a day or two, or twelve. But I'm committed to doing my best and reporting honestly. Even if no one reads I think it will be handy for me to keep track of what I'm doing a little better.

One important reminder for myself as much as anyone else is that my whole goal is to find better ways to keep up with the daily 'to do's' without feeling like it takes over my life. I have little ones at home and they are my most important priority. I will not neglect my kids in order to have a clean house. So buckle up and here we go - I'll begin reporting next week.

What I was doing wrong

Sometimes we make life harder for ourselves. When our lives involve lots of cleaning, this isn't hard. Sometimes it's in the name of fun for the kids, sometimes it's out of lack of willpower, but often it's out of our control. I've recently discovered that I've been making my life harder for no good reason at all! Since I've been married I've experienced every dishwasher situation from a fabulous cleaning machine to no dishwasher at all. Our house previous to this one had the most horrible dishwasher ever. We rented there for 3 years and used the dishwasher solely as a sanitizer. The dishes had to be SPOTLESS to go in, and then you had to be certain to run the disposal before you started it. Ever since this experience, I've been very leery about trusting any dishwasher. We've been in this house almost 3 years, and even though the dishwasher was upgraded and brand new, I've washed every dish before it went in. Finally, my friend Becca challenged me to just throw everything in- as is! I started doing it and it worked! Even dinner party dishes that sat over night! I lightly rinsed off the big chunks and threw them in with whatever was crusted on. I used the heavy setting and voila, sparkling clean dishes! The only problem I've had is with the silverware- they're on the door and don't get blasted as thoroughly. What a time saver it is not to wash my dishes before the dishwasher does! So now I'm looking for other things I may be overdoing. Not to cut corners, just to clean smarter.

What are you doing?

I like this blog and here's why- it makes me think! My house hasn't been spotless by any means, but my cleaning has improved! I think about cleaning, while I'm cleaning, and I start to find things that work better for me or at least motivation to get done what I need to do. So, now that we are all considering better ways to do what we do, I propose some goal setting. My goal is to be "ready" by 10am every (weekday) morning. To me, this means having my downstairs presentable as well as myself. There will be some toy clutter, and I'll likely be sporting some yoga pants.However, my hair will be under control, I'll have some amount of makeup on, lose the pj shirt, and have a generally picked up downstairs. This way, if somebody stops by at noon, I don't have to be completely embarrassed. Also, if I want/need to run an errand it's not an event just to get ready to get out the door. So this is my goal, what's yours?

The One-Touch system

Although my house is not perfect, I like organizing. One of the things I've learned from reading organizing books is that you should organize your house to fit your habits and not the other way around. If you organize to fit your already-established habits, your organization is much more likely to be successful.
An organization thought process that I really like is the One-Touch method. This means that you should be able to clean or organize your space in one touch. For cleaning, it means that you put stuff away right away. You clear the table and put them right in the dishwasher instead of letting them sit in the sink or next to the sink. I'm okay at doing this for breakfast, but usually after dinner is when I let things sit.
Here's what I did to clean up the paper clutter. When I bring the mail in, my habit is to just drop it somewhere. This makes a messy table or countertop. In addition, then I end up "touching" it several more times every time I move it out of the way before I finally get to sorting through it and doing bills and etc. What I did to solve that problem was I created a file system in my kitchen. I know I'm not going to change my habits and immediately file what needs to be filed, shred what needs to be shredded and pay what needs to be paid right when I walk in the door. This file system was a solution so I have one place to easily sort and drop my paper mess and get to it when I can. This system really works for me because I pay bills once a month. The rest of the month, I just let things accumulate. This system may not work for you, but think about your habits and creating a space for organizing your habit in One Touch.

As you can probably tell, I don't think I've done any shredding since Christmas break.

I bought the file organizers at an office-supply store and then just Mod-Podged paper inside and used scrapbooking rub-on letters to label them.

Now if someone could tell me what to do with my shoe mess!

Confession

I must confess because otherwise I won't be held accountable, and then how can I improve? Today was a lazy day. I want to blame it on a sick kid and getting back from a trip last night, but I took a nap for heaven's sake! And again, here I am on the computer rather than getting something accomplished. Okay, now that I've gotten it off my chest I can turn the guilt into motivation. Here I go...

Why we love what we do...

On Monday I was doing my usual downstairs cleaning. I love to vacuum my kitchen floor, but I only bother bringing the vacuum downstairs when I'm going to be doing the carpet as well. So I had the kitchen ready and asked my 3-year-old to clean up his toys so I could vacuum the carpet next. (This always translates into him playing with toys until I'm ready to help him put away his toys.) After I finished the kitchen floor I turned off the vacuum and heard my son saying, "Look what I did Mommy, look!" I look over to see the toy box overloaded and anything that he couldn't stuff in there on the couches. He even picked up all the shoes and put them on the couches! He was so excited. He then proceeded to tell me I needed to do the carpet now. So, I turned the vacuum back on which caused him to jump on the couch of stuff and cheer, "Go Mommy, go! Go Mommy, go! Whoo-hoo! Great job, Mommy!" repeated until I was done. The 1-year-old didn't know what was so exciting, but she was happy to clap along. Nothing like your own cheering squad to make you want to keep your job forever. (At least the mommy part;)

Thanks Flylady

I am on my way to bed but I am so excited about my spic and span sink that I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to post it. FYI, my hubby is a little embarrassed that I was taking a picture of our dirty dishes so hopefully no one thinks less of us. Ta da! I have never been good at keeping up with dishes. Embarrassing or not but hey, at least I'm being honest. I know most people probably already have a clean sink when they go to bed each night, but not me. I've been in the habit of doing last nights dishes after I feed my kids breakfast in the morning. I am already looking forward to waking up tomorrow to my nice clean sink. Think of the free time I'll have after breakfast, I wonder what I'll do?

Did you ever notice?

Am I the only one who has noticed that it is always easier to clean someone else's house? Messes never look quite so messy when it isn't MY junk piled up in every corner.

I have helped sisters, friends and neighbors when they need stuff cleaned in a hurry and can't do it all. I am always happy and eager to help someone else in a pinch. I love getting together with other women and getting stuff accomplished. I always get a lot more done when I am surrounded by my girlfriends. Having someone to visit with, laugh with and be crazy with makes getting all of the chores done so much easier. I love getting organized and having a clean home and I love love love the sense of accomplishment after a hard days work, BUT....

Whenever I am alone at my own house I feel helpless. Too much to do and too little time. Lack of motivation and being just plain overwhelmed. I struggle to find the balance between having a neat and orderly home and still spending quality time with my children. O how I long to sit down and relax in the evening without feeling like I should be doing something productive.

So here's to making daily chores at home as enjoyable as being together with the girls having fun and getting stuff done. Please join me and share your ideas and accomplishments as I share mine. My goal is to have a fun, POSITIVE place where I can give myself (and any of you who want to join me) kudos for everyday stuff like getting the laundry done. Hopefully then I can replace the feeling of never doing enough with a feeling of accomplishment at then end of the day. Why not give myself props because my kids were able to find clean underwear in their drawer when it was time to get dressed??

Honestly, my goal isn't to have a perfect house 24/7. I mean, seriously, we LIVE here. People use dishes to eat and kids play with toys so it makes sense to have a few things in the sink or legos on the floor. My goal is, however, to be able to invite someone in who stops by without being ashamed of my mess.

So buckle up and let's get to work. It's time to give ourselves credit for being amazing!! And, I'm hoping that by sharing together we can be more productive and become even more amazing. When you get stuck, just imagine you are cleaning someone else's house.