The Soothing Effect of Laundry

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Soothing? Laundry? I bet that got your attention. Laundry is one of the most disliked chores for moms everywhere! It is not that it is really that bad or hard to do, it is just so continuous (kind of like dishes!).

Here are a few tips that have helped make this chore easier for me:

1. Have scheduled laundry days

Feel like you are doing laundry all the time? Well maybe you are! Pick certain days of the week to do laundry - my days are Monday and Thursday for clothes and Friday for towels and bedding. By having a break in between I no longer feel like I am always doing laundry and do not feel the stress that I should be doing laundry when I am not.

2. Get a washer and dryer that sing

You heard me right - our washer and dryer sing! We needed to replace our old washer and dryer and decided to get new, high-efficiency front loaders. What we did not know when we made the purchase is that they "sang". Whenever a load is finished it plays a little song, then again when you open the door.

Even the kids are impressed with this new purchase, my eldest son (about to turn 17) calls it our "happy washer" and has gotten joy from watching the spin cycle from the place of honour - the toilet (our washer and dryer are in our main floor bathroom).

So now, instead of an impatient sounding buzzer signaling that the load is complete and needs your attention, we hear a little song that seems to call us and by coming and opening the washer or dryer, you are rewarded by another happy little tune.

3. Hang your laundry on a line to dry

I have never done this before this summer - I started with a little line, to hang heavy clothes like jeans and sweaters, but within two weeks I feel in love and my accommodating husband and son built me a better, longer line. Now I hang the majority of our clothes, towels and bedding out to dry.

I started doing this in hopes of saving money on electricity, but what I never expected was that the act of hanging wet laundry out to dry and removing dry laundry that smelled and felt like sunshine would be so soothing! There is something about this simple act that seems to transport me back to simpler times, when life was slower, not quite so busy and high-tech. Plus, hanging all the "dainties" out on the line riles up all the kids, which makes me laugh. There is nothing quite like seeing all your boys underware swinging in the breeze to put a smile on your face - it is the simple pleasures!

I am almost ashamed to admit it, but I now LOVE doing laundry and am somewhat disappointed when there is none for me to wash!

For more tips check out WFMW!

Christine

Friday

Well, it is the end of the week and I saved the best for last…BUDGETING…aaaahhh! It is a horrid task, I admit, but one I feel deeply passionate about! So, to go with my theme of the week, here is…

My Typical “Friday To Do List”:


1. Banking and Budgeting
We may as well jump right in – and I will say up front that I DO NOT enjoy this chore, it gives me a headache and I try and do it when I am alone as I have a tendency to get snappy (my kids will attest to that), but I believe that no matter how dreaded this task, it is one of the most important things to do every week and to do well!

We live on a tight budget, as do many, and I am determined to make that tight budget work. One of the ways that I do this is by KNOWING WHERE MY MONEY IS GOING. I diligently record all incoming and outgoing monies in the appropriate column and so I have totals every month on what I spent on food, gas, dog care, and so on. For each month of the year I have a separate spreadsheet with a column outlining all my fixed expenses (e.g., mortgage, property taxes, insurance, etc), bills (electric, gas, water, etc) and variable expenses (food, gas, etc). The next column outlines the monthly budgeted amount and then there is column is for the actual amount spent/paid.

Every Friday I update my spreadsheet, filling in what was bought, paying bills and recording them and generally making sure that we have a balanced budget each month. If a new expense comes up, I need to find a way to fit it in the budget and still have it balance every month.

There are also some other things that I will do a couple times a year to insure that I am getting the best rates and services I can. I will randomly call my credit card companies and ask for a better interest rate, I have gotten my rates lowered on several occasions by doing this. I will also phone my services like my phone company to make sure that I am on a plan that best suits what I am using and what I need. Sometimes I will also ask what specials they are offering to new customers and then request the same offer for being a loyal customer. Sometimes I get laughed at, but often times I have gotten a couple of months at a cheaper rate. I also make sure that I “bundle” whatever I can, it saved me money by bundling my cable, internet and land phone line through the same company.

Since I have the lead role in finances in our home and I am the one who does the majority of the shopping, it is sometimes easy to forget to involve my hubby (I can be a pretty “take charge” type of gal), so at the end of every month I send him a copy of the monthly budget so he too knows where all the money is going. He especially likes it when I highlight all the purchases he made that I don’t approve of (like McDonalds) and then give him a nice little total (please hear the total sarcasm dripping ;) ). Well, maybe he doesn’t love it, but he admits that I am good at taking care of this chore and he wouldn’t want to do it, so I guess he will take my highlights in good humor, appreciating my hard work.

2. Laundry
On Fridays I wash the bedding. So the kids strip their beds and I wash sheets and blankets and so on. Not everyone gets their bed done every week, I do mine once a week, but the kids take turns and get theirs done about every other week or so. Blankets get done about once a month – there is only so much time in the day after all and prioritizing is key.

3. Dinner
On Fridays I try and plan something special for my husband and kids, after all they have had a long hard work and deserve a little treat. I prepare fun foods that everyone enjoys like lasagna, hamburgers, tacos, or pizza and try and make a special desert, something deliciously sinful like cheesecake or lava cakes to simple pleasures like ice cream with bananas and fudge sauce. Fridays are definitely time to unwind from a busy week.

I am always thankful for Fridays, I feel accomplished by getting through a week full of tasks and activities and look forward to some quieter times with the kids.


More posts like this:

Freeing Your Finances From Being Self-Controlled to God Controlled

50 Money Saving Tips

For more budgeting tips check out Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom!

Have a blessed Friday,
Christine

Thursday

As with all my posts this week, I will continue outlining my weekly schedule, today is Thursday, we are almost to the end of the week, phew! Today's schedule looks much like Monday's schedule.

My Typical "Thursday To Do List":

1. Cleaning
I have this huge list for cleaning, that outlines what needs to be done when. There is a Monday week one/week two, and a Thursday week one/week two. And I "loosely" follow this list. The reason why I say loosely is because it is not like I pour over my list checking of meticulously what has been done and scrambling to do everything on the list. Instead I use it as a guideline of what needs to be done. It is a gentle reminder not to only clean the oven fan once a year or to go 4 months without cleaning the oven.

So today is Thursday Clean - Week 2 (and the nice printed list is on my fridge). I keep track of what week is is as my kids are on a 4 week schedule for kitchen help, odd weeks are week 1, even weeks are week 2. As I explain this, it kind of sounds difficult or confusing, but honestly it really is not. Also, cleaning lists are helpful if anyone is actually helping clean, as all they have to do is look at the list to see what should be done - so if my kids ask "what needs to be done to clean the bathroom?" or "the livingroom looks clean to me!", I don't feel irritated that they don't know aready, or wonder how they are ever going to move out sucessfully on their own, I can just calmly tell them to look at the list.

2. Laundry
All of you with big families know, laundry just goes on and on and on...even those of you with only one or two children may feel like that. I use to really hate laundry, partly because I felt like I was doing it every day and it just never felt "done". Although this will change in the summer (I will probably do one load a day as we will be out more), during the school year I do not want to feel like I am doing laundry all the time, I would rather just set aside bigger chunks of time and do more, this is my preference though.

So today is laundry day (and I actually think my boys forgot to bring down their laundry, ha, ha - looks like it will be an easy laundry day :) ).

3. Shopping
I can not buy enough milk for an entire week normally (although I would LOVE another fridge to help with things like that!), so I will ofen run to the store and grab more milk. I try to stay focused and keep my eyes on the milk, and not buy anything else.

So there you have it - my Thursdays. Not very exciting, granted, but as Thurday evening tends to be a busy one, with 2 - 3 different things going on between the 4 kids, I like to make sure that things are done during the day so I can focus on getting the kids to their activities and off to work and I don't feel crazed at the dinner hour.

Have a great Thursday!
Christine

Wednesday

My days can be summed up as…
A. Busy, but running like a well-oiled machine.
B. A blur! Frantic running from one appointment or activity to the next, with nothing ever really getting done.
C. I am slowly going crazy – I don’t know what I will serve for dinner tonight, I have a pile of laundry as high as a 10 year old child, we have been out of milk for two days and we missed the first day of soccer last night.

Having a plan will save you time, money and sanity! Every year in late August I sit down and redo our chore charts for the family. Each of us has lead roles in certain areas, so I after I figure out the children’s chore charts I make one for myself. Basically this is just a weekly schedule of what needs to be done each week, like cleaning, laundry, shopping, etc. It is typically based loosely on last year schedule, making any changes that I think I need due any family or work changes. For the most part things have remained the same for the last few years - this helps the kids get into the routine of what I am doing and what is expected of them, but this is also for my benefit, as the older I get the more routine I like!

Monday

Tuesday

Here is my typical "Wednesday To Do List":

Wednesday is my kitchen day and my kids favourite day of the week. After my quick 20 minute clean I roll up my sleeves and get to work!

1. Baking
I love to bake cookies, squares, muffins, breads, you name it. I have a confession to make here, normally the first thing I bake is cookies, then promptly eat, hmmmm…4…okay, maybe more like 6. What can I say? I have no will power and I LOVE coffee and cookies! After my over-indulgence, I normally have no appetite for anything else I bake, so it all gets stored away, the majority of it in the freezer.

I also will often make 1 – 2 dozen muffins for my parents, which I store and freeze for them. My dad was eating store bought muffins (just saying that makes me cringe), once I found out I just couldn’t abide by that so ever since I make a point of baking them and setting them aside for them.

I also top up my granola, I love homemade granola, as does my eldest son and husband.

2. Casseroles
I always try to have 1 – 2 casseroles in the freezer for those days that nothing goes the way I planned or in case of last minute change of plans. I also do not like to cook much on weekends, I typically love big brunches and no fuss dinners, so casseroles work well for those nights as well. I personally am not found of casseroles, but my boys and husband absolutely love them. There favourites typically include some sort of ground beef, so I just add the ingredients for 2 – 3 casseroles per month into my monthly grocery shopping trip.

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This works for me!

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For more posts like this:

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Chore Charts and Lead Roles

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Have blessed Wednesday!

Christine

Catch All Tuesday

As I stated yesterday, this week I will be outlining my basic weekly schedule. Of course there are always exceptions and changes when need be, but beside my kids weekly chore schedule, I keep this basic outline to help me get the most out of my time. Since I am not a naturally organized person, I feel that sometimes my days can get a little scattered, plus, whenever I feel overwhelmed or tired this really helps - there is not thinking about what needs to get done and it helps me focus on all the tasks of the week.

Tuesday is my "catch all day", Tuesday's schedule becomes Monday's schedule if we had a long weekend or if for whatever reason I had to be out of the house all day long on Monday, but following a regular Monday...


Here is my typical "Tuesday To Do List":

1. Grocery Shopping
Every four weeks I do my big grocery shop, so obviously this is not an every Tuesday occurrence. But the shopping takes all day, I hit Costco, Walmart and Save On Foods, as some foods are cheaper at one place over another.

I have a huge list I go by, that includes all the pantry items and freezer items I will need for my monthly meal plan, plus and extra list of everything I need with regards to household items (e.g., toilet paper), personal items (e.g., shampoo) and some extra staples (e.g., peanut butter, mustard, juice, etc.). Sometimes I guess wrong and run out of baking ingredients or peanut butter, but over all this takes most of the guess work out of shopping and I normally have pretty good estimates of what extras I will need. Typically I always guess on the side of too much for staples or I will buy 2 or 3 extra if I find a really good sale, as extras can just be kept in my huge downstairs pantry that my hubby made for me.

I buy all of my meat in bulk at Costco, so this does take some type to separate into meal size portions. With my meal plan, I also created a list of all the food prep that needs to take place for that month. The list outlines how much hamburger to fry for the month, if I need to separate the bacon (some soup recipes call for just a few strips of bacon), what meat needs to be packaged in a marinade and so forth. Having this all done ahead of time is a huge time saver during a busy week and saves me a ton of money when I buy in bulk, so it is worth the extra effort. Often I run out of time on Tuesday to finish and this chore runs into Wednesday, as my Tuesday evenings are often really busy so whatever doesn't get done by 3:10 (when I have to leave to pick up the kids) typically has to wait till the next day.


2. Appointments
On Tuesdays I will set up appointments needed, like doctor, orthodontist, dentist and so forth.


3. Errands
I always seem to have some errand that needs to be done, whether it is dropping too small clothes of the kids off at a friends or charity, or depositing cheques into the bank, there always seems to be something.


4. Contract/Volunteer work
Whenever I take contract work (that can be done at home) or am helping with Women's Ministry at our church, Tuesday is the day that I set aside a chunk of time to get to work. This is also the day that I will spend more time writing, reading and researching different topics.


5. Baking
Tuesday is not my big baking day, but on those rare Tuesdays that I get everything done with time to spare, I will often bake up a quick batch of cookies or muffins, much to the delight of my kids.

Oh, I almost forgot, there is no way that I can do no cleaning in a day, on Tuesdays I do the basic, sweep the floors, clean up after breakfast, do a quick tidy of the living room and my bedroom (e.g., make my bed, put away anything my daughter or I left out from getting ready in the morning, etc.). I try to limit my cleaning time to 20 minutes, I put on a timer and go (and I do mean go!). I have a tendency to want to clean more than I should (it is a bad habit really), so putting on a timer helps to keep my on track, because I do have other things that need to be done and sometimes focusing is not my strong suit!


So there you have it - my super fun Tuesdays!


For more posts like this:



The Goal of Housekeeping



Making Summer Cleaning Quick and Efficient



Blessings,

Christine

Mondays

Since my kids are all in school and I do not work full-time out side of the home, I get asked alot "what do you do all day long?" In order to answer that question I am going to spend the next 5 days outlining my weekly schedule.

Mondays are the most important day of the week for me during the school year (this will change once the kids get out of school, but we still have two weeks of school left this year). Mondays are my cleaning and organizing day, the day I set aside to get the entire week ready and organized.

Here is my typical "Monday To Do List":

1. Laundry
Other then bed sheets, all the laundry in the house needs to be brought down to the laundry room. Our laundry room is in the bathroom on the main floor, and although it is nice not to have to bring the clothes all the way to the basement (especially since that would mean hauling it up and down two levels for 5 of us), the bathroom is not big enough for any laundry piles. So everyone keeps a basket in their room for dirty laundry and on Mondays and Thursdays they need to bring it down to be washed. If they forget (it has happen a few times), they need to wait till the next laundry day to get it done. I do the laundry and put it back in the baskets for the kids to haul back upstairs (or downstairs for my eldest son who is a basement dweller) and put away.

Typically I do about 4 - 6 loads of laundry on Mondays, which unfortunately takes way longer than it should due to the fact that I need a new dryer. I would hang some clothes to dry, but my middle son Justin is very allergic to many different pollens, such as grass, Birch trees and so forth, which causes a rash all over his body, therefore, we do no outside drying.

2. Cleaning
The weekend seems to destroy my house every time, I don't know what happens exactly, but by Monday morning my fingers are just aching to clean, clean, clean!! On Monday I clean the entire main floor (kitchen, dinning room, living room, family room, bathroom, hallways and entrance ways) as well as the two bathrooms on the second floor and the master bedroom.

3. Meal planning
I follow a monthly meal plan and buy all my non-perishables and everything that I can freeze (meat, bread, etc) once a month. I have a list of fresh fruits, vegetables, and dairy from my meal plan that I pick up on Mondays (and any baking supplies that I have ran out of), although sometimes this is done on Sunday evenings, whichever is easiest and most convenient for me.

On Mondays I always plan my biggest meal of the week and lunches for the week. For instance, I will cook a roast of beef or pork that is large enough for dinner, then lunchmeat for the remaining four days of the week. If I am planning on a pasta salad or soup for lunches that week, then I would also prepare that.

Monday is also my yogurt making day, since I am typically at home for the majority of the day, this is the best day for me. Although making yogurt is not difficult by any means, it does take some monitoring and planning, this is easiest if you are planning on being home.

4. Weekly planning
I have a basic schedule that I follow, but sometimes we have field trips, or special evening events or extra things that need to be done (like getting my wheels aligned or baking something for a class snack or any other of the hundreds of things that come up with kids!). On Monday I plan out my week, adding appointments, tasks, or making any changes in my weekly meal plan due to evening commitments (which often is as easy as swapping meals around a bit, like Tuesdays crock pot meal on Wednesday), but sometimes that means that due to time constraints, we get a fun pizza or mac and cheese night.

So there you have it, my typical Monday…and since I have the majority of these chores left to do I better get at it!

Have a great week!
Christine

Making Summer Cleaning Quick and Efficient - WFMW

Summer is almost upon us and nobody wants to spend all their time cleaning! I like cleaning more than most and even I can find a ton of things that I would rather spend my time doing in the summer than cleaning my house! So here are some super easy tips to help you keep your house clean quickly and efficiently so you can spend your time doing more enjoyable summer activities.

1. Every day

Schedule cleaning every day so that the job stays small. Every day you should:

Make the bed - A freshly made bed helps the whole room seem tidier and more orderly, and having it look clean and tidy will make you less likely to collect clutter (paper, clothes, etc.) around it.

Manage Clutter - When you leave a room, take a look around for things that do not belong and pick them put them back into their rightful spot to avoid clutter pile-ups!

Sort the mail – Sort the mail into four in-boxes: To Do, To Pay, To File, To Read.
Sweep the kitchen floor - Every evening after you finish cleaning up dinner, sweep the floor. This will help keep your floors clean and help and save you time scrubbing when you wash the floor.

Wipe down as you go – No matter where you are in your house get in the habit or wiping up spills or messes as you go and teach the children to do the same. Cleaning up spills, toothpaste, or make up is always faster and easier if done right away. Keeping disposable cloths in all the bathrooms make clean ups fast and easy for the whole family.

Load and run the dishwasher

Run one load of laundry - Fold and put it away too, keep on top of that laundry pile! No one wants to spend a whole day doing laundry!


2. Hang wet towels and bathingsuits

Have someplace for the kids to hang their wet towels and bathing suits to dry. In the summer we have an abundance of wet towels and bathing suits. If left in piles on the ground outside or in their bedroom, everything gets smelly and needs washing. But if there is someplace for these items to be hung to dry, you can get a couple of uses out of them.


3. Make sure you have the proper tools!
You don’t need every new gadget or tile cleaner, but you do need to make sure you have all the basics. Go through your tools and cleaners and make sure you have what you need. Don’t think that you need to have a different cleaner for every job. All you need is the basics:

- Glass cleaner
- Disinfectant
- All-purpose cleaner
- Powdered abrasive cleaner
- Furniture polish/Dusting spray

4. Store all your cleaning stuff together and carry it with you as you go.
I sometimes take on home cleaning jobs for extra cash, and there is one thing that I learned very quickly – it takes extra time if you keep running to different rooms to get what you need! I would get one bucket that I could carry and keep everything I needed in it and carry it from room to room. Here are some basics that I carry:

- Rags
- Extra garbage bags
- A garbage bag to empty into
- Cleaners (the ones above)
- Rags
- Scrubbing pad

5. Have a meal plan
Who wants to go running to the grocery store every day? Make up a weekly or monthly meal plan and grocery list and shop one day a week. Think ahead for impromptu picnics and such and keep your pantry and freezer stocked with some essentials – in my family that would be hot dogs/hamburgers, potato chips and marshmallows for roasting. I buy extra and hid them so that they are ready for when we want to run out the door.

6. Pick one day a week

Pick one day at the beginning of each week for doing things like grocery shoping, banking, filing and going through the mail you sorted.

7. Call for a 5-minute clean

My last tip is before you leave the house for your super fun activities, call out for a 5-minute clean. In my house a 5-minute clean means that everyone drops what they are doing and cleans madly for 5 minutes. If you have younger kids they are likely to think this is a fun game and the older ones (like cranky teenagers J ) can be reminded that it is just 5 minutes of their life that you are asking them to give up!

This works for me!!

For more posts like this see:

Making Your Own Household Cleaners

Ready Set Clean!!

The Goal of Housekeeping

Chore Charts and Lead Roles

Ready, Set, CLEAN! – Part III

I am sorry about the delay in posting my fun spring cleaning list, regardless of my busyness with dance, I am determined to get my spring cleaning done and out of the way! This week I am going to tackle my bathrooms and kitchen, which are pretty big jobs when you actually start getting into it.

Bathrooms
- Clean out all products and items from under the sink and cabinet areas, throw out all barely there, not liked (therefore not used) and expired cosmetics, beauty products, medications and vitamins
- Put aside all items that somehow migrated to your bathroom, but do not belong
- Wipe down cleared areas, put items back

Kitchen
- Remove all barley there (1 tsp of jam being saved), not liked (something that no one in your family will use), or expired condiments and food items from the fridge and freezer and throw them in the trash
- Move fridge and stove and clean underneath
- Clean outside of the fridge and stove
- Clean inside of fridge and freezer
- Vacuum refrigerator grill and coil
- Clean inside of the oven and under stove elements
- Empty pantry: wipe down shelves, get rid of expired or not liked items, re-organize items and put back
- Wipe down the outside of all the cupboard doors
- Empty all drawers and cupboards, remove anything broken or no longer used and wipe down insides


Happy spring cleaning!!
Christine

Ready, Set, CLEAN! - Part II

Did everyone have a fun week of cleaning? We have huge piles in our spare room of things we need to get rid of. Every year as the children get older, they grow out of not only clothes, but books, toys, and other such items, that need to be stored for sentimental reasons, passed on to friends with younger children, or donated. This week, not only are we going to be cleaning, but we are going to move things out. All of the piles that have accumulated from sorting through all of our stuff is move our this week to new homes. But before we can do that, there is one more important room left to go through...the playroom/games room!!

Playroom/Games room:
- Empty all toy boxes and storage areas: remove toys that your child is no longer interested in, all broken toys, or toys with missing parts, put back only what is age appropriate and in good condition, put all else in bins (move, garbage, get rid off).
- Vacuum and wipe down all shelves, furniture and large game items (e.g., air hockey table, pool table) and behind televisions and gaming units.
- Wipe down all electronic items, including cords, remotes and controllers.
- Go through crafts, board games and puzzles, put back only what is age appropriate and in good condition, put all else in bins (move, garbage, get rid off).

Get Rid of Bins:
-Go through the entire pile/bins of items to get rid off and decide what you are going to sell, give to someone in particular, and what you are going to donate to your local thrift store.
- Pile all of the items in your vehicle and drop them off - get it all out of your house! Delaying will only cause huge pile-ups, causing more clutter in your home!

Have fun cleaning and de-cluttering,
Christine


For more cleaning tips and trips, also see:

Ready, Set, CLEAN! - Part I

Ready, Set, CLEAN!!!

Okay, I openly admit that one of my favourite things about spring is SPRING CLEANING!!! Broken and un-used items get thrown out, rooms get organized, the dirt and grim of a long (long, long, long winter here in Alberta!!!) gets wiped, scrubbed, polished and disinfected from top to bottom. Windows that have long been left closed get opened and things get aired out and smells like grass and families barbequing takes you back to the lovely days of summers past.

Now I know that I love to clean more than most, and I may even derive more pleasure from a clean and tidy house than many...but come on...no one can admit that after a long day of spring cleaning you don't feel the victory of accomplishment, the physical satisfaction of a hard days work and a sense of peace in your newly cleaned home!

Now comes the second admission, no one in my family likes to clean near as much as I do…okay, that isn’t quiet honest…no one likes to clean in my family period, so to try and fool them I try to break some of it up a bit – outside one weekend, garage another weekend, and so on. My end goal though is to have ALL of my cleaning done within a month.

So here is my challenge, for the next month, each Monday, I will post a Spring Cleaning task and we can all do it together…we will dust, scrub, de-clutter and organize our homes and our lives. Are we ready???

Week One:

Get Three bins:
Bin One – Move (for all items that belong in your house – just not in the place you found them). Bin Two – Garbage (for all items in your house that are well…garbage).
Bin Three – Get rid off (for all items in your house that you are going to donate, give away to some one else, or sell).

Adult Bedrooms
-Replace winter bedding with summer bedding
-Launder or dry-clean blankets
-Empty closets and dust shelves and vacuum and/or wash floors
-Remove all clothes from dressers and closets that are no longer in good condition, no longer fit, or are out of style (if it has not been worn for the past two years it falls into this category) and put into bins (move, garbage, get rid off)

Kid Bedrooms
-Replace winter bedding with summer bedding
-Launder or dry-clean blankets
-Empty closets and dust shelves and vacuum and/or wash floors
-Take books off shelves, dust: remove all books that your child is no longer interested in or are damaged and put removed books into bin (move, garbage, get rid off)
-Take clothes out of dresser: remove all damaged, too small or unseasonable clothing and but into bins (move, garbage, get rid off) – remove all items that do not belong and put in their rightful place or throw away
-Go through desk: remove all crayons, markers, pencils, loose paper, notes, garbage that have been shoved in for safe keeping, put back only what is necessary and in good condition, put all else into bins (move, garbage, get rid off)
-Empty all toy boxes and storage areas: remove toys that your child is no longer interested in, all broken toys or toys with missing vital parts, put back only what is age appropriate and in good condition, put all else in bins (move, garbage, get rid off)
-Vacuum and wipe down all walls, shelves, and furniture

Have fun,
Christine

The goal of housekeeping…

Is not perfection, but the impression of order and neatness.

Okay, here goes, my “dirty” little secret…I totally over clean. Alright, deep breath, my secret is out. You are probably thinking that my house is super clean (not), or in perfect order (not), or that I look like one of those stepford wives (totally not!). Here is my problem, I can find something to clean all day every day and never be satisfied with the cleanliness of my house! Now who doesn’t love a clean and tidy house? Floors sparkling, mirrors gleaming, beds made, pillows placed, not a piece of paper or newspaper in sight…ahhhh…just writing that makes me want to get up and start cleaning! Here is the problem - I will put off other things (important things) in order to clean, clean, clean…and here is the whopper of a problem…it is just a vicious cycle…it is never enough! I have four kids, two dogs and a husband that all seem to oppose my goal of the perfectly clean and tidy house!

So what is a girl to do?

I have tried a new trick this week, which will work for those who tend to over clean (me) and those who tend to under clean (I mention no names…). I make my list in the morning of everything that needs to get done that day, pray over it, then crossed off all items that I feel God is saying does not need to be done (thanks http://titus2345.blogspot.com/2009/02/god/makes/time.html for such a great tip!!). Then I write out a schedule to my day, determining how long each task will take. Then I put on a timer and try to “beat the clock”. How much can I clean in 15 minutes??? I was surprised to find out!

I know that this is not revolutionary or anything, but it does work in helping me keep my time and priorities strait. It is so easy to be distracted or get to the end of a day and think, “what did I do all day long?” I am learning that managing my housekeeping time is just as important as keeping a neat and tidy home, maybe more so for me.

My new goal of housekeeping is not perfection (deep breath), but the impression of order and neatness (exhale).

Christine