My Back Hurts...

Why oh why?! Why did I wait until that last day to do the 2 things I dreaded most? Of course they are also the 2 that have (now that they are complete) given me the most satisfaction. I tackled the boys dressers, cleared out outgrown clothes, sorted through their old clothes to save/donate, and got the next size ready for the drawers. I also tackled my linen/craft/laundry/pantry/tool closet. Any one else have one of those? It looks awesome now but as the day draws to an end, my back is KILLING me.

Well, here's to our awesome-ness and celebrating with you ladies tomorrow!

PS-do we venture to bring sparkling cider?

Procrastination

So I have 3 things left on my list. I'm going to get it done, they aren't the hard ones, I just don't want to do it right now. It's a flash back to 4 years ago, last semester of college, and it's finals week. I know I'll get it done, I just don't care anymore. I know I'll graduate, I've even figured out which finals I could totally skip and still graduate... I just don't want to do it.

Anyone else?

I guess I'll go wipe out those cupboards now. The brunch is here after all and from the sounds of it, the food will be delightful.

A Pat on the Back

Dear Richard (because I know you read this blog and you might even read this before Z),

I applaud the help you gave your wife yesterday. Bravo good man! I hope she brings you a good treat home on Saturday as we women celebrate our awesome-ness in doing we've-been-meaning-to-do-for-sometime-but-didn't-have-the-motivation-to-do-so-why-not-throw-ourselves-a-brunch, tasks.

Now...how to get Braden to help...more.

Sincerely,
Amanda

A Cleaning Philosophy

I saw this on Pinterest today and thought I'd share, as it seemed quite relevant to our various cleaning philosophies. Happy cleaning!

Finished

So, yesterday, Rich comes upstairs after little man was down for his nap, finds me in the kitchen cleaning up after the pre-nap snack, and says, "I printed out your list."

And there, friends, was my list of 20 things to do for the challenge.

Me:  "?"

Rich:  "Mark off the things you've done, and let's see what's left."

(Since coming back from our trip to Utah, I've found 0 motivation for completing the items on my list.  I've kind of been dreading actually looking at the list again.  I don't know why, but I'll call it the post-travel funk.)

Rich leaves the room, and I grab a pen to start crossing things off.  I've done this a few times in my head, and even looked online once, mentally crossing things off and seeing what I had left to do, but it didn't actually get much farther than that.

Rich comes back as I'm crossing things off, and then sees what's left.  "Okay," he says, "how about I help you get this list done."

Could this be? He's already helped me with a couple of the items, wonderful man that he is.  But here's my motivation, staring expectantly at me in the face.

"Okay."

So, he dealt with under the kitchen sink, helped me sort through the table linens (hello, I had a total of 3 table runners and 3 tablecloths, why did I think it was some monumental task to go through them?! and how did they get to look like piles of linens?), helped reorganize the kitchen towels and washrags, got the DI box ready to go as I cleared out the under-sink cabinet, and all that was left was....THE FABRIC.  He even got the big bin of fabric down from the attic for this task for me!

I kid you not, I looked at the fabric items on the list, looked at him, and said, "Well, I'll go get the ironing done now while little man's asleep because it's easier then than when he's awake."

Seriously.  Anything but facing the fabric.

He just looked at me and said, "No.  Power through!  Just get it done!  And then you'll be DONE!"

So I turned, said, "Fine - Power Through!" and faced the fabric.

Two hours or so later...and the fabric was sorted.  I have my rainbow of quilting cottons, my rainbow of knits, and I finally tossed all of the too-small-for-any-good scraps into the garbage.  Later, we dropped off DI items, hit a store to get a couple of storage bins (one for fabric), and voila...

I can't believe it, but my list is finished!!  Honestly could NOT have finished were it not for Rich!

Fabric in piles on the floor, arranged by color, except for the knits, which are in a big pile off to the right, kind of tumbling down. 

Three bins of fabric, sorted into cottons, knits and batting, and big things like curtains being stored as potential fabric. Only TWO fat quarters made it into the DI pile. 

 

Making Beautiful

I was just washing dishes and thinking about Martha's post--thinking about how none of my furniture matches, but that's because we've never actually bought a piece of furniture in our married lives. I was thinking about my home and what I love and what will be a relief to get rid of come salary days. And suddenly I remembered someone else's home, a Chinese mother's home in the middle of rural China.

I wish I could tell the story such that you could see it too, to feel the impact, but it won't be the same of course. And yet I figured I'd share anyway, since it's a good lesson for all of us.

Many of you know I taught English in Taiwan (like Martha) and went with my brother. Afterwards we back-packed through China. One day we hired a guide to ride bikes with us around the area, to caves and rock formations and such. We became pretty good friends (thanks to my brother) and in the evening he offered to show us his home. He was young (25 maybe) and still living with his parents. We rode the dirt path into his home. It was a compound of sorts, with a giant adobe barn and then smaller buildings surrounding a small court yard. Our friend said it was 500 hundred years old, and to look at it I believed him. There were ancient farming tools in the barn. The "kitchen" was a place with to dutch-oven type coals and fires. Not a modern appliance to be seen.

But in the middle of all this poverty and dull color, there was a 2 by 2 foot patch of ground in the courtyard--filled with flowers. I asked whose they were and he said "my mother."

I don't know, it just struck me, that this woman would create beauty in her home no mater what. What is it about womenly drive to create beauty? It's powerful. And today it's a reminder that beauty can be a 2 by 2 plot of flowers, or a painting, or a room filled with music.

The Brunch

You guys are fantastic; this really has been such a great challenge. I've been unorganized but all y'all have made it fabulous. So the winner's brunch will be

 Saturday 21
 10:30 am

Kids are welcome but not required (i.e. feel free to ask you husbands to keep them, as a reward for all your cleaning :))

And now, the best part...what to eat? I will have a Cherry Almond Punch and breakfast cake. Fruit, quiches, savory or sweet dishes, breads, ?? Also, for those who missed our on the swap today, feel free to bring your "DI" bag to share and get rid of. I'll take what's left over to the DI or Goodwill. So excited to see you there and for the motivation it will give me to finish my NINE items. Cheers.

Finding Your Feng Shui

I read a book about feng shui a couple years ago and found it utterly fascinating. I thought I'd share some of my favorite things I learned, since it's all about promoting a harmonious home, which, I think, is what we are trying to accomplish by all of this spring cleaning, no? Stay with me here, this is about to get hokey!

In a nutshell, feng shui (pronounced "fong shway") is all about promoting peace, harmony and positive energy in your home. It's all about the "chi," or energy. You want positive chi surrounding you as much as possible, at home and in the office, and the result is good fortune ... it can be good fortune in terms of love, good health, money, status, respect, happiness, etc., etc. I really, honestly believe this! Seriously. I do. Call me hokey. I will gladly wear the title. I honestly believe that the way our homes are furnished, organized, and put together play into every other aspect of our lives.

Hear me out. Here are the tips that stuck with me:

1. The Bedroom - This room often becomes the dumping ground, but it should be, instead, the oasis. Think of what you do in the bedroom. Relax, sleep, and ... ahem. You know. It needs to reflect that! You need furniture, bedding, and art that reflects what you do in there. Incorporate colors and textures that make you feel relaxed, at ease, vulnerable, sensual, sexy, rested, wholly you. Ensure you have soft lighting (turn off those overheads and go for lamps) and keep an organized closet. I'm serious. This is important. Why do you think I put it as #1?

2. Space Planning - When you go into a room, you want to have a walking path that lays out like a plant. Think of a plant that looks like this. Now, in your mind, lay a few fronds on the floor and it will reach out in every direction. You don't want anything stopping the plant, you want your furniture in between the plant fronds. (I'll draw you a diagram when we meet in person next since this is kind of hard to imagine.) Stated much more simply, you don't want to be running into your furniture. Look at your room and create airy, breathy walking paths that don't cut off the chi. Think of the word "flow." You want things to flow. Also, in every room, think of the position of the door. If it's an office, you never want to be sitting at your desk with your back to the door. Same thing in the bedroom. You want to position your bed so you can lie down and see the door. Think about staying "open" with that open door; you never want to worry if someone is sneaking up on you, about to burst through that door (because then you feel bad chi). Did any of that make any sense?

3. Balancing the Five Elements - The five feng shui elements and their corresponding colors are as follows (copied and pasted from here):

• WOOD: Green, Brown
• FIRE: Red, Strong Yellow, Orange, Purple, Pink
• EARTH: Light Yellow, Sandy/Earthy, Light Brown
• METAL: White, Gray
• WATER: Blue, Black

Now, you can get really specific here as far as putting certain colors in certain directions of the house, but my advice is to just have a good balance of colors in every room. If you have a lot of one color in a room, you'll need to balance it out with other colors. I was feeling this way about all the black wood in my living room, so I painted my TV console green (thanks to it being on my spring cleaning list!). And think of incorporating cool and warm colors together. Every color makes you feel something ... take a look around your room and think about what you're feeling. Then sing koombaya. Because now you've reached ultimate chi. Just kidding, but seriously. Mix up the colors. You'll feel so much better when you do.

4. Our Stuff Speaks to Us - Ever get something from somebody and never throw it away even though you hate it? You feel guilty because the person who gifted it to you was so thoughtful and kind about it. She would be crushed if she knew you hadn't put it where you could see it everyday. Welp. I'm here to tell you to chuck it. No matter what it is (it could be art, clothes, dishware, furniture, appliances), if you hate it, it's causing negative chi in your life. Or even if you have something you like from somebody you now do not like (or even someone whose memory you don't need to be dragging around, say, an ex-boyfriend), you might want to get rid of it. Think about what you feel when you look at every object in your house. If your stuff brings warm, happy thoughts to you, you will have positive chi. If it brings negative feelings to you, it's holding you back.

Hmmm, well, if that all wasn't enough for you, I just located this post about feng shui I wrote on my old blog (that served as my version of Pinterest until Pinterest came along). It's a lot better than this post. So, go read it if you like this hokey subject, and get your feng shui on!

The Mercy Clause

In answer to Kathryn*, YES! Per suggestion we're going to allow a 5-item change policy :) So take your list, change any 5 items you want. This can even be retro-active for cleaning you've done in the last few weeks that is list-worthy. Because life happens; like basement flooding (and ripped out carpet and sanitation problems) or like Morgan's house re-do. So change away and keep cleaning. I'll send out details for next Saturday later on today. Cheers! *Don't know why I said Emily before. sorry.

Too late to change?

As I re-evaluate my list I keep thinking of thing that really, really need to be done that could replace some things that are not so pressing AKA reorganizing the kids drawers/closets is pressing where as cleaning out the coat closet and crawl space is not. Ugh. Is it too late to substitute? I promise I'll still clean out my oven.

Babysitting for the Ware Clan

I can babysit for you ... on Monday (April 16) from 9-ish to 11-ish in the morning.

Will you babysit for me ... on Tuesday or Wednesday (April 17 or 18) from either 9 - 11 (and Noah could sleep at your place in my portable crib) or 10:30 - 12:30 (Noah will be awake)?

Why the oven?! And other "What was I thinking"s.

I was looking through the posts tonight and thought "Why is everyone so obsessed with cleaning their oven, I would don't want to do that and would never have even thought to put it on my list." BUT I DID put it on my list. Like the idiot I am who made her list at 1am, I was inspired by the lists of others and must have thought "oh good idea!" NO stupid idea. Oh well. I have had a can of nasty toxic oven cleaner sitting on my counter for a long long time so I guess I'll use that or try some steam method that is the manufacturer recommended way (I'll  have to find the owners manual to figure out just how to do it).
On the up side there is a lot of crap in there and when I made bread today it made things kinda smokey in the kitchen so I guess that won't happen any more.

There's mostly big things left to do on my list and I am very much dreading them as Brent is still sick and in order to do them I will pretty much have to ignore all the important daily non-list chores, oh and my kids. I really need to try and finish this week before Brent travels again for work on Monday. Ugh.

I DID sweep and mop my kitchen floor and I was so very very happy about it I kept saying to Brent "Ooooh I love love love my clean (though very ugly) kitchen floor, it is making me so happy right now." I'm sure this further built his case that I am nuts. ;-)

Calling all cleaners...calling all cleaners

Hey everyone! So it sounds like next week will work for an informal swap meet. So mark your calendars for Tuesday April 17th. 10am-12:30 My place: 9001 24th Ave NW 98117. Bring any and all things you'd like to get rid of, and maybe you'll pass it along to some one who will loooove it!

*I mentioned Wed before but Tues. was requested. If I hear strong feedback that it will not work for most we'll move it to Wed. Also, anything left at my place afterwards will be taken to Goodwill! Cheers, and hope to see you then!

My "Philosophy"

It seems that the introduction period has passed, but as I have gone un-introduced, I will not forbear.

I come from a home where my mother kept everything perfect, didn't require us to help and still thought her own house was "a mess" (because the windowsills hadn't been vacuumed or something). So I came to my own with impossible standards and no skills. :S

I have learned a lot about keeping house since living on my own and being married. Especially about what works for me and how I am different (and still wonderful) from my mother.

It would be impossible for me to explain my cleaning style without a word about mental illness. I have struggled for the 20 years of my life that I can remember with feelings that I could not explain, understand, or handle. It has been diagnosed and misdiagnosed many times. But without too many private details, I will say that I am continuing my healing and have wonderful professional support.

As for the cleaning, it often took last priority when I was not functioning. I have never been able to keep a schedule or routine and often berated myself because I saw those skills as virtues that were required in order to be a worthy person. My house, my appearance, and my family all suffered frequently from neglect.

So now that I have quite a busy family with a million needs, I choose my cleaning based on needs. For example,

The baby needs a blanket without pee on it. So I do a load of laundry.

We need dinner dishes. So I wash dishes.

My husband needs a living room that doesn't drive him up the walls. So I tidy and declutter the living room.

It gets pretty chaotic, but sometimes I get ahead and anticipate needs.

Also, we frequently have to prioritize needs. (This is not my actual order, it is of necessity not linear.) For example: love, hunger, personal cleanliness, sleep, health, emotional health, need to be outside, need for structure/routine, need for personal attention/time with mom, need for new ideas/exploration, need for exercise/movement, need for feeling the Spirit, etc.

So, as I heal and have more energy, more needs get met and kids' behavior improves allowing me to meet more needs (and helping my husband to do more--one of his biggest needs is peace--kids who are obedient).

So my overall strategy is flexibility but doing my best. Sometimes we spend all day in our jammies (okay, more days than not), but I still make dinner on time. Or I leave the dishes and we go outside because that need is more pressing in the moment. And eventually I'll do the dishes and then we'll go out.

I also recognize that I'm making good habits now and they will carry through when my boys are older. So even though the counter is so full we can barely stack the dishes, I still require my kids to clear their plates after dinner. (Just because we are living like hooligans for the moment, doesn't mean we may behave badly.)

So, there it is. I try lists and structure on and off. If it helps I keep it, if not, I don't. But right now it's a balance of needs, emotional health, and relationships.

A Soap-box of Great Importance to Me

I found a video online that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. The speaker is Brené Brown and what she said shook me to the core. "This changes everything," I thought as I fell asleep.
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_listening_to_shame.html

Watch it. As soon as you have the time. (The rest of the post probably won't make sense if you don't.)

So a little more homework the next day, and I learned that this remarkable lady has written a book detailing her research. It is called:

I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t):
Telling the Truth about Perfectionism, Inadequacy and Power

Cut to my online life where I'm reading insightful comments from brilliant, talented women (you) about the guilt and stress in their lives. They are open and forthright in their discussions of their weakness and it is forging a connection between us that I have been craving. I mention the book in person, and one of them is very interested in learning about this research. I think, "we have to discuss these ideas--this is going to change everything."

I still have no idea how everything will change. But for me, it has already has begun. The culture of shame and silence is so damaging, and I've been living with it, fighting to get out for upwards of 15 years. So I want to make waves. Encourage women around me to have courage, compassion and connection.

I just got the book from the library, so after I get past the first chapter, I'll know more about what I want to do. But I just feel like sharing this is living it.

And now, in the words of my husband, I have gotten my passion all over you. What do you think? (He is usually to shell-shocked to speak.)

Curtains

Ok, last post I promise, I've just been wondering about curtains/blinds. Not how to clean them, but why people open or close them. My neighbors never (and that's a 100% never) open their curtains or blinds. It just baffles me. But maybe one of you is a curtain-closed kind of person and can explain it to me. Do you like them closed? Does it give a sense of security, privacy? Or do you just forget about them? I need to understand. Because I have to have them open as soon as proper. I feel shut it and claustrophobic without open windows and light. In fact, a good morning means I can open the curtains by 8am. It signifies, "start!" to me. Do you have something like that? A shower, breakfast, ?? Anyway, I figured perhaps through one of you I could at long last understand.

Oven, table, chairs oh my!

Ok people, what's your preferred method of cleaning the oven: Self-cleaning mode or baking soda etc? Also, I put down to scrub down all our chairs and table. Now we wipe and clean daily but there's all those little bit left over that scare me. I plan on it taking lots of elbow grease, but any other suggestions of what to use? I'm a little bit nervous about getting this all done and so, would anyone be willing to take my two kids next monday from 10:30am to 12:30? if not that, wednesday? And I'd love to watch someone's kids next tuesday? any takers?

So I might not make it...

I am not usually one to give in so easily but this house remodel stuff has overwhelmed me completely in more ways than one. Just keeping the chaos under control has been my limit but I am not sure those other things on my list will get done when even the thought of attempting to clean my kitchen floor (which gets a nice coat of dust everyday from the sanding) is intimidating!

That said, I have loved following everyone on the blog - I made some comments that aren't showing up for some reason so for the record, I don't have a dry cleaning recommendations unless you want shirts pressed and the place on 85th and 6th ave is the cheapest I have found, $1.25/shirt! Amanda, I have to hear more about this cleanse, are you juicing? How many days? What do you think? No more sugar cravings? That is what I have heard and would probably be my major motivation in ever attempting one. Emily, I would love to do a swap, just name the day! I have bags and bags that are otherwise headed to DI!

Just have to say that I am inspired by you all!

Super Husband

Do you ever find yourself in some sort of useless conversation with your girlfriends, grumbling while saying, "Guess what my husband did this week?" Don't lie to me, you know you have. :P

Well, I'm here to emphatically exclaim, "Well, guess what my husband did this week!?!" He checked yet another thing off my checklist!

I can hardly keep up with the man, and the funny thing is, he has no idea that "this checklist" of mine exists! He just finally got sick of all these disorganized boxes in our bedroom, and went through them.

So this morning, I mopped my floors (check!) and almost got all of my recycling boxes out that have been sitting in a pile since we moved. I've just got to keep up with my husband!

Dry Cleaning.

Whats your take on dry cleaning clothes? Do you own any "dry clean only" clothes? Do you actually take them to the dry cleaner or do you try to do it yourself? What do they even do there? Can anyone recommend a good one nearby?

I have 3 wool peacoats I need cleaned and some of Braden's pants tailored.

Thx!

Cleanse...

Can I get a whoop whoop for the gorgeous weather we had the last few days? Whoop!

So... along the lines of spring cleaning, Braden and I decided to do a cleanse this week. Did you just shudder? Because I did. Actually, we found one that seems pretty doable. It's a jumpstart, if you will, to "clean out" the last of the baby pounds. So because I can't eat a lot (actually I can eat as much as I want, just not a lot of options), I have been able to get a few things done from my list today.

Anyone ever done a cleanse before? If so, what kind? Words of wisdom perhaps?

The List

So, I was totally worried with the trip this week about my list of things to get done for this challenge. Then I went and checked out my list for the report form and was so surprised to find that I'm already half-way done! Technically, I have 10.5 things done, since I did go through the towels and washrags, but just need to find a way to label the drawers they're in. My nemesis will be the fabric. I don't know why I'm hesitating so much on starting that - maybe it's the fact I have two very full bins of fabric, and lots of projects I still want to complete! I started a mini-organization system with my two bins, though. In one, I have fabric I don't intend to use short-term. The other has been keeping my currently-in-use stuff. And in there, I have a few gallon ziploc bags to keep already cut fabric separated by project. So, if I think about it, it's not so bad. I just know that the fact I made one of my items determining whether something is ever realistically going to be used or not will force me to decide once and for all if that 2-3 yards of faux-suede will EVER become something? (Incidentally, anyone know of potential uses for semi-stretchy brown suede-like material?) Philosophically, I put things on my to-do list for this challenge that I've been putting off. I decided this was the perfect opportunity to motivate myself to finally get them done! (I almost made every item "put away one box from the garage," but realized I wanted to make this possible for myself to complete...) Funny enough, though the fabric sorting feels like the big monster, each item has been something I've had to get myself geared up to do! And, so far, each time, the thing has been WAY LESS EFFORT than I anticipated. Why do I build these things into monumental tasks in my mind? Anyway - do YOU have a nemesis on your list? And do you tend to make a cleaning task (or any other task) a bigger deal than it actually ends up being?

Huh?

I just crossed off 4 things from my list this morning! And, I took my car in to get something fixed and they vacuumed my car for me. One thing on my list was to clean my car; does that count?

However, I have stumped myself. As I was rereading over my list, I came across this: Reorganize bottom shelves

I glanced around my apt at all my shelves. I have absolutely no idea what I was referring to. My bottom shelves are fine. Hahaha. I may have to add something else to my list. 

Swap Meet!

So now that we're all trying to clean and purge, let's do a swap meet and give each other the opportunity to turn our cast-offs into someone elses treasure! I'll have mostly clothes but it sounds like others have small kitchen and house items to get rid of. If you're interested I was thinking the 17th or 18th; either at my house or the church. I really don't mind if my house if momentarily chaotic. And I think it would be nice to have it at a more cozy setting. Thoughts, comments...anyone interested?

"Life is Too Short to Clean Your Own House"

.... says the flyer that we got in the mail a couple days ago, which also had a picture of a family hanging out and enjoying each other's company. Did you guys get that one? Adam's always said he would like to hire out house cleaning and yard maintenance duties someday when he strikes it rich. I'm always vacillating. In theory I'd like someone to clean my house, but I also get satisfaction out of it when I actually buckle down and do it. We were also talking tonight over dinner about some of the priesthood session conference talks that emphasized teaching your kids how to work. How would we teach our kids to work if we hired people to do what we would otherwise do as a family? What message would we be sending to our kids if they never saw us mow the lawn or weed the garden or mop the floor? We haven't really formed the answers to these questions yet. We always have this same discussion and it always ends with a shrug and a, "I guess we'll figure it out when/if we strike it rich." But I'd love to start a discussion. What do you guys think? Is life too short to clean your own house?

Podcasts to clean by

I was talking to my sister today and she was saying she often does cleaning or laundry folding while listening to NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me podcast. I sometimes listen to NPR's This American Life podcast. So, I wanted to ask, do you have a podcast or music that you clean by? Do share!

Just 10 minutes

The other day I glanced through an article on "tricks" to motivate toddlers (and eliminate battles). One of them was to make things a race against the clock. My thought: Uh, that doesn't motivate wally, but I still do that. Anyone else say to themselves, "Ok just clean for ten minutes" or "Ok, see how much you can get done in 10 minutes then you can do...?" Well, both kids are finally in their beds (but awake) and time for a 10. What motivates you to just start cleaning?

Pre-trip Cleaning

So, we're headed out of town this week for a few days. Usually, I don't give too much thought to cleaning before leaving. That changed when I actually made time to do it before our last trip to visit family. A day after we were back, Rich said to me, "Thank you for cleaning before we left. It really does make a difference coming back to a clean house." Today, in my cleaning hustle, I managed to get another two things off my list and FINALLY got little man's closet cleaned out and the too-big clothes of his that we've received from kind friends organized into a couple of mobile drawers in the closet. It's SO nice to have the miscellaneous things out of that closet and put where they belong so I can use it for what it was intended! Do you clean before going out of town? Does it change depending on if it's a short trip versus a long trip?

Carpet Cleaning

I would like to clean my carpets on Thursday morning while Mason is at school. Anyone willing to take Van for maybe an 1-2 hours? I can drop off and pick up :) 9:30-11 or so. 

Thanks!

A Laundry Gem

Lately my towels and the boys fleecy footy pajamas have come out of the dryer with a funk. I'm like, "What the?!" So I googled (my go to) and this is what I found:

Top 10 Time Saving MacGyver  Style Cleaning Tricks

I am going to try this this morning and I'll let you all know. Anyone done something like this before?

Dusting Duel

Whoa! Not done after all. I just remembered a conversation Adam and I had over the weekend. He bought himself a new feather duster recently and I was like, HUH? He reminded me that I had thrown away his old duster several years ago, and he was always annoyed (or did he say destroyed?), so he bought a new one. Here's where we differ on dusting: I say you have to dust with a rag and polish because it wipes the dust away and gets rid of it. He says there's no such thing as getting rid of dust, that the dust will always be back, so it doesn't matter if you just sweep it into the air or not. I know that dust always comes back, duh, but my theory is that it comes back much later if you wipe it and it comes back much sooner if you just flick it around with the feather duster. Jury? Settle this.

And now I will attend to my children who could be drowning in the bathtub for all I know.

Your Tools?

Sick of me yet? I am on a roll with these posts. But after this, I will be done.

I wanted to know about your tried and true cleaning tools. What do you swear by? For example, my cleaning world changed considerably when I started using microfiber cloths. I use them to mop my floor (on my hands and knees, whilst dreaming of owning a kitchen steam mop) and they seem to pick up every little piece of dirt. I use them with just a touch of water to wipe down the fingerprints on my TV screen. I use them to do deep cleaning on the kitchen countertops, because, again, those microfibers don't miss a speck. What cleaning tools make your life easier and cleaner?

Kitchen Toys

So, it's post-breakfast, and my kids are playing happily on the kitchen floor while I type this at the kitchen table. They are playing on the floor with toys from a bottom kitchen drawer that they can reach and unload everyday. Sometimes I think it is genius to have toys in the kitchen. And sometimes they are the bane of my existence. Because now the children have run off to do other things, and the toys remain scattered all over the floor. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so I'm stepping over tiny toys all freaking day.

The point of this post is to ask you: Do you have toy policies or rules? Do you keep toys in weird places?

Haunted by Laundry Germs

Happy Monday! Today is my big laundry day. I chose this day after a lady in my old ward (with 5 kids and tons more laundry than I have) said she gets all her laundry cleaned and folded on Mondays because "everybody hates Mondays anyway, so why not just get a huge, undesirable task out of the way" or something to that effect. Embrace the crappiness of Mondays, I guess?

Anyway, I can't stop thinking about something pertaining to laundry. I was Googling who knows what about a month ago and came across an article that said something like this: You can never know if the germs in your dirty clothes have been killed because who knows if the water gets hot enough or even if your dryer gets hot enough. It has haunted me ever since. Who knows? Who knows???? I thought I was washing my clothes and therefore they were coming out clean. Simple as that. I have been laundering a lot of throw-up covered clothes lately, and WHO KNOWS if they are actually clean and germ-free? I dry my clothes on medium heat because I'm pretty sure the high heat setting on our ghetto, old dryer was leaving burn marks on my clothes. What's a mom to do if all the bodily fluids on her family's clothes are still hanging out in the fibers and we are essentially wearing all the junk that we were trying to get rid of? Become racked with torment and confusion??!!

Has anyone else researched this more and know better than me? How can I get germ-free clothes? Because I can't wash everything in hot water ... some clothes require cold or warm. You know? Also, do you have a big laundry day, or do you do it throughout the week? (I actually have the big laundry day and then do little batches throughout the week as needed.)

Housekeeping

It's a pun, get it? Housekeeping, you know like getting business done and Housekeeping as in cleaning, eh? eh? Ok. I'm done. Anyway, please forgive my lack of organization from last week. Please notice the #s below your pics. Tuesday you'll get another form to submit your numbers again. That alone is motivating me to do at least one thing so my number will change. Also, there is a new page up on the right. It's for those doing the "cleaning helpers" portion of this challenge. So hop it tonight or tomorrow, because Amanda is offering to help Tuesday morning and no one should miss that. Instructions are on the page itself. Thanks again for all the great posts. If anyone wants to offer motivation this week, I could use it. I reached my mini peak and need to rev up to the next one. Cheers.

Deep cleaning tip

I know spring cleaning is about DEEP cleaning for a lot of you. I'm not into that at all but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. My Mom is a little lady so moving a heavy appliance is not on her to-do list but you still have to clean under/behind there right? So this is what she does. An old tube sock turned inside-out and slid onto a yard stick will do the trick. Swoosh that puppy around under and behind your appliance and you'll be good to go (no chiropractor needed) all that nastiness will stick to the sock and the rest you can sweep out from under with the yard stick and collect it that way.

Littlest Helpers are the best!

I was explaining to Mason the other day about the cleaning challenge and he asked me if he was "clean enough to win?" I love that kid. I told him that if he put his own shoes in the hanging organizer and made his bed every day(among his other responsibilities), then he could win a prize too .

I told him to do it for 7 days... that's how long its "supposedly" takes to form a habit, right? :)

Ladies... day 3, his bed made first thing in the morning. Boom!

So here's my question: What chores do your children do and at what age did you start? I think I started late with Mason and am trying to start earlier with Van.

Sheeting Cleaning Question?

So how often do you wash your bedding?  I shoot for every other week but I am not sure what is the "ideal" amount?  What think ye?

Pee so much freaking pee!

Every day I let Hyrum choose if he wants to wear underpants or a pull-up diaper. Most days he has underpants on he does not have accidents. Today he chose underpants and had 3 accidents (carseat, couch!!! and one that was not a huge problem).  I have been using my homemade disinfecting cleaner spray for the carpets, etc but a couch cushion? How do I clean that up? Right now I soaked up what I could and then covered the area on the cushion with baking soda. Any great potty training clean up ideas you have would be much appreciated.

Not the first post I intended to write, but...

There I was, crouching in the back seat of my not-yet-year-old car, scrubbing the vomit off the upholstery when I began to get very philosophical.

Lessons from a very gross encounter:

1. Always carry a bucket in the car.
2. Always say yes when the new car salesperson wants you to scotch-guard your upholstery.
3. When children express the need to throw up. Go home immediately. Do not wait.
4. Before cleaning a really gross mess, sometimes it's okay to go to book group, have a good night's sleep and eat breakfast. It gives a lot of important distance from the trauma.
5. It's okay to invite your visiting teacher over to watch your kids while you do the deed. (Thank you!!!!)

I hope to never need to apply these life lessons again. Ever.

Small Victories

Today, I didn't get around to making the bed until early afternoon. But, as I entered our bedroom and saw the unmade bed, it bugged me more than it typically does, and I felt so much better once it was made!

I know this isn't an issue for most of you, but, like Amanda leaving the breakfast things out during breakfast, this, for me, is kind of huge.  I'm getting hooked on the few minutes it takes to make our bed every day!

cleaning the microwave

It's not on my list but since I made my list at 1am and accidentally had one item listed twice or maybe 2 listed twice I keep thinking about what to do in place of the mistaken add-on. So today I cleaned the microwave. I'm not a regular wiper-outer of the microwave. It can get pretty gross and baked on. But I have a trick! A measuring cup with some citrus fruit and water (a slice of lemon is best but today I used the peel from the cutie orange I gave to Hyrum for a snack) . Microwave for 3 mins. The steam from the boiling water loosens the gunk and the citrus helps get rid of the nasty smell microwaves tend to accumulate. After that it's just a little scrubbing and a thorough wipe with a paper towel. I hate to use chemicals where my food is cooked since I can't exactly rinse in there.

I am really enjoying watching/reading about everyone's progress and challenges. It is so motivating for me!

2 Gospel Principles That Do Not Motivate Me

I have been so intrigued by all of these posts. I keep thinking about posts I would like to write, such as "Let's Talk Feng Shui" (I believe in Feng Shui), "Let's Talk About Our Mothers" (their habits are either ingrained in us or rebelled against ... and I think it's fascinating to talk about), and finally, "KILL THE TOYS"  (the toys multiply and replenish and take over time after time after time and I do not know how this happens). However, today I will only write this post: "2 Gospel Principles That Do Not Motivate Me." And then I will go and clean out my hall closet. Or read more blogs. Or whatever.

Perhaps they shouldn't be dubbed "principles." You wouldn't find either of these as major topics in the Gospel Principles lesson manual. Let's call them "facets of the gospel or facets of our gospel culture."

1. Perfectionism - "Be Ye Therefore Perfect." NO! I will not! Because I cannot. And therefore I will not try. It's taken me awhile to come to the realization that it is a futile venture to embark upon perfection. It is a maddening undertaking. And, so, I have set "above average mediocrity" as my aim. And I feel so much better. It really does not work for me to try to be perfect. So when people talk about that in church, I think of something to the effect of "be ye therefore a little better and try a little harder." Little I can do. Perfect I cannot.

2. Guilt - I used to think that feeling guilty meant I recognized a better way and was headed for it. But although I was headed for it, I was always falling short and feeling terrible about it. What a drag to be around someone who is always racked with guilt! I was annoyed hanging around my own guilt-racked self! Enter: Adam Ware. It's never even occurred to him to feel guilt. He lives his life, does his best, and doesn't apologize. Meeting him and learning this new way of approaching life has changed me for the better. (I wouldn't be surprised if many of you could relate to finding this trait in the men in your life ... I think guilt is part of the female DNA, especially the religious, ambitious female, and is less present in the male population at large.) Guilt, in my opinion, works best when it's got a short window of time. Feel guilty for sin, yes. But then make restitution and get on with it! That's when it's most effective for the betterment of the spiritual soul.

So, take it or leave it, the gospel according to Martha. Don't let your cleaning drag you down to a state of endless woe, yo! What doesn't motivate you when it comes to getting your house in order?

Chaos is cleaning during No TV week.

Labels are so awesome.  

In a fit of insanity, I decided to organize all of the kids toys (that's 4 of my goals) while the kids were awake in the middle of our "No TV" week.  Pure Chaos.  I also decided to finally add handles and a faucet to our play kitchen (the first bit of handyman work I've ever done).  When Shawn came home, our house looked like a tornado had hit.  The toys were all organized but the rooms were covered with "leftovers" from each toy station.  Ay ay ay.  But by 10pm, I had the house reclaimed (well, except for the dishes and vacuuming) and I am proud of myself.

You think this is a picture of the chaos from trying to organize.  Ha--This is what the room look liked before I even started pulling toys out.  

I know the faucet looks like a robot head from Star Wars but this was my third attempt at making a faucet from things we just had lying around.  

A little late to the game

I have been reading and taking it all in but not sharing, so watch out, here it comes!

If you know my husband at all (which, side note, I have been amused to notice lately that the only guys at church he knows are 60+ because he is in High Priest Group, poor guy, so you probably don't know my husband!) you would know that he never argues so try as I might to pick a fight he won't fight back. The only thing that has almost brought us to "blows" is cleaning. My husband HATES to clean. I mean all of it. He never even touched our first vacuum. Doesn't know where to find the toilet cleaner. Has never mopped the floors...

This came to a head a few years ago when we had more money than time (would that I could have that again...) and when I tried to divide up the cleaning responsibilities he told me that he would just hire out his half.   Except he wasn't joking. So when I was pregnant and working crazy hours and needing desperately to have the house clean, we hired a housekeeper. Between her and the nanny who ironed my sheets!! (which seemed crazy to me but she loved it and it looked awesome), we returned to marital bliss.

Fast forward to our move to Seattle and no housekeeper (or ironing nanny for that matter) I was a little concerned to take up the cleaning battle again but funny enough we have found common ground. Jamie makes the money and I clean the house. Yes, I know it sounds a little 1950's to some, but actually it works. Believe me, I am the most surprised of all.

Okay, so you endured with me through all of that and still I haven't given you my cleaning philosophy, I know, I know, paragraph five, sorry! So my cleaning philosophy is to go crazy every couple of weeks and just clean from top to bottom. I love the daily/weekly lists but someone mentioned needing to have everything clean at once and I am the same way. Never mind that it lasts 10 minutes (I usually clean at night so at least it will be clean for 8 whole hours!), when it is all clean at the same time, aahhh, bliss.

PS So my nanny was actually onto something. Although I have no plans to iron my sheets, EVER, the way she did it was to just plug the iron into an extension cord next to the bed and iron the sheets while they were on the bed. I realized that this would be a great way to do tablecloths so you don't get those annoying creases when the ironed part hits the ground, it works great!

PPS The only thing I ever iron is tablecloths. Don't know how you do it Z.

oh Baking Soda, I never knew how much I needed you

I've been using backing soda for so many cleaning tasks this last week: pee in carpet, pee on wooden floors, toilets, baths, sink, drain, and stove. Oh and apple cake and cookies. What do you use it for?

PS.

I found some gems yesterday while I was cleaning out my closet! It's like getting new clothes! Woot!

Let me explain...

Due to some of the comments on my previous post, I think some of you may have the wrong idea about my cleaning habits/personality.

First of all, my OCD is not completely inhibiting. I've dealt with it for so many years that I have a pretty good grasp on it. This is not something I am ok just taking a pill for so I've put in many hours studying, practicing, applying and tweaking some coping mechanisms. For example, since my house is clean every morning, after breakfast is eaten and cleaned up we usually head out of the house. Whether to explore our area, preschool, parks, play dates, library, etc. This way when we come home for lunch the house is still clean.

Secondly, I am NOT constantly cleaning all day, every day. I'm also NOT a germaphobe. Since my house gets picked up daily as I go, there isn't much to do generally (the most cleaning usually accompanies and precedes meals... sound familiar to any one else??) so it's pretty easy to keep it together.

Some things that I am currently working on, letting the dishes sit in the sink until after the kids are in bed, laying out the laundry to be folded during nap time or after bedtime, not cleaning up all toys before nap time and just waiting until before dinner, etc. (notice a pattern?) These might sound so easy, but not for me.

One thing though, I don't have a huge desire to change how I am, it's who I am. I do, however, use some techniques so it doesn't consume me.

The last subject I wanted to address is: guilt. When I said I feel guilty, my mom got really mad at me. I have nothing to feel guilty about (darn natural man). Not to toot my own horn, but I am an awesome mom. I sat last night watching my boys play Wii bowling and they were happy, fed, clean, laughing, dancing and generally awesome. Thats because of me! (and Braden :) My kids are thriving, smart, happy, fun and we do so many fun things together. Yes, when we color or do a craft at home I am constantly supervising and helping but still letting their creative juices and imaginations run free. Yes, I do a load or two of laundry every day and fold it every night but they look so nice in clean clothes. Basically, I don't feel that I or my family suffer from my condition, but still little feelings of guilt creep in here and there and this is just my lot in life, that I WILL overcome, although I don't think my cleaning habits will or should ever change.

Taylor, you will be happy to know I left the breakfast fixings out while I sat down and enjoyed breakfast with my boys this morning. And yes it was cleaned up immediately following, but still a big deal for me.

Well, I am going to get off the computer and play tennis with Mason.

The Evolution of Z's...Cleaning Philosophy?

Before this blog and this challenge, I can honestly say I never thought of my "cleaning philosophy." To be honest, I never had heard the term before, let alone take any time to consider what my "cleaning philosophy" might be, might want to be, or never will be.

My mother taught me how to clean. I just never really took to it. I have two younger sisters; she taught us to iron our workout clothes, our pajamas, and our jeans. She taught us to make our beds first thing in the morning. She taught us to sweep and vacuum the bathroom (mainly the one we used) before going to school when we were home; Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we started our days at the gym, running and lifting weights, eating breakfast on the way to school. She taught us that a meal should consist of a protein, a carb, and a veggie or fruit.

This, however, is NOT how I live my life.

Once I moved out, first to go was cleaning the bathroom every day. Then came ironing the jeans. Then the pajamas. Last was the workout clothes. (I still iron tees, tops, skirts, tablecloths...) Now that I think of it, perhaps first to go was making the bed...since you've seen it on my list for this challenge, you know I don't do a very good job of it. It's typically last on my priority list, and mainly gets done if I have time before we leave on a vacation or trip to visit family, just so the house has some order to it when we get home. I clean well when I get around to cleaning. It's the getting around to cleaning that I struggle with.

Working full time didn't contribute much to my cleaning habits. Moving here, I worked for Microsoft as a project manager for a global customer satisfaction survey administered twice a year. Microsoft likes to take whatever time you are willing to give them, and rewards you accordingly. Our project plan typically included scheduling weekends to accomplish various tasks. I managed to escape most of those, but long hours at the office were normal. (NOTE: Not every MS group works like this, or so I've heard.) I didn't really clean much, unless we had company over. I tried to keep clutter at bay, but that was about as far as things went.

Then, I was laid off while pregnant with Gabriel (won't go into that story here). I had GRAND plans for the time before Gabriel was born. None of them happened. I was SO happy to have time to myself and with Rich before the baby was born that my dreams of organizing the garage/closets/drawers/shelves went out the window. Our house was never a complete disaster, but my philosophy, if you can call it that, was to clean vigorously when I just couldn't take the clutter or mess any more and found that I was SO grumpy and annoyed that I had let things get into such a state of disarray. So, maybe once a month?

In the past 15 months since Gabriel's birth, I've had more of a desire to be a better housewife and organizer, but that has been a long process for me. Rich is home 24/7, and we tend to split things up pretty well, but I've found I'm the one that needs to set the tone for organization and cleanliness if I'm going to be happy, because he's much more laid back about it all than I am. My philosophy for awhile was, basically (and I am ashamed to admit this), "Why on earth doesn't Rich do something about this mess of (dishes/laundry/papers/toys/etc.)?!"

After a few months of that wonderfully ill-conceived philosophy, I had an epiphany. Instead of getting irritated that Rich wasn't cleaning, why don't I do it? Earth-shattering, I know. Instead of waiting for him to get clothes in the wash, I could either let him know there was a load ready or just toss it in myself (he does wash, I do the folding and ironing). Instead of grumbling about the dishes in the sink, I could take the few minutes they would require and rinse/wash/load the dishwasher (it's supposed to be that I unload it, and he loads it, but I haven't been doing well at my part, and he's been doing it all for a few years). (And today, the dishes are waiting while I boil potatoes and write this post.) Instead of griping about the toys on the floor, I could pick them up. In short, instead of griping about something that needed to be done and hadn't yet been done, I could just stop and DO IT. I stopped procrastinating and grumbling, and set up a mini-schedule. First, bathrooms get done once a week, Saturdays. If there's something that happens and I don't get to it, I don't stress about it, and either get it done Monday or just wait. When tossing dirty clothes, I try to toss them into two hampers - one for whites and towels, the other for colors. When one gets full enough to toss in the washer, in it goes! Before cooking (Rich does the majority, but when I'm the one in charge of dinner), I'll do dishes and clean the counters. Once a load of laundry is washed and dried, I do whatever folding and ironing needs to be done the same day. Before letting G out of his high chair, I try to do a quick sweep of crumbs and tossed chunks of food on the floor. Once a week, I try to vacuum. That doesn't happen as well as it should, but I try. Oh, and I try to get a chore done before crafting or laptop time, during G's nap. Most times, that's the ironing or folding laundry.

I'm nowhere near where some of you are with your schedules and lists (which I applaud!), but I'm finding what works for me, keeps me sane and with less stress, and so far, my "just do it if you see it needs to be done" philosophy with a dash of scheduled chores seems to be doing the trick. Maybe, someday, it will evolve into an actual philosophy. For now, I'm just happy to be fighting the procrastinator in me!

3:30 pm Confession

Just snapped back into reality. Been on the couch reading Pioneer Woman's novel/love story. Adele had been awake and probably crying for 5 minutes. Justin just texted to say he's coming home early. Wally due to wake up any minute...and the house is a mess!

Now Justin's level of cleanliness is different from mine, but I don't like to look like slob when he gets home or make him do the work. I'd rather he play with the kids. So on to cleaning and no reading til it is clean and kids are in bed...maybe.

ps. I am LOVING all your posts and comments. Look for an email tomorrow to get updates on items crossed off form your list and potential "cleaner helper" dates.

Why I Would Love to Be a Sister Wife

Have you ever seen the show Sister Wives? I think I'm messed up, or that TV show has completed manipulated me. I was actually thinking up this post idea during Sunday School today, until our teacher started talking about Jacob 2 & 3, and the sins of the people desiring concubines and polygamous relationships. Oops. Then the teacher sarcastically teased his wife, "Why in the world would anyone want 2 wives?!?" and another lady quickly took the words right out of my mouth, "To do the laundry, of course!"

I just started a new job last week (yay!) but my life just got 30 hours busier, but I'm okay with that. Needless to say, it has really got me thinking about how nice it would be to have just a little bit of help, because I am not trying to be Super-Woman keeping up with the same amount of housework as before.

I would love to be a sister wife because....

....I would come home from work to dinner on the table

....I could continue to work without so much guilt of being a working mother

....there's always laundry to be done

....because my sister wife would love mopping floors (or else!)

....I wouldn't have to arrange for child-care for Michael

....less RAKs for me!

Someday, when I'm filthy rich, rolling around in my dollar bills, I'll just hire a housekeeper.


PostScript-I have yet to do one thing on my list, but unbeknownst to him, Richard did! Thanks hun, you're the best.

Confessions...

*disclaimer-it's late and this is a gargled mess of thoughts thrown up on a blog post. My thoughts were not organized and I've never sat down to write this out before in my life (except my journal)...read on at your own risk*

So, first of all, I have really enjoyed reading everyone's cleaning "philosophies". I am seeing glimpses into your personalities that we don't often see because they happen when we are in our homes and nobody else is around. Our little secrets, if you will. I too, have a few secrets that I'm not always super open about because they are accompanied by massive guilt and embarrassment.

But we are friends...right? This is a tough subject for me and I debated not doing this challenge at all but then I thought... this could be really good for me so here goes.

I have major OCD with a focus on cleaning and organizing. To some, this is not a secret, they know me well and to others this may not surprise you if you know my personality and to others this may be a shock. With this said, here is my cleaning philosophy (not by choice):

EVERYTHING CLEAN, EVERY DAY.

Here's where I cringe. I literally CANNOT go to bed if a single dish is in the sink, piece of clothing is on the floor, towel is hung crookedly in the bathroom, or toy is left out etc. It drives Braden crazy but over the last 5 years he has come to terms and realized that if he helps me, I will be available to relax and cuddle sooner because I will not stop until all is done. I can't stop.

This is not a choice I have made and I am constantly working on it, ways to ease up and let some things slide. Some people may ask, why? Why would you want to change that? But I am constantly racked with guilt about how much time I spend cleaning rather than using some of those minutes to be on the floor rolling around with my kids, building forts, reading books to them, studying the gospel etc.

Also, I have a love/hate relationship with "to do" lists and chore charts and cleaning lists etc. I thrive on extreme organization and having a list with everything I need to do but I also hate to fail and when there is an unchecked item... well I can't deal with that. So this challenge has helped because I have a list of 20 things and 30 days to complete. I can do it!

I should probably clarify one thing: my house may be visually spotless meaning dishes are done, beds are made (yes even the crib), counters are clean and floors are cleared and vacuumed. But it by no means means that my toilets are clean, floors are mopped, and shelves are dusted. My OCD leans in the organization direction. So everything is always organized and clean, not disinfected.

Another reason I struggle with this is because being a homemaker was never really something I envisioned growing up. My liberal, feminist side fights my mothering, nurturing side daily. Of course there is no other place I would dream of being than with my kids (unless our situation called for it) and I do feel the extreme importance of raising, rearing, and nurturing my boys to be exceptional young men but I  often feel like I am losing myself in this role only to find my OCD heightened because THAT I have control over.

One last thing. (Ok, maybe I won't post this because I don't want my relationship to change with any of you). I don't judge. Ever. I wish I had it as together as you ladies but I don't. So cleaning is where I feel like I gain control over my life and "get by" in all other areas. Please don't ever think that when I am in your home I am judging. I am not. This is why I don't often share this with people because I have had people stop inviting me over. It's true. And painful.

With that said, here is what I've done from my list so far:
Items # 5, 9, and 12

Happy Sunday evening to you all.

PS- Taylor, you're my hero. Your confession of RAK almost made us swerve into oncoming traffic when I read it, screamed loudly with a sudden burst of laughter and scared Braden while he was driving. Hilarious!

So, this is what Amanda does.

What Taylor Does (or attempts to do).

Hi Girls,

Let me introduce you to how I attempt to manage my household cleaning duties.

First of all, some background.  I started out with daily cleaning goals like Martha.  Small things I do every day and one big task.  BUT, my life is too unpredictable and nothing makes me more grumpy than ruining a checklist by not crossing off the appropriate thing at the appropriate time.  So, if I missed one day I wasn't flexible like Martha who just does two the next day.  No, I would throw my hands up in the air and tell myself it was just a bad week and I would try again next Monday (since this tended to happen a lot on Mondays, things were getting pretty backlogged.)

So I made myself a weekly checklist with all of the jobs I think should be done weekly.  I actually have 4 versions of this and the jobs in bold are different because there are some jobs that just need to be done monthly.  Some days I check off 10 things and some days none but that wiggle room is built in because it is a weekly planning sheet.  I also do my meal planning there and write other random tasks for the week. (for some reason the check boxes didn't convert to google docs but each item has a check box).

This was working fine for a while but I realized I needed more structure in my day as well.  So . . . my daily checklist was born.  This has the tasks that really should be done every day (like scriptures, cleaning etc) as well as a tentative schedule.  I also pick 3 tasks that I want to do that day but no more than 3.  True some days I don't check things off, but since I threw the daily checklist away at the end of the day, the empty check marks don't make me want to give up.

And there you have it.  That is what I do.  And by do I mean I follow my checklists like 10% of the time.  But the weeks that I do it, things seem awesome which is why I keep trying.

Oh and if you were wondering what RAK stands for it means Random Act of Kindness which is code for doing service for my husband.  Oh, and "doing service for my husband" is code for sex.  Ha!  Someday when I am cool and the kids are older, my goal is to have 5 check boxes in front of that rather than 3.  :)

If you want the word documents I am happy to email them to you, just let me know.

One down

So I do my best, well lets just say the most, cleaning/housework when I'm about to get ready for bed. It causes me to stay up too late and for my house to remain fairly messy. I think this is because the first thing I do before I go to be is to scour the house looking for anything I or my husband have left around that could cause trouble once Hyrum gets up in the morning (he's starting to venture out around the house when he wakes instead of waking me first thing). In so doing I often find that I could manage to do a few dishes, clean a little here and clean a little there. Before you know it its 1am and I'm suuuuuper tired. That's what happened tonight. BUT I did most of my dishes AND I checked off one of the items on my list. I ordered new dish scrubbers and a thingy to hold/dry them in. I'm hoping this will motivate me to accomplish my goal to wash my dishes more often. Really, honestly? I'm getting sick of feeling like the first thing I need to say to people when they walk in my house is "Sorry our place is a mess, I'm not a good housekeeper." This usually makes them say something like "This is nothing, you should see our place" or "Who can keep a house clean when you have young kids." I appreciate the allowance but I would also like to feel like just once a week or so that if someone came over I could just let them in and say "Hi, how are you? Come on in and make yourself at home." Without having to clear a space on the couch for them to sit down.

Professional Homemaker

A few days ago I sent Justin a text thanking him for working (it's Spring Break but he decided to work for another pay check). His reply was something to the effect of "Oh I'm just doing my part to keep our family going. Yours is harder."

For some reason that text gave me this visual of two professionals working hard to run a family. I felt like a professional! Professionals are smart, know their job, and ... other things that don't transfer to the homemaker field--like paid, have a dress code, sick leave, commute, etc.

Anyway, I just have this desire to know my job better. So I'm excited to learn more of your cleaning tricks and wisdom.

Here's a long list of tricks to glimpse through. "Hair dryer as sticker remover" might be my favorite!
Enjoy!

My Cleaning Philosophy

In the nearly three years I've been a stay-at-home-mom/house cleaner/cook/family organizer, I think I've finally found a system that works for me. I call it: Not Always Clean, Not Always Dirty. I was verbalizing it a few months ago with Adam and that's when it clicked. The convo went like this:

Me: "So, I have been doing my '6 Things A Day' thing for awhile (more on that later), and it's working really well for me. But I just read on a blog (more on that later) about a girl who, apart from her daily cleaning routine that is similar to mine, she has one big chore she does everyday. That way the little stuff gets done and then all the big stuff gets done over time. But that means your house is never clean all at the same time."

Adam: "Yeah, but it's also never dirty all at the same time, either."

BOOM. Cleaning philosophy born. Not Always Clean, Not Always Dirty.

So, here are the six things I do everyday (from here).

1. Make the bed
2. Manage clutter
3. Sort the mail
4. Clean as you cook
5. Wipe up spills while they are fresh
6. Sweep the kitchen floor

Correction, I don't do these all everyday. I TRY to do them all everyday. The last three are the most important, then one, then two, then three. That's my order of importance. The kitchen is the place where I spend the most time, so it's most important to me to keep that clean. If I do nothing else during the day, if I'm on top of the dishes, the counters are wiped, and the floor is swept, I'm a happy lady.

And what are the big chores to do every day? Mine are things like mopping the kitchen floor, mopping the bathroom floor, scrubbing the tub, cleaning the bathroom mirror and counter, vacuuming, sweeping and mopping the landing, cleaning the microwave, etc. Correction: I actually don't do one big chore a day. I TRY to do one big chore a day. But it more often happens that one day I get three done, and another day I do zero. The motivation to clean has to hit me, and then I just bust out as many big chores as possible. So, again, my house is never all clean at once, but it's never all dirty at once either. And, so, getting frustrated or angry is futile, because I never expected it to stay clean in the first place. Like Z's quote: "it was clean for 10 minutes..." .... and that, to me, is better than never having been clean. And I have hope that, after it is dirtied, it will one day be clean again! My heart is bursting with hope just thinking about it.

Now for some links that I love regarding cleaning:

...Nevermind, some of my links aren't working until the blogger I want to link to is done revamping her blog design. More on that later.

But here is the link to the girl who gave me the idea for one big chore a day, plus more details about her cleaning routine including a printable. Ooooh! Exciting!

What about ya'll? What works for you? What doesn't work for you?

Clean is good; anger is not

So I just used a borrowed steam cleaner to spot clean our light gray carpets. I love it! All those spit-ups and muddy shoes and kitchen escapees--gone!

But I'm gearing myself up for when Justin brings the kids back home (he's on spring break) and Adele spits up and Wally escapes from the kitchen with his pb&j. I don't want to be frustrated.

I have memories of my poor mom, sighing in exasperation (she never raised her voice with us, ever)when we'd come in after she mopped the floor or just had the carpets professionally cleaned.

So how do you balance clean and perspective? Clean and peace?

Welcome!

I'm so glad and grateful all y'all are willing to play this external motivation game with me. Look around the blog a bit (ok, it'll take 3 seconds) and notice a few things: pictures, tally of items done, and links to each cleaner's list.

So what's the blog for? Motivation, information, celebration, and complaining. Please try to comment and/or post at least once a week during the challenge. I'd love to see ideas for cleaning certain areas, hear your cleaning philosophies and just chat about the scary things that might be under your fridge. We called those cockroaches in my last apartment. I've stepped up a bit in the world since then.

So get started on your list and get posting. Cheers.