It never ceases to amaze me how we’ll push simple cleaning projects back on our lists over and over. It’s not that they’re big, just that they’re undesirable.

Today’s tip: Just Do It

This morning I spent about 10 minutes cleaning my microwave. It wasn’t hard and it looks so much better! Two cleaning tools that I’d die without in my kitchen are my scratch free-scouring scrub brush with soap filled handle and disposable disinfectant wipes. The brush makes short work of scrubbing on all my kitchen surfaces with the aid of just the right amount of dish soap and the wipes are the perfect finisher. Both are great in the kitchen because both cut grease and we all know how fun grease is to clean up. *frown*

I’ve put off cleaning the microwave for several weeks and every time I’d open it I’d groan. I’ve probably cleaned the darn thing 100 times in my head! It only took once and it took less than 10 minutes but man it sure feels good. The payback of satisfaction and motivation far outweigh my procrastination reasons. There’s power in just doing things that need done.

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Homemaker Sharing Housework Balance Blogging

So Tuesday has come again and yesterday slipped by without me getting a post up. Today I want to highlight my ten year old daughter on her reaching new levels of personal development.

Kids grow so quickly, yet we tend to miss so many milestones because they are so gradual for us who live with them all the time. Sometimes I step back and realize just how big my kids are growing by remembering how small they used to be and the times when they couldn’t do what they now do with ease. Dishes is one of those things for my daughter. She’s always been a great helper and even as a toddler would pull up a stool or chair by your side at the sink. Her favorite part was making and spreading bubbles of course, but she was always enthusiastic about helping. As she’s grown the enthusiasm has waned but the skills have grown. The other other night I snapped a picture of her doing the dishes because I suddenly realized how she was now doing the job 100% on her own - and doing it well I might add. I suddenly saw that she didn’t need a stool or chair to reach anymore, nor did she even need my guidance on the steps of unloading and loading the dishwasher. I saw my growing girl becoming a little lady.

As she continues to grow I hope I don’t miss too many important changes and milestones just because they seem gradual to me. These are big accomplishments, no matter how small. Especially when you remember the times when they couldn’t lift their own heads, walk for more than a couple steps, reach a drawer or get their clothes on by themselves. Now she’s picking out her own clothes, writing in her diary and organizing her own room. That’s monumental development in such a short time. Would that we could keep up that level of growth and accomplishment in our later years!

So today I’m taking a moment to pause and acknowledge how gracefully my angel is growing.

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Family Parenting Sharing Motherhood Housework

I should totally be cleaning right now but I’m a great procrastinator. Besides, what better use of my time than taking a few more moments to record something of value?

It’s Pass the Torch Tuesday time and I have a great share this week. My friend, Kelly invented this great idea of catching our kids being good. I don’t know about other moms, but this mom needs all the help she can get on remembering that!

My kids are good helpers. My daughter is at the whining stage. You know the one where every time you ask them to do something you get an eye roll, big sigh or “but, but…..” This of course is largely dependent on the type of activity at hand. If you’re talking about something really fun she’s first in line with the biggest smile. But if she’s already decided this is a run of the mill “chore” watch out. *giggle* But even this is wonderful because it’s a sign of growth. Besides that, it reminds me all the more of the time when she was mommy’s (and grandma’s!) little helper.

And that makes me appreciate all the more the stage her little brother is in. He’s married to his stepping stool these days. You can give him any task from doing dishes to peeling potatoes and he’s right there. They want so much to be a big person and do all the same things. I truly love it!

They grow so fast, but how grateful I am for these stages and the fact that both of my kids enjoy so much being mommy’s helper.

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Family Parenting Sharing Positive Impact Perspectives Motherhood Housework

Believe it or not this happened for me on Saturday. It very may well be the first time in my little family’s lives when it happened but it happened.

I have to set the right stage by explaining that with birthdays and a crazy work schedule that the house really fell apart in the past couple of weeks. It never ceases to amaze me how only four people can create so much mess. It seemed the best I could do was keep up with the dishes once a day while the rest of the rooms and floors continued to accumulate all kinds of attractions.

In the past, I’ve been reluctant to use Saturday time to clean the house. Partly because I find that with everyone home the next day too that Monday is like starting over so I may as well wait and do it once on Monday versus twice. This follows the truth that keeping a clean house while raising kids is like shoveling the walk while it’s snowing. The other reason is that I hate wasting precious time with my family if there are other things we could be doing together. It began with the typical moans and groans of the kids not wanting to help. Who could blame them? The place was a wreck and it looked like it would take a week to get it clean again. Then the magic began.

Positive Motivation:
I told my daughter if she’d just work with me I’d give her entire week’s chore allowance for this one day. She slowly started to turn a corner and the complaining dropped drastically. My son got tired of gathering his toys from the family room to return to his bedroom so I brought him over to the allowance chart and explained the same deal of giving him his entire week’s chore allowance for this one day of cleaning if he’d help me get it all done. He got a big grin on his face and went back to collecting.

Mom was happy too because this system took a little sabbatical of neglect recently and this boost made all of us feel better!

Small & Fun Job Breakdown:
The next stroke of success came in mixing in some jobs they consider fun and different with the others. My daughter beamed when I gave her the job of steaming the tile floor and her attitude quickly went from disgruntled to happy. My son loved getting his hands on the vacuum and replacing garbage liners. It didn’t matter to me that I’d have to redo some of the vacuuming my five year old would miss because he was learning how to help and he was delighted. I didn’t keep them in one place or room very long. I found they were most helpful and happy when they could come back asking for a new task quickly. You could actually feel their pride of success grow with each return and desire to be given another thing they could succeed at. It got to be so much fun that I started running out of little jobs while I finished one. We ended with a disinfectant wipe and instructions for each to attack the door knobs, light switches and walls where little hands had left prints behind. And all the while my expectation was just to find the floors. *big smile*

Team Effort:
Another turning point came when dad finished reading his book and joined the ranks. The kids actually didn’t care what they were doing anymore, just that we were all doing it together. It was amazing how having all four of us work together not only cranked out the work but became another “fun” thing our family was doing together. The time was cut in half and within a two hour window the entire house had been cleaned. The kids were so proud of their efforts and kept talking about how nice it was to have a clean house. Mom was happy, dad was happy and it was only 2:30 in the afternoon! We still had the entire rest of the afternoon and evening to fill.

So lesson learned - keep these keys in play and housework isn’t such a chore!

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Family Parenting Homemaker Sharing Housework Success

It’s nice when ideas work out. At the start of the summer I shared how the crazy schedules were taking their toll. I knew I had to come up with a few things to help me save my sanity. I needed to come up with things to address filling their time as well as behavior and helping out around the house. As most of what we’ve implemented has been working I thought I’d share.
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What is it about mornings that seem to hold a certain amount of magic in regards to productivity? Maybe it’s the fresh start or recharged batteries that helps, I’m not sure but I’m grateful for any extra help.

This morning was great. My kids weren’t totally convinced at first but as the morning wore on they decided it was all good. The house took a total hit over the weekend and was a royal mess this morning. I told the kids they couldn’t do anything they wanted until the house was back in order. We also set up some new motivation techniques to help us with the summer hours, chores and learning. The motivation was enough to keep my 9 year old going strong until the entire house had been found. The 4 year old needed a little more help along the way but they both stuck it out and helped mom regain the house. They’re good kids. It also never ceases to amaze me how much fun they have playing with old toys that seem new when mom’s helping organize and put items back together.

Even my husband is back on the morning track. He rose at 4 AM this morning to add a few more hours to his work day before the rest of the office gets in. He’s hoping it will give him the extra time he needs to finish up so many extra projects and tasks before the trip to shore next month. I’m such a baby with my sleep. I couldn’t do a 4 AM morning unless I knew I was asleep by 7 PM each night - yeah right. Do you think he can go on less sleep than me or do you think I’m just a pansie? Don’t answer that unless you think guys don’t need as much beauty sleep. *wink*

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Homemaker Sharing Organizing Housework

Well it’s Monday…again and I’m suffering from high expectation syndrome. It’s the start of the week so I’m always thinking/hoping I’ll get a serious leg up on all the tasks needing attention. Thankfully, the big jobs got done last week. But now it’s after noon and I don’t feel like I’ve gotten much of anything done - partially because there’s not as much looming in front of me. *sigh*

Tonight we’re having a little party at our house with some neighbors for the season finale of 24. I hope it doesn’t disappoint. So far this season hasn’t been as enticing for me. It started with a big bang (literally) but they took out the main terrorist just past mid season and the last several weeks have been drawn out story lines that don’t seem to be connecting. I’m really hoping they can tie it all in for me tonight in a way that doesn’t leave me going “eh” and if they kill off Chloe I’m done. She’s one of only two main players left for me. It is this viewer’s humble opinion that you can’t mess too much with an original cast or you lose the emotional investment of the audience. Worse case scenario is still good though because I know the Heroes finale won’t disappoint and we’ll be able to watch it later thanks to the technology of the DVR.

I had high expectations for our Phoenix Suns too and so the last game with the Spurs was a big disappointment. They really are an amazing team and poured their hearts into it. Oh well, one less thing to plan time for. Besides, I have family coming to town this weekend and the kids can’t wait to see their cousins and have them at their house. So I suppose I should find some form of motivation to keep moving today. Too bad I gave up my Mountain Dew, that might just have done the trick….LOL.

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Housework Blogging TV Talk

It’s time to take a moment and recognize/enjoy the good things at the present moment. This is something I’m learning to do more often. It’s so easy to wish your life away thinking “When……then I’ll be happy - or - get to that - or - take a moment.” The time to live, remember and enjoy is now. Tomorrow never comes because there’s always another tomorrow to procrastinate to. Experience has shown me that no matter how bad today seems for whatever reason, years later I’ll look back and wish I’d appreciated how good it was or seized the moment to do something with my kids. So today I’m enjoying:

Beautiful flowers from my wonderful hubby.

My poem being published - and being the FIRST one in the book!

Watching my son enjoy Zathura for the thousandth time and baking him cookies.

And last but not least, LOVING the fact that my sink is finally being installed.

Plus, tonight is The Office and the final showdown on American Idol includes my two favorites. My floors are clean and I still have time to blog. Life is good.

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Sharing Motherhood Housework Success Blogging TV Talk

Yesterday was a good day. I didn’t get as much done as I wanted (I never do) but some big things did get done. Like shampooing my family room carpet - blech!, having dinner ready by the time hubby got home (I even duplicated my best corn salsa), getting the dishes done and even swimming with my son. But the cherry on top was finding the long lost gameboy under my bed and the missing “Zathura” movie disk. My son got this movie last month and watched it several times before losing it. We looked everywhere with no success. Yesterday I noticed one of the small portable DVD players by my husband’s nightstand and thought to myself “I wonder” and sure enough there it was inside. My daughter’s gameboy has been missing for several months and she’s been praying that we could find it. Needless to say most everyone was happy yesterday!

One of the biggest lessons I’ve “found” of late is the recognition that balance doesn’t mean perfection or everything being finished. I’m amazed at how much better I feel as long as I’m getting a few of those back burner projects finished. They recharge the determination batteries just enough to keep you going and make you smile. Now whenever I feel like I’m going under I’ll tackle one or two things that have been pushed off for forever and find an amazing amount of balance restored.

Tomorrow is my 15th wedding anniversary. I’m not sure where the time went - that is definitely something I’ve still not found! It’s hard to wrap my brain around the concept. I still feel much the same way I did when I was 20 years younger, I wonder if that inner spirit ever catches up with the physical aging?

So what have you found this week?

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Organizing Marriage Housework Balance Success

Well yesterday was a long but very good day and it ended on the perfect note for me. Sanjaya finally went home. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a personal issue with the kid. I just hated seeing the level of the talent pool he was dog paddling in, watching the others swim circles around him yet they were the ones getting eliminated before him. It just wasn’t right. I know it’s American Idol and popularity is a huge factor but I’m glad for the other contestants that he finally went home.

Thanks to my brother in law (who I learned last night actually reads my blog), my house is clean today. A ton of little projects that have been building were eliminated yesterday in preparation for his coming to spend the night with us. Apparently it was the missing motivation for my getting things done. Thanks Ryan! I was actually excited to get up this morning because I knew I had a massive head start on the day and awaiting chaos.

The restoring balance continued in the yard too. My hubby replaced some necessary pool elements that have made a world of difference. It never ceases to amaze me when noticeable and large changes come about by small and simple things. We knew our pool vacuum was on its last leg. But I don’t think either of us understood the difference it would make to have one that really worked well again.
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