I go to bed every night thinking "I am going to get so much done tomorrow!"
Then...
I wake up every morning kicking and screaming that I have to get out of my bed. I find it very hard to find my momentum and motivation these days.
I have always had this desire to be organized but I really NEED it right now. This is really hard for me to explain but I just feel that it is so important for my family to change some things right now in order for us to be truly happy.
Currently I am trying to find the best way to organize my laundry, keeping the house clean, and stick to a daily routine. I have tried different help websites or books but I feel like they are really overwhelming.
Tell me friends, what works for you?
Before you answer that let me tell you what I feel is holding me back.
Laundry- There just isn't a good "staging place" for it. I don't have a laundry room. It is in the bathroom behind folding doors. We have thought a ton about moving it to the basement but think this might take too much living space from the basement. Right now all the dirty clothes, towels, or rugs end up in my bedroom to be sorted and ready to be done. I don't always get it done in one day so it just piles up. I AM TIRED OF IT BEING THERE! I really need help with this!
Keeping the house clean- This is hard for me because I give my kids chores to do, but they are just not old enough to do some things. I start by working on the things they can't do, but by the time I get that done, they have messed up what was just cleaned. It is a never ending vicious cycle. I will say this once (for fear of people thinking that I am mean) we are slobs. It clearly is a problem with people not picking up after themselves. Mostly the kids. How do you stop the cycle in kids with out constantly nagging to get things cleaned up?
A daily routine- I clearly see how this would help with the other two items, but I feel like I just have so much to do that when I try to get on a routine I start to stress about the things that I am not getting to yet. What works for everyone to focus on one thing at a time then to be able to get everything done?
Ok I just realized I sound really lame. You would think that after almost 10 years of being married and almost 7 years of being a parent that I would have this down. For some reason I just don't get it yet. HELP!
11 comments:
Shannon....you and I are on the same page!
The laundry never stops around here. I HATE cleaning, always have. My house is lived in. It's messy, yes, but I would eat something that fell on my floor....I wouldn't let anyone else though. LOL!
We are a member of the slob family as well! And I have a 13 and 9 year old! I have always done everything around here and lately I am SO sick of it. I refused to do the dishes and told my husband about it and he actually did the dishes! Both sides of the sink are full at any given time, so I hope it hurt! Ha!
It's a never ending circle of mess, clean, mess, sigh, mess, clean, sigh, scream, mess, etc..
I don't get it either, but I feel ya loud and clear!
take one project at a time . say today is laundry day and concentrate on laundry and then say today is dish day and concentrate on dishes . I think you get what I am saying and get the husband to help you . sometimes you have to train the husband to help you . I must say I got lucky with this one cause his mom trained him to help his wife . I hope i helped you my dear .
oh my gosh... you just described my life! I try every day to organize just one thing in my house, but it never goes as planned. It drives me CRAZY! I have no tips to offer... sorry!
I have felt the same way lately. Especially laundry. it is all over the house! drives me crazy. I have quiet afternoons when kids are sleeping and at school, but just don't have motivation to take care of my house.
I do know that when I exercise, I feel soooo so much better. I have much more energy and motivation. Now that I have recovered from the surgery, I'm going to start exercising again and see if that helps me out. Although, getting out of bed to exercise is hard to do! It is a never ending cycle!
btw, I've been married almost ten years and a parent for 7 and still don't have a system down! :) I feel like the bigger the family gets, the harder it is to keep up on stuff.
I know I'm not much help, but just wanted you to know that you are not alone!!
We keep laundry baskets on the floor of everyone's closets. Almost every night, before bed, I collect everything and run a load...then I transfer it to the dryer in the morning. It all goes in together - unless it's something special or something I'm afraid will bleed, I don't get all crazy about sorting. I'd like to say that I get it folded every day, but I'd be lying. Instead the baskets usually end up in our bedroom and we share the responsibility of folding when we're watching CSI or SYTYCD. I'll admit, there are times that I have 5 baskets waiting to be folded and it's pretty daunting. If all esle fails and they're still there on Sunday, my husband will fold it while watching football (or whatever season we're in)....I just keep the kids out of his hair and don't bug him about changing the channel :) He doesn't mind getting a free pass for football all day!
Dishes...smishes. I make dinner EVERY day during naps. We eat a reheated just about every day of our lives. After naps, when I know that dinner is out of the way, I clean up the kitchen. Again, I run the dishwasher EVERY night before bed -- ADDY puts them away when she gets home from school. I wash any pots and pans or whatever else I can't cram into the dishwasher and I plan tomorrow's dinner while I'm cleaning up. If I wake up and don't know what the plan is for dinner, I get really anxious.
Baths before bed...in the morning, I brush Addy and Kaelyn's hair while they're sitting at the breakfast table. Then they brush their teeth and we're out the door.
As for general housecleaning... ummmmm...I just clear clutter as fast as I can. I try REALLY hard not to let papers pile up...when they do, I put them in the den and shut the door.
My house is dusty. I try to clean it as often as I can, but I'm usually too busy making dinner. Once a week, I try to hit the areas that are driving me crazy -- you know, the ones you can see when the sunlight comes through the window?
I do the bathrooms once a week. Jason does the wood floors. Usually this is on a day when we're both home and the kids are asleep or otherwise occupied.
Vacuuming is for special occasions.
Otherwise, I have a Swivel Sweeper (from BB&B) that I use for everyday kitchen use....if there's something on the carpet, I'll run it over the top there too.
**Jason is EXTREMELY helpful around the house. If it wasn't for his help, I have no idea what this place would look like!!!!
I think the most important thing is to remember that all families are different...find the groove that works for you guys and don't worry about "measuring up" to anyone else's standards.
No one is perfect nor can anyone be perfect. According to God's plan, ONLY Jesus Christ was a perfect human...and even He didn't mind a messy house! Remember the story of Mary and Martha from the Bible :)
Shannon, we aren't perfect by any stretch but this is what helps keep us sane. We strictly and severely limit the number of toys in circulation. This alone will save you hours. 90% of the toys are in boxes in the basement and each week they can pick 10% they want to play with that week. No cheating, no exceptions. Kids will spread toys hither and yon so limit their material. The second thing we do attack the house each evening in regions. Monday and Thursday might be main floor night, Tuesday and Fridays are Bedrooms, etc. This helps keep everything at a base level we can deal with. As for laundry, a staging area helps but there really is no good way to make it go faster. I try (don't always succeed) instead to address the source of the problem. Make sure towels are being used and hung more than once, jammies get used a couple times, etc.
I also highly recommend the book Speed Cleaning because it has a lot of tips to save you tons of time when you are doing the real "cleaning" part - not the picking up.
Shannon~ First of all... (((HUGS))) I know how it feels to be overwhelemed with household things. I agree with taking one thing at a time and I'd start with the kids chores. Your kiddos are not too young to be helping out! I've done chore charts with my girls since they were really little. We took the positive approach with it and made it a "Helping Mommy Chart". Kayleigh was only 5 when Kacey was born and she had a chart then. It was tough for me because Kacey had colic and reflux when she was a baby and I felt like I got nothing done but I knew there were things Kayleigh was old enough to do. Sweep...put dishes away...pick up her toys...make her bed....yes! those are all things that a 5 year old can do. As Kacey got older, she took on those smaller jobs and Kayleigh got the bigger jobs like...take out trash...help Mom fold clothes...feed the dog. We kept a chart on the frig and when they did the job to help me then they got a sticker in the box. At the end of the week, if they helped me each day, then they didn't have any weekend chores and we had time to do something fun since it wasn't spent doing chores (they were done!) If you make it positive then they WILL help! It will make Mommy a happier person and then it makes the family happier :)
As for laundry....how about getting some bins for the kids to put dirty clothes in and then sorting the bins when its time for laundry? I know I can't be much help with the laundry because I'm washing laundry EVERY day so maybe someone else has some better ideas.
What I do know is...Helper Charts work as long as you stick to them! Good luck and if you need anymore help with it then you know you can find me on MSN ;)
We had the same issue with laundry at our old house, the washer and dryer were in the kitchen! What I did was put a laundry basket in our room, the bathroom (for towels only), one in each of the kids rooms, and one smaller one on top of the dryer for whites then I had specific laundry days...Monday was towels which was already sorted, Tuesdays was darks usually just me and my hubbys clothes, while tossing them in the washer I'd pull out the whites and toss them in the basket on the dryer, Wednesday was lights usually just the girls basket I'd do the same with the whites as before, Thursday was the basket in my sons room and once again same with the whites, Friday was whites that had been sorted a little each day and Saturday was sheets, then the best part Sunday nothing!!! I liked doing a little each day rather than 1 overwhelming day of endless laundry.
Sorry it's so long but I hope it helps!
I have four slobby boys and the worst part is we are not home very often. If it's a long day for everyone then we do a thirty minute tidy where everyone...EVERYONE! Cleans for 30 minutes. The house looks great when we all pitch in at the same time. We do a 15 minute tidy when we are all exhausted and it makes a good dent.
I got the laundry problem too...(Doesn't everyone?)...I don't have a laundry room either, so it all gets dumped on the back couch. My newest rule, established a few months ago, is no laundry gets left in a heap. As soon as it gets out of the dryer, it is layed flat, shirts in one pile, jeans in the other. I feel like, what is the point of doing laundry if it's just a big wrinkled mess the next day? At least this way, it may not be put away right away...but it is semi sorted and wrinkle free.
I'm not a good one to give advise on this subject, it's been a big thorn in my side lately.
i really struggle with this. I really HATE laundry. mine is similar to yours, it's just in a closet & we've considered moving it downstairs as well. my hubby just thinks it will make it worse. one thing that has helped me is flylady.com. I'm still way far off from where I want to be but it really helps put things in perspective. and has helped me to set up routines. anyway good luck & don't be too hard on yourself!
I looked at a lot if sites too. I started the FlyLady routine, but it was too much. So, I took bits and pieces from her plan.
Spend 15 minutes a day decluttering. That's it. Don't get distracted, just set the timer and either throw things away, give them away, or put them away. Your kids can get involved, too. My 3 year old decluttered his toy box and picked toys that he was willing to get rid of.
Each week she focuses on one area of the home. One week just work on the living room. Next week, move to the kitchen. And so on.
We made a rule in our home of no tv or computer until chores are done. This doesn't mean the house is spotless, but everyone's assigned chores have to be done. This way, we all work a little faster to get stuff done so we can all play (no one plays until everyone's chores are done). Sometimes we race to see who can get done the fastest. It makes it a little more fun.
Good luck!
Post a Comment