The First Goals

The husband has a good idea. One of the many cleaning tasks that my children create for me is a myriad of cups distributed around the house. "Thirsty!" cries the little one. I give her a cup, and it mysteriously disappears amongst playtime. "Thirsty!" she cries again, and here comes another cup. And so forth. Husband says: One cup per day, per kid. When they want a new drink, they have to find their cup. You wash it and fill it. End of story.

1 point for the husband.

The constant kitchen mess grates on my last nerve. There are always so. many. dishes. This is mostly due to the fact that I cook and bake... a lot. Mostly from scratch, mostly not simple. So with prep bowls and pots boiling and sauces simmering, it adds up. But so do the plates and bowls. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, second snack, dinner. Husband says: Wash the bowl from breakfast, put it back on the table. One bowl, one plate per day.

2 points for the husband.

This has me thinking. What if I just washed each dish as I used it? Yes, I understand this is mostly what other people do. No, I can't quite handle that thought yet. Wash the dishes as my children destroy the next room? Not so much. But the idea of simply rinsing off the kids' stuff each meal seems easier and will result in less total dishes.

And if I combine this with keeping the dishwasher moving... unload as soon as it's clean, pop the dishes in as soon as I've used them...the kitchen will be that much cleaner. This seems doable. I did this today, in fact. The husband was home, which made it easier. Let's see if I can do it tomorrow, too.

Oh, and one more thing. Pick up the living room before the husband comes home each day. You know, that whole maintenance thing.

So, to recap, my goals for the week are:
1. Only one cup and plate per kid, per day.
2. Keep the dishwasher moving.
3. Pick up the living room before 4:30pm each day.

I can do this, right? Right? Right...

Someone's Gonna Fire Me

A SAHM. That's me. My job is to raise my children and keep my house clean. I'm failing miserably at the latter, and it's about time I figure out why. Most days my house is just short of disaster status. Sure, I've got two small kids at home all day who can make a mess faster than you can blink an eye. But so do all those other stay at home mom's with spotless houses. What's their secret?

For years I blamed it on my upbrining. I was messy as a kid and not made to do regular chores. And this is certainly part of the issue - my brother and sister are messy, too. But I've had 10 years out of the house to learn how to do this for myself. You'd think I'd have learned it by now. Certainly, the fact that I have small children should be enough to motivate me to keep a clean, serene house. And yet, that hasn't been enough.

I married a man who is far neater than me. He cleans quickly and functionally and almost seems to enjoy it. The problem is, he goes to work all day long and it's not fair for him to have to do my job as well.

This blog will be my journey to a cleaner, more organized house and life. And why start today? Perhaps it's the fact that my husband complained once again. Maybe it's because we'll be putting up the Christmas decorations soon and it would look nicer without the mess. But mostly it's because I suddenly realized that nothing is going to change if I don't find a new reason to get this house looking like it deserves to look. It's terrible that my husband and kids weren't enough reason to do it, but the reason has to be for me, I've realized.

So as I was cleaning the kitchen earlier, it hit me... I am excellent and cooking and baking. Anyone who knows me knows that my passions are baking and/or cooking and then subsequently entertaining people with these items. I am, if you will, a mini Martha Stewart in this regard. But what is the point of such beautiful food, I pondered, if the house it is served in is a gigantic mess? And do I really want to run around like a chicken with its head cut off, frantically cleaning each time people are due to come over? Would it not make more sense to learn to have a beautiful house to match my beautiful food? What if I could be one of those people who doesn't mind if company just "drops by?" I mean, really, right now a surprise visit is quite possibly one of those terrifying things I can imagine.

And so here it begins... my journey to become cleaner, more organized, a better housewife. More like Martha Stewart, if you will (without all the homemade sewn projects - no thank you)! I anticipate a long journey with many set backs, but that's ok. It's gotta start somewhere. They say a habit takes 21 days to form. Let's see how long this takes me.