Adventures in Homemaking... Part 2: No More Excuses!

I left off last time with me working part-time with a baby in tow.  I was floundering in the area of housekeeping and had no idea how to keep up.  

I had always planned to stay at home full time after my commitment to my friend (to care for her children while she was in Family Practice Residency) ended.  This happened in June 2008.  I knew it was coming and I really wanted to make my time at home worthwhile.  I hoped to have a clean house, clean kids, "real" dinners, and no more guilt!  I started to read!  

I went back to Flylady for some inspiration.  I didn't sign up for her e-mails this time.  I simply read all that she had to offer on her site.  Again I found her to be inspiring!  

I also re-visited a book that I had really enjoyed several years back.  The book is More Hours in my Day by Emilie Barnes. This book had helped me get a few things in my life organized, but it was a bit overwhelming at the time as I was working full-time.  This time around, though, with me staying at home full time and having a child, it really made sense!  

I worked on figuring out my rhythm as I went through my days.  I knew that I would be up around 7 if I got up with Eden.  I knew I didn't care to get up any earlier than that.  This made the mornings a bit slower than if I was already up and showered before she woke up.  I learned that I can deal with that!  I also found that Eden wanted to eat right away when she woke up, so there would be no making of beds or getting out of PJs before heading downstairs.  This was also fine with me, but I saw some danger in this.  It is really easy to stay in PJs all day if you start your day without getting dressed.  I made it my personal goal to be dressed, have Eden dressed and the beds made by 9 AM.  Some days it happens earlier than this and some days it happens later (and yes, some days we still stay in PJs until naptime).  

I learned that I don't work as efficiently in the morning as I do in the afternoon.  We try to run our out of the house errands and to do our playing in the morning when Eden is fresh and we can enjoy each other.  I learned that if we don't get out before lunch, it will have to wait for the next day!  I start the "chores" later (usually during naptime, so I am alone).  I also learned that I like being at home!  I try not to plan to be away more than 2 days during the week.

I learned that there are things that MUST be done daily (clear clutter, read mail, make beds, feed dogs, dishes, etc).  If I let any of these things slide, the consequence is everything else slides!  How can I dust the living room if last weeks mail is sitting on the end table?  I can't until I read all that mail, then I get sidetracked and the living room doesn't get dusted!

I learned that if I stay on top of my daily tasks, then once a week is all I need to really "clean."  I learned that I can divide my rooms between the days of the week, making them quick and easy to complete.  I learned that I can also divide up my daily tasks into time slots where they make the most sense.  This was revolutionary for me!  Making the beds at 5PM seems senseless!  This should be a morning task!  Starting Dinner at 8AM is too early (usually)!  This is a good early afternoon task!  I run the dishwasher before I head to bed, so Brandon can unload it for me before he goes to work.  This way, I clean as I go all day!

All of this learning was great, but I didn't know what to do with all of this information to make it usable for me.  I took the idea of the Flylady's Control Journal and read all of the instructions for making one.  I took the things I had learned and put them down on paper.  Once I had everything down in a notebook, I began organizing the information so it would fit into my life.   I really think this is the key.  If you haven't made a plan that you can actually work into your life, you aren't going to do it!  

I got a 3 ring binder and put my plan into Word documents, so I could change them easily when I needed to.  I printed the sheets and put them in clear plastic sheet protectors.  Since the book would likely sit on the kitchen counter most of the time, I needed the sheets to be wipeable!  I named it the Family Home Operator's Manual.  I organized it according to what I felt would work, and it has been through 2 revisions in the past year.  It is always a work in progress!

At a friend's suggestion, I am currently working on the next phase of the manual.  Now that I have a pretty good grasp on what I need to do on a daily and weekly basis, I am compiling a list of those tasks that need to be done less often (once a month and once or twice a year).  I plan to spread them out over the year so I don't forget to do something (like changing smoke detector batteries) and so I don't have to do a bunch of things in a short period (Spring cleaning).

I am hoping that the new little person who is coming in just a few weeks will not rock the boat too much where the housekeeping is concerned.  The wonderful thing about the Home Operator's Manual is, when folks come and offer to help, I don't have to figure out what needs to be done!  I can say, "Today is Tuesday, check the Manual!"  When Brandon needs to help out more than usual (he helps a lot anyway!) he can just open the Manual!  It makes life easier for all involved!

In Adventures in Homemaking... Part 3: Real life?, I plan to share how To-do Lists fit into my day and the specifics of my Family Home Operator's Manual.

Until then... ;)  

Adventures in Homemaking... Part 1: Battling it out!

In the past few weeks I have had similar conversations with several different groups of mamas in my life.  It seems we are all in the same boat!  It is so good to be in a struggle that is a common one.  This is especially true when you feel like you are the only one engaged in the battle!  Because of these conversations, I have decided to share the details of my struggle.  I have in no way "arrived" in the area of housekeeping, and this is not a how-to manual.  I simply want to encourage you to find something that works for you and DO IT.  It is actually the doing it part that is the key...

I have been in a constant struggle with my house for the past 7 years (officially 7 years on the 22nd of this month).  I was working outside of the home full time until Eden's birth in November of '06 and during that time I kept house in partnership with Brandon.  

From June 2002 to November 2006, our housekeeping routine looked like this:  Once a month, invite someone for dinner.  Frantically clean common areas.  Move clutter into "spare" rooms that have doors that do not need to be opened while company is here.  Pray nobody needs to go upstairs for any reason.  Sound familiar?  Be honest...

After Eden was born, I worked part time, but realized during my days at home that #1 I have NO housekeeping skills, #2 I have a baby that will soon (gasp!) want to crawl around on the floor, #3 I have less time now (working 2 days a week with a child) than I did when working full time with no child!  For the next 18 months I floundered in mess and guilt.  I read about a few "methods" for housekeeping.  They were all designed for housewives with no children or with older children.  There was nothing for the exhausted, part-time nanny of 2, full-time (nursing) mama of a delightful ball of energy (who, as any mother of a young child knows, messes-up at 5X the speed of any reasonable clean-up endeavor).

But, I had to do something, right?  I gave the methods a try...  

I tried Fly Lady.  When I read through her site, I was SO impressed and inspired!  She had the days broken down in such a way that they seemed manageable.  I signed up!  Immediately my e-mail in-box was flooded with FLYbaby Steps and FLYing Lessons and I spent the next 3 hours reading my e-mail!  After a week of "Go Shine Your Sink" and getting dressed "to the lace up shoes"and all manner of other individual e-mail messages I would have to delete before I could actually *do* any housework, I was completely defeated.  Didn't Mrs FLY know I have a baby and a dirty, messy house and I have to go to work tomorrow?  I don't have time to check my mail 37 times a day!!

I gave up.

I tried Motivated Moms.  This had to be easier!  It has the word Mom in the title!  They know I am doing housework in between baby and dog disasters, right?  Well, it was a bit easier to keep up with, but I was having to double up my days (working part-time, remember?) and many of the "chores" weren't applicable to me (jobs Brandon did like changing filters) or didn't fit into the schedule at the "right" time.  The prime example of this is clipping/ sorting/ filing coupons on Sunday and disposing of expired coupons on Monday.  I hope to not have to work on coupons more than once a week!  The things I did really like about the lists, though, were the "daily chores" section.  Obviously, there are things that have to be done daily like feeding the dogs, making beds, washing dishes, etc.  I liked being able to check these off (but was a little put off that "Read to children" was on my list of daily chores).  I also liked that it included the things that needed to be done regularly but not daily or weekly.  It had items included like flip the mattresses, wash the curtains,  clean out your purse, etc.  I found that I spent a lot of time modifying the list and making excuses for why I wasn't going to do this particular job today.  There was no real order or predictability to the list and I also found it off-putting to have to print the list every week- what a waste of paper and ink!!

So, I continued to flounder.  Keeping things just clean enough for my personal comfort level, but never clean enough to feel comfortable inviting someone into the house if they just stopped by.

I have shared enough for today.  There will be more to come!  Part 2:  No More Excuses!

Oh, and thanks to Miriam at My Country Cupboard for her revealing and honest posts on a similar topic.  Look for posts labeled "My Journey to Homemaking."

  

I'm baaaaaack!

I have been MIA for a couple of months. Life has been busy, pregnancy has been rough and I just haven't made blogging a priority! But, I am back and hopefully I will keep up!

So, what has been taking up all my time?

I have been making baby preparations. If the little one came today, I think I would be ready! My labor bag is not packed completely yet (and Brandon's and Eden's aren't either), but I have a good list. It could all be thrown together pretty quickly, I guess! Other than that, the only big thing we have left is to have the carpets cleaned.

We have been working on the house! We have been working on a mini-facelift on the outside of the house. We are almost done. Brandon re-framed the front door and replaced our storm door. He power washed the house, put up new shutters and painted the trim. The house is now white and black rather than white and blue! It looks great! We plan to paint the front door and change out the front porch lighting before it is all done, but that may not happen before the baby comes. We are just playing it by ear.

We have made it through the first five months of the year, baby prep and a home exterior facelift with NO NEW CONSUMER DEBT!!! We have paid down $7000 of our existing debt! It is so exciting to see the debts disappear!

I'll tell the rest of the story of the past 3 months in photos! Here they are! Enjoy!

In March, we enjoyed the Richmond Auto Show.

Brandon "stole" a fishing kayak from a co-worker for $50!!

In April, we took a cabin trip with some friends! It was a great trip!

Just a couple of weeks later, Eden went cabin camping with Nanny and Grandaddy! She did great and fell in love with hiking! Can't wait to take her this summer!

Eden helped me plant 3 flats of plants and loves to water them with water from our rain barrels! As soon as I can I will take a photo of our beautiful colorful front yard!

Eden and Daddy dyed eggs for Easter! Aren't they beautiful?

We watched as a robin built a nest on our back porch, laid eggs and raised her young. They grew up and flew away way too quickly!

I finished up some sewing projects including a sling for Eden's baby Clem...

... and a crib quilt for the new baby (made of the scraps left over from Eden's quilt)!

Last month, Julie helped me out with this project. It is a belly cast of my big pregnant self! I have plans to paint and decorate it... hoping I can finish it before the baby comes!

Here's my sweet girl and the flowers she chose (all grown in our yard) for my Mother's Day bouquet! The pink rose in the front is an Eden Rose (my mom gave it to me for my first Mother's day) that blooms just in time for Mother's Day each year!

And, finally, we lost a family member. My great aunt Lollie (Mema's oldest sister) passed away just a couple of weeks after her 94th birthday. We were able to celebrate this birthday with her in good health and it will be good to have this as a last memory of a pretty amazing woman!

Pray for Brandon and me as we hope to be making a decision about purchasing her home.

Well, there it is. You are all caught up and hopefully I can keep up from now on!!

Not much time today...

We finally finished the taxes.  It took a little longer with the extra stuff for my business, but we came out okay.  Eden's Garden didn't make much $$ last year, so it ended up not making any difference as my deductions allowed me to not owe any taxes on the business.  We are getting a tax return, and it is gong straight toward debt!

I joined The Grocery Game yesterday.  I am hoping to maximize my grocery store savings.  Some friends are hosting a couponing class this Friday night.  It should be fun!

Well, I have a baby shower to sew for today, but I have to get some things done first, so, gotta go!!! 

Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford!

Looks like something Dave Ramsey would have put out!  So simple... why is it so hard?

Is it Spring yet?

The answer is ... NO!  

I blogged last week from the porch in bare feet and short sleeves, but we live in Richmond where, if you don't like the weather, stick around a day or two!  Sunday night we got some snow!  Well, not just *some* snow, we got 7 inches of snow!  It has been 10 years since we had a snow like this (4 years since we had any accumulation to speak of- 4 inches then, I think).  

This being the first big snow in years, it was Eden's first snow!  She loved it!  Here are some pics to tell the rest of the story!

Eden helping to clean of Daddy's truck!

My beautiful snow princess!

Eden and Daddy playing in the snow!

Eden helped Mama make snowcream!  YUM!

Eden and her snowman "Frosty."

Daddy worked hard to make "frosty."  The snow was very powdery, but he turned out great and Eden loves him!  Yay, Daddy!

Now for the good news... this coming Sunday is supposed to be 65 and Sunny!!!  Come on Spring, I'm ready!!!

Outdoor blogging!

I am composing this particular blog post from the comfort of my front porch rocking chair!  What a way to spend an afternoon.  Eden brought her little rocker out and she is currently sitting next to me sharing her snack of pretzels and singing me a song with words that go something like this... "I dropped my dish, I dropped my dish, in the tree, it fell in the tree..."  The song is because she (surprise, surprise) dropped her dish that was holding her pretzels off the edge of the porch into the azalea bush.  Fortunately this did not upset her and she can sing about it!

Winter has wreaked havoc on my home's curb appeal and I can't wait to get out here and do some heavy-duty clean-up of the flower beds.  Anyone need any vinca vine?  I have lots of daffodils coming up and some with buds on them.  My daylilies are peeking up through the ground as are my iris.  No signs of the dutch iris, yet.  Those are my favorite!  Looking at the grass, the wild onion has shot up all over the place and it could stand to be cut!  I won't point this out to Brandon.  He insists on waiting until one of the neighbors cuts theirs first...

Unfortunately this little glimpse of Spring is going to be short-lived and we will have Winter back by the weekend.  It's time to head in and get supper going.  Hope you got outside today!