I've been convicted strongly lately that I'm not really holding up my end of the bargain here. I'm using this pregnancy thing way too much as a poor excuse as to why dinner wasn't ready today, or why our bedroom is so unorganized or...whatever. I keep expecting Del to just shut down on me and become resentful but he hasn't. He keeps showering me with love and admiration and encouragement and patience. I don't deserve it, but boy am I ever grateful for such faith in me. This really all speaks heavily to our relationship with God and his faithfulness to us despite our constant failings and betrayals. I love seeing the much larger picture of God's love for us played out in my own marriage with Del's love for me, despite my failings. It's amazing.
Anyway, I did so well on Friday. And then on Saturday it (whatever that is) all came crashing down around me and continued on to Sunday. Then for some reason this morning I'm back on the wagon again. I don't get it. There are two main things that I think contributed to my lack of function on the weekend.
1) Del's home. Can't he pick up the slack?
2) The TV is on a lot more.
As to the first, I don't get a vacation on the weekend just because Del's home. Whether he's home or not the house is still my domain. The dishes still must be cleaned, the kids fed, the laundry done and general order kept in the house. I cannot "check out" just because I have back up. Plus, this isn't Del's domain. The poor man has no idea what my daily routine is so how is he to be expected to maintain it when he's home on the weekends?
The second. Basically this weekend we watched the Ryder Cup and football. All. Day. Long. While riveting and interesting, the television is a time sap, an energy sap and a waste of time, generally. I've read many articles about why we should just chuck out TV into the dump, and truthfully often I find that to be the most appealing choice. But I honestly can't do that because we like to relax watching mindless action flicks and let the kids watch VeggieTales and stuff like that. My big problem with the TV is that I don't control the time factor very well. It starts to become part of the family when it should just be a temporary distraction. Hmmm....
But anyway, the point of this post is that this morning I was about to go on a mad clean up since I did so little over the weekend when I recalled a little tidbit I read over at Terry's. Basically she said she makes a small list of things to accomplish for herself everyday and keeps it that simple. That's a pretty good idea, I think and I've been contemplating the strategy every since she first posted about it. The list is the "must do" and anything else is icing on the cake.
I made this list for myself today:
- school
- dinner
- read to Sarah
- laundry
- straighten my bedroom
So far, I've done dinner and the laundry and half of school. Plus I made scones, cleaned up the kitchen and got the girls to CLEAN UP THEIR ROOM. Bonus. I think I'll try this method for a while. Maybe it'll stick. I know that dinner should be just a foregone conclusion, but often if I don't remind myself to prepare for dinner, dinner ends up being eggs and toast...again. AND, I must make this list the night before. It's motivation for me to get out of bed.
On a totally different topic: we did go see the house again this weekend. I can hardly believe that in just a few weeks this will be our house. We picked out a dishwasher, microwave, range and refrigerator for the kitchen. We might need to get the countertops replaced. I know those seem really expensive, but it's cheaper than remodeling the entire kitchen and with the range and microwave it will be like having three ovens. I CAN'T WAIT! It'll be so fun to be able to bake/cook many things at once instead of waiting until one is done so I can do another. Plus, we won't pay full price for any of them.
Speaking of countertops, what do you like? I know that granite is all the rage these day but I just don't get it. It's terribly expensive and bad, bad, bad for your knives!!! I sort of like Corian. What would you put in if you could have your choice of countertops?
Showing posts with label household responsibilities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label household responsibilities. Show all posts
Monday, September 22, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
So Happy I Could Cry
Do you know I like to start things but not finish them. Take for instance the laundry. I have no problem whatsoever putting clothes in the washer, transferring to the dryer, folding even ironing. But I abhor putting clothes away.
Then there's the dishes. My most avoided, hated chore is emptying the dishwasher. This is so irrational, I know, but I avoid it terribly. The dishes pile up all day long because every time I go into the kitchen I know that I must empty the dishwasher in order to take care of the new dirty dishes and since I can't stand doing it I just leave the kitchen and ignore it. Isn't that TERRIBLE!!!
Well, all those years of waiting and training have paid off. Ella can now empty the ENTIRE dishwasher all by herself. Even all the dishes in the high shelves. I could seriously cry over this. People have been telling me for years that this period I'm in is the hardest part of being a mother of many young children and that once they get older it'll get easier. I was starting to not believe them. God bless Ella's heart. I can hardly believe it. She's growing up and she really is enjoying taking on more responsibilities in the house. Vacuuming and laundry sometimes and now the dishwasher. She even likes to clean the bathroom.
I'm going to go cry now.
Then there's the dishes. My most avoided, hated chore is emptying the dishwasher. This is so irrational, I know, but I avoid it terribly. The dishes pile up all day long because every time I go into the kitchen I know that I must empty the dishwasher in order to take care of the new dirty dishes and since I can't stand doing it I just leave the kitchen and ignore it. Isn't that TERRIBLE!!!
Well, all those years of waiting and training have paid off. Ella can now empty the ENTIRE dishwasher all by herself. Even all the dishes in the high shelves. I could seriously cry over this. People have been telling me for years that this period I'm in is the hardest part of being a mother of many young children and that once they get older it'll get easier. I was starting to not believe them. God bless Ella's heart. I can hardly believe it. She's growing up and she really is enjoying taking on more responsibilities in the house. Vacuuming and laundry sometimes and now the dishwasher. She even likes to clean the bathroom.
I'm going to go cry now.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
The Flylady Has Flown
Well, I hate to admit it, but I think I am going to unsubscribe to my Flylady group. I was so gung-ho about this in the beginning, but I think now I have deleted each and every one of the 600 e-mails she has sent me this last month without even reading one word of any of them first. What happened? For me, I found that I can create hot spots much faster than 15 minutes of work can put them out. I have to do in-depth cleaning in one chunk, or it will never get finished. I am a starter, not a finisher. So if I am constantly told, "You only have to do 15 minutes, then stop!" I think, "Great! I don't have to finish anything! Woo-hoo!" It just doesn't work for me.
I have had some take-aways, though. I do a load of laundry every day. Some days I may skip if we are out the whole day, but then the next day I do two. This has really helped me not get overwhelmed by having six loads to do at once. I also now clean the dishes lots more often. I don't let them pile up for days on end, which I am ashamed to admit I used to do. I don't shine my sink every day, but I do make sure the porcelain doesn't get all scratched up and the faucet is dried off after I use it - oh, and I put away my drainboard between washings. That is something Jerry really loves! He hated having the drainboard constantly on the counter top. Other than that, I still do the majority of my housecleaning on Thursdays - because on Thursday night, I have my church small group meeting in my home. It does make for a bit of chaos on Thursdays, but chaos makes me finish what I start. So, for now, I have learned to embrace the chaos.
How about you? Is you sink still shiny?
I have had some take-aways, though. I do a load of laundry every day. Some days I may skip if we are out the whole day, but then the next day I do two. This has really helped me not get overwhelmed by having six loads to do at once. I also now clean the dishes lots more often. I don't let them pile up for days on end, which I am ashamed to admit I used to do. I don't shine my sink every day, but I do make sure the porcelain doesn't get all scratched up and the faucet is dried off after I use it - oh, and I put away my drainboard between washings. That is something Jerry really loves! He hated having the drainboard constantly on the counter top. Other than that, I still do the majority of my housecleaning on Thursdays - because on Thursday night, I have my church small group meeting in my home. It does make for a bit of chaos on Thursdays, but chaos makes me finish what I start. So, for now, I have learned to embrace the chaos.
How about you? Is you sink still shiny?
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