Being OK with imperfection

Last night, I had a plan. I was going to get up early today, make breakfast for Matt before he left for work, do my quiet time BEFORE the kids woke up, and enjoy some time to myself. Then, the rest of the day was going to be a productive cleaning/organization day. I had an itemized list of everything to be done.

Then, last night happened. You know, the one night that the baby who has been sleeping GREAT at night, decides his tummy hurt all night and didn't want to sleep. So needless to say, mom didn't wake up as early as planned. So dad left for work without a homemade breakfast, my quiet time did not happen before the kids woke, and there was no time to myself. After getting Brody his breakfast, feeding the baby and grabbing a pop-tart for myself (real nutritious, right?) I was able to sneak away to get my reading in. Brody was strapped in his high chair enjoying some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (don't judge me) so I was able to sit back in my room for some quiet time.

My day didn't start off how I planned, but it still came together and hasn't been chaotic like I thought it might be. I have cleaned 2 rooms and organized those 2 closets. As I was changing the sheets on my bed, I was reminded that we need balance in life. I love my house to be clean. I love when my day goes perfectly according to plan. When everything has a place. When my kids act like angels. When I get everything accomplished that I wanted to. But I realized something, these are NOT the most important things in life. We love this blog and its goal is to share ways to accomplish all these things. But its not meant to make anyone feel that our homes are perfect by any means or that your home should be.

What should be more important to me is playing with my children each day. Reading the Bible with Brody. Praying with him. Singing his favorite songs. Loving on Carson. Who cares if I don't get around to mopping the floors today. An imperfect home is a lived in home.

Mama Always Said...

So the last few posts have been about saving money so I thought I'd change it up a bit today and give your brain a rest. I know soaking up info about saving money and using coupons can be overwhelming. So I wanted to switch gears to housework. I know that most people probably hate this topic even more..or at least its equal to the money topic. (Unless you're like LA and I who get a high from saving money and organizing our homes. I am actually getting so addicted to finding good deals that I want to go to the g-store like everyday now! But that's not today's topic) 

So..housework. Some love it, some hate it. For those of you that hate it and just want to hurry up and get it over with, I wanted to share a major tip with you that has really helped me. I say that I like doing things around my house...but let me be more specific. I like organizing, decorating, re-organizing :) , and I like when everything is in its place and my house feels clean. I enjoy those things. However, I don't necessarily enjoy sweeping, mopping, scrubbing toilets, washing dishes, etc. But I do them to because its just part of being a SAHM and helper to my husband. And its just gross if you don't. So, to help me get those necessary, but not so fun chores out of the way..I have a system. Here it is:

1. It must be naptime.

2. Turn on the iHome. (if you have an ipod, you must have an ihome so you can rock out at home..or you could just turn on your itunes on your computer.)

3. Make a list of the cleaning I need to get done 

4. THE MOST CRUCIAL STEP FOR ME - SET A TIME LIMIT FOR EACH TASK. This is where the title of this post comes in. My mom always did this and passed this on to me. And it seriously helps tremendously. I write down a time limit next to each chore and I must complete it in this time period. If I think it will take 15 minutes to clean the kitchen, 10 for the living room, etc, I write that next to each thing. If I want everything done in 1 hour, then the total of all the tasks will equal an hour. And then I stick to it. Its really cool how fast I can get things done when I know there's a clock. I even set my kitchen timer. This really prevents me from getting distracted and wandering over to the computer, or worse, moving to another room before finishing one. This is a bad habit I have bc I'll bring something to another room to put away, and get distracted with things that need to be done in that room. But if I know I only have 5 minutes left for the original room I was working on, it encourages me to put away the item and get back to what I was doing. I can seriously get my entire house very clean in a short amount of time. (My house isnt very big, but you get my point!) If I get finished before my time is up, I just move on to the next room sooner and get finished with everything sooner. 

I know everyone has a different system for getting their cleaning done. Some don't even give it this much thought haha. But I'm a system person. I need structure and organization. And music. I love music. 

Do any of you do something specific that encourages you to get the monotonous, routine housework done? Please share! 

Perfection?

Sorry it's been a while..we had another hurricane to deal with.

Last night there was NOTHING on tv, so we were watching Wife Swap. If you've ever seen it before, you know its ridiculous most of the time. They choose 2 extemes and have them switch families. A lot of times its Christians vs Satan Worshippers. Or drill sgt mothers vs mothers with no rules at all. Last night's episode was similar to that...one mother's home was literally PERFECT and her children spent all their waking hours doing chores. The other mother had no respect from her children and her home was a pig sty. It was nasty. As I was watching, it made me think. The first home looked so bland and cold. It was so spotless and perfect and the children had no fun in the home. Not a fun place to live. I wondered if there are really homes like that. How do you have children in a home and expect it to look like that all the time?

I don't want anyone that reads this blog to get the idea that my home is spotless and perfect all the time. I bet all the authors of homemaking blogs would want you to know the same thing. I don't have a perfect home because we LIVE in our home. We have fun in our home, we play with our child in our home, and we leave his toys out (because its not worth cleaning them up every 5 minutes when he loses interest..he's 8 months old!) I don't even make our bed everyday bc no one even goes into our bedroom during the day.

Yes, I like a clean home and an organized home. But there's a huge difference in clean and organized..and insanity. Being a good homemaker does not mean slaving over cleaning your house all day. There's way more important things than a spotless home. How will your children remember you? As the mother who read to them, shared Jesus with them, got on the floor and played with them..or the mother who was frazzled all day as she ran from room to room scrubbing floors with a toothbrush?

Did anyone else see the show last night? Also, is anyone trying to find that balance between having a clean home but being ok with it not being perfect? I would love to hear your stories!

Spring Cleaning for Normal People - Anytime of the Year

That's the title of the ebook that Simple Mom has written. She compiled 68 pages of helpful info regarding spring cleaning and how to do it in 10 days without going insane. Did you know spring cleaning doesn't have to be done in the spring? Who knew?!

It's only $7 and very worth it. I bought it this morning, printed it out, put it in my home management planner and have read about half of it. It is VERY helpful and practical. Definitely worth the $$. She has checklists and templates for you to keep track. Don't take my word for it. Head on over to her site right now to at least check out what she has to say about it.