First off I'll give you the exciting news... this baby MOVES!!! A few days ago I felt this totally random spasm in my uterus, and ever since then there have been no more little flutters or tickles, just full on rolls and kicks! I love this time in pregnancy, it is comparable to getting to know a new boyfriend... you feel each other out, can I get away with pushing back? how will he/she respond? Can I talk to make you more interested baby? Are you an early bird or a night owl? Will you respond well when I pick on you? I love this! It is like playing puzzles with a human! and a fresh one too... I'm the first person to get to know you baby!
Ok and as exciting as that was I've got a lot of other things to talk about... 1. I'm going on an adventure tomorrow! so exciting.. I have to remember so many things though and due to the above mentioned little person I'm getting to know I have NO energy to prepare! Honestly I wanted a shower YESTERDAY and still have not taken one yet today and it is nearly 11pm, but that isn't just because of energy, it is also because....
I'm getting back on track with my house. For 11 weeks it fell apart, only getting cleaned by friends/acquaintances who took pity on me while I hurled and tried to keep food down and not pass out on the floor, BUT a few weeks ago I started light, just getting my laundry back on track, then moved on to my kitchen, then the kitchen was constantly clean despite the fact that I can now cook again and was doing so as often as possible, for a whole week, so I moved on to the living room, which lets be honest is probably the easiest room to clean but I was ignoring it for so long to get those real problem areas under control... and I DID IT!!!!
I could totally have a party for myself if I had the energy! But because I don't have the energy I have been sitting in the middle of a pile of folded laundry that just needs to be put back in the basket... staring at the pile of things that I need to put in a bag and another pile of things that need to go in the car to prepare for tomorrow.... but I'm not motivated to do it.. I'm tired, I want to go to sleep RIGHT NOW... but I know that like the last 4-5 nights I'll exhausted climb into my bed and lay wide awake until 2am... and then feel like I've wasted so much time, so instead I'm sitting here in the above mentioned pile of folded laundry telling you how tired I am.
So for your pleasure and entertainment I'm going to share my 'household chores schedule' which I honestly can't remember but I may have shared it before.. it is just that it works so AWESOME that everyone should have one of these, mine or some other one doesn't matter, just get on a schedule and follow your routine and you'll be amazed how much more smoothly your household runs... of course you also have to remember that it is still hard work to keep a household clean so give yourself a break if you don't meet your goals, just do your best!
My schedule!
Monday- (My son's first name starts with the letter closest to the beginning of the alphabet so it seemed right that I would start with him....)
*Wash that boy's laundry
*encourage and guide him in cleaning his room (all the way down to vacuuming and washing the window when it needs it)
And every day has a few D's... so while there is no order to my day I do things as I get to them and here are the daily D's
Dishes
Dirty Floors (if it is a floor and it looks dirty I take care of it, if not I say forget it)
Dirty Surfaces (table, counter tops, stove top)
Tuesday- (starts with a T... lets go with it)
*TOWELS (wash them, dry them, hang them where they need hanging and fold those that need putting away)
*Bathroom (I have two bathrooms and I hate cleaning them, but I stole some ideas from Flylady who I think would be proud of me)
-dry washcloth to the mirrors (sure Windex would work but I've been cutting chemicals so I only use vinegar and water and then only when it really needs it)
- same wash cloth to the sink, counter tops, and faucet (with added water now)
- same washcloth to the toilet... (yep toilet!)
- use a scrubby thing to the inside of the toilet
- sweep floor
-take out trash
- mop down the floor with a different wash cloth (I could use the same one but that seems nasty)
Since I'm already in the bathroom this works as a great time to bathe the kids, so the tub gets a quick scrub down too and the kids take turns bathing while I clean the rest of the room.
And don't forget the Daily D's mentioned in Monday
Wednesday- (what would go better on Wednesday than WE)
*Hubby and I's laundry
*Clean my bedroom (currently I've only achieved this once since getting pregnant and you can imagine it is pretty far behind, set reasonable goals for yourself, you don't have to get everything done in one week, it will still be there next week)
- make your bed! (new sheets are a plus)
- pick up the floor
-vacuum
-wash any mirrors
-clean off your dresser
- make an effort to organize the closet
DAILY D's!
Thursday (I've got nothing cute about this day)
after all the hard work you've done you deserve to have a day of less stress... this is your 'catch up or get ahead day.
Daily D's
If you missed laundry at all this week catch up, if not think ahead to your weekend, is it particularly busy? is there anything in Friday or Saturday that you could do now that would benefit you?
Oh and just because you can't have a day without some sort of extra chore, mop your kitchen floor.
Friday- My daughter's Nickname as you've probably noticed starts with F... it's her turn!
*Do her laundry
*Help and encourage her to clean her room (don't forget the windows and the vacuuming)
DAILY D's
Saturday (it starts with S... can you guess?)
*Wash the sheets! Did you notice on any of those days earlier in the week that some sheets needed to be changed? hopefully you already changed them but if not go strip the beds and wash those sheets...
Daily D's
Sunday
Come on! EVERYONE gets a day off... you do too! TAKE IT!!! If you fell behind last week, don't worry about it, you'll have the same schedule next week and you've lived this long without having done it... go to church, take the kids to the park, DON'T DO ANY DAILY D's either... you deserve to rest!
Ok... so you see by the end of the week my house is pretty well taken care of, I've cleaned the bathroom (by the way I only clean one per week and rotate them each week), all the bedrooms are clean, the living room and kitchen have been cleaned every day when doing your daily D's.... you've done a great job and your house looks awesome!
There are several things like dusting, and cleaning main room windows and things like that, that I didn't mention, and to be honest they don't get done that often in my home, but that is because 1. I like my kids and like spending time with them more than I like dusting and 2. When I find that I didn't have a lot to do in the kitchen, or when Thursday rolls around and I don't have any reason to get ahead of myself this makes a perfect time to get those extras that otherwise get ignored.
Ok.. I'm done boasting... I do however want to say that this schedule that works so wonderfully for me and makes me so excited to keep going on... it came from the same dark place that this blog came from. When I was stuck in PTSD from my daughter's birth I found I needed concrete goals and started with a simple approach to keeping up my laundry... I didn't accomplish it all in one week, (I didn't this time either after having been sick so long)... I took it slow, found what worked for my family, and went with it... and once I mastered ONE task I moved on to another without dropping the first one. Flylady is an awesome resource for teaching that sort of thing, she starts with just shining your sink... absolutely no other task the first day! I was annoyed by her approach and decided to alter it slightly to make my goals a little better in the beginning... and since I cared less about dishes than I did about having clean clothes I started there.
Seriously take some time for yourself, figure out what works and GO WITH IT... and DON'T GIVE UP!
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