Motherhood

What To Do On The Days You Don’t Feel Like Cleaning Your House

Preslaysa, I never have a day where I feel like cleaning my house.

Me too. When I first started using the system, I was all gung ho for the first week. After the second week, my momentum slowed. If I skipped a task, I felt guilty. I began a neverending cycle of human zeal, human willpower, human failure and very human guilt.

Not good.

I’m so glad the Sidetracked Home Executives book had an answer to this.

Just skip it. Yes, skip it. On two conditions:

• You have to write the date you skipped it on the card and file it in the time when it’s due next. For example, file monthly jobs in next month’s slot.
• After you skipped it twice, it has to be done.

There you go, flexibility and freedom rolled into one.

You can smile now.

On Monday, we’ll discuss all those dividers I mentioned in part one.

Mini Job Your Way to a Clean House

So we just wrote each task on a separate index card (color coded of course). See Part 4.  We also estimated the time of each task and wrote “mini” on a card if the task took ten minutes or less.

I call these tasks mini-jobs. I like completing a mini-job on my index card and filing it away. It givers me a psychological boost knowing I’ve completed something (completing things can feel hard to do, especially when you’re a super busy mom).

By the yard it’s hard but, inch by inch, it’s a cinch.

I sprinkle these mini-jobs throughout my day.  While my two year old is eating lunch, I swiffer the floor. If I’m on the phone, I can put up clean dishes. During nap time, I can quickly feather dust the wood furniture or attack a clutter spots. (I have a lot of these!)

Mini-jobs almost makes cleaning exciting.

Not really, but I’m trying to motivate you here.

But mini-jobs do provide a sense of accomplishment.

But then there are those index cards that are real dogs. They stare you in the face and you just can’t muster the willpower to do them. Things like:

• wiping the ceiling fan blades
• cleaning out the refrigerator
• decluttering a closet filled with junk
• cleaning out the garage

What to do when you don’t feel like tackling these tasks? We’ll talk about it on Friday.

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I’ve been busy, busy, busy working around the house. I got one of my every month or so urges to purge and clean. After a few days of trying to sort, organize and toss, I was winded, tired…pooped. Not a good thing.

I want to have a home that runs like a well oiled machine, but that doesn’t always happen. Babies need to get fed. Toddlers need to potty. Moms need to…survive?!?! No way.

Right now, I need to create a second brain for myself. So I mentally went through all the organizational systems, I’ve tried. The only one that worked for me is the Sidetracked Home Executive’s index card system. The way the system works is this: every time I complete a task, I put the card into the next day’s (or next week’s, or next month’s slot).

I pulled out my index card box from my cluttered kitchen drawer and started writing out my daily routine. (I’ll add weekly and monthly later. Baby steps!) Here’s a sample of the cards I’ve written:

• Feed baby in the early a.m. (around 5am)
• Read Bible.
• Journal.
• Take shower and get dressed. (With two small children I have to remind myself to do this!)
• Brush teeth and use flouride rinse. (Another must!)
• Quickly wipe bathroom counter and mirror.
• Quickly swish the toilet with toilet bowl cleanser.
• Make bed.
• Feed baby again. (Around 7:30/8am)
• Pick up clutter around bedroom and toss or put in its place.
• Walk out of bedroom with a load of laundry.
• Make my breakfast shake and take vitamins.
• Drink shake and talk to the toddler. (Hubby is very helpful. He always gets the toddler up in the morning before he leaves for workso the toddler is already in the kitchen dresssed and ready.)
• Go over Bible story and positive words for the day with toddler. (We also say a quick prayer together.)
• Wash breakfast dishes. (I used to have toddler help me unload the dish washer, but now I’m into hand washing dishes. OIf I didn’t hand wash them, I would run out of dishes by the time the dish washer was full enough to turn on.)
• Put in a load of laundry. (I try to remember to have the toddler help me with this as I’m starting to incorporate chore training with him. He helps by simply handing me the clothes. Not a big deal, but it’s a start!)
• Dry Swiffer the floor. (Toddler also helps with this. I have a child sized broom for this. He gets distracted while we’re sweeping up, but I do see a fair amount of dirt on his Swiffer when we’re done!)
• Toddler watches an educational video and I a) write or b) do the family budget or c) feed baby earlier than planned if she’s screaming.
• Feed baby again (if she’s still sleeping, I wake her. This is the late am feeding.) I also do a quick sponge bath for her (When I can remember! I should make an index card called ‘bathe baby’) and dress her for the day.

Etc…

At this season of life, I squeeze in the writing in the mornings and during nap times.  I have a word count goal (if I’m in the drafting/writing stage) or a time goal (if I’m in the planning stages) for writing. I’d like to pound out an evening writing session, but by then I’m trying to make it to bed time!

I have most of my morning routine worked out. I have to work on the other stuff (afternoon, evening routines and weekly/monthly plans). Baby steps!

I like this system because it tells me what to do next when a distraction has occurred that has pulled me off track. And the index card box is small enough that I can carry it around the house. Much better than a big, bulky planner.

Moms: Do you have a planning system to get through your days?

As a child, my mother had a wonderful impact on my life.  People always say a woman can’t raise a man to be a man.  My question is, what defines a man?  My mother instilled several attributes in me that are consistent with not just “manhood”, but humanity.  She taught me to be selfless, responsible, motivated, respectful, and balanced in my actions.  These core values helped me become successful today.  As a Naval Officer and co-founder of RepayVets, these core values have been a guiding force in my life.

My mother displayed selflessness in several ways. I never felt like an only child because we had a continuous stream of family in our home.  My mother understood that it takes a village to raise a child. RepayVets takes on that same selfless model.   We recognize that Veterans will be coming home from deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and they will need jobs.  If they can’t find jobs, they will try their hand at entrepreneurship. We want to rally a crowd of givers willing to help them live out their dreams.  RepayVets recognizes that a dollar is not much, but 1 million people giving 1 dollar can change lives!

My mother was responsible in every sense of the word.  Though she held two jobs most of my life,  she never missed one of my games and she always helped me with my school work.  She was only twenty when she had me, but she filled the duties of two parents.  Her motivation still astonishes me to this day.  About 3 years ago she decided to quit her day job and start her own cleaning service.  Her work ethic and motivation enabled her to succeed.  RepayVets is here today because of my mother’s inspiration. Her actions helped me realize my dreams.

As I mentioned before, no matter how busy her life was she made time for me.  As I was growing up, I witnessed my mother balance more than my favorite juggler at the circus.  She was and still is a mom, friend, aunt, cousin, entrepreneur, sister and all around great individual.  Astonishingly, my mother performed each role extremely well. And I strive for this too. I aim to excel at home and at work without neglecting either. I hope that my wife, colleagues and friends look back on my life one day and feel the same way about me. As far as I am concerned, every day is a Mother’s Day.  Her service to me as a mother and this country as an Army Veteran mean more than words can ever express on this Memorial Day.

 Bio: Lt. Marlon Terrell has a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and a Master’s in Professional Studies, Leadership Development from the University of Maryland, College Park. He currently serves in the United States Navy and is co-founder of RepayVets, an organization which helps veterans become entrepreneurs. He lives in Maryland with his wife, April.

I forgot how much life with an infant forces you to slow down. Taking time with her while simultaneously helping my toddler move through the order of his day has caused me to scale down and focus my energies on the essentials: food and sleep!

Activities I would otherwise get involved with are no longer important. This has been a blessing in disguise. These days, most of my time is spent at home instead of running from one activity to the next. It has given me a lot of time to think.

What season of life are you in? Have you taken the time to scale back your lifestyle and simplify things?

In our day and age, we are often led to make things more complicated than needed. This can lead to stress.

Simpler is better.

My first two weeks with a newborn and an almost two year old at home have been a whirlwind of activity filled with late night feedings, laundry, continued potty training, dishes, etc. Everyone says rest after giving birth, but the ‘Martha’ in me wants to go go go. Thankfully, my body tires out and I nod off for a snooze in the middle of the day. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Now, my focus is on getting some semblance of routine and order to my day. Using the VERY helpful book Managers of Their Homes, I’ve worked out a schedule for me and the rest of the family. Although, we don’t always follow it to a ‘T’ every day, I like having it as a guide. The baby’s schedule (and by default my schedule) will change over the next year as her feeding and sleep needs change, but now we have a base schedule from which to work.

This has been a lifesaver. I highly recommend Managers of Their Homes to overwhelmed moms who are craving some order to their day.

Let’s chat: Do you currently have a routine for your day? What does it consist of?

In getting ready for the arrival of a new baby, I’ve been preparing to hibernate for a few weeks by making freezer meals. The Heavenly Homemakers blog has some great recipes which I recommend. When she posted her meal plan last week, I tried the Italian Pasta Bake. It was delicious.

I’ve been making base “mixes” from which I (or hubby, preferably, hubby!) can make different meals later. Here’s a recipe for a chicken mix for your freezer. After making the mix, you can use the meat to make different meals.

To Make Chicken Mix:

*3-5 pound whole chicken

*Onions

*Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1) Rinse chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper

2) Add 1 medium chopped onion to a crock pot

3) Add chicken to the crockpot nd cook for 12 hours

(P.S. Don’t forget to remove the bag of “stuff” that’s inside the chicken. I forgot to do that last night!)

When the chicken is done, pulled the meat off the bone and put in 1 quart freezer bags, date it and place in the freezer.

Save the bones and the chicken skin to make chiceken broth.

To make chicken broth:

1) Place bones and skin in a large stock pot.

2) Add vegetables of your choosing: chopped onion, celery, carrots. The amount you add is up to you.

3) Fill the stockpot with water.

4) Bring water to a boil, then swtich temperature to very low. Cover and cook on low for 48 hours. You can add water as needed.

5) When the 48 hours are up, strain the broth and dump the bones and veggies in the trash.

6) Freeze broth for later. I freeze it in 1 gallon freezer bags. I double the bags for extra protection.

You can make chicken noodle soup, chicken rice soup, or whatever your chicken dish you come up with.

Have a great Monday.