Not today. Today I realized every room but my son's is picked-up. He is there playing right now, and could have it clean in 5 minutes. Also, my dishes are clean. There's no sink piled high. I "actually" cleaned the house on Monday (very quickly- a quick vacuum and dust) Wow- I was thinking to myself this morning- what a transformation!
Now, honestly, part of this transformation is really the kids. Instead of having an infant, which has been the case the last 3 1/2 years, I now have a 2 year old and a 3 year old. And they both sleep through the night :) Two toddlers sounds, to some, like a lot of work (sounds like heaven to those of you with 4, I know ;) I find them to be a ton less work now that they play together, can feed themselves and (the newest task mastered) can put on their shoes by themselves. Anyway, the point is much of my change was outside of my control. Especially the sleep part. I love sleep. I so missed it for so long. Having sleep (and getting to drink coffee again after a 3 year hiatus during the consecutive pregnancy, nursing, pregnancy and nursing years) makes me a lot happier. And more energetic. Not that I would ever consider myself energetic. Just more energy than before. Before was a tired time. So so tired.
What was I talking about? Oh yeah. My transformation.
So, some of the change came from life changes, but some came in the inspiration from, specifically 2, websites/blogs.
I've mentioned them before, but I certainly need to mention them. Again. This time in more detail. Lucky you.
I discovered Flylady.com 3 1/2 years ago right after my son was born and I started staying at home. She has a couple major points that have stuck with me. The most life-altering was that we've heard "If you can't do something right, don't do anything at all" throughout our lives by well meaning parents. This is intended to teach a child a certain work ethic- which I certainly agree with. It doesn't, I don't think, necessarily translate into the adult world where we have so much to do everyday. Lots of things need to just get done. Not done perfectly, just done. Flylady has more of a "Just Do It" mentality than a "Do it perfectly or you have failed so you shouldn't bother doing it at all" that I had before. Another part of the "Just Do It" mentality is that few things around the house take as long as we think they will. Unloading the dishwasher for example. I. Hate. It. Hate. Doing. It. Occasionally I'll time myself and discover that it only took 5 minutes. Why on earth was I so avoiding a task that doesn't physically hurt me, and is only a 5 minute one?
Flylady also has habits she wants you to develop. One is the swish and swipe, where I keep shampoo in the toilet wand holder and swish
The other major instrument of change and inspiration is missminimalist.com I discovered her right before we moved in June. Something clicked in my little lazy brain. Wait a minute, I thought, less stuff = less to pick up/less to organize/less to keep track of/less to clean/less to find places for. I need to jump on this bandwagon immediately! I did, as I was packing, toss/donate a bunch of stuff. The big overhaul, though, was after the move. I only unpacked as needed (the kitchen, the clothes, the kids favorite toys first, everything else stayed boxed until I decided I needed it, then I would unpack that box) After a few months I realized how many boxes I hadn't even looked at, nor even though about what was in them. I went through all those boxes and donated a ton of stuff. We can actually get in the closets. The kids don't have so many toys they don't know what to do. We can pick-up the house in 5-10 minutes. Its wonderful. We also pared down our furniture. It makes our space seem bigger without so much stuff.
So there you have it. My lazy journey in organization and a "clean" house. It continues :)
