Mama's Checklist

Finish the laundry,
Feed the brood,
Model a good attitude.

Pray for wisdom,
Help them obey,
Show affection every day.

If these tasks are all complete,
my occupation is obsolete.

  

I Get Distracted.

This is why I never get any housework done.

I make noble plans to have my house clean and give the boys a choice after daily chores are done:  "You may either stay inside and earn money by helping me or you may go outside and play."

Of course, they choose to play.  But soon, one of them comes in with a question like, "May I put some water in this bottle?  It already has sand in it, and I want to see what happens when I put water in it too." (They have to ask before they play in water.  It's frustrating when all the tennis shoes are soaking wet when we set out to go somewhere.)

I not only comply with the water request, but, to his delight, I add an almost-empty bottle of food coloring.  Now, if I were diligent with my household duties, I would send him on his way and get some serious work done.  But I just can't.  I have to watch him experiment and witness his joy of discovery.  Then I have to go to the computer and journal it so I don't ever forget.  I learn more than he does when I watch him.

And the housework remains undone.

I like my laundry room. I love my husband.

I think Flylady is the one who said, "Nothing says I love you like a drawer full of clean underwear."  Or something like that. Apparently The Husband believes that is true, because

• He went through the motions of doing laundry with me just so we could figure out the most efficient setup for our new laundry room.
• He sold all his scrap metal for the purpose of remodeling the laundry room.
• He put in several late nights and a couple of weekends to make my utility room very useful and very pretty.

I have always loved the fact that my house has a dedicated laundry room, but I have never set it up so that I could use it to its full potential.  Another big challenge is that our laundry room is a storage room also.  We only have one large closet in the whole house.  And one more thing.  Why can't the room in which I spend so much time be pretty?

BEFORE view from the hallway:

In short, it was overused and under-appreciated.

My system:  Dirty clothes went in the navy sorter and white hampers on the right (I was over sorting), and clean clothes went from dryer into appropriate baskets (one basket for each room).  Then I carried the baskets into the appropriate room and folded and put up in one step.  I liked my system, but I didn't like the mess it made (notice the baskets lined up in front of the dryer).

BEFORE looking left from doorway:

The husband's three major complaints were that the full-size door stole precious space inside the room, the ugly water heater was too visible, and that the hanging rod was pieced-together old shower curtains.

BEFORE looking right from doorway:

 

My two major requests: 

• I wanted the shelf storage to be more organized and calm-looking.
• I had a picture in my mind of a shelf system for my clean laundry baskets.  I did not even borrow this idea from Pinterest, thank you very much!  The closest thing I found online was this pin.

This is what we came up with.

AFTER view from hallway.

1.  It's pretty.  It is amazing what a coat of paint or two will do for a room.  The curtains and matching shelf brackets help, too.

2.  Quad sorter on the left limits sorting to everyday (towels, jeans, underwear, etc.), dark nice, and light nice with one hamper for special items (dry clean, hand wash, etc.).  I plan to label the hampers so anyone can sort the laundry!

3.   The door is gone.  We plan to put in a bifold door so we can close the door on the room but still save space.  We just haven't found one yet that is sturdy enough.

 AFTER looking to right

4.  The water heater is hidden by a curtain hanging on a swinging rod similar to this from Lowe's.

AFTER looking to left

5.  We put in a pretty curtain rod and brackets for a hanging rod.  It is much smaller and fits the purpose of  a temporary hanging space.

6.  I bought black file boxes and white stackable storage baskets from Wal-Mart so that everything goes into a box.

AFTER looking to right

My favorite storage solution is this mini chest of drawers that holds safety pins (for socks), batteries, string, clothespins, etc., etc.  There are now no random bowls and containers collecting dust and cluttering the space!

 7.  Finally, these are my roll-out shelves for clean laundry.  I can fold clothes into these baskets from the counter top or (more likely) stuff unfolded clothes into the appropriate basket and take the basket to the room where the clean laundry belongs.  I don't fold most of our towels and wash cloths anyway. By the way, if anyone needs extra-long drawer slides for a similar project, let me know.  We accidentally bought ten sets from Amazon and only used four.

I say I am spoiled.  The Husband says I am just well taken care of. 

Remember how I said I spent so much time in this room?  It's ironic that now that the room is efficient, I don't have to spend much time in it at all.

Preview

I am planning a lengthy post soon. Very soon, I hope. For now, I'll present Exhibit A as a clue to what I'm planning.

Yep. That's my laundry.

Embarrassing.

In my defense, this was on an unusually bad day.

Pinterest might be worth more than wasted time.

Pin It


 Hurrah for me completing my first Pinterest project!

Inspiration for this menu board came from Once Upon a Chocolate Chip Pancake.

 

There is a clothespin for each day of the week and five weeks worth of menu cards.

 

On the back of each menu card is an ingredient list for easy shopping list compilation.

The plan is to use the cards out of one box then put them in the second box.  After all the cards are used from the first box, we will rotate through the ones in the second box again.


Why I am excited about it:
1.  It's like E-mealz but customized for me and my freezer full of beef and pork.
2.  Variety might be limited with only five weeks worth of menu cards (hope to make more soon), but I am excited about the simplicity.  (The Husband might be asking, "What variety?" in his mind, but, bless his heart, he would never say that outloud.)  We have the same basic meals all the time anyway, and nobody complains.
3.  It's not as ugly as my grease-spattered paper magneted to the vent-a-hood.

Ways I tweaked it:
1.  I used leftover wrapping paper instead of scrapbook paper.
2.  I used stamps for the days of the week.
3.  Obviously, mine is simple in design.  But you would expect that from me.  I am not known for my artistic abilities.

Besides the frame ($8 at T.J. Maxx) and the crayon boxes (I needed the crayons for another project), I used supplies from around the house.

I fell in love with Mod Podge and felt accomplished in a crafty sort of way, but the accomplished feeling vanished when I attempted the next Pinterest project...I hope the recipients of our Valentines cast as mantle of charity on my poor, artistically challenged soul.

I plan to start a Pinterest board of completed projects and successful activities.  Maybe the fulness or emptiness of that board will keep me accountable for the time I spend browsing.

Shared with

What works...and what doesn't.

What Works:
Assigning "Fling one thing from your room" as a daily chore.
What Doesn't:
Telling the boys to clean out the toy closet all in one day...or even fling 10 things at a time. Way too overwhelming.
I have been lax on enforcing this chore until this week. After a week of two kids each flinging one a day, I can already breathe a little easier.
I need to make a trip to Savers.

What I swept up from the school room floor:

Shared with Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Coupon Confession

WARNING:  If you are under the impression that I am an ideal keeper of my home and a frugal manager of our family's finances and would like to stay under this illusion impression, please stop reading now.  You might find the text below outrageously shocking.

I quit clipping coupons, and I threw away my homemade organization system.

Too much clutter.  Too much time. 

The savings were great when I was vigilant, as I was for about a year.  It is still hard to buy things like razor cartridges, snack foods, etc. without coupons because I know how cheap they can get.  But I started measuring the cost of those "cheap" items by more than currency around the time I started planning for this school year.  The time and attention it took to get those deals was costly for me, especially when I was faced with the time-consuming and higher-priority homeschool.

I was relieved to finally make a conscious decision to stop trying to get back into it, but I still had a guilty feeling sometimes, especially when I went shopping and when I read blogs of good wives who seem to do it all.

Ironically enough, the encouragement that I needed to finally let go came from Money Saving Mom, a coupon queen!  Her article, Lower Your Grocery Bills Without Clipping Coupons, was great.  I shop at Aldi's.  I use a menu plan.  I'm okay.  I need reminders like this to help keep perfectionism (which, for me, equals guilt) from rearing its ugly head.

Maybe I will be able to clip coupons again someday.  In the meantime, I'll just keep on doing my best with what I've got to work with at this moment.  I will also assign that nifty Sterilite container (the old coupon box) a more meaningful purpose.



Shared with WLWW.

Confessions

I don't fold wash cloths.

I don't fold the boys' bath towels or hand towels.

I don't fold boys' underwear.

I don't fold dish cloths and towels.

A year ago, I decided that I would rather have clean towels unfolded in a basket in the bathroom where they belong than unfolded in the laundry room where they don't belong.

It works for me.

One day when I don't have little kids to teach, feed, clean up after, and be entertained by, maybe I will start folding again.

Shared with Works for Me Wednesday.

Confessions

I spent half of last night on a pallet on the floor in my bathroom with a coughing, vomiting 3-year-old.  (The steamed-up bathroom was the only thing that calmed his cough a little.)  On most days, this might have been gross.  But last night it was not, which leads to my confession.

I have hired my sisters to take turns coming for two hours a week and help with my weekly "Quick Clean." (For my fellow flybabies, this would be my version of the Weekly Home Blessing.)

It makes me happy.  And relieved.  And energized to do Zone work throughout the week. 

Thank you, Husband of mine, for insisting we work this into the budget.  I don't deserve you.

Or maybe I should say I'm sorry for letting the house get to the point that you should insist we work this into the budget.  No.  The other way sounds better.  Thank you.

Miraculous and Versatile Steak Bites

I made steak bites for supper last night.  Probably the best way on Earth to cook steak.  The boys cleaned their plates as they always do with this meal.  Oh, yes, and Thing2 even ate some salad for the first time ever.  The Husband and I were riveted as he took a bite, chewed and swallowed, then reached for another.  But wait!  That's not all!  He asked for a second serving.  I attribute this miracle to good will prompted by the steak bites.  And A1 sauce.  And Ranch. 

You might like to know that The Husband says steak bites are good with eggs and waffles for breakfast.  From now on, I will make enough steak bites to warm up for breakfast the next day.  Steak and eggs sounds very hearty and cowboyish; however, I opted for my ever-familiar Raisin Bran this morning.

Like I said, I thought you might like to know.

Observations From our First Morning of Routines

Yesterday I introduced routine cards to the boys. I prepared these cards to be used in the mornings and evenings before and after "school" time. In the past, I have tried charts that are marked off each day of the week. I find that, at age 5, Thing 1 is just now beginning to be able to be motivated by something in that format. As for 3yo Thing 2, forget it. He just does't get the process. Credit belongs to Sue Patrick's Workbox System and Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations for this idea.

This is Thing 2's chart. At this point, he had done all his morning chores and could easily tell he was finished because the list was white! Amazing! As the kids complete a task, they turn over the tag (Velcro on both sides so I don't lose any). All I had to do was turn them back over after they went to bed last night so they could start again this morning. It helped them progress from one task to the next easily, and it seemed like they had so much more fun playing after they were "free." Maybe it was coincidence, but they played hard yesterday without asking for my help as much as usual.

This is Thing 1's list. It has one more task than Thing 2's. Of course he is more mature than the 3yo, but this is working splendidly for him as well. It helps him to be much more independent. Thing 1 needs to learn to be independent.

Lastly, and completely unrelated to this post, here's a video of happy playtime yesterday. Just kidding. Can't get it uploaded. How about a picture instead?

Chores and the Tools That Make Them Fun

I know chores can't always be fun...but it sure helps when they are. One of Thing1's chores is to deliver the laundry from around the house to the laundry room. The other day I bought a laundry hamper with wheels and a handle. Since then, both boys have been looking for laundry to deliver. I love it.

The husband would agree that another theory this proves is that the right tools make all the difference. It's true for a mechanic, a cook, a teacher, and for a little boy learning to pull his weight.

To do list...

1. Shelf and bins for boys room to organize toys, sheets, clothes, and anything else that clutters the house....Check. One item on my long list of home improvements before school begins in earnest is done.

2. Shelf and cabinets for "school room" to organize the growing mounds of books lining the walls....Pending. John is building them now. I can't wait!!!!