Scott always says that parening Lucy is like having me for a kid. SHE IS MESSY:
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| no bed sheets because they are in the wash...yes, she does sleep on sheets! |
I'm not going to make up excuses (like she does) or apologize (like she doesn't). Truth is, I need to teach her some organizational skills and I need to learn some MYSELF. I keep house like I think.
We were cleaning Asher's room and I was looking at his ghetto, broken lamp. I decided he needed a Star Wars lamp for Christmas. I was going downstairs to throw something big away in the kitchen trash and stopped at the computer to google "Star Wars Lamp". I GET SO DISTRACTED!
OK, tell me. How do YOU clean? How do you keep your house clean? If it isn't, what is the major thing that keeps it from being clean? One of the hardest things for me to deal with is the kids' school papers. I will not keep them all, but I like to keep the cute things, but then everything gets so cluttered. #firstworldproblem
Spill your secrets! Comment on this post or "Like" Finding Wonder in the Mundane on Facebook. Up for grabs today is this movie, which is $15 on Amazon:
Give me your cleaning tips!
An aside: We did not take the 2 and 8 year old, though our new friends have them and I am so excited these kiddos get to be blessed to be in this family! The 11 month old was only going to be respite and the case worker found someone else before I got a chance to call back. If I weren't so cheap and actually had a cell phone, that might have helped...
12 comments:
I get very distracted, if I am in a cleaning mood I really have to stay focused or the internet will call me away or a shopping trip to the store or a quick 'scan' on the tv. Like now for instance I am supposed to be wrapping presents so why am I on the computer? Because ideas for a new blog came and they must be written down. Then one thing lead to another.
It does eventually get done.
There just needs to be a balance between letting your kiddos be kids, be a wee bit disorganized, a wee bit messy, yet teaching them to not live in an insect infested room. :) Since i know my kids aren't the cleanest, I have always said that food is not allowed. This way, there may be a mess, but we won't have ants, mold, or nasty stuff, just clutter and dust. Don't get too worried about it. I know I'm not. :)
I'm typically a disaster! Papers everywhere! I started on this "journey" with a family binder. Yeah pinterest I'm looking at you. I started organizing paperwork and realized I'm a paper hoarder. I got a recycling bin and some extra folders. Each child has their own folder for their school paperwork. I sort through as it comes in the house and keep only the ones I think are special. Everything else goes in the recycle bin. I started buying baskets at goodwill on 135th and Mur-Len, and designated them for each person. I pick up and place their things in their basket. If it doesn't get put away, then I put it in the trash. Unless it's an ipod or something that is worth a lot of money, then they have to earn it back... it didn't take long. I printed out daily cleaning cards, one for each day of the week, and I keep them out where I can see them. Today was Master bedroom/bathroom day. I clean during naptime. I scour organization blogs and pin every piece of advice I think might work in my house. Come check me out.... yogabeans.blogspot.com
my house is currently a mess and is always on the messy side.
Ben's room looks worse. He loves to be surrounded my junk! I hope it's not a sign of mental illness! Anyway, I'm probably more ADD than you are. I jump from project to thought to project. There's nothing wrong with that! It's okay not to be Type A!! Space Buddies was a good movie, I ordered it for Christmas - along with all the other buddies. :)
One of my sister's daughters keeps the papers, then every so often she and her child go through the papers and decide what to keep - and then they are scanned for safekeeping. The originals are recycled. You can keep almost everything and it takes virtually no space.
Really my house isn't clean and the thing that keeps it from being clean is a few things 4 people specifically. As far as the cute school work, take a picture of each cute thing as you decide it is going to be something you want to keep then see if Scott or a Grandparent will get each of the kiddos a digital frame as they enter preschool load pictures onto the card and voila you get to keep the pictures of the cute projects they bring home.
My house always feels messy to me, but I try to focus first on cleanliness issues, not clutter issues. (I take out trash before I clear clutter off the table for example) I am big on finishing things, I hate to feel like something will never be finished. So it helps me to say to myself "today I'm going to focus on the livingroom" because that is something that I can finish. It gives me direction and helps me keep from being distracted! I always know I will like someone new when I'm invited into their house even if there is clutter and kid mess.
a cordless vacuum that is a handvac, too. i have an electrolux. every night i take 15-30 minutes to pick up, vacuum the nastiest areas, and tidy. it helps me if i get up inthe morning and dont' feel totally overwhelmed by the mess from the day before-cause then i just give up! :) for the papers-i saw somewhere and stole this-get a piece of posterboard for each kid. fold in half and staple(so it's like a big envelope) put their name on it and let them decorate. then keep the best of their work, and slip it inside. you can keep one for each year and "file" them in a plastic tub. i'm just now starting this, so not sure about the long term, but so far i like it!
My kids rooms are always that messy. I've just sort of given up. Kansas house was neat, VA house is not. Real life and I've got better things to do than worry about Ella being a pack rat (like her father)! :-)
The dog AND the cats know they must put everything away or I get very irritated!
As an aside, a phone technician came to my apartment early Sunday morning to fix my phone/DSL line. As he commented on how clean my apartment was my 14 year old cat squatted on the mantle and pooped!
Ther are 5 kids in our family and we found a few things that help with clutter.
1. Each person has his/her own bathrobe. We don't use towels. They took up to much space in the laundry.
2. Take a picture of your child with the craft/artwork they made. Then, you can keep the memories but not have to store every item.
3. I try to give them a plastic storage bin to put their toys in. That way they can easily clean up their toys and it isn't a complicated process. I love cute storage organizational systems but for our young kids, putting everything in a bin works well.
I am not a clean freak at all so keeping it as simple as possible helps me. I also buy cleaners that I REALLY like the smell of because it makes cleaning more enjoyable. I remember some lavendar scented baby wipes that even made changing diapers more pleasurable! :) I look forwarding to reading everyone else's ideas for cleaning too. Our house could benefit from a few tips!
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