Weekly Recap

We are ending another great week with a pizza night! And I am NOT making the pizza tonight! Yahoo! I had a coupon code for a FREE large pizza and a 2 liter of pop from Papa John’s from some Super Bowl special…that I don’t remember signing up for! Hopefully our tummies don’t get all worked up, as this is obviously not an organic meal.

Arthur is working late tonight and doesn’t really like Papa John’s, so the girls and I are enjoying our ham pizza and Sierra Mist. We are also watching some Discovery Channel show on Netflix about sea monsters. ?? Iris picked it out, but I think it’s pretty ridiculous; they are talking about supposed sea creatures and monsters that lived “millions of years ago.” It’s actually kind of humorous.

School went well this week. The girls and I had a lot more patience with each other than the past few weeks, so it was more enjoyable to be around each other.

We finally had a snow “storm” last night and ended up with about 5 inches of snow (my guess). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the kids outside to play in it, and tomorrow is supposed to be really cold. The girls weren’t too upset. I let them watch movies today.

It was a minimal shopping week, but I didn’t find some great deals on the few items I bought. I will post my menu plan tomorrow or Sunday, probably.

I am excited to be going to a girls afternoon get-together with a couple girlfriends tomorrow. Artie will be coming with me, but it will be a nice break from the house and my girls. My mother-in-law and Arthur will be here with the girls.

And that’s about it. Quiet week, for the most part. No complaints, though! It was still a pretty great week. I stayed on task for almost the whole week, so I felt pretty productive.

Time to switch out the laundry – washing bathroom rugs and some clothes Addy had an accident in today. That’s rare for her, so I tried not to get upset with her. I told her to work on getting to the bathroom sooner, so she doesn’t wet on the floor. Her reply? “It’s ok, Mom. You my best friend and you like cleaning my messes.” I can’t really argue with that cuteness.

Plans for the Week

Last week was productive but very busy. We didn’t make it to Small Group; Arthur’s continuing education class ended up getting out later than he thought, so we would’ve been an hour late to Small Group.

Two friends/family members passed away, so it was definitely an emotional week.

Now, this week is THANKSGIVING! Where has the time gone?! I can’t believe we’re a month out from Christmas! I started some shopping online Friday, and I am happy to have gotten some great deals and free shipping.

Here are my expectations for the week:

-Make it to church commitments (AWANA, Small Group, Food Pantry work).

-Make the rolls and desserts for Thanksgiving dinner at my in-laws.

-3 Thanksgiving projects with the girls

-Shred 2 bags of financial papers that have been sitting, waiting to be shredded. (Didn’t get started on this last week….just got the shredder put together.)

-Get my daily To Do’s done.

And that’s it. I know it’ll be a busy Thursday, and we’re having a lazy day Friday, so I want to be careful not to cram too much into Monday through Wednesday.

 

Taking a Mental Health Day

Yes, I am. I am taking a “mental health” day. I told my husband last night we were not having school today. I just couldn’t do it today.

I have no clue what a nervous breakdown or anxiety attack is, but I feel like if I go on any longer as I am I might just experience one or both of those.

Seriously.

Let me explain…

I posted the other day about balancing home life and church activities and school…and how I’m just not sure of the proper way to do it. I really don’t know what I’m doing.

Shocking, I know. I only post on Facebook about my glorious achievements and great days. I RARELY post about my struggles or everything going on in my head. I do not like people to know that I fail, although I’m pretty sure everyone assumes all moms fail at some things at one time or another.  Right?! Some days that is the only thing that keeps me going – knowing other moms fail too.

On Monday, I reserved books online through our library for our study of the moon in school this week. I decided to reserve a few books that interested me as well, so I didn’t have to take my loud girls up to the Adult Non-Fiction section and be stared at all crazy while I browsed. My girls tend to “whisper” using outside voices in the section of the library that echoes the most! Ah, children.

One of the books I reserved for me is called Professionalizing Motherhood. I figured it was like some of the other “mom books” I’ve read, giving encouragement and crazy mom stories. It is turning out to be a GREAT book – not so much a collection of crazy mom stories but rather a book to convict and encourage moms to see their career in motherhood as one worthy of value and as something worth taking the time to do as best as possible.

I tend to fall into habits as a mom – cleaning, organizing, cooking meals, and (now) school. My daily activities become monotonous and boring because I’ve made them habits rather than seeing them as new every day and a time to invest all I have into the greatest career ever! (I know, that was a little over-the-top.)

Even though we have school 5 days a week, that doesn’t mean I can’t expect to see something amazing in my children each of those days – to see them as

I make three meals every day of the week (sometimes, only 6 days, but still…), but I can take each meal and put thought into it and love and think of creative ways to present the meal. I remember making smiley faces with scrambled egg piles (eyes), a grape (nose) and a bacon slice (mouth) for the girls a few months ago. They LOVED it! If I take the time to invest in those meals, I can appreciate my opportunity to cook for them and be able to feed them healthy things every meal.

For cleaning and organizing, I like to do both of these anyway (yes, a certified dork I am). BUT, some days I do feel bogged down with my checklist of household duties. If I can see it as a chance to keep my family healthy (no dust/dirt, clean surfaces, etc) and a way to feel accomplished (by completing the to do list or seeing a clean room…even if only for a minute) then I will have a better attitude toward it and a more positive approach to each task. I have to remember to keep the end in sight and not just see all the “chores”.

This book, Professionalizing Motherhood, also addresses our attitudes as wives. I tend to have this “holier than thou” approach to the household when it comes to my marriage. I know how to do it best. I know what the kids like and don’t like. I know how to do it all. I’m sure you can imagine that does not work well when it comes to being a TEAM with my husband. I tend to hurt his feelings and probably make him feel not needed when I take it all on by myself. Yes, he likes to come home to a clean house and dinner ready and kids rested and well-behaved. BUT, I also know he likes to help give baths and eat dinner all together and hear about their day.

The author, Jill Savage, talks about a time when she realized she should stop blaming her husband for the marital problems and changed her prayer from “Lord, change him” to “Lord, change me.” I read that last night (after whining to my husband that I was tired of hearing about how tired he was and his running and blah, blah, blah) and was instantly ashamed of how often I pray for him to change his attitude, instead of praying that I would change mine. Obviously, I need to approach things with the right spirit and OBVIOUSLY I was not doing this.

I am pretty sure this post does not flow well at all. I apologize. I am feeling extremely scatter-brained this week. There is so much in my head, and I am frantically trying to type it all before I forget or before the girls start fighting and I have to stop.

I need balance. Devotions for 15 minutes first thing in the morning just isn’t cutting it. Praying only when I’m in need of something isn’t fulfilling. Hoping for others to change isn’t right. Today, I am praying “Lord, change me.” And hopefully I’m really ready for this change. I know I can be a better wife and mother only if I am willing to change.

In conclusion, what I need is a break…from myself. So, I’m taking a mental health day from school, from cleaning, from our regular routine. We’re visiting a friend and taking her lunch.

And then I can’t wait to keep reading that book.

House Help: Creating Clean Habits

I absolutely LOVE having routines for housework. Designating days or people for certain tasks is what makes me feel secure. Yes, I’m slightly insane.

I have found that the best way to create a cleaning habit is to set a certain day, time or person for that task. For us, this is the ONLY way things get done.

This does take some time to become a habit, though, so assigning every task to a day and person doesn’t just automatically make it all happen overnight. Writing it down, though, and posting it somewhere public in the house does help with making it happen sooner than later.

I was very good about chore charts for a while with the girls. The chart was posted at their eye level and we did well going over it every day and checking off the items they completed. Then we fell off the wagon and became lazy with marking the chart.

I make chore lists and daily to do lists for myself all the time. This I am very good at doing and completing regularly. So, here are my tips for getting a good cleaning schedule down:

1. Make a list of ALL the household chores/tasks that need to be completed each week. Don’t worry about breaking it down into daily chores yet. Just make a giant list of everything that needs to get done – laundry, toilets, floors, windows, dishwasher filling/emptying, even coffee making.

2. List each person in the house that is physically capable of completing at least one of those chores. Leave plenty of blank space below each name to fill in their chores later.

3. Take your master list of chores and group them together, like with like. For example, toilets, bathroom floors, bathroom mirrors all go together because they’re all in the same room. Changing sheets and laundry could be put together because they are similar. Or you could break down “changing sheets” to “parent bed sheets” and group it with “vacuuming parent bedroom”. Whatever you think will make the most sense for you. Don’t overthink it, though. You’ll be here all day grouping things!

4. Decide which person can do which chores. My husband empties the clean dishes from the dishwasher first thing in the morning because he is the first one up and downstairs; this gives us all clean dishes for breakfast, so it just seemed natural that he be assigned that chore. Maybe the last one to take a shower in the morning could be responsible to tidy up the bathroom? Or the first one up could set the coffeemaker to start? Whatever flows easiest for everyone; don’t have everyone go out of their way to do these things. You want it to be a natural reaction after a few weeks of doing it.

5. Break down each person’s chores for each day of the week. Monday through Friday is the typical range of days for chores to be completed, with the weekend off. HOWEVER, if you have a different type of working schedule, maybe different days for chores and off days would work. Do what will work best for everyone’s schedules.

6. Type up a cleaning chart for each person and post it somewhere in the house that each person will see it and be reminded each day – bedroom, fridge, bathroom mirror, wherever.

Here’s my own personal chore list:

Monday – Laundry
Tuesday – Groceries, gather all garbage into kitchen can for garbage day(Wed.)
Wednesday – Change everyone’s bed sheets
Thursday – dust and vacuum and clean windows
Friday – floors (kitchen and bathrooms), wipe down appliances

I am in the habit of cleaning the toilets, sinks and mirrors in both bathrooms DAILY. This is something I like to do because we have 5 people using the toilets every day, 2 little ones that use the bathroom on their own (and aren’t necessarily the cleanest bathroom users!), and 1 that is potty training and holds onto any part of the toilet she can reach (ew!). Sooo, I have found that I feel less disgusted by it all if I wipe down the mirrors, sinks and toilets (and swish the toilet brush and some cleaner on the inside of the bowl) each morning. That’s my personal feeling about bathrooms, though. Don’t feel you need to adopt it.

Once you can write out everyone’s chores, go over them all with each person. Be sure they know what supplies to use and how to complete the task. Be prepared to remind kids (and husbands!) for a while to complete their list, but don’t feel obligated to complete any tasks that they don’t. If you leave a sink dirty for long enough, it might just click that the person assigned to it really should do it because they are the one responsible for it. Trust me, kids are gross sometimes, but they will notice when things are stuck to the sink and will take action. Husbands might be a little more difficult….they might even complain about something being dirty, even if it’s theirs to clean. I’m still working on molding mine!