31 Days to a Cleaner Home-Day 11: Who are you?

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Who are you?

As I type those words two scenes from The Lion King come to mind.

If you don't know who you are then you won't know how to make your personality work for you.

I have been learning a lot about who I am lately.

I am not a Type A personality.

I am not very organized.

I am not naturally a tidy person.

As women especially we compare ourselves to others. 

We get entangled by the desire to be someone other than who God created us to be.

We say things to ourselves that we would never say to someone else.

Think about it.

Would you go over to your best friend and say the same degrading things you say to yourself?

Of course not!

We're great at being everyone else's cheerleaders.

We cheer our kids on in school or sports.

We cheer our spouse on in their job.

We cheer our friends on in their lives.

We cheer on everyone else except ourselves.

The comparison trap has spun a thick web for me too friends.

We have to be on guard and watch what we say to ourselves.

The words that no one else can hear can be the most lethal.

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While I may not be the things above I have learned that I am the following.

I am more of a Type B personality.

I am teachable and love to learn.

And while my home will never be photographed for better homes and gardens,
I am capable of maintaining my home and having it be a place of life.

So who are you?

What do you need to do to start cheering yourself on?

Instead of comparing yourself to the friend who has an easy time 

with being a homemaker, ask her about what works for her. 

What does her cleaning schedule look like?

What does she do on a daily basis that makes keeping up easier?

If she's a real genuine friend believe me, she won't judge you or love you less for it.

Instead she'll love you through it and be blessed that you're asking. 

[Experience talking here.]

Today I want you to watch the words you say to yourself.

Look up Ephesians 4:29. Write it out and put it somewhere that you'll see it.

Wash the windows and the mirrors. 

Let the sun light in and fill the room and fill your heart.

Remember as you look in the mirror to see yourself as Christ sees you and the way other see you, don't pick out the things you think are bad about yourself. Someone else might just admire those very things about you.

31 Days to a Cleaner Home-Day 10: Fresh Start

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There is something about the new year.

The starting over.

The grace.

I find for me a good book, some candles, and a relaxing bubble bath 

does wonders for my mood. It makes me feel refreshed and like I'm given another chance.

But my bathroom has to be clean for it to be relaxing.

If I am trying to relax and all I can see are things that need to be done I don't rest and relax well. I just end up thinking of all of the things I should be doing.

I end up feeling guilty over taking time for myself and not doing other things.

Also your bathroom is the room you go to get clean in so it must be clean.

This post is going to be shorter today as I want you to really focus on your bathroom.

We're going to go through everything in the bathroom today. 

Grab a small box or something to put things in that need to go into other rooms.

A trash bag and a giveaway bag or box.

Find a starting point in the room and work around clockwise.

I started at the door and worked my way around the room and back to the door so I could and would take things out with me as I came to the end point.

Go through everything.

I know this is going to take some time but you'll feel so much better for it.

Any expired medications? Trash them.

Any lotions you know you'll never use? Donate them.

Hair accessories you'll never wear again? Toss them.

I did this in my own home and I couldn't believe how much better it was.

Under the sink is totally organized and I can find exactly what I need.

The first aid kit finally got updated and organized.

Maybe you need some bins for this room to throw things into.

I keep all of my nail polish in a small basket on a shelf. 

It was taking up too much space in the medicine cabinet. 

The kid's shampoo, body wash, and lotions are all in a basket on a shelf.

Our daily use items like hair brush, deodorants, and hair ties are all in a basket on a shelf.

This makes it so much easier when it comes to need to actually maintain the bathroom.

Simply move the whole basket and wipe down the shelf as well as the lid of the bin or basket (if it has a lid), put the basket back and you're done!

Towels that are too ratty and you won't use any more?

Take them out of the bathroom. 

Stop avoiding them when you shower by just removing them.

Use them as cleaning rags until they're not even worth that anymore then simply toss them.

All of those lotions you were given that you'll never use?

Remember this post. It's ok to let them go! You'll never use them!

Stop letting them take up space in your home and making it take you longer to clean.

Anything that doesn't need to be in the bathroom needs to come out of there.

You can do it!

Also for expired medications. Do not flush them.

Call your local pharmacy to see what they recommend for discarding them.

I called mine and they told me to place expired pills in 

used coffee grounds and throw them in the trash.

31 Days to a Cleaner Home-Day 9: Family Chores

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Let's talk today about family chores.

Our household consists of four people.

If four people live here then four people must also help to maintain it.

As the homemaker I do believe it is my job to do the majority of the work as 

my husband works full time outside of our home to provide for us financially. 

Our children and our home is my full time job.

But this doesn't mean that I am the only one who makes messes or
that I am the only one who should clean up the messes that are made.

We must teach our children the important life skills.
Cooking and cleaning are necessary life skills.

I firmly believe that if I went behind my children and cleaned up everything 

for them I would be doing them a huge disservice, not a big favor. 

I personally believe that everyone should know how to cook and clean no matter their gender.

Family chores are necessary.

Children are capable and willing to help from a young age.

If we don't get them involved when they're young it will be 

even more difficult to implement this as they get older.

From the beginning of our marriage I decided I would never go 

behind my husband and "fix" any job he did around the house.

I am and always will be thankful for my husband's thoughtfulness 

in helping me manage our home.

Just because he may do it differently than I do doesn't make it wrong.

I want to encourage him to help by thanking him, 

not making him feel inadequate by going behind him and redoing it.

The same now goes for my children.

They might not do things the way I would do them sometimes.

And as our children learn how to do something it might not look the best and quite frankly the first few times your child makes their bed on their own it might even look horrible.

Let me encourage you. 

Do Not Fix It.

It says to them 'What you did is not good enough.' 

It teaches them 'mom will come behind me and fix it anyways 

so why bother putting in my best effort.'

You must encourage and expect them to do their best but do not expect perfection.

I can guarantee that you will not be able to bounce a quarter off their bed but these are kids not solders.

Take some time and figure out what responsibility each person will have in your home.

Monkey at 3.5 has a few simple tasks to do to help keep our home running smoothly.

Make his bed.

Put his dishes in the dishwasher after meals.

Wash the table after meals.

Put his books and legos away after rest time.

Help tidy up the toys before rest and before bed.

Put his own clean undies and socks away.

Dirty clothes go into his hamper.

Bug at 17 months is also capable of helping clean up the toys 

with help and encouragement from mommy, daddy, or even big brother.

As I said my husband works full time so I don't expect him to take care of as many things around the house but he does help and has specific tasks that are his.

He takes care of the garbage.

Puts his own clothes away.

And is usually the one who makes our bed.

Also never turn away a child asking to help you.

My son has gotten into this recent unprovoked habit of coming 

up to me or my husband and asking what he can do for us.

He loves to feel needed and to feel useful.

While yes I could do the task faster myself it is more important for me to take the extra time to teach him, to make him feel needed, and to encourage him to serve others in his family.

Today's challenge is to work up a family chore chart.

Get your kids involved.

Make it fun.

If you need to get some ideas on Pinterest.

There are tons of free printables.

Also today take the time to go through and get rid of the cobwebs.

Dust flat surfaces.

Sweep and vacuum.

Oh and get your kids involved. 

My favorite thing to do is to take socks with holes in them, put them on our hands and dust away. Once you're done dusting just toss them in the trash. It also works with those miss matched socks that you feel guilty in getting rid of.

31 Days to a Cleaner Home-Day 8: Feeling Dull.

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"Have nothing in your house that you do not 

know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

-William Morris.

The day in and day out can leave you feeling dull.

For me personally I love to create.

Doing something creative just refreshes me.

It gets me excited about life.

There's something about doing something you really enjoy that is a breath of fresh air.

It helps me to actually refocus and stay on the other tasks of the daily grind.

Another big thing is to have a place or space that is inspiring.

A spot in your home that just makes you smile or refreshes you.

Today I want you to spend some time on a couple of things.

First do your daily chore and a quick 15 minute tidy in every room.

Then do these two things today.

1) If you have a crafting room, craft space, desk of your own, or a place in your home that can be super inspiring but is messy and over run, do something about it!

Clean it up and make it pretty.

Spend some time organizing it a little or figure out what items would make it easier to organize that area.

2) Do something creative just for fun.

Something that you really enjoy.

Guilt Free.

Get fired up about it!

Share it with a friend or me!

Being excited about something helps you be a more effective person.

31 Days to a Cleaner Home-Day 7: Seasons

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Life is constantly changing.
We go through seasons in which we have to change and adapt.
What we have been doing no longer cuts it.

Think about it for a minute.
If you have kids that are in school you have some sort of set routine and schedule to most everything.
You get up at a certain time, go to school or work at a certain time, get home at a certain time, dinner times and bed times.
But then summer comes and they're home from school.
It's a new season and you have to find your new normal for that period of time.

Or maybe your family is growing and changing.
I know when we went from having one child to two littles life changed.
While yes, this would be a new normal of two children, this was still a season.
One day the baby would no longer wake 3 times a night for feedings.
The frequent short naps would change to fewer yet longer naps.

Any change or disturbance to your routine 

or schedule that is temporary is a season.

 

This is a season.
It's ok.
Give yourself grace.

And figure out what it is you have to 

do to make this season manageable.

Find a routine and a schedule that you can stick to and that works for you.
I'm not saying plan out every second of every day because really that isn't very feasible but rather have something that you do the same day or by a certain time.

For instance I try to have the upstairs tidy before coming down for the day.

The dishes all done before it's time to prep lunch.

We tidy up the toys before lunch lunch and dinner.

All toys are put away before nap and bed times.

End of the day the table gets wiped down and crumbs swept up.

These are all time associated tasks.

Then I also have a daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning task sheet that Melissa helped me work up to do a little every day to maintain my home.

Here is what my task list looks like:

Find a system that works for you.

Maybe you want to try and get certain things done every day by about 

a certain time or maybe you need daily tasks, or even use some of both like I do. 

Just take some time to find what works best for you. 

Now my list that you see above was created when I was still babysitting so as we've worked to find our new normal changed and adapted this a little to find what will best for me now.

Today's challenge:

If you didn't get yesterday's project finished quite yet, go ahead and work on that.

If you did get it done either find another unfinished project or give a little love to an area that is lacking some luster.

31 Days to a Cleaner Home-Day 6: Rest for the homemaker.

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Sundays.

A day for family and rest.

Yet, the chores never rest.

Food still has to be prepared. 

Dishes still get dirtied.

Clothes still get worn.

My goal is to only do what has to be done on Sunday.

Meaning after dinner the table is cleared of dishes.

Dishes either go directly into the dishwasher or in a sink of soapy water.

The table and highchair tray get wiped down.

A quick sweep of crumbs around the table.

Dishes get washed.

Counters wiped down real quick if they got dirty during dinner prep.

With one quick end of the day tidy; meaning blankets folded, toys put away, and any other miscellaneous items find their way back to their homes.

Remember the Sabbath day. Keep it Holy.
[Set apart.Different.]

Six days shall you labor and do all your work,

but the seventh day is a [day of rest.]

You shall do any work.

You or your son or daughter.

(Paraphrased and emphasized Exodus 20:8-12)

I know I am still technically doing a little work on this day.

But honestly it also helps me to rest better if I know that come 

Monday morning the house isn't going to be a complete wreck. 

It takes simple everyday maintenance to keep our homes running smoothly.

Today, I want you to give yourself a day to rest.

All of the other chores can wait until Monday.

Only do the simple end of the day tidy.

Engage with your kids.

Get on their level and play.

Watch a movie and snuggle.

Read a book.

Do something fun.

Take a nap!

Allow yourself to rest.

Guilt free.

31 Days to a Cleaner Home-Day 5: Perfection

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Perfection.

The force that stops us.

I don't know about you but I tend to want things 

to be done the way I want them to be done. 

I want to have things perfect.

I grew up hearing these words

If you're going to bother doing anything,

You had better do it the right way the first time.

The only right way to do something is my way, 

and you had better do it perfectly or 

don't bother starting it to begin with.

No these were not the exact words that were said but that is what I heard.

That fear of not being able to meet a certain level of perfection or worse failing 

can completely stop us from moving forward or trying something new.

Over Christmas I had a huge realization.

God does not call us to be perfect.

He knew that from before the beginning of time, 

from before He created the world, 

that we could not live up to that standard.

He does however call us to finish well.

To do everything with our whole heart.

It isn't about how perfect we can do something,

but rather to do it with the right heartitude.

To be a good and faithful steward of the things we've been given.

To finish projects well.

Take some time to read Matthew 25:14-30

Isn't it wonderful and liberating that God says:

"Well done good and faithful one"

He never says anything about perfection.

I have those tendencies to want things to be perfect.

To have things be 'just so' but then fear creeps in and paralyzes me.

My biggest goal for myself this year is to finish well.

Not perfect. Well.

I don't want my desires for things to have things be perfect to get in the way 

of finishing well and making our lives better.

What project has perfection been stopping you from?

I want you go to for it today! 

Let go of perfection.

Finish it well!

Do your best and let that be enough.

You were born to be real,

Not to be perfect.