"I do it Myself!" This is something my just turned two year old
proudly declares when (she thinks) she has done something all by
herself. She is so excited and proud of her newfound ability to
accomplish things. Somewhere along the line, most of us lose that and
would rather have someone else do things for us. We as a culture have
lost the work ethic and ingenuity that made our country great. Well, I
for one, am working on getting mine back.
It's not that
I've ever been a slacker, but I have been so caught up in being busy,
that I haven't had time to enjoy and take pride in my work. Even in the
mundane like laundry, you can look at the piles of clean and neatly
folded clothes and towels and take a moment to feel that sense of
accomplishment that you did a good job. It doesn't matter that half of
them will be dirty again the next day. It matters that you did your job
well today.
I have realized that there are many
"chores" that I actually enjoy if I am not doing a slip-shod rush job to
get on to the next thing. There is something about knowing that I
helped make my part of the world a nicer, more beautiful place that
makes me happy. By the same token, when I am doing a slip-shod
rush job, I get no enjoyment from it all; partly because I am not giving
myself time to enjoy it and partly because I know I am not doing as
good of a job as I can do or should be doing.
I also
had another realization: my kids are learning their work ethic or lack
there of from me. If I want them to feel like doing something for
yourself can be rewarding, I have to show that in my attitude and how I
approach chores and projects. I also have to get them (at least the six
year old) involved and not do everything for them. That second part
we've already been working on and I think it will be easier if he sees a
positive attitude from me about my own work.
On a side
note, I have been becoming more and more aware of a few things
regarding some of the cleaning chores which are really starting to
bother me.
1. Have you noticed that almost EVERY disease and
"disability" is on the rise in our country? Particularly cancer, autism,
gastro-intestinal issues and immune system issues (allergies).
2.
Have you noticed that almost EVERY food, drink and cleaner marketed for
Americans to put in and around our bodies are chock full of chemicals
or are "genetically modified"?
3. Have you noticed how ridiculous the prices are for the chemicals to "clean" your house so you won't get sick?
4. Have you noticed how widely prescribed and expensive the medicines are to treat the issues from #1 are?
5. Have you noticed there's not a whole lot of publicity about all of this?
So
I'm thinking that #1 & #2 are CLEARLY related. And I'm thinking
that all the big political supporters are making so much money off of #3
& #4 that they don't want anything changed, hence #5.
I'm
not expecting any politicians or companies to do anything about this
anytime soon. However, I can take steps to change that in my own house.
Instead
of buying the expensive chemicals that someone else made, I am going to
be trying some good old DIY (thank you Pinterest) Non-toxic cleaners
which, by the way, cost a fraction of the brand name cleaning
chemicals. We (got to have helpers for this one) are also going to
plant our own garden so that we know what has and has not been put on
the plants. I am going to use as many heirloom plants as I can since I
know that they have not been genetically modified.
I've already gotten started, and I will let you know how my experiments turn out!
Friday, April 5, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
A Scattered Start
In my last post, I wrote about having a good starting point. It doesn't have to be big. It's just something to get you going and feeling like you can actually accomplish something. I know it's been a year since that post but, believe it or not, that closet is still the one organized spot in our home. Hmm...I wonder if I can cause this phenomenon to spread?
I sort of postponed the "whole house organizing" thing because I felt like my kids were getting put off too often, which was the exact opposite of what I was going for. I have been making some baby steps forward in our organization but nothing like I had hoped. Amazingly, I have actually gotten to a place where I feel like I have sort of "caught up" to a normal amount of disorganization whereas before it just seemed so impossible.
So now we're at a place where I feel like we can begin...again. Only this time, I'm going to go a little slowly and make sure there's lots of play and involvement for the kids. So, once more, I face the question of "where do I start?"
The first thing I did this time was coupons. I'm sure you all have seen and heard enough about coupons and coupon binders, etc. that I don't need to do a whole post on that. Basically I have a binder with baseball card pages. I used stick on labels to mark the first page of each section (I group by aisle) and then I put the coupons in the slots chronologically. Of course, I am notorious for forgetting to bring it, or even check it, when I go shopping. I'm working on it. The good thing about already having had the binder set up was that all I had to do was go through the pages, pull out the expired coupons and then cut out & put in the new ones. The best thing about it? J is old enough now to help me. He pulled out the expired ones and took great joy in crumpling them up (and in being amazed at how many I didn't use). Score one for bonding while being useful!
As I looked around at the many other things that needed to be done, I realized that some of them really shouldn't wait until I have completed the other challenges to get to them. Some messes/problems might even get more out of hand if left unmanaged, especially after the addition of Christmas gifts.
The result is that we are beginning a bit... okay, a lot... scattered.
Current Projects:
1. Clear out, organize and inventory the kitchen pantry and cabinets so we are better about not wasting food and know what is on hand to cook/bake with. This has become important as I have become more concerned about our son's food allergy.
2. J's legos. He suddenly has a million and the pieces are so tiny. Tell me that doesn't scream lost & swallowed pieces. He also gets frustrated when he can't find the one he wants, so we are actually organizing them by size in containers that can then go in his room away from his little sister.
3. The bonus room- it contains my office & crafts, a tv area, exercise equipment (which I'd like to downsize) and a play area. It also currently has a computer desk for "when the kids are older" but it seems like that's a lot of wasted space for something there are other options for, so it is coming down. Clearly that is a lot of uses for one room and it is cramped. It also doesn't have a ton of storage for toys, etc. I'm working on some ideas to improve both problems. It may also eventually house J's new model train, but the only way that can happen is if we do something with the exercise equipment, so we'll have to see what The Hubs says about that.
4. The attic and the garage- clear out the stuff we don't need! I am not trying to do these completely right now, especially with all of the other projects, but I do need to clear them both out some so that I will have somewhere to store things we are working on. I just have to be careful not to fill them back up with stuff from the bonus room!
Not all of the steps of these projects will be post worthy, but I will do posts on the parts that I think may be interesting or helpful to those of you reading. As always I welcome any ideas or suggestions. I figure we can all help each other and make things a little easier.
I sort of postponed the "whole house organizing" thing because I felt like my kids were getting put off too often, which was the exact opposite of what I was going for. I have been making some baby steps forward in our organization but nothing like I had hoped. Amazingly, I have actually gotten to a place where I feel like I have sort of "caught up" to a normal amount of disorganization whereas before it just seemed so impossible.
So now we're at a place where I feel like we can begin...again. Only this time, I'm going to go a little slowly and make sure there's lots of play and involvement for the kids. So, once more, I face the question of "where do I start?"
The first thing I did this time was coupons. I'm sure you all have seen and heard enough about coupons and coupon binders, etc. that I don't need to do a whole post on that. Basically I have a binder with baseball card pages. I used stick on labels to mark the first page of each section (I group by aisle) and then I put the coupons in the slots chronologically. Of course, I am notorious for forgetting to bring it, or even check it, when I go shopping. I'm working on it. The good thing about already having had the binder set up was that all I had to do was go through the pages, pull out the expired coupons and then cut out & put in the new ones. The best thing about it? J is old enough now to help me. He pulled out the expired ones and took great joy in crumpling them up (and in being amazed at how many I didn't use). Score one for bonding while being useful!
As I looked around at the many other things that needed to be done, I realized that some of them really shouldn't wait until I have completed the other challenges to get to them. Some messes/problems might even get more out of hand if left unmanaged, especially after the addition of Christmas gifts.
The result is that we are beginning a bit... okay, a lot... scattered.
Current Projects:
1. Clear out, organize and inventory the kitchen pantry and cabinets so we are better about not wasting food and know what is on hand to cook/bake with. This has become important as I have become more concerned about our son's food allergy.
2. J's legos. He suddenly has a million and the pieces are so tiny. Tell me that doesn't scream lost & swallowed pieces. He also gets frustrated when he can't find the one he wants, so we are actually organizing them by size in containers that can then go in his room away from his little sister.
3. The bonus room- it contains my office & crafts, a tv area, exercise equipment (which I'd like to downsize) and a play area. It also currently has a computer desk for "when the kids are older" but it seems like that's a lot of wasted space for something there are other options for, so it is coming down. Clearly that is a lot of uses for one room and it is cramped. It also doesn't have a ton of storage for toys, etc. I'm working on some ideas to improve both problems. It may also eventually house J's new model train, but the only way that can happen is if we do something with the exercise equipment, so we'll have to see what The Hubs says about that.
4. The attic and the garage- clear out the stuff we don't need! I am not trying to do these completely right now, especially with all of the other projects, but I do need to clear them both out some so that I will have somewhere to store things we are working on. I just have to be careful not to fill them back up with stuff from the bonus room!
Not all of the steps of these projects will be post worthy, but I will do posts on the parts that I think may be interesting or helpful to those of you reading. As always I welcome any ideas or suggestions. I figure we can all help each other and make things a little easier.
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