There are several things I have decided to work on this year. One specifically, that I could use a little help with, is having a more organized home, and being more "domestic" in general. I have been struggling lately finding a good balance between getting things done (like cleaning my house) and playing. Help.
Number 1 - This is a real problem! I love playing with my kids. Honestly. I love reading books and playing with toys and going to the park and riding ponies and looking at dinosaurs. Love it. Love it all. And my life would probably be easier if that's all I cared about. The problem here is I also love having a clean and orderly house. I love having a clean kitchen with clean floors, completely organized closets and desks, beds made, laundry folded and garbages empty. If I were one of those people who thought, "To heck with the house, I am playing with the kids." I would not be in this frustrating predicament. But I want my house clean too. I hate that it's gone to pot since I had child #2. Here is where you come in. Tell me what you do that makes your home life little easier. Floors Monday, Bathrooms Tuesday, Laundry Wednesday? Or neglecting kids for just one day (all day?) while everything gets done? Tyson (bless his heart) offered to scrub bathrooms every Wednesday. And he has! For like 4 weeks now. But the only change I've really been able to implement is buying Wyatt more pants and Tyson more underwear so I don't have to do laundry quite as often. :) Suggestions?
Number 2 - I have been trying to also cook more. I have never enjoyed it, not good at it, and hate that it messes up my kitchen. BUT this is me trying to improve. So I shall cook more, and cook more health-conscious meals. Here is where you come in. :) Do you have a meal calendar? Do you grocery shop every Monday for the things you are planning that week? That seems like something that is hard to keep up on - is there an easier way, people? One thing I have started doing that makes dinner easier for me, is giving the kids a snack at like 4, and waiting for Tyson to get home to cook dinner. He can play with the kids while I cook, and we just eat later. I CAN enjoy it more if I'm not trying to juggle my baby and force Wyatt to stare at the TV while I cook dinner. I can rest assured that they are being supervised, and I can cook stress-free. (This will get easier when they are older, right? When I don't have to make sure they're not sticking forks in electrical sockets?)
Any helpful advice on ANYTHING you know that I don't. I'm up for suggestions!! :)
*You may like to know that I have finally given in to the 'ole "Don't wash your hair every day" thing. And that has actually given me a little extra time in the day. (And look at what I've done with my extra time. Write novel-long posts on my blog. Duh.)
18 comments:
I do all the big cleaning Friday, cause Matt is home and can help with the kids and cleaning:) Then it's easier to keep up on the small tasks throughout the week:) Meal-wise, I love to cook, so I would do it all day every day! How about you come organize my house and I will cook for you guys:)
Siss, don't tease. You know I would do that in a heartbeat.
I have this same problem Becky! I will be coming back to your blog and looking at comments often to get some ideas of my own. The only "routine" I have is that Monday is laundry day AND grocery shopping day. This way I can try to have planned meals and clean clothes for the week. The rest of the house just gets neglected.
Great post! I think I am extreme when it comes to cleaning and I could tone myself down a little. But- cleaning is a stress relief for me (I know, weird....right?) and I love love love to get organized. (I'm a kook)
More often than not, I stress myself (not knowing that I am really stressing) about making sure things are neat and orderly.
For cleaning- I have one day usually for laundry and my trick is to just right away take the clothes from the dryer and put them away. If I don't do it right away, the pile of clean clothes might just sit in the corner of the room for a few days.
I like to get my cleaning done in one day- usually on Fridays. That way, I have Saturday's free with Nate and the house is nice and clean for the weekend. Then I just clean up the everyday stuff throughout the days of the week. Then before bed we set the timer on our microwave for 10-20 minutes (depending on how messy the rooms are) and we all do a 10-20 minute clean-up of our rooms, family room, etc. And whatever isn't finished in those 10-20 minutes, we just take care of the next day. The girls love it because it's like a game to them. It really helps to keep the house clean.
Then as for organizing- when my closets or cupboards start to become messy and it's time to get things straightened again, I write down a schedule for the next week or so and write down a room, a closet, a cupboard or whatever for each day and take a little time out for that scheduled day to get that certain area organized.
I like doing it that way because then I'm not overwhelmed at doing it all in one day. It gets done over the course of a week or two and it's much easier to take a room (closet, cupboard) one day at a time. :)
Then for cooking- have you ever done the freezer meals? It's great! Initially, it's a lot of work to put the meals together, but for one day of cooking, you can get 30 meals (or less depending upon your freezer space) and bam! you have meals for the next month or couple of weeks. I've got more info if you really like that idea.
But for the times that I don't have freezer meals (which has been a while, I just haven't gotten around to spend a day cooking so I don't have to cook for a month), I do make a schedule of meals for two weeks. I really do like to cook, so this department is fun for me. Nate loves to cook as well, so we end up taking turns a lot of times.
I always keep on hand in the freezer some yummy freezer vegetables in those handy bags that you just pop right in the microwave. My girls actually really like the carrots and corn. Those are quick and easy and just add a side of rolls, cooked ham or something to it and you've got a little meal. :)
But all in all, the whole cooking thing for me takes time and planning. But one thing that helps to not make it so time consuming is to have several 2 week meal list. What I mean is that I have a few lists that have meals planned for two weeks. Then I just rotate them out so we have a variety. If you want, we could get together and makes lists- I'm in need of doing that again. And we could talk about the freezer meals if you want.
Okay- I think my comment is longer than your actual post. So sorry. Lots to say though.
Becky, Thank you for asking the questions that I need answers too and Steph you have great answers. I don't know about Becky but I would love to get some of the recipes that you have for freezer meals. I just started working nights and that would be so awesome to have something easy for my hubby to throw in the oven...
I will be checking back to see if anyone else has some fabulous ideas, because the best idea I have for my house right now is burn it down and start fresh...:) That is only sort of a joke!
I need a bigger freezer, because I've done freezer meals and I can't fit more than 4 in there with the frozen meat and veggies and such that are already in there! But I will buy one. Katie, come over and we'll all figure out our menus and recipes together!
PS Are you working nights for the same company or starting a new job?
Hey Beck- Nate and I just looked at deep freezers last night to put in our garage. We found one on sale from Best Buy (better deal than what we found at walmart) and it's a pretty good size too. It got lots of good reviews and most people said it's great for a family for 4-5 people and it doesn't cost very much to run. A lot of people on the reviews said that it fit perfectly in a small corner of their house, so it's small, but plenty of room inside to store still. Here's the link....
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Frigidaire+-+7+Cu.+Ft.+Chest+Freezer+-+White/7750114.p?id=1140394319328&skuId=7750114&st=freezer
Wow, I have nothing much to add since I'm not as organized. The only thing that works for me is making a 1-2 week meal plan before I go grocery shopping (and I wish it was on a certain day, but I just go to the grocery store when the fridge seems bare!). Then I just make a list of what I need and don't go wandering the store putting needless things in my cart. Crockpot meals are my favorite, but I don't have many recipes. And freezer meals seem like a good idea, I'll have to try that out this year.
I don't do this, but I have heard of girls that get together and swap out meals.
So Becky would make 7 or the same meal and swap it with 6 other people in the group. In the end you have 7 different frozen meals to draw from. It sounds like fun.
Becky I would love to get together and do meals!!!
Steph - Same size freezer at Costco for $199. But my cuz got one on sale for like $80 so now I can't bring myself to pay more for one.
Mel - I have some recipes. I'll email you.
Liz - Why don't you do it? Are you too cool for other peoples meals? :)
Katie - Fridays are good for me. Let's figure it out. Make menus, swap recipes, fix meals any and/or all of the above!!!
Can you a Katie come to my house and swap meal and menu ideas too? We can make a play date of it:)
Really, Becky, I can completely relate to how you feel and don't really have too much advice better than those given, but I do think it helps to make a to do list. I find when I do this I get more things done. I put them in order of must do down to if-only-it-could-get-done-someday. It makes me feel accomplished when I know I got something on the list crossed off, even it is one thing.
I found too that it helps to make a general routine. Your boys will come to get used to this and knowing when it is play with mommy time and learn to play good by themselves time while you get something done. "On becoming toddler wise" and preschool wise had some good advice with this.
Do I always stick to my routine--um no--but I find it helps me feel less chaotic if I have one that I try and stick too.
As far as cooking dinner goes, for me it is purely a means to an end. I am not someone that joys in cooking. I do it so we can have a good meal and family dinner, which is so important. That is my kids tv time--when I am making dinner and I don't feel bad about it. It keeps me sane while making dinner and I just put in a show I know they will hold still for and possibly learn something:)
It is a constant challenge, and it probably will be for a lot more years, but I very much rely on Elder Ballards talk he gave in Conference of April 2008. It is a must read, I am sure you have. I made a copy and refer to it sometimes when I am feeling overwhelmed.
Love you Becky! If I could I would say lets just take turns watching eachothers kids while we get something accomplished every couple weeks:)
Well, clearly I'm a little late on my expert advice (you've seen my blog, and when I say "expert" you know what I mean :), but I'll shed some light anyway. If you don't see anything wrong with a little McD's or Pizza Hut every night, then *poof* you're cooking problem is solved! If you're worried about the cost of that, there's a Maverick on about every corner and those hot dogs have been spinnin' all day on those rollers, and shoot, you're only paying a buck!
If my house isn't clean, I can't really focus on much. I have found that it's worthless to try and clean while the kids are awake and making a fat mess, so I do most major cleaning at night after they go to bed. I am trying to get my kids to clean up after themselves (you know, by taking their toys to the dump if they don't...:)
But anyway, good luck with this domestic goal...as soon as things start going smoothly and you're into a routine, go ahead and have another baby, to test how well you're REALLY doing. :)
Fridays work for me too. I bet Alicia would like to do it too. We have talked about doing freezer meals before.
I am working for the same company but I can't work at home anymore, they are making me come into the office:( It is actually not too bad but hard to work into my schedule of craziness!
Call me 801-572-7725!
Wow, I wish I had the same problem as so many of you. "Luckily," I'm one of those that can just let the house go while I entertain myself with more interesting pursuits, as well as eating out a lot. My husband is not like that, so it is a good balance. He helps out a lot. But seriously, once or twice a week eating out, especially if it is cheaper than something you can make, can relieve a lot of stress. But now that I'm practically a stay at home mom, I'm turning over a new leaf. I need that Stephanie chick to come whip me into shape. You girls are all awesome! Great suggestions!
Okay, guess what? You're in trouble. Here's why. :) So have you ever gotten a phrase or word stuck in your head? Well the other night I was laying in bed, and I had running through my head "Becky home-ecky." Yup, that's right, you were stuck in my head. :) And I read this like 4 days earlier! So random, but I had to laugh ... and I really wish I had something to add here, but I am struggling with the same things. Thank you to the above comments! :) K this is long, bye.
Nothing to add but am enjoying all the comments and getting some great ideas. Thanks for posting this!
I love to clean and cook because of the end results. I make my dinners in the day and double when possible for left overs. Cleaning I do different items on each day of the week. Let me emphasize I only enjoy cleaning after it is done!
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