Keeping It Clean

Women (and a few men) know that it is no easy feat to keep a house clean. The level of difficulty increases exponentially with each child and pet you add to the mix. You have to come to terms with the fact that your house is never going to look like it belongs in a magazine because you actually live in it.

Clutter happens.

The mirror you have on your coffee table is going to have fingerprints on it 90% of the time. Said coffee table will also have rings from sippy cups and bottles. The magazines stacked oh-so-nicely underneath will be scattered by someone trying to add his favorite books to the pile. The baby wipes will find a permanent home there as well because, to be honest, the living room is where all the diaper changes happen.

I give you Exhibit A:

I can shamelessly post this picture because I know that there are plenty of homes out there that look very similar to mine. But, clutter is tolerable. Dirt, not so much. (And, no, I don't consider fingerprints and water rings "dirt".)

We have a few simple rules that everyone in the house must live by:

1. No shoes in the house. My husband thought this was a silly rule until we tried it for one week and then I had him sweep the entire house. He was shocked at how clean the floors stayed when the shoes were left at the door.

(Most of you in Canada or on the eastern coast of the United States will be shocked to know that, here in the Valley of the Sun it is not common practice to remove your shoes when entering someone's home. I can only assume it is because it doesn't snow here or rain often so native Phoenicians never saw the need. Therefore, I feel uncomfortable enforcing this rule when we have guests. I just make sure to sweep after they leave.)

2. When you're done with it, put it away. This includes dishes to the dishwasher (or at least in the sink) and clothes in the hamper. No stray socks or cups need to be left around.

3. The house gets a nightly pick-up. As everyone in my household (myself included) is human and nowhere near perfect, there are times when Rule #2 isn't followed as strictly as it might be. So, every night we go through the house together and pick up all the toys, bring any cups to the kitchen and just generally neaten up. There is nothing better than waking up in the morning to a (mostly) clutter-free house.

Those three rules tend to keep the house as neat as possible. But, you ask, what about the actual cleaning?

I give you Exhibit B:

(Try clicking on the image to view it larger)

I made this for myself to try and stay on top of the cleaning. To be more specific, I made this for myself last August. I am not embarrassed to admit that I didn't start putting it into practice until I was on maternity leave.

In February. 

My original plan was to come home from work, start dinner, and do the chores on the list for that day. Instead, I would come home and convince myself that I was too exhausted and that I would rather relax after work and then do the cleaning on the weekend.

Boy, was I wrong. Having kept up on it the past few weeks, I have been able to truly enjoy my weekends with my husband and kids as opposed to sending them outside to have fun while I clean the house.

I am pretty proud of this schedule. It's very organized well thought out. Even when bi-weekly and monthly chores are added, they go hand in hand with the chores already scheduled on that day so it doesn't feel like there are many extra steps at all. Feel free to copy it if you think it will help you!

There are a few reasons why I enjoy this chart:

1. I am a lover of lists. They keep things nice and organized. A chart like this one is just a list that is spread out over the course of a week.

2. I never feel overwhelmed. I know that I only have a few things to do every day and then I'm finished. I don't feel guilty if I don't pull out the canisters and the microwave to clean behind them each night after dinner because I know it will get done every Friday when I do a deep cleaning in my kitchen.

3. It's flexible. If, for example, I have a day filled with doctor's appointments or we are going to spend an entire Saturday at the zoo, I can easily take the chores from that day and spread them out between the day before and the day after

Yes, I know there are only 24 hours in a day, but each day I spend about 30 minutes getting it done. I prefer (now that I am on maternity leave) to get it done first thing in the morning. That way I don't have to think about it for the rest of the day. But, those 30 minutes could easily be used any other time during the day. Right before you get in the shower for the night, or right before your favorite television show comes on. (At least you would have an incentive to get it done by a certain time!)

When I go back to work in May, mornings will be hectic around here and I will have to find a different time of day to get it done. I'm thinking I'll use the time that Roy is giving the kids a bath and getting them ready for bed. That way we'll be ready to tuck the kids in together and we can both enjoy our evening after all is said and done.

Granted, the chart isn't perfect, and it may need some tweaking as time goes on. For example, once Lily is mobile the floors will need swept every day. And I doubt I'll be able to go a week between mopping once she's feeding herself and most of it ends up on the floor. But, it's a place to start and it's keeping my family and me sane.

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Closer Than Yesterday

Today started out like any other Wednesday.


I was gently nudged awake by the sudden sound of a screaming baby on the other end of the monitor. I stumbled my way down the hall and into her room. As soon as I walked in she calmed down (slightly) and the wails turned into the whimpers of someone with an incredibly soggy rear end. Scooping her up in one arm and grabbing a diaper with my free hand we blindly made our way to the kitchen. I made a bottle and we settled in on the couch. A quick diaper change and she was more than ready to eat.

As she gulped away at her bottle I reached over to my laptop and brought up my Facebook page to see what was going on. The first thing I noticed on my page was a posting from Weight Watchers. The Weight Watchers page on Facebook frequently posts ideas, recipes and inspiration to help keep followers motivated. This morning, the post referenced the following quote:

“You may not be there yet, but you’re closer than you were yesterday.”—Unknown.


I could easily see how this quote would help inspire me to reach my weight loss goals. But, as I watched Lily look up at me with wide eyes and milk dribbling off her chin, I realized that it meant so much more to me than mere weight loss. I have a family that depends on me and when I get discouraged I do them all a huge disservice. I held her to my shoulder and patted her back to work out a burp and mentally ticked off my "To Do" list.


1. Buy a home


We are currently renting our home right now but the owners want to sell and we want to buy. What are we waiting for? A few things. Roy works on commission. While he's been with his company for almost 5 years he has only been on this pay scale since July 2008. The only way to get approved for a mortgage is if he is able to show 2 years worth of pay stubs proving that his commission is stable. My income would be beyond helpful in our quest for home ownership, but a lack of much credit to begin with and an ugly divorce means my credit is in the crapper.

We're also trying to pay down any debt that Roy has in order to make his debt to income ratio as low as possible, and it's a slow process. But now? Every time we make a payment I’ll think:


“You may not be there yet, but you’re closer than you were yesterday.”


2. Fix My Credit


This is actually tied very closely to #1. If we can manage to buy our house our monthly payment will drop between $400 and $500. With that amount of money freed up every month we will have that much more to put towards paying down the rest of Roy's debt and paying off all of mine. After that, the plan is to get a small credit card in my name and make purchases and pay them off to build by credit back up. We can't start working on #2 until #1 is complete so, in the meantime, I'm focusing on saving where I can to make as many payments as possible.

I love to shop. And a good sale is hard for me to pass up. But now? When I walk past the clearance racks I can chant my mantra:


“You may not be there yet, but you’re closer than you were yesterday.”


3. Graduate College


I am slowly but surely working my way towards an Associate's in Business Management. The process is painful. I can only manage 2 classes at a time because there just aren't enough hours in the day. Because of the class structure at my college I am able to take 4 classes a semester (full time status) but only take 2 classes at a time.

Sometimes I just want to throw in the towel because life is so much easier when I don't have classes and homework to worry about. But now? Each time I turn in an assignment my own personal theme song will ring in my ears:


“You may not be there yet, but you’re closer than you were yesterday.”


4. Lose Weight and Live Healthier


This is obviously what Weight Watchers was hoping to inspire with their quote. Anyone familiar with Weight Watchers will know that they tell you to aim to lose no more than one or two pounds a week. This shows that you are losing weight the correct way and making the appropriate life changes. While it makes sense logically, it's not what you want to hear when you have weight to lose. Especially when we all know that you will not lose that one or two pounds every week and you may even gain weight some weeks. I have 37 pounds left to lose. Knowing that it will take (at the minimum) four and a half months to lose it is frustrating, to say the least. (I'll be skinny just in time for swimsuit season to be over. Great.)

It's hard to make the right choices everyday but I try to make little changes where I can. It's easy to drive around the parking lot at the grocery store until I find a closer spot. But now? As I park in the last row, grasp Nathan's hand, and lug Lily in her infant carrier (25 pounds, all together) up to the door I will tell myself:


“You may not be there yet, but you’re closer than you were yesterday.”




I looked down and realized that Lily had fallen back asleep. Feeling motivated and ready to enjoy an early morning cup of coffee in peace, I had just laid her down when I heard Nathan shuffle his way down the hall to the kitchen. I'll admit, I was irritated. I can't remember the last time I had 10 minutes to myself in my own home and it looked like it wasn’t going to happen this morning, either.

But, as he rounded the corner, I noticed his pajamas weren't covering his ankles anymore. And his mannerisms have recently become that of a little boy. He's no longer a baby. As he curled up next to me on the couch and proceeded to ask twenty questions about what I was doing and why I was doing it, I realized that I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the morning. Children have a tendency to grow up faster than their parents can imagine and someday mine, too, will be grown and gone and I will have to enjoy my early morning coffee on the couch alone. That is a “someday” that I can wait for.


“You may not be there yet, but you’re closer than you were yesterday.”

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