As a mother of 4, I am constantly trying to do my best to keep up with the housework. I am still nursing the baby, so that takes up a lot of time. I like to give my kids lots of experiences, so we try to do all of the wonderful free things offered in town. In order to be the best mom I can, I feel like I am always searching for ways to make my job easier.
The other day I ran across a pin on Pinterest about how to magically make your house cleaner. I can't remember the exact blog, but it was another mother of 4 (her children were grown though). After reading it, I am beginning to wonder if there is something wrong with me.
The secret? Put things away when you are finished with them, and clean up as you go. Sounds simple right? Seems like it should be, but I am terrible at it. Plus I have four other people who are not the best at putting things away. They vary in degrees of messiness. Madalynn will drop wrappers from snacks, or the snacks themselves when she is finished. She does the same with toys. Pick up a doll in the bedroom, carry it to the living room, drop it for a book, carry that to my bedroom, drop the book for MY makeup, carry that to the family room, etc. She will do this all day! The boys think putting Legos up on higher surfaces are putting them away. Camden often hides his wrappers between the sofa cushions. Jackson is the best at putting things away, but even he isn't perfect. He hangs up his laundry only a couple times a month and often leaves glasses in the living room.
I do some crazy things when it comes to putting things away. The other day I painted my nails. The nail polish made it to the bedroom, but a couple of days later I realized I had left it on Jackson's dresser... only steps from the closet where it goes. I change Paxton's clothes and often leave his dirty clothes wherever I changed them. I throw my shoes in the bottom of the closet, rather than put them in the shelves.
While writing this, I am feeling rotten about being angry with my kids when they put their toys in the wrong places. I spend hours organizing their things, and wonder why they can't put them back where they belong. I can see I don't always lead with the best example.
The question remains... Why don't I put my things where they belong? I think of those people who have neat homes always. Do they fight an everyday battle with this? Some people say it is a habit, but how can I form the habit? I always make my bed. I always put away things in the bathroom. I very rarely leave the kitchen a mess. So why can't I put away the nail polish, the baby clothes, or my Kindle? Why do I leave my empty purse on the entry bench when I switch to another?
I tend to think I get so tired of picking up after everyone else, that I just slack sometimes. Madalynn is only 2. She can put things away, but needs coaxing. Paxton can't even sit up, so I have to put his things away, too. After I have picked up all day long, I just don't want to think about putting things away anymore. I also get distracted. Most of the time I change Paxton, I am getting ready to nurse him. When I finish, he is usually asleep. I go to lay him down and forget I left the clothes laying there.
Is it a learned behavior, or is it inborn? A result of bad habits, or being too distracted? I guess it doesn't really matter. I am going to try much harder to put things in their place. If that is the secret to a clean home, then I had better embrace it. Maybe my example will teach the children to put their things away, too. If they put their things away, then I wouldn't be so worn down picking up after them. Looks like it will come full circle... if I can only put everything in its place.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Even 2-year-olds care about decorating.
The week without the big kids turned out to be very productive. I started by wiping down and painting all of the flat white doors and door trim. 11 doorways to be specific! They all have a fresh coat of washable, satin paint. Hopefully this will help the house look cleaner. The more that I painted them though, the worse the walls looked. I decided not to paint the base boards until I can paint the walls, too. I have a lot of painting on my to do list for the future.
Next on the list was the kitchen. This felt like it took forever! So much trim work between the ceiling, base boards and cabinets. Very textured walls, too. (Can't make it too easy!) I changed the color from tan to green. I was a little nervous about the color... thought it might look too dark, but it turned out great. Took a couple of coats though. Finished it on Wednesday.
Thursday morning I slept in! Around noon I started on the surprise project... the boys' room. They picked out the color Really Electric Lime while we were looking for paint colors for the kitchen. This, I was super nervous about. My first swipe with the paint, I was thinking I need to rush out and get a different color. After 2 coats had dried though, I actually liked it! Thinking the shorter walls would not require much paint, we only bought a quart. I ran out pretty quickly. After I finished using all of that paint, I took a nap while waiting for Jackson to bring home another quart after work. I woke up from my nap and decided I had better be productive while I waited, so I painted the banister upstairs, which was also flat white. When he got home with the second quart, we painted until 10:30 when we ran out again. He then had to run back to WalMart to buy a third quart. Wishing we would have bought a gallon! By midnight we had the boys' room finished.
Friday morning I got up, bought some new navy curtains for the boys' room, put the switch plate and outlet covers back on, and headed down to pick up the kids. I couldn't wait to show them their room. They had a birthday party as soon as they got home, so we showed Madalynn first. She then walked down the hall and said to Jackson, "Daddy, look in my room!" She walked in the room and said, "Uh-oh". Apparently she thought we had painted her room too. Talk about feeling bad.... Who would have thought a two-year-old would care about the color of her room? She told us she wanted to paint "all the walls" in her room "hink". I guess I will add that to my list for the future.
The boys loved their surprise room painting, and I feel super accomplished after a week full of painting.
Next on the list was the kitchen. This felt like it took forever! So much trim work between the ceiling, base boards and cabinets. Very textured walls, too. (Can't make it too easy!) I changed the color from tan to green. I was a little nervous about the color... thought it might look too dark, but it turned out great. Took a couple of coats though. Finished it on Wednesday.
Thursday morning I slept in! Around noon I started on the surprise project... the boys' room. They picked out the color Really Electric Lime while we were looking for paint colors for the kitchen. This, I was super nervous about. My first swipe with the paint, I was thinking I need to rush out and get a different color. After 2 coats had dried though, I actually liked it! Thinking the shorter walls would not require much paint, we only bought a quart. I ran out pretty quickly. After I finished using all of that paint, I took a nap while waiting for Jackson to bring home another quart after work. I woke up from my nap and decided I had better be productive while I waited, so I painted the banister upstairs, which was also flat white. When he got home with the second quart, we painted until 10:30 when we ran out again. He then had to run back to WalMart to buy a third quart. Wishing we would have bought a gallon! By midnight we had the boys' room finished.
Friday morning I got up, bought some new navy curtains for the boys' room, put the switch plate and outlet covers back on, and headed down to pick up the kids. I couldn't wait to show them their room. They had a birthday party as soon as they got home, so we showed Madalynn first. She then walked down the hall and said to Jackson, "Daddy, look in my room!" She walked in the room and said, "Uh-oh". Apparently she thought we had painted her room too. Talk about feeling bad.... Who would have thought a two-year-old would care about the color of her room? She told us she wanted to paint "all the walls" in her room "hink". I guess I will add that to my list for the future.
The boys loved their surprise room painting, and I feel super accomplished after a week full of painting.
Friday, July 6, 2012
To Paint or Not To Paint...
2 years ago, we purchased our first house. House hunting with 3 kids, we quickly decided we weren't up to a fixer-upper. We found a house that had been almost completely renovated, and with the exception of 1 room, the whole house was tan with white trim... even outside. For me, the color is great. Super easy for decorating. The problem is, everything is painted with flat paint! 3 kids and a couple of months in the house and the doorways and walls were wrecked.
Fast forward 2 years and you have a large house with nearly every surface needing repainted. We remodeled the downstairs bathroom last spring, and it could already use a touch-up! I wish they made indestructible paint!
My mom likes to keep the kids for a week in the summer, and since the first time we started planning a trip to Nanna and Poppa's, I have been dreaming of painting. First on the agenda are the doors and doorways... virtually all of the white trim needs to be painted with washable paint. Next the kitchen and stair well. I have no clue what color I will paint these, I just know they desperately need it. The boys are begging me to paint their room green. And the only room in the house (besides the bathroom) that isn't tan is the library/crafting room. It was going to be my project this summer, but here it is July and I haven't even started. It is wall-papered with a cat and book border, which has to go! There they are... the first few painting projects. I will not be able to finish them all, I'm sure, but there are plenty more walls after these get painted.
I am heading to Wal-Mart as soon as I finish this post to pick up some paint samples and a couple of brushes to get started on the trim. One of the reasons for starting this blog was to hold myself accountable. The idea of spending a week with only the baby gives me visions of snoozing on the couch (nothing makes me more sleepy than holding a sleeping baby), watching mom tv (as the kids call it), reading a good book or two, the list could go on and on. When provided with the option to paint or not to paint... I am going to choose to paint.
Just hope I stick to my decision...
Fast forward 2 years and you have a large house with nearly every surface needing repainted. We remodeled the downstairs bathroom last spring, and it could already use a touch-up! I wish they made indestructible paint!
My mom likes to keep the kids for a week in the summer, and since the first time we started planning a trip to Nanna and Poppa's, I have been dreaming of painting. First on the agenda are the doors and doorways... virtually all of the white trim needs to be painted with washable paint. Next the kitchen and stair well. I have no clue what color I will paint these, I just know they desperately need it. The boys are begging me to paint their room green. And the only room in the house (besides the bathroom) that isn't tan is the library/crafting room. It was going to be my project this summer, but here it is July and I haven't even started. It is wall-papered with a cat and book border, which has to go! There they are... the first few painting projects. I will not be able to finish them all, I'm sure, but there are plenty more walls after these get painted.
I am heading to Wal-Mart as soon as I finish this post to pick up some paint samples and a couple of brushes to get started on the trim. One of the reasons for starting this blog was to hold myself accountable. The idea of spending a week with only the baby gives me visions of snoozing on the couch (nothing makes me more sleepy than holding a sleeping baby), watching mom tv (as the kids call it), reading a good book or two, the list could go on and on. When provided with the option to paint or not to paint... I am going to choose to paint.
Just hope I stick to my decision...
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