Today was a crazy day...after a bunch of other crazy days. I'm up past my bedtime trying to finish my Red Scarf (the scarf is finished, even the ends are woven in, I'm just getting it all ready to put in the mail tomorrow), and a little something I've been meaning to do for about a month. But I'm practically finished both commitments, so yay!
My report card (I'm still such a teacher): here's the good and bad news for my daily homekeeping:
- Make the bed. I didn't make the big bed everyday and I did not make the kids' bed ever, except for maybe dumping out all the books and animals...I actually got worse here. (1/4 point).
- Manage clutter. I think I improved a bit here. I re-organized the living room, which is the main activity area for the family. It's a lot less cluttered, and I've sorted toys into bins so the kids can help put stuff away. (3/4 point, because there are still a number of other places in the house that need makeovers)
- Sort the mail. I wanted to put up a "no flyers" notice on the mailbox, but didn't. I was pretty good with the rest of the mail, even getting the junk mail right into the recycle bin (and, no, I don't usually put anything with personal info into recycling...the people who used to live here and didn't get their mail forwarded? their stuff goes in there...five years after we moved in!) (3/4 point)
- Clean as you cook. Well...if you count tonight, I get lots of points, because while stuff was bubbling away I did all the old dishes, and then started in on the dinner dishes while the kids finished eating. And I'd made a batch of amazing pumpkin cookies and a batch of playdough today, and all that got clean. Let's just say I've turned over a new leaf and it's always going to be good for #4. (1 point.)
- Wipe up spills while they're fresh. Okay, I'm totally giving myself full points for this. I was so organized after supper that I packed up DaddySutra's lunch for tomorrow right away and put it in the fridge. Then it fell out of the fridge and splattered all over the floor, the front of the fridge, and under the fridge. I wiped it all up (after swearing and yelling and almost crying a little bit), and I even pulled the fridge out and cleaned all the old yuk out from underneath it, and found about 8 of my kids' magnetic phonics toys. (1 point.)
- Sweep the kitchen floor. I know my own goal is to mop the floor more often, but in terms of getting the floor swept regularly, I think I did pretty well. At least when I pull out the broom the kids run to get the swiffer, showing some recognition. I bring out the vacuum and I have to explain to them that it's the "noo noo" (1 point.)
Yay! I went up from 3 and a bit to almost 5! I think I may have graduated to the next level of Homekeeping. Let me go consult my book...I think it's a good sign that I can actually find the book, don't you? That must mean progress!
Okay, after the six daily things to do, Martha has a weekly list of...gulp...37 things to address. Deep breath.
Okay (again with the okay)...I'm going to choose about 10 to do this week. Some I can eliminate pretty quickly because I don't actually have that room in my house. For example, I will not be doing the dusting in my LIBRARY, and I don't have any throw rugs in my ENTRYWAYS (how many entryways does Martha have, like if you counted up all the entryways at all her residences, including the pool houses and all of those? Just curious).
Okay, here are my tasks for the week, broken down by room:
KITCHEN:
- Dust light fixtures
- Vacuum and mop floor
DINING ROOM:
- Dust surfaces and objects, including furniture and light fixtures
LIVING ROOM:
- Dust surfaces and objects, including furniture, light fixtures, and electronics
- Vacuum upholstery and floor
BEDROOMS:
- Vacuum floors
BATHROOMS:
- Clean toilets, bathtubs, showers, and sinks
- Wipe mirrors
- Change and launder bath mats, towels, and facecloths
- Vacuum and mop floors
THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE:
- Wipe hand and pet prints from windows and glass doors
- Vacuum vents
Did anyone count? I came up with 12. I think I can manage at least half of that this week, which I think is a good start. This is not to say that I never do any of these things. The bathroom laundry, for example, is all clean right now and just needs to be folded and put away. However, dusting I just don't do. Maybe once a year I see some that I think needs attacking, or if we're moving stuff from one room to another...I'm just not a duster. But I will try to be a duster!! I feel like I need an incentive...maybe I'll go to a movie if I can get through at least half of my list and continue with the daily stuff by next Thursday. Anyone else in? What movie are we going to see?!
(Edited to add: I didn't see anything in the Martha book about what to do when your younger daughter pulls off her diaper again---just trying to be helpful, no malicious intent here that I could see---and unloads all over the entryway. 'Cause that happened today, too. And it was nasty.)
