This blog post has been entered in The Christian Home magazine's weekly issue. You can read more entries at The Legacy of Home blog.
I hate to confess this, but I'm trying to slowly regain a sense of order, good habits, and cleanliness in our home. It's a slow battle as there are so many things we have neglected since Baby V was born 9 months ago. I foolishly thought my summer would be relaxed and I could focus on catching up in these areas. Ha ha! We are making slow, but steady progress, and learning a few more rules along the way.
Housekeeping Rule #745
If you're wondering how clean your floors are, borrow a crawling baby for the day. Nothing will test the cleanliness of your floors more than a baby wearing pastel sleepers and onesies scooting and crawling around.
We didn't really think about how long it had been since we mopped the wood floors, until she started crawling. We had to replace our mop, but we've mopped now! And I don't plan to let it get that bad again. (I promise it had not been 9 months since we mopped the living room floor, just a few months.)
Housekeeping Rule #15
If you can't find a solution, ask your teen. They always have an answer.
One of my daughters was advising me that the solution to our struggle was for me to create detailed chore charts. I replied to her that I can attest from experience that the best charts in the world can not work without diligence and compliance from the children (and adults!) in the family. If we decide we don't feel like doing much today, then we will pay for it tomorrow. She felt like I was being negative to not consider her suggestion. I think she's forgotten the many variations of chore charts we decorated our fridge with in the past.
Housekeeping Rule #381
If you really want help folding laundry, hold it hostage. The camp-bound children WILL help fold clothes in order to be able to pack faster.
Housekeeping Rule #1005
He who puts away the most clothes, has control. He who puts away the least, can walk further.
This weekend I was folding clothes while the children were cleaning the living room and vacuuming it. I couldn't fold at the couch, or the dining room table (because it hadn't been cleaned yet), so I was folding them on my bed with one of my campers helping. As I folded it dawned on me that 5/10 of the people whose clothes I was folding belong in my room or the one next to it, and I put that half of the clothes away myself. Not to mention linens, kitchen towels, and bathroom towels are all close to my room. I guess I should fold on my bed more often. It saves trips for me, and it means that the clothes won't sit in stacks for several days waiting for children to put their clothes away. They will have to be OFF my bed by bedtime. That may be our new plan ... and since I washed 4 loads today, I can test it tomorrow when I fold.
I don't know how long it will take to fix up the house and build good habits in the kids and I. Diligence and patience over time would be my guess. Ouch! Now to just figure out where we can buy both of those.
Rejoicing in Family,
April E.
