Weekly Cleaning-Why its good to have a routine

I came to thinking this weekend....I don't know what I would do without my weekly cleaning schedule. It's become an ingrained habit. I have 1 or 2 chores listed for each week day that I try to get accomplished after I get Zachary and I fed and dressed in the morning.

I used to just get done what I could in a day's time, but that always left me trying to do too much and getting overwhelmed because really, there's always something else to do. There were also some days when chores did not get done because of other random activities or tasks that came up. It slowed chores down and since I did not have a specific time set aside during the day it was easy to forget or miss because of other things going on.

So anyway, I love my cleaning routine that I've had for over a year now. I never feel like I HAVE to keep doing chores after the assigned chores are done, just because there may be things that need to be taken care of. I know that I will do them on an assigned day. I have them PROGRAMMED into my week.

My Sample Clean Routine

Mondays- laundry and ironing if the clothes are dry in time.

Tuesdays- dust furniture, fans, and blinds (rotate upstairs and downstairs each week)

Wednesdays- Mopping floors (kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry) and vacuuming (rotate upstairs and downstairs each week)

Thursdays- Bathrooms

Fridays- Kitchen cleaning (counters, microwave, table, blinds, sink, and stove)

These chores are the weekly chores. There are more chores that need to be done, oh, say once a month, and others that are like annual or bi annual chores.

I try to get the chores started while Zachary is awake and playing with toys in the morning, but sometimes if he needs my attention or it's just taking a long time, I finish up during his morning nap. When he gets older, I look forward to showing him how to do little things to help me. I'm hoping he will be willing to do so, even if it takes me a little longer to do them. Right now, he's into banging on the large round laundry powder bucket from Sams. It's a perfect height for him and he's entertained while I'm doing the laundry.

Getting started

When first starting this routine it may be difficult to feel confidence in it if you have not been keeping up with the chores. If you're dusting and it just seems like the dust is never ending, just do as much as you can within a certain time frame. In a weeks time, when it is time to do that chore again, it can't possibly be as bad as it was the first week and maybe you will be able to meet your goal.

• Set Goals
  

• Sit down and come up with a schedule.

• Program this into your day. Decide when you will do chores and how long you have to do them.

• Make it fun! Put on your favorite music and open the blinds to let in some light!

• Imagine what a clean house will look like. A mental image can give you the motivation to get started and form a habit.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day can be a bunch of hoop la if we let commercial buzz take over. But it CAN be a true heart warming day of opportunity to really let someone know how much they mean to you. This day is far from being only for romance. I know some people may think that it's easy for me to say since I'm married...but really...I remember being single. It hasn't been that long. If you're single, take the opportunity of being single to really focus on the people in your life that do mean a lot to you and let them know.

I can't count the number of people who I really owe a huge Valentine to.

Today is a great excuse (if you think you need one, but actually you don't) to actually say things you may have been wanting to say forever and a day. Today is the day you can even write a poem if you feel so moved to, which isn't something people do every day in this time. There's plenty of overwhelmingly creative ideas out on the web for gift ideas that won't cost us anything. The thought really counts today.

Let's set a challenge to make the words you are able to say today, once a year on Valentine's Day, words that you say the other 364 days of the year to all the people you love.

A few quotes for Valentine's Day:

"Love is a mustard seed planted by God and watered by man" Muda Saint Michael

"Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long, intricate, intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner"- Amy Bloom

"Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone-we find it with another" --Thomas Merton

"So be imitators of God as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us..." Ephesians 5:1

"Love is my decision to make your problem my concern" --Robert Schuller


"It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else" Erma Bombeck

"My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me".
Jim Valvano

"If you were waiting for the opportune moment, that was it" -- Jack Sparrow

"The most intimate form of community is family" Fr. Payne

"Love is like a mountain, hard to climb, but once you get to the top the view is beautiful"--Daniel Monroe Tuttle

"Love is a decision not an emotion or feeling, that if made from the heart will outlast anything..." --Raul and Samantha Juarez

"Love is more than a feeling. It's a state of mind" --Lisa Grude

For Valentine ideas:
http://www.parenthacks.com/

To all of the people I owe a heartfelt Valentine to:
My parents, who brought me here, my brother, who was my favorite source of entertainment growing up, Scott, my amazing husband, my Zachary, my first and adorable son, Kathryn, a perfect fit for a sister in law, Priscilla, a you won't find a more welcoming sweet mother in law, David, my makes me laugh and is always in the best mood father in law, Michelle, another perfect fit sister in law with smiles and giggles, Brian and Kevin, you couldn't ask for more fun and any better brother in laws, my grandparents, Hazel and Joe, Becky and Berch, Nanny and Poppie, Aunts Debbie P., Linda, Janet, Charlotte, Myra, Liz, Lana, Amaryllis, Christine, Mimi, Debbie D., Cindy, Sue, Ann, and one I haven't met, Uncles Bobby, Bobby, Bobby, Carl, Ronnie, Jake, Mark, Mike, Mike, Tom, Jim, and one I haven't met-Dean, cousins (oh gosh here we go) Renee, Jonathan, Stephanie, Jenny, Eric, Andrew, Ryan, Ross, Michael, Jade, Maggie, Annalise, Joe, Nick, Cherie, Rebecca, Adam, Christiane, Brandi, Cody, Madeleine, Blaise, Rhyn, Paula, Matt, Laura, Becca, Sarah, Bill, John, Annie, Paul, Joe, Gracie, Emma, Katie, Maggie, and Ben, friends.....there's so many of you......Kari, Tricia, Scott E., Kelly, Katie, Brenda, Allison, Suzanne&David, Becky, Drew, Leanne, Ginny, Emily, Melissa, The Bakers, The Thomas', The Johns, The Bienvenue's and so many more.

Choosing for ourselves

This morning I was listening to EWTN to hear today's Word. Fr. Mitch Pacwa was giving the sermon. I love that he explains things so well, he's so genuine and he really knows how to apply the word to our every day situations.

He was talking about judgment today. It had to do with a reading from the Book of Jonah (3:1-10) and Jesus' discussion of Jonah in the Gospel of Luke 11. To me it seems that there are 2 extremes of judgment. It can happen that someone labels everyone they meet with numerous different criticizims of how they are as a person and someone that won't judge anyone in a sense that they won't say whether or not something is right or wrong because they are afraid of criticizing at all. Sorry that was a major run-on.

Fr. Mitch clarified a few things in the sermon today. He said that we, of course, do not have the right to judge someone's soul. We don't know what is to become of them in any afterlife. We don't know their intentions, their past, their issues, their state of mind, and we can't see the inside of their hearts. We just can't know that. We can't say that they are "a bad person" or that they are "unworthy" of anything.

He also said that we DO need to judge BEHAVIOR. We can decide whether or not an action is right or wrong. He discussed the fact that God WANTS us to use the minds he gave us. He gave us free will and wants us to be creative beings. It's important that we study, learn, explore, and seek. So it's important for us to judge behavior for ourselves. We should decide whether or not an action is appropriate or inappropriate. I'm also a believer in teaching our children the "why", not just telling them "you can do this" or "you can do that". They must learn how to decide for themselves. That seems to be one of the most basic necessities in living on your own; learning to make your own choices and how to make good ones. I believe God gave us that responsibility in teaching them. I'm a new mother. My first child is not even a year old yet and I know I'm far from perfect so this will be a challenge for me to carry out well. I do believe in doing it though and I intend to try my best.

Fr. Mitch also discussed how much he loves science and supports the continuation of exploration. It seems to me that he believes that God put us humans here of course to do good, but also to explore the earth and use our minds to the best of our ability. He sees how much science points to the beauty of God's creation.

Thank you Fr. Mitch for inspiring me in decision making and giving me more appreciation for my faith.

Motivation to do anything

I guess we don't really think about all of the little things that motivate us to do pretty much anything each day, from getting up in the morning to going to bed at night. I don't always think about the fact that we have to have something motivate us to make our feet hit the floor in the morning. For me, its usually my son's voice on the monitor letting me know that it's time for breakfast. Anyone who works must have some drive in order to go. I guess that could be money and hopefully a love of what you get to do there. Motivation to do things like eat, have never been a problem for me. I'm glad to eat, especially if its chocolate flavored. Going to bed is never a problem either. I like my sleep and I want enough of it. I know that there are some people who struggle with one, two or even all three of those basic necessities.

My family celebrates lent every year. It's a great time to take a deeper look at ourselves and find room for improvement which effects us and those who are part of our lives. Making some type of sacrifice also gives me more appreciation for what God did/does for us. Usually I give up desserts which always does me a lot of good and gets me back into better eating habits.

This year, I chose something different. First of all, I gave up desserts and pretty much all packaged food when I went on the "no milk, no soy" diet for Zachary when we found out he had an allergy to the protein in milk and possibly soy. So instead, I'm trying to do little tasks that I'm usually not motivated to do around the house right as they occur. For example instead of a letter lying around that I need an address for, I make myself look it up right away rather than putting it off because I "don't feel like it" which is something I often do. A lot of times I don't even realize I'm doing it. So far, I feel more productive, organized, and less stressed. Also, people appreciate my promptness if it involves them. Especially Scott. The task really doesn't take more than a few minutes. It forces me to make decisions that I put off whether its finding a place for something in the house or deciding if I'm going to attend a shower I've been invited to so I can mail off the response. I'm hoping to make this a permanent habit.

Having motivation seems to me, to have a lot to do with the way we look at ourselves. If we have a skewed view of ourselves and our worth, we may not see much reason to get up in the morning. I think its important to remember that we are important and deserve happiness because of the fact that we exist in this world, not because of our success, our looks, and our social status.

Dr. David Burns in his book "Feeling Good" talks about how you can change the way you feel if you can change the way you think.

An intense lack of motivation can make any task seem difficult. You don't feel like doing anything because you feel bad. You may feel even worse because you aren't getting things done. It's a vicious cycle.

Dr. Phil has some great advice for a "Formula of Success". Two of them relate to becoming motivated. These are "passion" and "vision". Make a list of things that you were once passionate about or may be now. Have a vision of what goals you want in life. If you are struggling with both of these you may want to seek professional help from someone who can help you discover why you aren't passionate and how to fix that.

If you struggle with lack of motivation to do little tasks like me, join me in the challenge of taking care of these tasks as they occur (as long as priorities allow, such as feeling children :).

To read more advice from Dr. Phil go to:
http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/15