Thursday, October 18, 2007

Gratitude - Chores

In my quest for peace and gentleness lately - two ideas that others have offered have really helped me and made my life easier!
One, as I mentioned, is Melissia just saying that she pops her head in her daughter's room a few times a day and puts anything away not being played with.
I cannot tell you what a difference this has made in my head and my spirit!
Spending thirty seconds cleaning up three or four times a day is Infinitely preferable to three days every two or three weeks. Obvious to some, maybe, but when you have the rest of the house in need of almost equal attention, it's easy to think "this is not a priority"!
I thank you sincerely for those simple words.

Next - my sister Kim suggested separate laundry baskets for everyone.
We have a HUGE plastic rubbermaid garbage can that we use for the dirty clothes, so that is not a problem, but clean laundry certainly was! I'd just pile it higher and higher, or drag it to the antique sofa in my bedroom. Then we dig for drawers or socks several times a day. Not fun!
Sorting the clean laundry out of the dryer into five different baskets (one also for rags and towels and sheets) has made a HUGE difference also in my temperament and our general aggravation.

I know there are people like flylady, and all that stuff, but I don't operate well under someone else's ideas. I do best to spend the necessary time in each room each day (when the house is clean), say fifteen minutes in each (dusting, polishing, vacuuming).
But ideas such as "do this" and "don't do that" never sit well with me. (too rebellious, I guess.)

Anyway - these ideas were/are life savers, and I just wanted to say thanks for making my life so much easier. My heart is lighter, my head is clearer, and my spirit feels free.

And now I'm off to happily clean my house!

5 comments:

Julie said...

Laundry is always my enemy it seems:) What I've been trying to do lately, is, instead of doing a week's worth at once and not getting the time to fold and it sits there in the basket for another week, is to do a load every two days, so it's not a huge load, usually just medium, and I can fold it and put it away more easily. Not sure if that wiill help you, but though I would share what has helped me.

Stephanie said...

I've been doing that lately.
I usually wash one or two a day. (maddie goes through clothes like crazy, and there's always a blanket to be washed.)
Where I got stuck was having the 45 loads that were clean, and not three (uninterrupted) days to fold them!

KMDuff said...

Having a happy heart when I clean is my latest goal. Not resenting my boys for their natural messes, but loving that they are having fun in our home.

your posts are inspiring there. :)

Melissia said...

I got rid of all but one laundry basket and one hamper that can hold about 3 loads. So when clean clothes are in the basket you have to fold them- no other basket. And when the hamper is full it is time to do laundry because there is no other place to put them. Then I moved all the clothes in to one room- was easy for us but could be hard for other families. I take the laundry basket in to the room with all the clothes in it and fold as I put them away. Has really made my life much better. I am glad the room check-in has helped you. Both Arianna and I have been much happier since I started doing that. :)

Stephanie said...

Amen to that! (Everyone being happier.)
:)