Wednesday, January 21

The Most Important Things...

With our son officially reaching toddler-hood and trying to wreak havoc on anything and everything in his path, his painful teething, and a little girl who is quickly entering the pre-school stage and needing more undivided attention, things have been a little off-kilter here. I have been finding myself running from one thing to the next, cleaning the same things several times a day (I've all but given up on my kitchen floor ever being truly clean again!) and wishing that there were more hours in the day (and night). It sometimes feels like I'm not actually getting anything done!

I finally sat down last week and put together a list of the things that are really important to my husband, to me, and to our children on a daily basis. I listed five things for each category (children, homemaking, and femininity) that I would like to get done each day and so far it seems to be helping our household. Things are a little more organized and I find that I'm getting the things that are important to us done each day!

Children
1. Faith Formation - Daily prayers, Bible Reading, and the Celebration of Feastdays
2. Quiet Creativity - Craft projects and playing creative games that encourage imagination (the train set, doll house/farm set, play kitchen, dress up, etc.)
3. Reading Aloud
4. Fresh Air
5. At Least One Montessori Activity for Our Daughter

Homekeeping
1. Laundry - I have no problem washing and drying clothes... It's the folding and putting away that gets me every time!
2. Kitchen and Cooking - Having good meals no matter what the day and keeping the kitchen relatively tidy is important to all of us
3. Garbage and Recycling - It is a pet peeve of mine to have garbage sit and recycling litlering the kitchen countertop. I try to take care of this once a day (usually at night)
4. Laying Out Our Clothes - If I do this at night, it is a lot easier in the morning!
5. Papa's Law - A few weeks ago, my husband laid down the law... clean up as you go! Tidying up each morning, afternoon, and evening was becoming a nightmare. The house never looked picked up and it was totally overwhelming to come downstairs at night for a little relaxing time and see a disaster area! Teaching our little ones to pick up as they go and following the rule ourselves has made a huge difference! We're far from perfect at Papa's Law, but we're doing much better!

Femininity
1. Dress Carefully
2. Daily Tea Time
3. Time to Read - even if it is just a page or two!
4. Soft Music
5. Quiet Creativity - right now, this means working on my knitting

9 comments:

P. said...

Delightful post.

Alfazema

PS: I have the same problem with laundry, the put away thing is more dificult then the all process together. I like to wash, to put on the line, to take it off.
I like a little bit to fold and I can't stand to put away!

Kindle Fire Mom said...

The last load of laundry is in the dryer but it's all piled up in my bedroom. Sigh.

Making a list like that is a great idea!

Also--I'm giving away icons on my blog this week, stop on over for a chance to win:

http://sacredandtheprofane.com/2009/01/19/new-sponsor-giveaway/

Pres. Kathy said...

That was a very good idea to sit and write down your most important things. I feel the same way a lot of times. I think you have inspired me to do this activity with my husband whenever he has some free time. Thanks so much!

faerieeva said...

Seems we are struggling in the same areas. I was right on top of everything, and then I received some devastating news from home a few days ago. Now I am slowly trying to get back 'into it'.
Lists can be so helpful!

Courtney said...

Oh, I hear you! I was just having this conversation with my sister. I feel like I'm missing out on my older son's toddlerhood because life is STILL so disruptive with the baby. Maybe I'll try this idea, but with only three items per list.

Papa's Law still makes me chuckle...glad to see it's going well. :-)

Jamie Carin and Claudio Romano said...

Welcome to my world!!!! I feel like I am cleaning up the same messes ALLLLL DAYYYYY LOOOONNNGGGG!!!!!!! Ben is in destructo mode too...And my husband is an admitted slob LOL. Add to that first trimester exhaustion and you can just imagine the state of my house. It should be condemned by the board of health!

Anwen said...

I don't know when you added your new profile picture, but I really love it. So much that I think I want to sew and embroider the blouse the mother is wearing! Would you mind sharing the name of the artist if you know?

MamaBirdEmma said...

Hi Anwen!

The artist of the picture I am using for my profile picture is Jessie Wilcox Smith. A google picture search should bring it up:)

Anwen said...

Thanks! I should have known. :)

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