Laundry Habit

I have been working on this habit since August.  I am determined to get a handle on it.  Laundry!!!!  I takes over in a matter of days.  I have been trying to do a load a day.  But then there are days I totally forget.  I don't like to do it on the weekends, as they are so busy and I want us to be able to hang out Daddy-O. Now in the past one load a day has just meant washed and dried.  I have been known to let clean clothes sit in a laundry basket.  It is no fun to have to be digging for something to wear and it doesn't help the children learn.  So here is what I have come up with.  I do a small load everyday.  By doing this it will only take minutes to fold and put away and the kids aren't to overwhelmed.  Since I don't want to do it on the weekends.  We do two load on Monday or Friday.

• Before coffee or while its brewing throw the load.  Side note: I really like to have this ready the night before as that has been an excuse to not it, it the room and everyone is sleeping in there.  I am not going to wake them up,  it can wait.  Oops now I didn't get it done and the whole day is thrown off.  
• Change the load as the kids breakfast is starting, also starting a timer is helpful. I have also had the kids help hang it out while we are waiting for breakfast to heat. ( remember this is a small load so it only takes a few minutes.
• After breakfast, kitchen clean up, and the kids have cleaned themselves up we grab the load and fold and put away.  I have picture labels on their drawers so they know where things go and all shirts get hung up. Even the others help out as they are part of our "Family". 

It has been hard for me to let them fold towels as they come out looking sideways and a little messy.  After taking with Daddy-O we are just going to let them look like that.  The kids will get better as time goes on.  This way I don't have to make them feel bad by doing it over and it saves me time too. 

I love it when I can tell C to get dressed and he doesn't have to say I can't because I don't have  any undies or socks.  Or he can wear his favorite shirt 3 times in a week. 

Now to tackle matching socks any suggestions?  

Master Bedroom: Flying

Teaching the kids care for their things has just began to weigh on my.  I don't know if it is because I am getting older, the kids, or that there are always people over.  I want out home to be a place we can always turn to to have a good time and to be there when we need a break.

The kids and I just cleared the floor in my room and you should have seem them.  It was like a new room!  They began to dance, snuggle, read.  We spent the rest of the afternoon in this room.  It is one of the brightest rooms in the house and it was a nice day out.  C was so proud of the work they had did.  He kept saying look how nice it looks. I hope by having our routines in place and sticking to them, we can have this feeling in every room and not to feel like we always need to clean.  Remember how I said my toilet is always clean because I clean it when I go in and now its something I don't even know I am doing.  Just another thing that gets done when using the bathroom.  I hope my other habits take over like this.

Pretending to Move- Flylady Style

As you know I have been decluttering and getting ride of the things we don't love or need. We are blessing other families by giving it away. I find myself thinking, "Oh if I would have kept that stuff I could have sold it and had the cash", but then I think of the families that are blessed to have it.

With that said Flylady suggested we pretend like we are moving. In an email she sent, she said "If we had to pay a dollar per pound to move, how much clutter could you get rid of?" I thought about it and I looked around and began thinking if we were to really have to move what are the things I would have to take? I am in the process of making a list of those things and getting rid of the other stuff.

Let me know if you have done this? Or How you got rid of things when moving?

I become overwhelmed with the kids stuff, mostly their toys that lay around. I don't want to just toss their belongings. So we have made a deal if they want to keep they have to show me they love it by taking care of it, that means putting it back in the designated place ( its home). I try to remind them to pick up which I sometimes forget. :( In which we all clean up quickly.

How do you get your kids pick up? Have you tossed their toys if left out?

I'm Flying

Have you every heard of " The Flylady"? She is this wonderful women who at a hard time in her life turned it around and is now helping people all over the world do so. She has really helped me figure this whole wife/mom/homemaker thing out.

When I first started staying home I was looking for a guide on how to keep it all together. How to run a successful home. I came across the site and it was really helpful. I was still a little overwhelmed at home to put it all together. I would do some of the steps sometimes. I did not truly get how to do the Zones until I was done removing the clutter in one room.

Some of the zones I am able to, but others I am still decluttering. I feel as if this will never end, I know it will because that is how I felt a while ago when I gave up. Since then I have been making weekly trips to the local women shelter. They will take it all. So I do not have to sort it out. The kids are really getting in to it. A few times C has come up to me and said "I think another kid would like this, can we drop it off?" I know that what I am doing it making a difference in them.