Note: This is a How I Roll post. My first How I Roll post to be specific. From time to time I’ll show you the way we do things in our home (how we roll). Some of my favorite posts to read on other blogs are these kind of posts. It gives me ideas and inspiration to make my own home and life move more smoothly. So enjoy taking a look at how I roll. Take my ideas and make them your own, just be sure to leave a few of your ideas for me to use, too.
It would seem that since the moment I found out I was pregnant, my body decided to revolt. Morning sickness, fatigue, swollen limbs, shortened breath, even a stint in the hospital for severe dehydration (yipee!); it was just about more than this completely-boring-medical-history-girl could take, and it’s taken me a sweet-forever to feel normal-ish.
I’ve finally been able to start getting things done around the house again. Simple things that most of us don’t think twice about doing…cleaning the house on a regular basis, sorting the mail, catching up on laundry, baking bread or cookies with the kids, enjoying the sunshine and warm weather. I love going to bed each night knowing that I was able to accomplish something. And I love waking up every morning knowing that my day has purpose again. I set goals for the day-things I want to get done; usually it’s a list of 4-6 things–nothing major, but enough to make each day full. This is how I roll: weekly/daily to-do…
(I amaze myself with my photography abilities–not just anyone can get the entire photo to blur to a headache-enducig mish-mash. That takes some talent, folks.)
I use these amazing little notepads that my sister got for me one year for Christmas. She found them in the Target dollar bin. (Every time I see them, I grab a couple more. I don’t ever want to run out.) At the beginning of each week I sort out all the things that need to be done that week and add them to the day’s list, so that no day is loaded any more than another.
For example, this week’s page looks like this…
Monday
Whites
Pack up boxes for Sheryl
Bag clothes for Donna
Send Paypal invoices
Sweep kitchen
Clean upstairs bath
Tuesday
Blog
Vacuum LR
Clean downstairs bath
Darks/colors
Water plants
Pack Ami’s Clothes
Mail book
Wednesday
Vacuum Bedrooms
Towels
Send in J’s Camp Registration
Thursday
Blog
Kids’ clothes
Clear off desk area
Friday
Mail boxes
(As you can see, my system is very detailed and quite technical! 🙂 )
The beginning of the week is heavier to allow for those things that don’t get done one day to be moved to the next day or even later. Also, just because it’s listed on Tuesday doesn’t mean it can’t be done at any time. Like yesterday, I had wanted to get some clothes packed up for my friend’s baby and send out some paypal invoices. (With this new-found energy I went through all of J’s baby clothes and am in the process of sharing them with friends.) They’re now marked off the list because I did them this morning. Instead of packing up the clothes yesterday, I made cookies with the kids. The Music Man vacuumed the living room last night having no idea it was even on my list of things to do this week. (LOVE HIM!) So this morning I marked it off my list.
I love that this list is a work-in-progress each week. It’s fun to be able to mark things off as they’re accomplished. You wouldn’t believe how much easier it is to stay on task when I have a clear plan of what I want to do each day and can see the whole week. This little notepad has strong magnets on the back and it has a place of honor on my fridge. Even my kids know to look at it to see what the day will be like for Mamacita.
I’ve been using these notepads and this method (understand I use the word method rather loosely here) off and on for a few years now. At times, when I’ve done meal plans, I’ll make a note of what the main dish will be each day. I’m not meal planning now, because I’m still trying to get a handle on my life and house. (Although, can I just say meal-planning cuts way down on the grocery bill. It also has this amazing side-effect of relievng the stress that comes at 530pm when The Music Man is walking in the door and I realize that I have no idea what we’re going to eat for dinner. Not that that happened last night or anything. I’m just saying, you know, in general…)
One thing I do know for sure is that my family has been happier for having our house back to semi-normal. The kids are doing so much better with a rhythm to our days as opposed to the take-care-of-yourself-while-I-slowly-die-on-the-couch thing we had going for a few months. The Music Man has especially enjoyed Mamacita’s new burst of energy. His need to have things neat and orderly out-weighs my need, so it’s always been a balancing act. Through these past few months, he has pitched in and taken care of so much while I watched from the couch or bed-too tired to get up, much less care that things were a mess. He did it without one complaint. He did it because he saw it needed to be done. It’s been such a joy to see his relief as he walks in the door from work and sees a neat and clean house. He has enough stress and demands made on him at his workplace that the last thing I want for him is to come home to a dirty mess day after day. It’s not always perfect because HELLO! we live here, but it’s no longer always a mess anymore either.
So that’s how I roll to keep myself and all those household tasks in order. How do you roll?
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