Sunday, March 22, 2009

It's On!

Around here we seem to be having a little problem ...
Flylady calls it "CHAOS"
Dave Ramsey calls it "Stuffitis"
My Mom calls it "I know I raised you better than this (sigh) "
I call it "Mommy is going to lose her mind if we don't get some ORDER in our lives!"
So ... in thinking about the word ORDER, I realized that it has everything in there that we need to get focused and make it happen in our home.
I am not a naturally organized individual.
I get sidetracked easily (hello - look how many blog posts I have been doing...)!
I warned my husband before we got married that I really don't like to do dishes.
I have stayed true to that all these years.
But I want to do better.
I want to be able to feel comfortable inviting friends over on a moments notice (and not have to keep them confined to just one room).
I want to know that if my neighbor stops by I can open the front door and let them in, instead of just cracking it open and saying something about not letting the dog get out.
I want to not spend so much time doing damage control and have more time to LIVE!
Anyhow, as I thought about it some more, it all came together in my head and I saw ORDER for what it would mean in my life:

And we have set out to make it happen.

My Organization phase consists of going through every room in the house, one by one, and making sure there is a place for everything and that everything is in it's place. This includes throwing out loads of crap the purging of many unnecessary items - YAY! We are half-way done with this, then we get to move on.

Next comes the Responsibility phase - we will clearly define and set up job rotations so that each of us knows what we need to do. This should involve making a cute little chore chart and The Idea Door has some darling little clip art for chore charts.

Then we move on to Discipline - we have to stop wasting so much time watching TV or playing on the computer (whimper). We need to get our work done first, and have time limits on the rest. This one might hurt a little, but I know we can do it.

One of the most important factors is the Example Bert and I set for the kids. If we show them a cheerful, "Can Do" attitude, they will most likely have better attitudes regarding work in their lives. This has another significance also, we need to show them HOW to do some of these things, too. We can tell them to go clean the toilet, but it would be much more helpful to them if we would take some time to show them HOW to do it first.

And finally, when all this is being cranked out we will be ready to set up Routines to guide us through our morning and evening. We have actually had some set in place, but it needs a little revamping. I am looking forward to setting those up.

The reason I am even posting about this in the first place is so I can get a little moral support. My sister-in-law has joined me in this effort and she has given me some motivation and some fun ideas.

Now, if any of you out there have any ideas on things you do in your home to have more ORDER, please share them with me. I feel so lame that this is such a struggle for me, but I am determined to have a healthier (mentally), happier home.

A House of ORDER!

(aaaahhhhh)

Really, share your ideas ... please!!! :)

15 comments:

susette said...

Oh I posted about this some time ago. Sorry I can't link you to it :( But I do remember telling my blogging friends that you can gain control and stay in control by daily devoting just 5 minutes to organizing a drawer, cupboard, closet, etc. That might come about after a major purging but it really can work with some time. It just takes determination. The daily upkeep and organization is a different story. That's not associated with the drawer or cupboard. Good luck and enjoy the process. Get the kids helping too, they might enjoy being in charge of organizing their own special thing.

Zombette said...

Yay You!!!

I'm following the FLYLady plan almost exactly (definitely NOT "perfectly", but the p-word is a naughty word to her anyway). :-)

Don't have any advice, really, but I LOVE the ORDER and what you've written about each step.

You are so clever and so smart!

We SHE's are a creative bunch and I LOVE that about you (among many other things).

You don't have to do anything flawlessly... and please just keep being your own, precious beautiful self -- the Jenny that I have known and loved for *gasp* 30 years now -- as you are doing all this to make yourself and your family happy and give you peace.

Love yer guts, hunny!

Dawn said...

Great post!! I want the same things!

I try to organize little things while I'm on the phone. I'm a little ADHD like that. LOL!

I'm visiting from We are THAT family!

Stephanie said...

I just found you from THAT Family...I am right there with you. I felt like I was reading a page out of the journal I would keep if I kept one. I've been feeling the same way for a while and kept putting it off 'till the baby is a year'. Well, that happened last week, so I am going to jump on board. One room at a time. Starting with the master b/c maybe if there is peace in there it will be easier to find order everywhere else.

Thanks.

Julie W said...

Good job jenny. I love being organized. My home is usually PERFECT once a week. ANd the other days I do my best. It is so great to feel happy about your living environment.

You have given me the "dog" line... now I know why. Hehehe

Joanna said...

Hi! I'm a 1st time reader from 'THAT family' and I recently took on the same task of bringong some order to my chaos. I have 3 boys (8, 4 and 11 months) and things around here were getting out of control. I am following the advice from a blog called "Want What You Have" - here's the link: http://blog.wantingwhatyouhave.com/2008/02/inside-guide-cleaning-section.html
I have divided my home into 6 zones and the 1st 6 weeks of this project, I worked on one zone a week Mon-Thu and did the basic weekly chores on Friday (bathrooms, change sheets, empty trash, etc). I gave myself the weekends off to spend quality time with my husband and kids. My 6 zones are 1) kitchen, pantry 2)living room, computer room 3) entryway, coat closet, stairs, sunporch 4) bathrooms 5) master bedroom, nursery 6) big boys room. I sat down and wrote a list of every little thing that needs to be cleaned in those areas and I keep it handy to refer back to. So in 6 weeks I was able to get through my entire house and clean all the nooks and crannies. Since I had 4 days specifically allotted for each area, I had time to clean things I never had cleaned before (inside light fixtures, empty shelves to wipe down, wash rugs, etc). Now I rotate my zones every 2 weeks. Friday is still my general cleaning day & it's nice that everything is fresh for the weekend. I even get compliments from friends & neighbors who stop in and say "Wow! Your house is so clean!" and I've NEVER heard that before. I am most energetic in the morning so I do my cleaning between 9 and noon and since I have a plan to work from - it's a breeze! I didn't think I could ever be this organized. I have been able to really de-clutter the house and the kids have helped me with Goodwill donations.

Sorry so long but I think you will like Heather's blog at Want What You Have and I encourage you to give it a try!

Momza said...

As a Mom to 7 kiddos, I learned how to clean a house without stressing using these two ideas:

1- Don't buy things for the family or home that I don't want to be responsible for, if noone else wants to be. And purge the house seasonally.
2- Set a time limit for myself for each task...ie: kitchen cleaning, 20 minutes, Master Bedroom 15 minutes a day.
It really kept me motivated to focus on the task at hand and then move on.

Good Luck!

Jenny said...

We are so in the same boat! That one going up the creek without a paddle while we're at the helm screaming, "Jr, get your leg back in this boat!" "Missy, quit trying to throw brother into the white water!" My hubby has been very quick to point out that most of the chaos in our home can be at least indirectly blamed on moi. That sounds bad, but he really is sweet about it, and he really is right. sigh I will follow along in your blog since we seem to be heading in the same direction. :) Jenny (from Colorado but RAISED in Utah!)
btw, I came over from That Family.

American Homemaker said...

I need to organize my garage. It's a nightmare, but I put it off because I get such allergies out there it puts me out of commission for a whole day.

everyday mom of one said...

No need to feel bad about this I am sure most of us that have kids have this trouble, My sons room is a big box of toys, literally. I never know what to throw out or keep.

As for the rest of the house the flylady has helped me out tremendously. Work on your order than just keep it clean by getting some disinfectant wipes and just give the bathroom, kitchen and sinks a quick wipe over middle of the day and night time. This has helped me make everything so much more manageable.

On another not I saw your sister lives in Australia. I am an Aussie gal in America.

linsey said...

so cool! we presented it to our kids tonight and they chose to go swimming when we finish it all! i am so excited!

Katie Pettey said...

LOVE it! Spring cleaning at its best!

cfernelius said...

I love spring cleaning - I even love regular cleaning most of the time. I read a book called "The Ultimate Career" and the author gave some good ideas on organization and rotation of chores. I haven't really set up my plan yet, and mine won't be as intricate as hers, but I'll work on it. I need to be better about scheduling.

Anonymous said...

Right there with yall! I thought I was organized until I stopped teaching and became a "stay-at-home." I'm just not disciplined enough! Great ideas, though, and inspiration.

hintonrae.wordpress.com

Twinmomwv said...

Seriously, are we kindred spirits or what? I just posted about this too! I have someone coming over today to help me. I get to distracted to do it alone...I love your acronym with ORDER. I'm going to print it out and post it to remind me of my goals and I'm going over to The Idea Door right now.