Focused vs. Pinball Cleaning

This is part 2 in the "Keeping your House Clean. . .ha, ha, ha!" series that I started a few posts back when I discussed "Tidy Rooms by Choice". (See November links at the right if you haven't read that post.) Today I'm going to share with you a few ideas about how in the world a busy mother of several children can even hope to keep her home relatively clean!

Have you ever heard this saying: "Keeping your home clean when your children are growing up is like shoveling snow during a snowstorm." I love that! I told my husband this morning that sometimes I feel like I'm holding up a drinking cup and trying to catch a tidal wave! :) Well, it's not always that bad. And it can be peaceful and you can have a relatively clean home even if you have a lot of children.

FOCUSED CLEANING:
In my 15+ years of being a mother with children at home, the type of cleaning I find touted by all of the "experts" is one version or another of "focused cleaning". Focused cleaning is when your goal is to clean ONE spot and you work like crazy to NOT let yourself get distracted. This is when you heard your mother say "If there's no blood, I don't want to hear about it!" Hahaha, my Mom really did used to say that!

This is when, for instance, you've just finished a meal and it's time to clean up the kitchen. You try and just focus a good 15-30 minutes and get the whole kitchen finished, top to bottom. This is when lists and routines are essential. You know the drill: Mondays-Laundry, Tuesdays-Errands, Wednesdays-Bathrooms, Thursdays-Floors, Friday-Free. That kind of thing. There is plenty about this kind of cleaning on other websites, so I won't go into too much detail here. If that system works for you, enjoy it while it lasts!

I have had some success with these kinds of routines, and they do have a place in keeping a home clean. The problem I run into with this type of cleaning is that no day with children is ever perfect. It's rarely predictable, and almost never goes exactly how you plan. Your 3yo son is throwing up on "errand day", your 8yo wet the bed, but it's not "laundry day". You had to run errands on "bathroom day", so now all the bathrooms haven't been cleaned for 2 weeks. And on and on, you get the idea.

So I have spent hours and hours, I couldn't figure the total if I tried, making lists and schedules, plans and routines, trying to create the "perfect system" that will work for my family. But it is not to be found. There's just not enough predictability. Even if you do, by some miracle, feel great on "mopping the floor day", and you work like crazy, likely your 15yo son will walk in with dirty cleats and ruin your carefully mopped, perfectly clean floor. Or your toddler will slip on the wet water and cut his head! So it can be very discouraging to try and stick to a perfect schedule.

Don't get me wrong, kids needs predictability and schedules. We have a pretty good daily routine at our home that is followed 90% of the days. But that said, to try and cover the whole home following a "perfectly scheduled" routine when kids are in the mix, well that's just insanity! If any of you do this perfectly and you have more than 2 kids, please email me and tell me all your secrets! In the meantime, let me tell you how I've coped with this situation.

PINBALL CLEANING:
The next type of cleaning I've affectionately named "Pinball Cleaning". I'd like to say I invented this strategy, but most mother's do it to one degree or another and just don't realize it. This cleaning style is a type of controlled randomness, that I've been "perfecting" lately. Think of the name: "Pinball Cleaning" and you probably already have an idea of what this is!

Imagine one of those pinball games that you used to play in the arcades. There's a little ball in that bottom corner, and you pull back on the stopper and send it flying! It bounces here and bounces there, getting you points like crazy all over the place. But it doesn't get stuck in one area for long, and it always ends up returning home, to rest for a moment, and then be shot out into the action again!

Well, pinball cleaning is like this. You touch one area here, one area there, just like a pinball does. It's a way to take advantage of the fact that your day is often chaotic and interrupted! Why fight it? Let's USE it!

Here's how it works:
1. Set a timer for 15 minutes, and pick a room to be "Home Base". This might be the room where your children are playing, it might be the front entrance of your home, or maybe the kitchen. I usually choose the kitchen because there's always something that needs to be done in there!

2. Look around the room. What is the most obvious problem that needs to be done to make that room look presentable if company was on it's way? Get busy on it! Start tidying, cleaning, dejunking, whatever you see that needs to be done the most in that room. Here's a good guideline if you're not sure where to begin:
a) Floors First
b) Flat Surfaces Next
c) Hidden Areas Last

3. Now here's the key that makes pinball cleaning different than regular cleaning: When you come across an item that goes elsewhere (which you certainly will if you have kids), grab anything else you can fit in your hands that belongs in that direction. Now pinball-bounce to the new workplace (the place where that item belongs.) Drop off items along the way, then start the cleaning process again in the room you are in now. (See #2) Spend time in that room just like you did at "home base", then move on to the next room, and so on. This way you are "touching base" in lots of different rooms & areas of your house, and getting the most obvious, needed things done in each room.

4. When the timer rings, take a 15 minute break if you need it.

5. When the break timer rings, head back to "home base" (image the pinball going back to the beginning place, ready to shoot off again.) This "returning to home base" keeps this random cleaning session somewhat focused as you head back to the room where you began. It also gives you a moment to check on the kids, and take a break if needed. Remember, during the cleaning session, you are moving quite fast, like a pinball, so you will get your exercise too! (I'm actually pinball cleaning as I type this, and I'm typing in my blog on all my 15-minute breaks!)

Here's how a typical real-life session of pinball cleaning went for me today:

1. Start in the kitchen. Begin clearing dishes off the table & loading the dishwasher.
2. Come across packing tape. Head to the office after a quick glance for other things that belong in the office or in that direction.
3. Drop off daughter's slippers in her shoe-bucket, some garbage in the trash, head to office and put away the tape. Start working in there. Straighten the tape drawer, find a vase that belongs in the kitchen. Finish straightening the drawer (don't put down the vase!), then look around for other kitchen or on-the-way items, grab the glass that was left out by someone, grab scrap papers from off the desk, then head back to the kitchen.
4. Drop off some garbage in the kitchen garbage can, put the glass in the dishwasher, put the vase in the cupboard, resume clearing the table. Throw leftovers out to the cat, tidy the back porch a bit, grab the plate one of the kids left outside. Head back to the kitchen, put away the plate, resume clearing the table.
5. Clear a few more things and put in the dishwasher, notice 6yo daughter's headband on the kitchen floor. Call her in to clean up her headband and clean up the rest of the kitchen floor as her consequence for leaving her item out. Pickup an item that belongs in the master bedroom. Grab other items that belong that direction. Head to my room.
6. Tidy a bit in there, find a letter that belongs in my treasure box file, and head back to the office, quickly grabbing the 2 mugs from my master bathroom counter. Drop off the mugs in the dishwasher, put the letter in my file in the office. Begin working on the office table.
7. Clear off most of the office table, find book that belongs in 12yo daughter's put-away drawer, grab that and some garbage to throw away and head back to the kitchen, dropping off the book along the way.
   
8. Back in the kitchen, drop off garbage and proceed to finish wiping the table & the counters. Notice spice cabinet open, and crumbs on the shelf in there. Wipe down the open space on the shelf and close the cabinets. Put away seasonal plate and straighten that cupboard while you're in there. Timer goes off.
9. WHEW! Time for a break! Head to office to type, check on kids along the way. When timer goes off, begin back at the kitchen.

Now this is just an example of one pinball cleaning session that I did today. Notice that in this 15-minute time period, I made a lot of progress in the kitchen (home base) and also did quite a bit in the office and master bedroom. I also tidied up the back porch. So while no one area is completely perfect (not the goal of pinball cleaning, you can use focused cleaning for that), many different areas have been touched.

Earlier today I did a session which led me downstairs to my son's bedroom where I rebooted laundry, turned off lights, cleaned up the downstairs bathroom, took garbage outside, picked up some items in the garage while heading through it, got some charity items, put them immediately in the car, which I cleaned up a bit while I was out there. Etc, etc. . . You can see how this can help you really make a dent when it seems like much of your home is in disarray (like every morning after the "hurricane" has left for the bus!)

So, that's your new idea for today! PINBALL CLEANING! What I love about this is that I can get really bored with the same old routine day after day. With this method, you never get bored! You never know where you'll end up or what you'll be doing! The key is to hit as many rooms as possible and get done the most amount of "little things" possible. This is not the time to begin completely overhauling a closet (focused cleaning), or sorting all the seasonal clothes (more focused work). This is the time to get lots of little things done all over the place, and to have a little adventure while you do it. Yesterday I was doing this, and I came across a book we hadn't read for awhile, so we sat down and read it as "part" of our "pinball cleaning". What fun for the children (and a nice sit-down break for Mom!).

This technique makes a fun little game out of the tedious daily chore of tidying and organizing. It's great for the kids too. When they call you for something they need, you don't mind that you are being "interrupted", because you can just continue your pinball cleaning wherever the child is. Interruptions are obsolete! Potty time? Wipe down the bathtub. Bath time? Clean the mirrors and sort the magazines in the bathroom. Kids on the trampoline in the backyard? Pull a few weeds. Somebody fell down? Hug and comfort, use it as a break, then start up the vacuum with that child helping with their toy vacuum.

And on it goes. Controlled randomness! Love it! Mom gets a lot done, the kids are taken care of, and Mom gets a lot of exercise, too! What better way to spend the morning? Give it a try!

ENJOY!

The Woman Behind the Children! :)

Several weeks ago, Christal tagged me on her blog. (You can see her blog in my links section, it's called "Live, Laugh, Love".) Cute name by the way!

So, from what I understand, I'm supposed to list 6 things about myself that not many people know. Change of pace for my blog, but I thought I'd go ahead and HUMOR everyone and participate. SO -- here goes!

1. When I was 15 I wrote & studio-recorded a song that was played on local radio stations! :) It was called "Memories of You" and was a love song I wrote when my very first "real" boyfriend moved away and I thought I'd never make it without him! :) Now we're both married to other people. Last I heard he has 6 kids, and you all know I have 7! So, life turns out differently than we think when we're young and in puppy love! :) I performed the song at an audition for our County Fair and couldn't hear the accompaniment because the speakers were in front of me, so I sang it terribly out-of-tune and that was the end of my pop singing career! But it was still fun to be interviewed on the radio and have my studio-recorded song played!

2. I grew up in the Chicago area, about 40 miles west in the Fox Valley area. Though I married a farm-boy and now love the country, I still absolutely love the city! People out here would think I'm crazy, and if I mention this, I think they want to kick me out of town! But I just love the hustle and bustle, the energy of the city! I love the smell of downtown Chicago, and just being there and seeing everything. I love to go to Salt Lake City for conferences for DH's work and just hang out there, go the the Family History Library, ride TRAX, tour the buildings, eat in fine restaurants, have a maid clean my room. . . and be a part of it all. BUT -- I love coming home and watching the horses in my back field and seeing tractors in the fields and the slower, value-based lives of these great people!

3. I started college as a music major, did that for one year, then decided it was too competitive and music was losing it's fun. Then I switched to social work for a semester, and decided it wasn't for me -- too depressing! So I tried nursing, but when I went to the first day of Chem 301, I knew that I was in the wrong place! By this time I was at the end of my sophomore year, so I searched through the school catalog looking for the shortest program that looked interesting. That's when I decided on family science with an emphasis in human development. I also finished my music minor with all my music credits. SO -- it was practically by chance that I ended up with the proper education for what has turned out to be my main career: raising 7 great kids! Incidentally, I took 5 years to graduate, getting married at the end of year #3, then having my first son at the end of my 4th year and going to school part time to finish up. I was pregnant with child #2 when I graduated in 1993!

4. I love to take long bubble baths in the jetted-tub and read a good book! ;) Reading is my passion, second only maybe to music composition and participation. I especially love to read things that teach. I love self-help, organization, parenting, finance & other educational books. I eat up a book in a few days and then try to apply whatever new, great ideas I find. There's always something new to learn, no matter how much experience you gain!

5. At our house, I control the remote and I'm the channel flipper, not my husband! Especially if I don't feel well, I can really get glued to that La-Z-Boy. Maybe we should call it a La-Z-Mom? I try to limit my sessions to one show unless I'm ill. I especially enjoy watching the morning news shows. The TODAY show is my favorite, but I miss Katie Couric, although Meredith is a captivating lady, too. I like old mystery shows: "Perry Mason" re-runs are my favorite. I like most of what's on PBS like NOVA, History Detectives, music programs, any educational shows are great. But I don't care for Charlotte Church, Lawrence Welk or that weird European guy with the long hair that plays love-songs on the violin and everyone in the audience is swaying! UGH! I used to really like Dr. Phil. I like the philosophy and figuring out what he's going to tell them, and to see if I agree with my own education. But I haven't watched it much this season because it's on when the kids are coming in from the bus, and it's sure gotten racy the last few years! I occasionally watch Oprah, as long as it's not one of the "meet the celebrity" shows. GAG. I can't stand most comedy shows (too many sexual innuendos and generally just a waste of time), drama/cop/medical shows (too illicit and violent). I do enjoy fantasy movies like Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Star Wars. So -- there's a little synopsis. . . whew! Makes it sound like I watch TV all the time. NOT!

6. I guess most people know this about me, but I like to rearrange furniture. I don't know if it's because my mother was always doing that (heck, she'd move around the WALLS!), or if it's just because I need a change once in awhile. Maybe it's because it's one of the few areas of my life that I am in complete CONTROL! :) Whatever the reason, I like to mix things up and make it different. I enjoy adding to my decor also, but I'm not the type that shops like crazy and then fills my house with little do-dads. I like to get a few nice quality pieces, and I even find those at yard-sales sometimes! I have this great heavy wood-framed antique mirror, I got it for like $1! I love bargains, but I don't just buy things because they're on sale. I'm not too sentimental about things, I can get rid of them and not feel like I'm giving away part of myself. The only reason I have too much stuff (and I do!) is because there are too many people living in my house who ARE sentimental about things! So they hoard and I quietly try to de-junk! :) Back to the furniture, one time my mother-in-law was visiting and she said, "You know, the one thing that is always constant in your home is change!" I don't know if she thinks that's a vice or a virtue, but but I'll take it as a compliment! I love change as long as it makes things BETTER!

Well, that's a little peek at the woman behind the kids. Hope you found it interesting!

Now I'm supposed to tag 6 people. SO -- here goes:
Valerie, Kellie, Tina, Christianna, Jessica, Dawn
So, now you're each supposed to post 6 things on your blogs that not many people know about you, then you each tag 6 other people, and let them know on their blogs. HAVE FUN!

Have a GREAT DAY everyone!

Tidy Rooms by Choice

This is part one of a new series that I'm affectionately calling:
"Keeping the house clean. . .ha ha ha!. . ."

Part One: Tidy Rooms by Choice

Okay, so I think that mothers of large families should band together. It's them against us, and sometimes I don't think it's fair at all! How in the world can one woman keep up with seven children who can't even put the hairbrush back in the drawer after using it? (That is, if they even remember to brush their hair!) Sometimes I feel like I will never be able to get ahead!

I read once "Keeping the house clean while children are growing up is like trying to shovel snow during a storm." AMEN! Do you ever just feel like you are going to go crazy? Like when you get one room clean, another is getting destroyed, and then while you are going to do that room, the original one is messed back up again? I SURE DO!

Well, I have actually come up with some solutions. Now don't think you'll live in a palace, but it will definitely be more manageable with a few ideas. Over the next few posts I will talk about some of the things I've found that work (as long as you consistently do them, which I don't always do, and then the house is a mess!). Hopefully you'll find them helpful.

The first is the idea of tidy rooms by choice. I made a simple chart on the computer which lists all the rooms in the house (including the yard & garage). I put it in a clear, smooth, plastic sleeve (like the kind you use for scrapbooking. This way it can be written on with dry-erase marker and erased each day). After dinner, I call out how many "tidy rooms" they have to do. It's usually 2 rooms each, unless someone's missing, then they may have to do more, or if some rooms are already clean, they will have less to do. It's great, because no matter who's home, you can get this done. If it's just me then, well, I watch TV! (hee hee!)

They each "get" to choose one room as they finish up their kitchen job. (Notice I said, "get", because this is better than being "assigned" a job). If two children get to the chart at the same time, then the younger one is first by default. They pick their room by writing their name next to the room on the chart with a dry-erase marker. Then they go tidy up the room.

Now here's the most critical part: after getting it cleaned, they come get me and I "inspect" the room. I try to pick out something really good about the room, such as, "Wow, the floor looks nice!" (or sometimes, "Gee. . .give me a tour and show me what you did!". If needed, I point out just one or two things more to do. Sometimes it will be to wipe off a mirrior, sometimes to pick up under the furniture, sometimes it will be to vacuum the floor. It just depends how the room looks and how old the child is who did the work. Obviously I expect more from the 15 year old than the 3 year old.

The key to this is that they have to finish their kitchen job before choosing, and they have to have each room passed off before they can pick their next one. So those who go quickly are rewarded by getting to choose what they think are the "easy" rooms. It's interesting how each child finds an area they like to do the best. I can often now guess who will choose what. Those who go slowly get the "worst" jobs, or what's leftover. No one likes that, so often it will get done quickly. Sometimes I'll chip in and do a room also, but usually all my time during this tidying session is spent inspecting and keeping everyone on task.

If you have a large family like I do, one good way to not run yourself ragged when trying to have everyone work at the same time is to check on the children in order, oldest to youngest, then rotate around again. I use this same rotating approach for helping with homework, instrument practice, anything really. That way you're not nagging the same ones over and over again and forgetting to check on the quieter ones. When you check on them, give them a compliment, or help them for a few minutes. (Unless they're caught lounging, in which case you can choose to bite their head off or give a gentle reminder!)

Funny, this brings to mind when they were littler, I got so tired of hearing "MOM!MOM!MOM!" (imagine the seagulls on "finding Nemo": "Mine! Mine! Mine!") that I actually had them "Take a Number!" I made little index cards that had numbers on them and when someone wanted to talk to me, inevitably at the same time as another child, I handed them a number. They had to wait until I called their number before I dealt with their issue! Funny, the things mothers have to do. I swear, we have to be the most creative bunch out there!

So anyway, this has worked really well for us, as far as keeping the house clean, as long as we do it EVERY NIGHT! You can miss once in awhile, but it only takes a group of children, working together in conspiratorial silence, about 30 minutes to make a clean room look like it went through a hurricane! So. . . it's really important to do this regularly if you want things to be generally tidy. That's the key, and the thing I struggle with sometimes. Being consistent! But when you do, this method works really well.

There have been other things we've tried, some with more success than others. I'll write about them in the next few posts. For now, good luck getting your home in better order! :) And I'll try not to laugh as I write that last line. . . (snicker, snicker. . .)

How Mothers Get Sidetracked

Okay, so this morning at 7am I'm enjoying a nice hot bubble bath and reading an interesting book. I know you're wondering -- how does a woman with seven children take a hot bubble bath at 7am? It's not easy, but you have to be creative to find personal time with seven young'uns running around! :) Here's how I do it:

I get up at 6am, send my husband off to work, and have breakfast with my teenagers. After helping with hair, finding misplaced assignments, and giving reminders about their afternoon schedules, etc, they run to the bus stop at 6:45am.

Since my gradeschoolers don't need to catch the bus until 8:15am, I let them sleep until 7:30am before getting them up to start the cycle over again. SO -- If I'm not so dead-tired that I fall immediately back into bed to get an extra 45 minutes of sleep, and IF we haven't made so much noise that my 2-year-old is up, I get an opportunity to take a luscious bubble bath!

SO -- to start over, here I am laying in the bathtub enjoying a great book. This book is so great, in fact, that it gets me excited about new things I can do in my life. You have to understand, I can be a bit of a perfectionist at times, so I'm always looking for ways to make my home, family, and myself better. So as I'm reading along, I get so excited that I decide to get out of the bathtub early and get going on my new ideas!

Wow, this will be SO GREAT! I can visualize it already, a cleaner home, smiling faces, a newly-excited-and-refreshed-me that can conquer anything!

So I get dressed, pick up all the towels neatly, straighten the bathroom, (see, I'm doing better already!) and head to the kitchen with a bath towel on my head. I ring the stairway-mounted bell to get the two graderschoolers up and going, intending to get back to the bedroom in a few minutes to damp-dry and comb my hair.

One thing leads to another, and my new plan begins to get sabotaged. Here's how my morning went:

• Greet 8yo son good morning, check that he smells good, insist he put on his underwear which he's been refusing to wear lately, then help him find tennis shoes for P.E. today.
• I notice that the teenage girls left the flat-iron on, so I call my 10yo daughter in to flatten her hair before I turn it off.
  
• Next, I get 5yo daughter and 2yo son into the bathtub, since it's cooled down after my bath to be just right temperature. I wisely move all the shampoo bottles up high to avoid the disaster of several days ago when they dumped half a bottle into the bathtub (I'd had to spray them off with the shower head because there were too many bubbles to rinse off!)
  
• Next, I double-check my 8yo son's homework to make sure he put his name on it, discover several spelling and punctuation errors, help him sit down & re-write it. . .
• Now 10yo daughter is anxious because her fingers hurt. What's wrong with them? I ask? She smashed them somehow, I start to listen, but I miss exactly how it happened, because about this time I hear my 5yo daughter yelling that her 2yo brother is wasting shampoo in the bathtub
• I run in there wondering how-in-the-world he got a hold of any shampoo, and I see that I left a sample shampoo out. Oh, good, no real damage done!
  
• I head back to the kitchen where I check on 8yo's homework, (which is looking great by the way!) and I check the clock. He has 10 minutes until the bus comes, (whew!) plenty of time to finish.
• But then 8yo son reminds me that he hasn't eaten any breakfast yet, so I start to make him a fried-egg sandwich. I notice that my 15yo son left out the blender & protein drink mix this morning. This gives me an idea to make protein shakes, since the blender's already out.
• So I start making protein shakes and adding blueberries for a touch of fruit. I serve them out, recheck on the kids in the tub, recheck on my son's homework, (half done!) and head back to the kitchen wondering what I was supposed to be doing in there.
• About this time, my son says, "Hey Mom, are you still going to make me an egg sandwich?" Ah yes, that's what I was doing!
• About now I realize that I still have a towel on my head. Oh well, I'll take it off in 5 minutes when they leave! :)
  
• So I pop in the toast, fry an egg, add a slice of cheese, turn off the burner and put the lid on so the cheese will melt. Then I head into the bathroom to get the little ones out.
• They're having lots of fun and I notice that I accidentally left my exciting-and-motivating library book on the toilet seat when I got out of the bathtub, so it's covered with splashes. ugh. . .
• Luckily it's a laminated cover and it was laying with the pages face-down, so I wipe it carefully off, fuss at the kids for splashing, and run back to the kitchen to make sure no one is going to miss the bus.
  
• Everything looks good, son is done with homework, daughter is ready to go. Son asks if he can take a treat for recess. "Teacher says we can!" I grill him for a minute or two about the details trying to decide if the teacher really said they could, and determine that it will be fine.
• We can't find any snacks to grab easily, so I get some blue-corn tortilla chips and put them in a baggie for him. He sticks them in his backpack.
  
• My 8yo son grabs his sandals and starts to put them on when I remember about the P.E. shoes. I grab them quickly (amazed that I even know where they are!) and suggest he put them on.
• No, he wants them in his backpack and he'll put them on before P.E. So I put the shoes & socks in the backpack (how can he even carry this thing?), carefully making sure not to crush the chips.
  
• As I'm doing this, I notice 5 rolls of smarties that I know he took from my "treat stash" that I thought was hidden. But I don't want to make a scene about it and start off his day leaving home with a bad feeling, so I ignore it and mentally make a note to talk to him about it tonight.
  
• I kiss them goodbye. . . (pant, pant) I head back into the bathroom where I help the little ones get out of the tub, wrap towels around them, and set them into the la-z-boys to watch their "morning shows" on PBS (luckily they already had breakfast!). I decide to get them dressed after I have a BREAK!
  
• So I head for the office, barely glancing at the kitchen. I don't want to look at the mess! I know I'll spend about an hour getting in it shape, and I'm exhausted by now, so I set my timer and begin my normal schedule of 15 minutes on desk items, 15 minutes on active items.
• So I log-up the computer, still excited about my ideas from this morning, and anxious to write in my blog about them (though I'm beginning to forget what they were. . . hmmm).
• As the computer is logging up, I reach to get a pen from the desk so I can go through today's planner. I notice the BIC Wite-Out dispenser I had purchased at a recent shopping trip. Someone has pulled the tape way out rendering it useless! Grr. . . But, I'm used to things like this, so I pull it apart and try to fix it.
• So I spend the entire 15 minutes that I'm supposed to be setting up my day, reading scriptures & checking my email, instead messing with this dumb thing. (by the way, the above picture is after much work...)
  
• I re-set my alarm to give myself another 15 minutes :)
  
• So I work and work, and I just had to show you my COMPLETED fix-it project! Whew! You wouldn't believe how hard it is to fix this dumb thing. So I erased a bit on yesterdays' planner just to test it out (see picture below).
  
• I had fun with it for a few minutes, knowing this may be the last time I use it. If another kid gets a hold of it, I may just throw it out in digust! Obviously the people who design these don't have kids or there'd be some kind of a lock on it.
• p.s. When my husband read this blog, he told me that he'd found this contraption in out in the yard! He was the one who put it in my desk drawer. Sometimes you have to wonder what kids are thinking! :)
  
• 
• About the time I got all of this accomplished, checked on the little ones, got them dressed, tidied up the kitchen, and wrote what I have so far on today's blog, I realized...HEY! I STILL HAVE A TOWEL ON MY HEAD!!!
  

No wonder mother's get discouraged! When people give lip-service to the fact that "being a mother is the hardest job of all", sometimes I wonder if anyone really understands.

But I know that there are thousands of mothers out there, like me, who work their tails off all day and sometimes feel like they aren't getting anywhere at all! It's like being on a treadmill, but instead of getting in shape, you get fatter and older and crabbier! :)

It's after 10am now. So much for my great ideas. . .I'll have to re-read that chapter to remember what I was going to accomplish today! :) The little ones just finished their snack, (no, I haven't been writing this straight through, it's been 15 min. writing/15 min. with kids & house!) and now they're blowing bubbles on the front porch. I guess I'll go join them.

After all, when I chose to stay home from the workforce 15+ years ago, I did it to spend time with my children, not because I wanted to be a housekeeper! Sure, an orderly home makes a place more conducive to peace and good times together. But sometimes you just have to throw up your hands and say, "forget it! For today I'm just going to be the funnest Mommy around. Heck with the house!"

Funny, as soon as I typed that, I heard a little knock on the front door. It was my 5-year-old daughter holding the bottle of bubbles, with my 2-year-old son close behind.

"Mommy, will you come outside & play with us?"

Amazing.

"Sure I will honey! Just give me 5 minutes. I PROMISE!"

So, off I go to blow bubbles. . .

Saving for Emergencies

My road to happiness began with marriage to a wonderful man over 17 years ago. We married young, still in college, and began our family immediately. In those days, our idea of financial stability rested on whether or not we could get food on the table, pay the rent and pay tuition. I stopped working (for pay) when my oldest son was born, and my husband’s part-time student job was not nearly enough to cover all our expenses. Thanks to prayer, and generous relatives who had learned the value of saving early in their lives, we made it through, both receiving our bachelor’s degrees before the birth of our second child.
But even then we had our dreams. That’s why we worked so hard to graduate. After the birth of our 3rd child, my husband got his first “real” job. We began saving immediately, knowing it was the only way to reach our financial dreams
Things have changed a lot since then, though I still spend my full-time mothering my children, now seven strong, ranging in age from 15 to 2. As each was born, we opened small savings accounts for them to reach their own financial dreams.
Despite our efforts, the road of life has many unexpected twists and turns. We often come across unexpected roadblocks, like last spring when we had hundreds of dollars in auto repairs, and 2 months ago when two of my daughters needed glasses, and last month when the dentist surprised us with 3 cavity-filled kids and mine own 2 cracked molars that needed crowns! Ouch! Or like two days ago when the appliance repairman informed us that we would need to replace not one, but TWO of our major kitchen appliances!
So our savings goal is a simple one. Put away 10% into our ING Orange account every time we receive any money. And don’t touch it – ever – except for emergencies that we can’t pay with our regular budget. As we add to this account, our feeling of security rises. We feel such peace, knowing that when life’s detours arise, we can turn to our ING savings instead of using a credit card. Paying ourselves first each month is propelling us down the road to financial independence at great speed! With this emergency savings, we can be back on the road again in a jiffy, no matter what bumps or detours come our way.

www.ingdirect.com

Back-to-School Shopping Made Easy!

One of the funnest traditions I've participated in was in my former neighborhood. Every year on the first day of school, the kids and mothers on my block would gather at the bus stop for a "Back-to-School Pancake Breakfast". When we had moved in, we found out that our driveway was the bus stop, and we were politely informed by our neighbors that this was the tradition. Did we mind hosting the breakfast?

The organizers brought pancake mix & griddles, juice, plates & cups. Everyone else brought toppings for pancakes. We set everything up on the back of a pickup-truck, and had a great early-morning party about 30 minutes before the bus was due. Of course I didn't mind at all -- what better way to let the kids celebrate the beginning of a new schoolyear?

Plus, what a great opportunity for the Mom's to "secretly" celebrate the end of the summer! :) Seriously, the one year we were all outside taking pictures & waving goodbye to clean, brightly dressed kids! After the bus pulled away, all the Mom's unanimously (& unplanned) broke out into cheers.

To be fair here, it's not like we were happy to "get rid of" the kids. It's just that. . .well, we were happy to get rid of the kids! Now don't get me wrong, I love my children and I have a great relationship with each of them. I truly enjoy spending time with them! But still, I do like to get back into the routine of the school year after surviving a fun and hectic summer.

So, what's the best way to get your kids ready for back-to-school? Here's a few rules I've come up with over the years:

Rule #1: Don't shop in August!
All the stores have the new clothes out in July, as well as backpacks & school supplies. But no one has figured out that it's there yet, they're all still busy swimming and going on vacation. Not me! I like to hit the stores before the end of July, then I get the back-to-school section virtually to myself!

Rule #2: Don't take all your children on the same day.
Unless you like headaches, fighting, breaking up arguments, and being on your feet for the entire day, take them in groups of twos or threes, divided according to gender & department (or who gets along best with who!). There's nothing more boring to a teenage son than waiting for endless hours while his sisters try on their outfits. Especially when we stop at every other display amidst cries of "CUTE!!", "Wow!", "Do you think I should try this on?" My son cries to no avail . . . "Nooooooooooooo!"

Rule #3: Don't take babies or preschoolers at all!
That's what babysitters are for! If you're lucky enough to have several teenagers (like me), you can leave one home with the babies while the others are shopping with you. Then rotate the next time with who babysits and who gets to go shopping. After all, the little ones aren't going back to school anyway, are they? You can get them new clothes in September after everyone else in school, or anytime you want for that matter! Generally this age group doesn't need to try things on, and they are always happy with anything new that you bring them, especially if it has their favorite theme or characters on it! My 2-year-old son will be thrilled with anything as long as it features cars, trucks, or Bob the Builder! Not so with the teenagers and tweens. So do yourself a favor, and pick up toddler things while the oldest are searching for the perfect shoes, or while you're grocery shopping next month.

Rule #4: Plan your shopping trips over the whole month & coordinate with other errands you have planned.
Sit down and look at your July calendar. Will you be in town by the shoe store for swimming lessons? Does someone have a birthday party in a nearby town by the outlet stores? Is there a soccer game in a neighboring city with a great mall? Figure out who needs clothes from where, and plan many different trips with different combinations of kids. You can hit other stores on the way to & from. You get the idea.

Rule #5: Make them pay for their clothes themselves.
Yep, you heard me right! We've been doing this for about 4 years now, and it's the best thing we ever did! They don't necessarily need to pay for the clothes with their own money (it takes a long time to buy a $29 pair of jeans when you only make $3/hr babysitting!). But give them a certain limit, say $100-$150 for clothes plus another $30-$50 for school supplies. Then let them choose whatever they want as long as they stay inside that budget, and it meets your family standards as far as modesty & tastefulness.

Ever since I started this, the kids are much more willing to look for bargains, and it eliminates the fight over labels & pricey choices. My kids have even found new bargain stores and told me about them! One great side-benefit is that you can shop with younger children while your older children go to another department and pickup the things they need themselves. Then meet back a pre-designated time. They know what they need & what they like. In some cases, I'll even give them my debit card and they can make the purchase themselves at a separate register. It's nice for book-keeping to know who got what, and it's a great way to help them learn to be independent.

Rule #6: Consider having some extra budget set aside for September & October.
One family I know said they only bought their teenagers 2-3 outfits before school started. They did this because, with experience, these parents found that after the first week of school, when the kids had seen what everyone else was wearing, they decided they didn't like some of their things. So they took them for their "real" back-to-school shopping AFTER school started! Now this causes problems with my "get it in July" rule, but if you find you have problems with kids & trends, this might be a good option. Also, there's always the extra supplies that you find out you need after the teacher's lists come home.

Rule #7: Attend all registrations, orientations & back-to-school nights.
I love when the schools host these informative nights. It's important to the children to know that you care about the place they spend much of their day! It's also valuable to get information from teachers about what their weekly schedule will be. This helps you set up your kids' own schedules & plan ahead for homework. It gives you power when you get the typical "I don't have any homework" response. "But dear, isn't today 'math day' for homework?" Make sure you read all those zillion handouts. Trust me, I know. But read them and take notes about what you can do to help the child succeed in this class. I have a folder for each child in my filing cabinet that is labeled "school". I keep all these beginning-of-term papers in there in case I need the teacher's email address, phone number or rule clarification. Some children will do most everything to succeed without much help, but others will need lots of guidance. This information will help you to help your children the best you can.

Well, that's about it! Just a few little tips to help you get started on your back-to-school experience! Good luck and happy back-into-a-good-routine fall!

Book Eating Monsters & Little Entrepreneurs

Here I am, pulling up to my home after a physical therapy appointment, when something catches my eye. I turn to look and there's my 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter sitting in lawn chairs next to an elaborate "store" that they've set up on my front lawn. I inwardly chuckle, for you see, we live in the country on a quiet street with few children, so the chance of anyone stopping to buy anything is very remote. For months I've been trying to explain to him that a yard sale would be a waste of time. But kids are very determined....

As I peruse the store, I see see things such as army men, a bouncy ball, and other long-forsaken toys displayed creatively on ladders, chairs and tables. Taped to the various items are signs with prices. Very cute. That is, until my 13-year-old daughter realized that the 5-year-old was selling some of HER stuff! :) She promptly retrieved her things and helped her little sister make some lemonade & cookies to sell.

I must admit I'm not too surprised that they started this sale. I definitely know where it all started. . .

Last week we were doing the weekly "library book and movie search". If you have children who love to read, you can picture exactly what I'm talking about. It's not too bad if you start at least an hour before you need to leave for the library, but otherwise it can be a nightmare!

Why can't everyone keep track of their books?? It's like the children's bedrooms are book-eating monsters taking up residence in my home! It's really ridiculous because I have a very clear place where the library books are to be kept, but on library return day, it always takes a bit of a search to find all the books that have been left on nightstands, in the car, under the bed, or who-knows-where-else.

Sometimes we can't find the book at all, and I finally relent and go pay for it. I've figured out that as soon as I pay for it, we will find it! :) So that's my last resort option. Luckily, our library refunds what you paid for the book, minus any fines that you had incurred up until that day. So it works out, but it's quite embarrassing for a woman who is normally very responsible and careful with borrowed items (pre-mommyhood, that is!) So, I've started a new thing that if a child loses a book, THEY get to go face the librarian and pay for it. That's helped some with library-item responsibility.

So, to get back to my story, on this particular occasion, there were 2 books that had been lost for weeks and no one seemed to know anything about where they are, or even who checked them out! So I was personally digging through the drawers, bookshelves, under beds, etc. Now, to put this in perspective, we've had extended family here on & off all summer long, and I've had some health problems that have made it more difficult for me to get done what needs to be done since summer started. Specifically, I hadn't been down to the children's rooms regularly to make sure they were tidying up each evening. So, if you have children, you can imagine what the rooms looked like! If you don't have children, or yours are still small, just picture some of the scenes you witnessed on TV in the weeks after hurricane Katrina. (Seriously! Okay, so I'm exaggerating a bit, but not too much!)

I began to have what I've fondly come to think of as a melt-down. I suppose in reality I was mostly just frustrated with myself that I'd let them go to bed all those nights without tidying their rooms better. But in my defense, they SAID they had tidied their rooms! And they're sweet little angels who would never tell Mom a fib, right? Ha. In their defense, they may not have meant to be dishonest, but a child's version of "my room is clean" is much different that mine!

The biggest problem is that I hadn't been inspecting. That's something I've learned in my many years of parenting. You ALWAYS have to inspect your children's work! Firstly, because if they've worked hard, they deserve someone to have a look and praise them for what they've done so far. Secondly, they generally need a few pointers on what they can do to make it better. I really try hard to be positive and praise them for what they accomplished before offering constructive criticism.

Well, that's the ideal, blah, blah, blah . . . but on this particular day, all the wisdom of my years vanished as I stared an honest-to-goodness melt-down. (You have to give me some slack...it was day #1 in my womanly schedule, if you know what I mean!) It went something like this:

"I can't believe all this STUFF you all have!" I ranted as I dug things from under a bed and piled them in the middle of the room.

"By the time I get home today, I'd better see at least 12 bags from everyone's rooms lined up in the hallways for charity!" (emphatically as I dumped things from drawers and shelves looking for the elusive books.)

"I can't believe I've been taking you all to the pool and the movie, and letting you play with friends when your rooms looked like this!" (as I gathered dirty laundry from every corner of the room and piled it into their dirty laundry baskets)

I continued: "Absolutely NO MORE movies, TV, friends, swimming, games, computer . . . NOTHING FUN until all these rooms look like the front of a magazine cover!"

And so on...and on...and on...

Okay, so it was a bit of a LARGE melt-down!

So they got the message. I really rocked their worlds. By the end of the day, they'd made a ton of progress and the rooms were getting cleared out and looking much better. In some ways, the rooms looked a little messier, but that's because they couldn't shove anything under their beds! So Mom was pleased and things headed back to normal, with an admonition to continue de-junking over the next few weeks, and a promise of some help from Mom if they needed it.

It's amazing what a melt-down can do! I know, I know, it's not the best way to teach cleanliness, but it produces results sometimes when nothing else does!

A few days later I went downstairs to tuck the kids into bed. Two of the rooms looked like tornadoes had hit them. I couldn't believe my eyes! Will it ever end?

I spoke with one pair of my daughters who share a room that even the most organized, efficient person in the world would have a hard time keeping their room clean. There's simply too much stuff! So the clearing out has begun again in earnest. I promised them that if they would all get their rooms finished, I would do my own closet (a big project...I still need to get started!) And, we will go to an amusement park. So...it will be worth it!

So back to the cute kids and the yard sale. As predicted, they didn't have much success. They had one customer -- she bought the bouncy ball, bless her heart!

After about an hour, my oldest daughter felt sorry for the little one with the lemonade stand, so she went out and spent some money, and so did I. So they made a few cents.

Now they're cleaning up and I told them that I would "buy" anything they were willing to give to charity (at MY named price!). I figure they should be rewarded for working so hard to clean out their rooms and for being so business-savvy. (wink, wink)

Aren't children fun? Like I've said before, always full or surprises! I don't think I could ever come up with such good entertainment without them! What a great way to end the day...bargaining with my 7-year-old son about prices for his stuff. Of course, you know what he'll do with it? Go to the dollar store and buy more clutter!

It's a never-ending battle, but one I'm determined to win, one day at a time. I suppose someday I'll sit here in a clutter-free, immaculate home and feel awfully lonely. I'll take the clutter along with the kids! It's worth it!

Sunrise, Sunset

Well, here I am, starting my very own blog. Technology marches onward.

The children are happily preparing every snack they can find in the kitchen, and smells of popcorn and toast are wafting towards my office. My husband is taking a nap after a long day of meetings. I hope someone changed my toddler's diaper.

Just a minute, time to check...

That's one thing with children, you have to check on them often. Especially if it's gotten really quiet. Quiet can be very dangerous. Either they've found something really "fun" to do (consequently making a big mess), or they are watching TV, or worse, they are planning a "surprise"!

Like making tents in the living room...
or digging a tunnel under the backyard...
or making me breakfast in bed... (although this one isn't too bad now that they're getting older & better at cooking!)

Children are full of surprises. Sometimes disastrous, sometimes funny, sometimes wonderful!

One thing I've learned to do over the years is to really enjoy them. They grow up so fast. You've got to take the time to really listen to them, and to enjoy the sweet little things they do and say. They won't be small for long.

I remember years ago when I was so overwhelmed by three children under the age of 5! Time after time, older friends would tell me: "Enjoy them now while they're young! They won't be small forever!" I listened half-heartedly, and tried to follow their advice. But I was so darn tired, and it sure felt like forever to me! Sometimes even the 15-minutes that my husband was late home from work seemed like an eternity!

But over the years, that wise advice has proven true, as most advice from the older generation is. I have watched in amazement as my older children have become teenagers. How fast the time flies! It gives new meaning to that song from Fiddler on the Roof:

Sunrise, Sunset

Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older,
When did they?

When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he grow to be so tall?
Wasn't it yesterday when they were small?

Sunrise sunset, sunrise, sunset,
Swiftly flow the days,
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,
Blossoming even as they gaze...

Sunrise sunset, sunrise, sunset!
Swiftly fly the years,
One season following another,
Laden with happiness and tears...

One season following another,
Laden with happiness and tears

Like rocking a baby in the middle of the night. That's one thing I miss, now that my youngest is two & a half. I know it sounds crazy, what am I thinking? I certainly love my full-night's sleep that I get now. But take a look at a new mother or father holding that sweet little newborn. There's nothing so precious. There's nothing like those first few weeks after a new baby is born. The miracle of life is so precious. Enjoy...