Daily Checklist and a CLEAN BOYS’ ROOM!!!

I’m running around like crazy trying to think of the bajillions of things there are to do before my husband and I leave to go on a trip on Thursday. I’m very excited, but feel completely unprepared.

Today I:

Made bed.

Swept kitchen.

Hubby ran the dishwasher AND emptied it yesterday, so it wasn’t full enough to run again last night.

Did five minute pickup.

Checked bathrooms for clutter.

Started the washer and then put the clothes in the dryer.

Last night, I put clothes in the washer for today, didn’t think to look in the dryer, made lunches, put out clothes, and wiped down the bathrooms. I also did a check for clutter.

And, this morning, I took a little over an hour to FINISH CLEANING THE BOYS’ ROOM! This is huge. It was getting so scary in there, and Friday’s marathon clean had only made a dent. I tried to make some organizational decisions that would make things easier in the future. I removed the really cool nick-knack shelf/junk and chaos collector and put it in my own newly cleaned closet to be used for shoe storage. I also brought in a kiddie storage thing that was not being used properly in the playroom. I’m planning to actually label the bins this time, now that both boys can read. The biggest bin is for boxing gloves, and another is for exercise equipment like their weights that are their prized possessions. If the weights got put up properly, maybe we’d have fewer stubbed toes in this house.

I’m really happy with the success in there. I’m planning/hoping to start working with them on building good habits, but it’s always seemed so hopeless. I know that “a place for everything, and everything in its place” is a cliche, but the more I work on this stuff, the more I realize that it’s a cliche because it’s the only way to do this.