My Wednesday began as it usually does. With me getting up and THEN remembering that I should have gotten up earlier because Wednesday is always my craziest day of the week.
I lovingly(ish) awakened my hard-sleeping children, urged them to the breakfast table, and jumped into the shower.
Somewhere between me getting dressed and the kids brushing their teeth (only after being reminded, even though you would think this should be an unforgettable daily habit), the discovery came to light that my 10yo son did not, in fact, need black pants to wear with his choir shirt to the World’s Coolest Field Trip Ever That He’d Been Looking Forward to All Year Long. (Like I thought he did.)
He needed jeans. Needed/wouldn’t-be-allowed-to-go-if-he-didn’t-have-on-what-he-was-supposed-to-have-on.
And even though he also had needed jeans for a choir performance last Friday (and had to instead wear slightly highwater navy pants because WE COULDN’T FIND HIS ONE PAIR OF JEANS THAT ISN’T SIX-INCHES-TOO-SHORT), it had not occurred to him to tell me this before 7 a.m. Wed. morning.
I won’t describe my reaction.
After a pointless search through the same places I searched last Friday, and internal dialogue with myself over whether this should be a teachable moment (about the need to prepare the night before), or whether it was worth it to make him miss the one thing he has been excited about all year with choir (which I forced him to join) . . . I decided to make an early morning trip to Walmart and buy him some jeans.
Very early. Since I need to leave by 7:45 to get to Bible Study on time.
So . . . the clean dishes in the dishwasher that needed to be put away . . . never entered my mind.
I went through my normal crazy-Wednesday, with the addition of spending the afternoon driving 45 minutes (each way) to get Hubby’s Elvis costume for his appearance at prom this weekend. Y’know how that is, right?
We arrived back in town just in time to be last in line for Wednesday night supper at church. I then spent two-and-a-half hours in music practice. This was followed by Hubby’s and my weekly Survivor-watching-ritual.
So, at 10:30, when I got online to check email for the last time, I posted on my facebook page that I was going to bed without doing the dishes.
Even though (as you know if you’ve read my e-book) that’s a huge no-no for someone who wants their house to stay under control.
So, this morning, I had to “waste” 38 minutes doing the dishes/cleaning the kitchen.
As I cleaned, I thought about my day yesterday. I was home for about an hour-and-a-half total other than the Survivor Hour. I could have emptied and re-loaded the dishwasher.
IF that had ever occurred to me.
Yes, it’s proof that the routine of this non-negotiable task is key with my Slob Brain.
I also thought about my Crazy Day in terms of excuses. But since I’ve worked hard to stop making excuses during this (ongoing/never-ending) deslobification process, I realized that I don’t really see these things as excuses anymore.
They’re just things that occasionally happen in my over-loaded and generally-fun life.
And somehow, when I don’t see them as excuses, I have more energy to just keep going. Less self-loathing from knowing I’m being whiny and lame.
More understanding that one day lost isn’t a reason to give up on every other day.
Accepting life as life helps me tackle the dishes the next morning because I know they have to be done and again that same night to get right back on track.
I know they didn’t secretly multiply in the middle of the night while giggling about what my face would look like when I walked into the kitchen this morning.
They’re just dishes. Not my nemesis.
For detailed guides, check out my books: How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind and Decluttering at the Speed of Life.
just dishes. Just Dishes?!? Never, they are and forever shall be my nemesis. The job I put off more than anything (other than vacuuming) is unloading the dishwasher (even though I have recently discovered that I can have it completely unloaded before the coffee finishes brewing in the morning).
I totally agree with Jennifer. Dishes are also my nemesis and they do too multiply every time I turn my back.I long for the day that all my dishes are clean and in the cabinets where they belong but I really don’t see that happening in my lifetime.
I hope you don’t really see those 38 minutes as “wasted.” And given all you had to do yesterday, it doesn’t really sound as if you had time to look after your dishwasher during your 90 minutes at home. I hope you are not being hard on yourself.
And I must say, do not clean the floor under the fridge until you absolutely have too!
I read this post and promptly unloaded my dishwasher, loaded it and ran it. Now to go unload it again so I don’t pile tonights dishes on the counter.
Nony,
Just read your book on Wednesday and I have been keeping the dishes kept up much better. I empty the dishwasher and drainer first thing and it makes the whole day smoother. I used to be my daughter’s chore to mt the DW when she got off the bus in the afternoon but it is so much better this way. Now I just need to find her another daily chore. LOL
Thanks for being real and writing it all down. I know that your book will be one that I read over and over every time I need a boost.
Jess
Thank you so much, Jess!
I’m still amazed sometimes at how the timing of certain chores like emptying the dishwasher makes such a huge difference in the overall state of the house!
The dishes. My biggest struggle.
I was convinced I needed a dishwasher to solve my dishes problem. I’ve lived with a dishwasher once and it was the only time my kitchen wasn’t drowning in dishes. We don’t have room for a dishwasher. We discussed it a few times and I always ‘lost’ the discussion and we didn’t get one. Hubby would do the dishes on the weekend and we ate takeaway a lot – this was when we both worked full time. Now I’m at home and I decided ‘I JUST CAN’T LIVE LIKE THIS ANYMORE’ I’ve started doing the dishes every day. I’m really proud of how much I’ve kept it up. I hate it when I don’t, the feeling of overwhelm hits me when my kitchen is a disaster. I read ‘A Tale of Two Weekends’ the other night and saw so much truth there. So last night when I had finished a big freezer cook-up and didn’t feel like doing the dishes – at all – I did them anyway.
And you know what? Something amazing happened. I was inspired to do another huge cook-up and cleaned as I went and now my freezer is overflowing, the chicken leftovers that were in my fridge hasn’t been wasted and is now chicken soup and I got to wake up to a clean kitchen today. I’m going to get 11 nights of not having to mess up my kitchen from having done all of that cooking too.
I considered turning this into a post for my blog. But I wanted to share it right away, raw and unedited whilst I’m still wondering if Aliens stole my brain.
I love it!! Go you!
Yes- daily dishes doing is necessary. Sigh
I finally have (almost) learned this.
At the giggling and multiplying reference, I flashed back to Gremlins…”noooo, don’t get them wet or feed them after midnight!”
Lol