I know. You come here expecting to read about cleaning, organizing, or maintaining. But this week, I haven't even thought about cleaning, organizing or maintaining. Instead, I've been directing a musical-in-a-week camp. So today, I'm sharing a little advice on how to prepare for a water balloon fight. Because slobs tend to be fun and …
Summer
Random Progress
I arrived home after a weekend away to find . . . . . . a messy house. So today, I have: Exercised Loaded the dishwasher Emptied the dishwasher Washed large dishes Unpacked clothes from trip Gathered laundry Sorted laundry Washed laundry Dried laundry Folded laundry Entertained my children Sounds impressive, right? Unfortunately . …
How I Limit My Kids’ TV/Screen Time
It’s summer. And because it’s summer (and summer is fun), I haven’t written this post that I’ve been meaning to write . . . since summer began. A big part of success in any endeavor, especially one where I’m trying to maintain routine in the midst of a lack of routine, is preparation. A few days before summer began, I realized that I hadn’t …
A Look Inside My Brain (You May Want to Avert Your Eyes)
I actually had a post already written for today, but I think I'll put it off until tomorrow. Feeling the need to . . . Bleh. In case you aren't familar with this term, it could probably be defined as: The point at which thoughts come tumbling out of my brain with little rhyme or reason but (hopefully) in the end come together and make …
A Summer Version of My Kids’ Daily Checklist
As I've been looking forward to summer, I have evaluated the success of last year's Summer of Clean. My kids learned valuable life skills and gained an understanding of what is required to keep a home clean. It was far more successful than any of the other quickly-abandoned-summer-housekeeping-plans we've tried. Overall, it went well. But …
Prepping for Summer: The Big Clothing Count
Last summer, in an effort to simplify our family life, I purged all but eight outfits per kid. It worked. When the kids know that Laundry Day happens once a week, and that they only have enough outfits to wear one per day, they are not quite as likely to put on a different shirt when they get home from swimming. Not quite. I would love to …
Things to Get Done So I Can Start My To Do List
Two more weeks! Two more weeks! Two more weeks and school is over for the year! I LOVE summer! I love having all of my kiddos home all day! Last summer, I was a little scared. It was the first summer of this slob-recovery-thing, and although I couldn't wait to have the kids home, I was petrified that I would lose any momentum I had …
Come On In! – But Stop There, Please
If you rang my doorbell today, I might actually answer it. I might even let you in (if I knew you, of course). All I would have to do is smile and say something funny to distract you while I quickly directed you into the dining room. The dining room looks nice. And even if the doors to the kitchen were open halfway, I would still let you sit …
A Midsummer Day’s Report
It's the middle of summer, edging toward the end. I can't tell you how sad this makes me. As much as I lament my own ability to keep the house under control without routine, I wouldn't trade this time for anything in the world. I treasure every moment that my kids are "all mine." But since this blog is about my desire to somehow find the …
