Against the Grain

Cleanliness and Organization

In 2008, I revamped how we eat and deal with finances.  A couple weeks ago, something in me snapped and I couldn't accept our messy house and disorganization any more.  Maybe it was realizing that we'd missed Peter's show and tell day two months out of four.  Or thinking I'd cleaned the basement, but seeing 18 month old N. find tiny things to eat every 30 seconds anyway.  Or watching our cleaned-for-Christmas house fall apart immediately.

I thought about using my 3-year-old Motivated Moms calendar or splurging the $7 and getting the current one.  I checked out my LTK licensor's organization files (she's a mom of 4 boys, married to a neat freak, and runs a successful home business - she must have things put together).  In the end, neither had everything I wanted and I killed a few days putting together my own list and putting onto a new Google Calendar and then the first two weeks in Excel for more convenient printing.  I think I'm just a sucker for spreadsheets and lists.  Now I'm glad I didn't work ahead any farther with Excel because it's easier to edit Google calendar as I figure out that I don't need to scrub my stovetop three times a week if it was clean to start with and how often do I really take out the garbage?  In typical Amy-over-detailed fashion, I have daily, twice-weekly-three-times-weekly-four-times-weekly, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, seasonal, semi-annual, and annual activities all factored in.  I've kept up with it for almost two weeks without throwing in the towel.  I'm exhausted with a cold and up against work deadlines with Dan gone for evening activities most of this week, but the worst shape we've been in is to not handwash the stuff that didn't fit into the dishwasher.  Since those tend to sit for a week, a couple days is far better than usual.  I didn't feel guilty when my mom came over, knowing that she tends to clean all the messy stuff while I'm at Bible study.  There were some clothes to put away, but that was it.

I spend a lot more time cleaning than I used to, but it's not overwhelming.  I don't worry about laundry on non-laundry days.  It's okay if we're running low on bread on Tuesdays because Wednesday is baking day.  It feels like the 300 household management tasks that used to rattle around in my brain making me feel guilty but being too overwhelming to tackle have all settled into their respective time slots and now I'm free of them.  Today I need to figure out what we'll do for February birthdays and holidays.  Tomorrow will be backing up the harddrive.  And nothing takes very long.  Washing the mirrors?  3 minutes tops.  Cleaning around the toilet?  1 minute.  Things don't have a chance to pile up for very long, so they don't take long to put away.  All the time I spend cleaning now, I was probably reading your blogs before, and there's only so many times anyone should check email each day. 

I came upstairs the other day and found Dan scrubbing the stove.  He said the computer told him to -- yay for pop-up windows!  I have it set up timewise so I do most cleaning during the day, but hopefully Dan will be able to help with some of the more obnoxious occasional stuff, like keeping the photos uploaded. 

Here's my week so you can see what I'm doing.  Online, everything has a particular time, but those weren't as important as just getting through things each day.

Download Big Ol' Chore List 2009 Week 1

Best Christmas Present

I've been afraid to say anything and jinx it but I think Leo's done with diapers.  We haven't changed any poopy pants since Christmas and he's initiating use of the potty.  Trainers are actually being useful because he often realizes he needs to go slightly later than he ought to, but he does pull off his pants and hunt down a bathroom at that point.  Maybe it was the cool new low-flow toilet, or having functioning bathrooms on both floors, or just getting tired of sitting in wet clothes, but at 2 3/4, he seems to have finally decided that pee-pee does belong in the potty.  For most of December, I had a sticker chart on the bathroom door and once he got 12 stickers, he picked out a toy truck from the thrift store.  It took forever to fill it out and didn't make a huge difference that I could tell, but who knows.  I've had him in the same fleece pocket diaper and flannel pants for bedtime since last weekend.  Since the boys share a bed and Leo usually ends up in our bed by morning, I'm not sure I want to risk getting all of us wet, but we could probably switch to underwear overnight without too many changes of sheets.  I just might be able to move the diaper shelf downstairs and use it for books this year. 

For anyone wondering how much of a difference the whole changing 25 times a day and teaching him to use the potty at 6 weeks old has made -- Peter decided to start using the potty at 35 months.  Leo is 33  months.  If I'd let him run around naked, he would have used the toilet full-time six months ago.  He has peed when I brought him to the toilet since he was tiny.  But the stubborn kid wanted to do it his way and apparently, that time was now.  I need to convince myself that I don't need a diaper bag with 5 changes of clothes when I leave the house -- that could be tough. 

I'll probably do E.C. with a potential next child but I might find a way to let it be more child-led.  Having a daughter who could wear dresses and go bottomless without being so obvious would make that easier. 

Here's to a diaper-free 2009!