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Taming the Chaos ~ Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers

Posted 12:38 PM, Feb. 9, 2010


If you already have a system that keeps your home consistently clean, tidy, and flowing smoothly, then this particular Chaos Taming article isn't for you.   Perhaps, however, your home is honestly a bit of a mess--or perhaps your home is clean enough, but maintaining it makes you a harried mess. If either of those situations are true, I highly recommend Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers. In this newly released book, author Heidi Schaap comes along side the struggling housekeeper as a personal drill sergeant.
 
I've "known" Heidi for nearly 10 years online, and have always been impressed with her ability to organize and streamline. Her love for beauty and order shines forth in all she does. 
 
Heidi's housekeeping philosophy reminds me of Ecclesiastes 3:1, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."  The system is sensible, thorough, and most importantly do-able. Worksheets and tips throughout help you lay out your week according to historically successful pattern of committing each day to a specific task. Heidi explains the "why" behind focus on specific types of work each day of the week, and she'll flesh it out for you to give the "how" as well. 
 
In addition to the days of the week rhythm of her approach she'll help you establish a daily focus block each day for special tasks. You'll even find coping strategies for "yellow days" (yellow means slow) or "red days" where things nearly grind to a halt. 
 
She gives standards worksheets to help serve as checklists and helps you trouble shoot with answers to questions such as, "Why won't my house stay clean?" Heidi gives monthly reminders, which, if followed, ensure that your car's emergency winter kit is restocked before each winter, and your range exhaust fan is cleaned on schedule! Her section on children's chores will get the whole family on board.

This housekeeping guide is available spiral bound or as a digital download. Usually I'm a "hard copy" gal when it comes to books. My adage is typically, "A book in the hand is worth two on the hard drive." In this case, however, you might want to consider the digital version for ease of printing out worksheets. Either works well. The spiral-bound nature ensures pages lie flat (as a homeschool mom of 5, Heidi knows all about the challenges of making copies from bound books). Still, there's something marvelously handy about just pressing the "print" key.
 
If you don't have a systematic approach to housekeeping--you need one. Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers will, as the author states, "transform your home from messed to blessed."
 

Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers is available for purchase here through lulu.com, and you can get to know the author (and glean additional housekeeping motivation) through her blog.

 
Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.



Taming The Chaos ~ Tame Tangled Webs of Electrical Cords

Posted 9:11 AM, Jan. 26, 2010

Tame tangled webs behind the computer or television in minutes! All that's required is tape, ponytail holders, and a Sharpie marker.
 
Zip ties can do the job, but I opt for ponytailers with the little baubles on the ends.  (Ponytail holders are easier to remove and reuse--while zip ties often need to be cut off.)    
 
Either zip ties or ponytailers have the advantage of being applied and removed while cords are plugged in or when the ends of the cord are inaccessible--something regular rubber-bands can't accomplish..
 
To label, just loop a piece of tape around the cord and write a quick descriptor with a Sharpie. 

(Note to curious readers analyzing the header photo: The label "Ribbit" identifies this cord as belonging to my daughter's frog shaped MP3 player.)

 

 
Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.



Taming the Chaos ~ Eradicating UFOs

Posted 11:13 AM, Jan. 19, 2010

It is "space week" here on HomeschoolBlogger's Front Porch, and the various porch writers are contributing outer-spaced themed articles to help you prepare for Christa McAuliffe day on the 28th. While thinking about Taming the Chaos and outer-space, I realized it had been a while since my last reminder to eradicate UFOs in our lives!
 
In a chaos-taming context UFOs are UnFinished Objects; projects sitting around in a state of half doneness. Perhaps you have a stack of drawings and writings from the children you've been meaning to put into a keepsake album. Maybe you have Christmas pictures to scrapbook, or that knitting project you started six months ago has been neglected. Maybe thank you notes sit half written on your desk. 
 
Whatever your UFOs are, select one or two--or perhaps even three to tackle this week!
 
I was alarmed to read my UFO list from nearly two years ago. See, while I finished those UFOs, my UFO list today looks almost identical. Once again I have fruit in the freezer that I've been neglecting to utilize. Once again I'm behind on correspondence. Once again I'm behind on logging our schoolwork. Most amazing of all, yet again I cut cloth for a petticoat but haven't gotten around to actually sewing it! 

I seem to be chronic in having UFOs in exactly the same areas.    
 
What UFOs will you eradicate this week?
 
 
Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.


Taming the Chaos ~ Avoiding The Crash

Posted 12:26 PM, Jan. 13, 2010

This week's theme for The Front Porch articles is Amelia Earhart, and, as always, my particular focus here is on organization and the homeschool mom.   Like Ms Earhart, we, as busy mothers, strive to rise above it all--and we absolutely want to avoid crashing! 
 
To rise above it all and avoid drowning in the ocean below, plan ways to infuse your life with times of renewal.   How you do this will depend on your unique personality. For me, the concepts of 'mother culture', family rest hour, and a personal 'happy place' help avoid burn out.
 
The term "mother culture" is popular amid Charlotte Mason folks. Just as we teach our children to love learning and enjoy beauty, we as mothers should invest the time to enrich our own souls in these areas. We might engage in 'mother culture by reading a book, losing ourselves in a painting, or simply in enjoying nature. We are made in the image of an intelligent and creative God, and seeing beauty and creativity is part of our personhood. Susan Wise Bauer speaks to this in her article, "Stop Cleaning the Kitchen and Read a Book." Sometimes, it is more important to organize and tidy up our heart, mind and soul than to merely order our external surroundings--often external and internal peace go hand-in-hand. Finding time to enrich the heart can spill out to the external and you might find yourself inspired in other areas.

In our home we make it a daily priority to have "quiet play". This is simply an hour or two each day in which each member of the family quietly engages in a solitary pursuit. We've found this refreshing for all of us, and we enjoy each other's company all the more the rest of the day for this little window of time spent alone. In our home, the littlest usually naps at this time, while the rest of us read, draw, sew, build with block or work on a puzzle in our own little nooks. This is often a time when I'm able to indulge in refreshing 'mother culture' pursuits as mentioned above.
 
Restful spaces also allow the mind and spirit to relax. Having a clutter free home, and tidy space creates a calm atmosphere. If your home is a bit of a hurricane zone, start small. Declutter and beautify one little nook as your island of calm amid the storm. You may even find the calm of that island so appealing that the island gradually grows and more of your home becomes a haven, but even if it remains one small area, it can give a sense of hope and relaxation to know that there's a place of order amidst it all. In speaking of 'mother culture' I noted that external and internal peace can go hand in hand.   Creating a restful and rejuvenating 'happy space' is the flip side of this coin--ordering our external world and finding it has an internal effect.
 
Finally, to avoid a crash, navigation equipment is imperative. Make sure that your navigate accurately by staying tuned to the God's Word. It is almost cliché, but important to spend time in prayer and stay focused on scripture amid the turbulence of life.
 

Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.


Taming the Chaos ~ The New Year and Beyond

Posted 12:02 PM, Dec. 29, 2009
This is my favorite week for Chaos Taming! I'm always a bit sad to say goodbye to the holidays, but as I reluctantly pack away the Christmas decorations, I move my focus ahead and find myself becoming excited about resuming whatever we view as normalcy. What will normalcy look like in the year ahead? I hope to retain the comfortable, cozy things that worked from the previous year and make us who we are, but I hope to keep moving onward and upward--redefining the new normalcy just a bit. 
 
Take advantage of the little breath of time between now and the New Year to refresh and renew your goals. I'm not talking about big resolutions, but simply evaluating what's working and what isn't. Infuse a bit of newness into any aspect of domesticity that's become stale. This is the time to cast away clutter, tweak the schedule, evaluate the school year, and metaphorically clean house. Sometimes it is as simple as taking time to read an encouraging book on homeschooling or homemaking that reminds you of why you are doing this to begin with. 
 
I'm not into resolutions--those scare me. Instead, I like simple changes that bring refreshing newness and novelty in quiet ways.   
 
As you put away Christmas decorations and find homes for gifts, take time to enjoy the pending adventure of 2010. No matter how fabulous 2009 was, this will be a fresh year. Be daring and switch around an item or two on the schedule and never underestimate the refreshing power of a new box of crayons.


Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five,
 Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.


Taming the Gifting Chaos

Posted 9:37 AM, Dec. 16, 2009
I love Christmas! Keeping focus amid the joyous busy hustle of the season is a challenge though. Especially as the children are involved in more outside responsibilities with each passing year.
 
Here in our home though, we keep it simple. We love our advent devotions, baking goodies together, and playing games as a family. Christmas day is our biggest event of the year, when cousins, grand parents, aunts and uncles come "over the river and through the woods" to our home.  (Or more accurately "over the dry creek-bed and through the prairie fields.")
 
Gift giving is part of sharing the joy, but sometimes it can seem to upstage all the other delights. We've tried a few things to ensure that presents don't distract from our focus on Christ's birth.
 
We give only a few individual gifts to each person.
 
We open our immediate family presents before the big gathering with relatives. (Typically at our own private celebration on Christmas Eve.)   When extended family comes Christmas Day we do exchange gifts and do little stocking stuffers for all, but because all the families who come have opened gifts within their individual family unit separately, packages aren't the primary dynamic of our gathering.
 
This year we are opening some of the "family gifts" in the days leading up to Christmas. Every year many of the presents are things I've purchased for the whole family: games, books, family movies or fun art supplies. We opted to open one of these family gifts following each advent devotion through the 12 days leading up to Christmas. 
 
Other families I know have a set number of gifts, such as three per person. Some do an exclusively homemade Christmas, handcrafting through the year to invest their time and skills to create thoughtful presents.

Whatever tips or traditions we employ, the goal is to remind ourselves and our children that the packages we give are just our way of celebrating the Savior and remembering the greatest gift ever--the gift of Jesus Christ!
 
Have a Merry (and Chaotically Tamed) Christmas!


Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.



Taming the Chaos ~ Bible Time in Busy Seasons

Posted 11:57 AM, Dec. 9, 2009
Some of us all are or nothing types, but there are areas where we learn that sometimes doing things part way is better than not doing anything at all.
 
Food is one such area. Our bodies need nourishment. Ideally, I love serving wholesome, home cooked meals with time to fellowship together and linger, enjoying our dinner and family time. In certain seasons, however, we might need to compromise the ideal, and we learn that a drive-through or instant is better than going without food entirely.
 
Just as we must fuel our physical bodies--we need spiritual fuel. Perhaps you've gotten out of the habit of having time in scripture yourself, or in providing Bible time for the children. Here, I'd suggest that something is better than nothing. Perhaps this week you aren't making time for an hour of Bible study and digging deeply into a passage.   If you are reading this article, you could take time to read a single verse or chapter and reflect on it through the day. Consider it like you would a drive-in or microwave meal. It might not be the best to deeply nourish for the long-haul, but far better than going without food entirely!
 
We are "snacking" a bit here in my home this season. We knew it would be hard to fit in our usual advent devotions, so we've scaled back and will be spreading out a 12 days of Christmas devotional; using it through the whole advent season. It isn't what I'd choose for every year, and is more of a snack than a four-course meal we crave, but it would have been worse to lose that time entirely just because we can't be as thorough as we have other years.
 
There are seasons where I can delve deeply in my scripture time, and times when just grabbing a few verses "on the go" is all my tired mind can grasp. 
 
Through this busy season, incorporate scripture into your home. Perhaps a Bible on MP3 or compact disks would be a great family gift if you are van-schoolers or planning to be on the go. Perhaps simply reading a few verses in the morning and leaving your Bible open on your bed to "snack" through the day will help you dwell on Christ. 
 
With our hearts centered and focused above, we can better make order out of the chaos around us. 


Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.



Taming the Chaos ~ Taming the Turkey Chaos (And Decluttering with Thanks!)

Posted 10:39 AM, Nov. 17, 2009
Hosting thanksgiving is fun, but sometimes chaotic. I like to spend time visiting, and not spend every moment at the stove, so I streamline to keep things orderly.

Make things ahead: I make up the fruit salad, mashed potato casserole, green bean casserole, bread, deserts, and a few other sides ahead of time. I like to have thickening made up for the gravy the day before as well. When feast day arrives, I typically only have the turkey and gravy to finish up! I even set the table before guests arrive. 

Use a few commercial time savers: I've become great friends with turkey oven bags and disposable turkey roasters! They make clean up easy. Sometimes near the holidays ready-made veggie platters are available in the produce section as economically as whole vegetables.
 
Delegate! When guests ask to bring something, I let them. I know I actually like feeling I'm contributing when I go elsewhere, and when everyone helps a little, it isn't burdensome for anyone. 

On an entirely different Thanksgiving note, "Thankfulness" is a great guide in decluttering. As you walk through your home, evaluate whether to keep items by the "Gratefulness Gauge" When you think of that object, are you thankful? Is it appreciated? If it isn't, pass it along to someone it might bless, or toss it entirely. 

Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.


Home Ec ~ Chaos Tamers in Training

Posted 11:25 AM, Nov. 10, 2009
This week is home economics week on The Front Porch. 
 
Home Economics in the schools is really an institutionalized attempt to replicate the home, so as homeschoolers we have the perfect environment to impart "home ec"  in the same, effective way that life skills have been learned through the ages--passed down generation to generation, parent to child, in daily "on the job" training. 
 
As we tame the chaos of meals, clutter, cleaning, budgets and mending, we can apprentice the children alongside us. Relationships are strengthened, they absorb valuable skills. Additionally, household efficiency is increased as the whole family shares in the work!  
 
Homeschoolers have the luxury of being able to learn home-economics in context as a natural part of life. There are great curriculums to help lend a systematic approach or provide additional dimensions to the natural family-style training, but the beauty of home-economics in the homeschool is the seamless practical application aspect. 
 
As you tame the chaos, draw your children along side you--whether they are 18 months or 18 years.  Gradeschoolers can help calculate costs as you shop in the grocery store and get an idea of living within a budget. Give a small child a button to sew onto his own scrap of cloth as you tackle the mending basket. Make the same muffin recipe three times in a row with your 8 year old, having her do more of it herself each time. (Then do it a 4th time as only an observer, and on the 5th see if she can do it entirely on her own!) Encourage a child to organize a cupboard or drawer that's gotten out of control. 

Older children can try their hand at managing a month of meals, and grow into budgeting confidence as they handle finances for their hobbies or entrepreneurial endeavors.
 

Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.


Taming the Chaos ~ Link to Chaos Taming Encouragement

Posted 9:42 AM, Nov. 3, 2009
This past week I came across a lovely blog that was a joy to read and an encouragement in the Chaos Taming mission!  A mother of 15 shares her thoughts along the path of Large Family Mothering

Her article "The Cart Before the Horse" is a fabulous reminder to put first things first.  I so often get derailed and the things that should be my highest priorities become usurped by foolish wheel-spinning.  I also thoroughly enjoyed her reflections in her "Mommy's Toolbox" on order.   Not every post is abstract and philosophical--several are hands-on, practical application.   If you poke around her blog, she'll even give a detailed account of precisely how she deep cleans a bathroom

 


Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.


Taming the Sickness Chaos ~ Invest in a Time/Energy "Emergency Fund"

Posted 10:32 AM, Oct. 27, 2009

Sickness preparedness is a key reason chaos taming is such a priority to me as as a home-maker and homeschool mom. I struggle with migraines and auto-immune issues, so it takes a little extra stewardship of my time and energy to ensure I can fulfill the responsibilities God's granted me.  I try to think of health and sickness as Joseph regarded feast and famine, finding ways to store up resources in times of plenty as insurance against leaner times when health challenges slow me down.  

Below I'll touch on five areas that help ease us through sicknesses: 


Life Skills Training:
  We train the children in the tasks essential to keep life flowing, jobs that aren't their regular duties, but ordinarily are my tasks.  They love learning these "grown up" jobs!  They thrive on competence and the assurance that they can contribute in such important ways should I need their help.  Of course, should health prevail, they've learned skills and confidence in themselves that will serve them their whole lives.  Unlike monetary insurance the investment pays off in one form or another no matter what.

A six or seven year old can learn to change a baby's diapers.  We waited on this until the baby was three or four months old.  Big siblings "helped" with the newborns but weren't allowed to fly solo.  As the baby got a bit older, a changing pad on the floor (or even a towel) worked well to enable big sisters to help safely. )  

A four of five year old can learn to sort laundry, switch loads from washer to drier, and pair up socks or fold napkins.  (We keep a step stool in the laundry area. So they can join me and "watch the waterfall" when I turn on the washing machine.) 

In the kitchen, "peanut butter roll-ups" can be a child-friendly, speedy lunch.  Tortillas aren't as delicate as bread and stay together as the child spreads on even the chunkiest peanut butter.  The first "meal" my children learn to prepare consists of peanut butter roll-ups, milk, and carrot sticks.  Now the older children make a variety of more sophisticated dishes, but peanut butter roll ups are still a favorite, and the five year old has proudly added it to her solo-cooking repertoire. 

Little ones can unload dishes, stacking things that go in high cupboards on the counter.   They can also rinse dishes and load them into the dishwasher.

The catch is that these things need to be trained over time, working, playing and laughing together as they learn.  The time investment for training is significant, but the child's job satisfaction alone makes it worth while!  It also builds a sense of family unity.  They like knowing that they can "help mommy.  Just as I like to "put hands to my prayers" the children enjoy being able to give in their own small (and large) ways. 

Routine: When sickness hits any member of the family we try to keep at least a skeleton routine.  Sometimes minds and bodies are weary and figuring out "what do we do next" would be a burden.  On days like that we find it a relief to fall back on auto pilot routine.  We scale back from our full schedule as much as needed, but there's a skeleton of routine that remains to give support to our day, and comfort and familiarity to the whole family.

Meals: Healthy freezer meals, or other easy 10 minute meals, help nourish a sick family with wholesome, health building foods.  Like the tips for other categories, it takes advance planning.  I keep a little notebook of my fastest recipes, and try to keep a few meals in the freezer at all times "just in case".  (For more meal chaos taming, see my article from last week!)


Independent Study:
I typically am very involved in my children's schooling, but we have a few things each child does on their own.  These assignments are things they continue if I'm sick or tending a sick child.   Whether it is typing drills or math facts on the computer, reading their literature assignments, or working on an essay topic, it seems to help to keep a scholarly rhythm.


Entertainment:
I like to have a few games, unread books and a movie tucked away for "rainy" days.  We don't do television, but there's something about snuggling on the couch for a good wholesome movie to take our minds off sickness!  The rub is that when we are sick I don't want to trek out to rent a DVD.  I try to keep a surprise DVD hidden away at all times.  (Gently used copies of the  family friendly classics are almost as inexpensive as a rental--and then we can resell it when we are done!) Knitting, handcrafts, or even a new coloring book can help a sick child fill the hours.

The best plan, of course, is to stay well!  But in a fallen world, sickness can be a reality, and just as we like to have an "emergency fund" for financial hardships, we like to have some resources on hand for sickness.

Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.


Taming the Dinner Chaos

Posted 11:37 AM, Oct. 20, 2009
To tame meal chaos, I like a multi-directional plan of attack: 
 
1) Make enough to freeze ahead as often as possible
2) Train back-up chefs to fill in on occasion
3) Learn to love your crock pot. It still takes prep, but is fabulous for days when you can carve out a bit of time earlier in the day, but can't spend the evening in the kitchen.
4) Have a few super speedy, yet healthful recipes you know can be thrown together fast and easy
5) Keep Papa Murphy's coupons handy for those times when the above measures fail. 
 
Often big batches of things are more efficient.  "Mega-Cooking" lets me establish an assembly line rhythm to each task and also cuts down on clean-up time.  Whether it means making up 10 lasagnas, or simply loading the grill with chicken breasts, I like to do a little extra while I'm at it.  (Cubed, grilled chicken and browned, ground beef divided into small freezer bags are a staple in my freezer. With those on hand, I know I can always throw soup or a skillet meal together quickly.)
 
Because the big "Once a Month" plans overwhelm me, I call my casual system "once a week cooking". Each week I try to have a cooking day.  Instead of doing several different entrees, I just do one, but I make 3-10 times enough for my family. One batch we eat for dinner that evening--the rest go in to our freezer. After a few weeks, the freezer accumulates a nice selection.  
 
I've learned a few tips on freezer cooking: A non frost-free freezer is an asset.  (Frost-free models stay frost-free by cyclically partially thawing and re-freezing. This imparts cardboard-like properties to previously edible contents.)   Another key is finding recipes that freeze well. Most of my recipes have been tweaked so much that they are now PrairieFrog originals, but when I first started I spring-boarded off of some good freezer-friendly cook books. My favorites are by Jill bond: Mega Cooking and  Dinner's in the Freezer!  
 
The freezer is just one tool in my arsenal though. Typically we'll eat from our freezer stash anywhere from 1-4 nights a week. (Our menu's aren't exact science.) I usually do a crock pot on piano lesson day, soup or grilling one night, and one night of a skillet meal, or some other non-freezer one evening.   
 
The oldest two girls (ages 10 and 7) each have a few meals they can make almost without assistance, and we have a few whole food (or nearly so) recipes we can throw together quickly. The children love knowing that they can be a true help and do the whole meal on occasion.
 
When all else fails, there's always pizza. We try to have homemade pizzas in the freezer, but just in case, I keep coupons pinned to the message center at all times! 
 
 
Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.


Taming the Chaos ~ Fall Cleaning

Posted 9:46 AM, Oct. 6, 2009
In ages past spring was the most practical time to deep clean. Homes were heated through the winter by burning coal or wood, and while cozy and quaint it was a bit sooty. Even today spring inspires us to enjoy a breath of fresh air in many ways, but no longer is spring necessarily the undisputed time to deep clean. For most of us fall is equally logical.   
 
Personally, I like to know that the house is clean before we shut ourselves in for the winter, so I do my biggest deep clean in autumn, then do a slightly lighter round in the spring. 
 
Our fall scrub-down includes taking every book off every bookshelf to clean each dusty ledge and binding, cleaning upholstery, washing the window panes (inside outside and in between), evacuating the dead moths from summer out of the light fixtures, and wiping out each drawer and cupboard. We clean the carpets, flip and air the mattresses, and wash the comforters, bedspreads and pillow shams. 
 
Through the course of my adult life "autumnal deep cleaning" has taken two days, two weeks, and most recently two months.  My time frame for this cleaning has altered through the years, and will vary greatly in different households depending on several factors:
 
  • size house
  • amount of clutter
  • age of helpers
  • other commitments
As newly weds my husband and I would work together and deep clean everything over 2-3 days. A solid weekend was sufficient to scrub out every crevice of our two bedroom apartment. 

Later, with a couple of small children in a medium sized home, it took a little longer--about 2 weeks (usually two weekends and fitting in what we could through the work week in between.) Now, although we have five small helpers, our days are pretty busy, and I'm looking at 2 months. 

This year it seems important to keep school as top priority and not push aside our regular routine for cleaning (schooling had already been pushed aside earlier in the year for sickness, and then further derailed by several fun excursions). This year cleaning has to fit in around the edges of life. (I'm a month in and half done, and so far have been able to keep the schedule I set for myself in early September!) Years from now, with more mature helpers we may be able to get back to the 2 weeks, or better yet, 2 days, but for now, we are talking months. Slow and steady wins the race, right?
 
Whatever time frame is realistic for your life at the moment, I suggest breaking down the cleaning into smaller, more bite-sized chunks. Most of my break-downs are room-by-room. One week is the master bedroom and bath, and another week the living room/dining room. The kitchen had a week all its own. There are a few jobs that are best to do by type of chore instead of location--windows for instance. I like to do all the windows at once (and we did ours just this past Saturday!) I like to only lug the ladder out once for all the outside windows, and it seems to go faster once we get a rhythm to it. 
 
My task this coming week is the master bedroom. It holds special excitement for me because I have a new bedding set I'll put on when I finish my tasks. 

What will your fall cleaning entail?


Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.


Taming the Chaos ~ Housekeeping as Physical Fitness?

Posted 9:12 AM, Sep. 29, 2009
Today the theme here on the Front Porch is sports!  I could talk about organizing sports equipment in the garage, but the storage systems I'd link to are probably ones sports savvy families already employ or at least know about.  Therefore, in the interest of novelty, I'll share a fascinating blog two friends of mine started!

Under the pseudonyms of Mutt and Jeff, these two ladies chronicle "the insane attempt to reduce girth through housework."

Go join them as they do squats while folding laundry and scrubbing the shower on a blog where "pumping iron" refers to doing bicep curls with a Rowenta.


Hop over to Housewife Workout to see 'Jeff and Mutt' in action! Click here to go to the blog, or here to see their plan!

 

Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.


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Taming the Chaos ~ Declutter in Ten a Day

Posted 8:56 AM, Sep. 22, 2009
Ten is such a workable number. Not too much, not too little. Surely you could find ten things a day--every day, that you can get rid of. It allows for lighter days where you spend just a few minutes decluttering an "easy ten" and yet gives room for the more ambitious days where you really get cut-throat about it.
 
A few friends of mine were discussing this and one lady teased her twin sister saying, "Hey! I bet you could find ten things to toss just in your purse alone!"

Challenge the children to find ten toys to throw away or take to goodwill.
 
Find ten things in your kitchen that aren't "paying their rent" and don't justify their existence in the cupboard.
 
Find ten clothing items you've not worn in a year's time.
 
Resist the urge to over zealously exceed ten in the first few days. Keep it light, fun, and maintainable. The nice thing about ten-a-day is that it is maintainable and can become a daily habit. 
 
Here's Jessica Gottleib's blog that sparked the idea!  And my friend Chautona chronicled her first three days of decluttering by tens: Here's Chautona's day one, day two, and day three.

Ten a day--in two weeks you'll have gotten rid of 140 bits of clutter! 

Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.



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    The title of this blog, "Company Porch," is credited to Jay Ryan ... thanks, Jay!