Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Simplicity
Posted in Homekeeping
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My need for simplicity began
about a year ago. We were preparing for our sixth move in seven years
and after the uncertainty that comes with military life, we were
looking forward to settling down more permanantly. And I was ready to
get rid of stuff. My husband
accuses me of getting a high off of throwing things away and has become
accustomed to checking my "garbage" boxes before hauling them off to
the dump (he started that after a screwdriver fell out of one of said
garbage boxes as he was lugging it down the stairs. In my defense, it
was rusty and he has so many of them...). We have over twice the space
in our new home that we had in our last home and we have so much less stuff now. I absolutely love that everything has a "home" and things are orderly and organized. So once that project was done, I started to look for other ways to simplify. First, Jimmy and I looked at the ways that we spent our time. The computer was a big time-waster for both of us and we have cut back quite a bit. The TV also took a few nights here and there so we decided not to have cable installed since we moved in and haven't missed it for a second. We've also decided to cut back on the number of weekend trips that we take since that really adds to my load during the week (both before and after each trip). All of these things have enabled us to feel so much more free to accomplish more worth-while goals. We read a lot more, I have more time for creative projects, Jimmy has more time for work related studying, we play games together at night and our family play/worship times are less hurried in the evenings because there isn't anything that we're in too much of a hurry to get to (embarassingly, we used to hurry the kids off to bed so that we could catch our "show"). The next area that I really felt the need for simplicity was in my housekeeping. I lean ever-so-slightly towards perfectionism in that department and tend to become easily overwhelmed and frustrated if things are not being kept "just so". Over the last several months, the Lord has been allowing me to see that my responsibility as a wife is to HELP my husband. I am his helper. I am not helping him if my focus is on how I want the house or if my "need" for a perfect home makes me grumpy (which I sometimes allow it to do). I am helping him when I keep our home clean and tidy enough to be peaceful and relaxing. So, with that in mind, I've come up with a system that ensures that all of the major and necessary areas will be cleaned at least once a week and all at a specified time. With my "plan" in place, I know that it will all get done and I no longer need to feel like I am never caught up. For example, on Mondays I dust and vacuum downstairs. Tuesday is laundry day (and it all gets washed, folded and put away on Tuesday!). Wednesday we dust/vacuum upstairs and clean bathrooms. On Thursdays I plan a menu for the next week and make a grocery list and on Fridays we go to the grocery store. Now I don't have to worry about the dirty bathrooms on Monday and take time away from being with the kids to clean the bathrooms because I know I will get to them in just two days. After a month of using this system I don't know what I ever did without it. I'm still tweaking it (I had to fit kitchen sweeping in there a few more times and I clean the bathrooms during naptime instead of while the kids are doing their Wednesday chores since they need a little more training/guidance on those), but it really is working out great. In addition, I've also given the kids specific daily chores to encourage them in their work habits. It's amazing how much help little ones actually can be! They are quite efficient at their little jobs and it really does help me (especially since Sam has inproved so much in his willingness to work lately!). And beside the help, it's fun to work together. It helps me to not feel like they are being neglected while I do my housework. The proof was in the pudding when my new system was put to the ultimate test last weekend. My entire family was coming to our new home for the weekend. I normally would spend that whole day preparing for guests (read: cleaning like a madwoman) but, after a week of staying on task each day and accomplishing all of the major chores throughout the week, I only needed to spruce up a little bit here and there to be ready. Nothing major at all and it only took me a few minutes. I couldn't believe the difference it made in my pre-company mindset. I was relaxed! So that is a brief overview on my quest for simplicity. My next project is to simplify my recipe keeping/menu planning/cooking responsibilities. But for now, it's naptime on a Wednesday, which means it's time to clean the bathrooms. |