Growing up I never fully understood or appreciated how much my mom did for us. She made it look so easy. She was a single mom with three kids, she worked full-time, kept up a house, helped with homework while making dinner, was there to cheer us on at our different sports activites, and still managed to earn Bachelor's degree while taking evening college courses. Now I understand! I don't know how she did it all. She was so graceful at it too. If I was juggling that much I think I would constantly be stressed out and yelling at the kids. But she was calm and always seemed to keep things together. Thanks Mom!
Since becoming a mom, I'm finding it hard to get everything done. How do I keep the house clean, keep up on laundry, make a nutrious dinner, take care of baby without neglecting my husband, and keep up on our finances? I was overwhelmed by all of it. Logan's crib was full of clothes from the dryer waiting to be folded. My kitchen table hadn't seen the light of day for a couple weeks. I decided I really needed to get organized and devise a system to get everything done, after a particularly stressful morning in the Schmidt household. Adam is not a morning person at all, he usually waits as long as possible before getting out of bed. This leaves him with very little time. This particular morning he was rushing around trying to get ready for work. He came out to the living room all frustrated, "Why do we have to go to three different rooms to get dressed? I have to go to Logan's room to find some jeans, the laundry room for a shirt, and the living room to find a pair of socks!" Ok, Ok, point taken, we needed to get organized!
Since then I have come up with a daily and weekly schedule to keep myself organized and stay on top of household tasks. I have it broken down into things that need done in the morning, the evening and weekends. I have split up cleaning throughout the week so I can stay on top of it and not end up cleaning all weekend. I try to throw a load of clothes in the wash every morning and finish it in the evening to keep up on laundry. I plan out our meals for the week and do weekly grocery shopping. Not only does this save us money only buying things for the week, but it's also a lot less stressful knowing what I'm going to make for dinner and not having to try to think of something at 5:00.
So far this is working pretty well. But I could always use more good ideas. Let me know how you keep up on your household chores, finances, and keeping your family organized. Or any other good organization tips.
4 comments:
Ohh! I love organizing. Sounds like you are off to a good start. Planning your meals ahead of time is so helpful, I do this every Saturday. Regarding finances, Andreas created a budget in excel and once a week I record all our receipts, which helps me know how much we have to spend. You'll get the hang of it and Logan is still so little and needs so much attention! Also, I discovered that bathrooms only *need* to be cleaned twice a month! :)
Cleaning & scrubbing
can wait 'til tomorrow,
For babies grow up,
we've learned to our sorrow...
So quiet down, cobwebs,
dust, go to sleep...
I'm rocking my baby,
and babies don't keep.
Katie,
This is a plaque I have had in my bedroom since Natalia was born. I am afraid I did worry more about cleaning the house more than I really needed to, but when you are a new mom you just want everything to be perfect. It sounds like you already have a handle on organizing. One thing that helped me & I still use it is having a laundry basket for each type of washer I will be doing. When we take underwear off it goes in the underwear basket, when we take jeans off, it goes in the jeans basket. When the basket is full we wash that type of clothes. When the girls were growing up, they had baskets in their bathroom for the same use. That way I didn't have to spend any time sorting or deciding what needed to be washed. I also do not iron although alot of people do wear clothes that need ironing. I was fortunate to have a nice rod in my laundry room & when the dryer stopped I immediately hung up the clothes & let them finish drying on the rod. They weren't completely wrinkle free, but wrinkles were not set in from being bunched up in the dryer. I also tried to buy clothes that did not wrinkle as easy. Also remember right now while Logan is tiny you will have more laundry because he uses alot more clothes, but as he gets bigger the laundry items will be bigger, but the number of loads may decrease.
I also agree with Lindsay your house does not need to be cleaned every week or weekend. Actually having things picked up will make a house feel clean & then you really only need to really clean once a month or every 2 or 3 weeks.
On the day you want o concentrate on cleaning send Adam & Logan on a father/son outing. They will have time together & you can get the housework done in half the time.
Love,
Aunt Karen
well umm can't help you out to much considering i only have to take care of myself...but its great to read your blog, and hear how you are doing!! I wanted to wish you a Happy Easter, oh and i want to see some pictures of Logan in some Roots stuff *grin*
Luv ya
Liz
Thanks for the great advice guys. It's always nice to hear how other people manage their chaos. :o) I fogot how much you love to organize Lindsay, you can come organize my office for me.
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