Updates .....

This has been a rough week for me, okay seriously it isn't that bad, because I enjoy being woke up at 3 am and dealing with my son who is nearing the age of 2, and kept awake for three hours, because he can't sleep for some reason. I REALLY LIKE THAT ! ( All the above is said, with a lot of SARCASM!!) Well, I enjoyed (SARCASM AGAIN) myself more, when I took him to the doctor and discovered that he had double ear infections. (OUCH!!)

So now that he's on the antibiotics, we can once again, be peaceful and try to sleep at night.

Last Saturday I had my husband take off with ALL FIVE kids and be gone from the house for a few hours so that I could do some "CLEANING". I seriously had a week's worth of dishes on the "to-do" list for at least a few weeks, and I had about 5-6 loads of laundry that have been on the list for at least 3-4 weeks, I also had a corner full of "Christmas STUFF" that has been on the list to be packed away and placed under the house since Christmas (so what is that??? Two months. YIKES!!!) I've had a piano that needed serious attention (aka CLEANING) as well as the entertainment center. Plus I had an oven that hasn't seriously been cleaned in the time I've owned it -- Scary I know!!!

Well I was busy at this all day long. I cleared off my piano wiped it down, and made it "SHINE" again, no more finger prints, entertainment center was cluttered with video tapes and "Christmas decor" it's all gone and now my children's pictures sit across the top. I washed ALL the dishes that day too, and have kept up with them all week. Hooray for me!! Well I actually make the kids wash their own dishes after they eat every night. It seriously helps, we'll keep that tradition going for as long as they live here or until I find a better one. The laundry was all folded and put away, the Christmas boxes now total 5, and all were taped, labeled and placed under the house. I also cleaned the inside of my oven, organized a lot of our VHS movies for the kids -- and yes, we avidly use these still. Call us old fashioned, but at least the movie doesn't skip when you get to the really "Good" part. I would have to say that day was a total Success. So thanks Chris for taking away the kids, so that I didn't have any constant pulling on my legs, or whining in my ears, or I need this and that's, so that I could do these things that got put off for so long.

We're coming up on another Saturday and I'm wondering if we should make it a tradition for at least 3 - 4 hours like they were last week. My goal for this weekend is to get my kitchen floor mopped and clear of the counter top. I then need to head for the bathroom hallway and attack that place. It's starting to get borderline SCARY in there.

As my 8 year old daughter said, " mom, you really like cleaning, and your really good at it, you just don't like the kids that prevent you from doing so."

I wouldn't go so far as to say I don't like the kids, but rather the things they need, want or say that prevent me from getting things done. But little do they know that "MEAN" Mom is about to visit our house, and things are hopefully going to start changing for the better, meaning a more tidy and clean home. And eventually clutter free!!

Today I made each of my older two girls fold a load of clothes each and had them put them away. What a genius IDEA!!! I didn't have to do it, and I could continue to work on dinner. I think we'll keep doing that as well too.


I'm trying to come up with a "schedule" to keep me grounded so that I don't get way behind on anything again. So in another week or two I hope to have all bedrooms, free of the clutter, and actually look like the "model rooms" in the magazines (well as close as we can, which is pretty far from those images) but, at least so that I can see all of their floor and can remember what color the carpet is. So once all the rooms are clean --- I should be able to enforce the cleaning process and the tidying up every evening -- theoretically this should be EASY. We'll see. I seem to be the one with the "consistency" problem. But I'm nearing the age of 31 in a few months and don't want my kids to remember a MESSY house all the time. But I think sometimes, it's okay.

I'll be sure and post the progress every week, as a way to make me accountable.