Happy Home Management
The Tasks of Tedious Time Consumption
This page is about the tasks that seem to top many moms' lists of unpleasant activities. Things that are time consuming, tedious and never ending: housecleaning, cooking and budgeting. These are my challenges and among the biggest challenges of most other moms I know. Putting these tasks off is tempting, but when I do, the chaos in my life "snowballs". At the same time, I can easily become so focused on these household tasks that I have little time, energy or interest in doing what I know is most important, and for me that is creating a loving home environment.CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR MAILING LIST.
The focus of this page will be on effective home management, in other words, how to balance these challenges so that we can put the most energy towards what is most important. As moms, our time is precious, so I will not discuss how to clean a house “right”, but how to achieve acceptable results in the least amount of time. I have no interest in fancy, gourmet meals. I want mealtime in my house to be enjoyable family time with good nutrition. Budgeting is a challenge for me, and with five children, is also a necessity. I have to find ways to save money on almost everything my family uses, but without a sense of deprivation.
This month we will talk about reducing unnecessary housecleaning and ways to make sure that what you do, gives you the most value for you time. Next month we will look at other areas of home management, such as ways to make family dinners easier. We will also discuss some everyday ways to save money.
Do you have ideas? I want to hear them. PLEASE send your ideas to: mywisdom@amothersminute.com
Once you have answered these questions, you can determine the most efficient use of your time. Decide what tasks are of higher priority and are best done regularly. Decide what tasks do not need to be done or can be put off.
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Home Management
Do it Fast. Get it Done. Go have Fun. Enjoy Being a Mom.
As you, hopefully, know, this website is not intended to be about housecleaning, but rather, the joy of being a mom. My discussion this month will not be about keeping a cleaner house, but a more relaxed one for yourself, so you can actually enjoy your time as a mom. We will begin to explore ways to set up our households for quick and easy housecleaning.
A large part of effective home management requires that you determine your own acceptable level of "clean". Ask yourself:
Filtering out and turning off all those judgments about what your home "should" look like and what a mom "should" do is not easy and takes a lot of self affirmation. Remind yourself that you truly do know how much cleanliness and order is necessary to create the environment that will nurture and care for your family. As the mom, you are the expert. Give yourself permission to listen to your own wisdom.
Song for a Fifth Child
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton
1958
Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm, playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
If you do want more order in your home or want support in housecleaning routines and home management, a very good website is flylady.net. Check it out. If you want to get the benefits of this site be sure to follow the program. Do not try to do more than is suggested and do not try to "catch up". Take the "baby steps" she recommends one at a time.
Pay particular attention to her observations about how our habits of perfectionism create more problems for us than almost anything else. From everything I have observed in other people and myself, I know that she is absolutely right about this.
You have my warmest thoughts and please let me know what is working for you. mywisdom@amothersminute.com