Oh, the debris!

I took the long weekend off. We had plenty of responsibilities at church and still had children to feed and clothe. But I let the non-essential housework slide, in favour of things like family bike rides and sitting on the couch reading a book. It was good to have a break. 

And then this morning arrived. And, predictably, the house resembled a bomb site, the regular housework was way behind, and the kids just wanted me to sit on the floor and read to them all morning. 

Hmm. 

I considered my regular plan of action: Pick a room, and tidy it til it looks lovely. Excellent, one room down. Start on the next one. But the kids seem to realise that this process could take a while, so by this point they're usually clamouring for attention. Then I get annoyed with them for wanting me while I just want to get things done, and try to keep working. Unsurprisingly, their behaviour deteriorates, my frustration levels rise, and... you can guess what happens then. 

Today, a slightly different tack. 

I pick my first room, then set my trusty timer. Actually, it's my phone. 5 minutes. It's effective motivation - I tidy fast. The timer goes off, and things in that room are looking pretty good. The kids are happily playing, they'll do without me for another 5. Let's move on to the next room, and set the timer again. This room is BAD. My 5 minutes is over before I know it, and there's still a lot to do. But I know the perfectionist trap I'm about to get caught in, so I tell myself that I can come back later and move on.

Another 5 minutes and F is asking for a story. Having accomplished 3 rooms already, I'm fine with that. We read. And read. And SP joins the party, and we read some more. But that's ok, it was part of the plan. 

And so we continue on. There's still sibling spats, and a time-out, more mess being created in the rooms I've just done, and a moment's annoyance when it comes to morning tea time and I haven't tidied the kitchen from breakfast yet.

A little later, I glance at the clock. It's 10am. The house looks reasonable. We're sitting on the upturned coffee table sailing to the beach for a plastic bread and pizza picnic. We've enjoyed each other's company and done a reasonable job of having everybody's needs met, conflicting as they may have seemed 3 hours ago. 

Housework with little ones is a slow process, but today, I'm ok with that. 

Now to maintain that attitude for the afternoon. The floor's overdue for a vacuum, the shower's getting slimy, dinner won't cook itself... Here we go again...

The myth of 'done'

I love to cross tasks off my list. It makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere. But I've been repeatedly reminded recently that my tasks will never be all done, there is no 'finish line', at least not until heaven. Pretty much everything I do in a day will need to be done again sometime. 

In that vein, this post by Rachel Jankovic may have just revolutionised my life. Here's a taster. 

One of the biggest personal lessons I have learned in housekeeping and child raising is that “done” is a total myth. The more I have adapted to that understanding the better. The more I embrace a lot of my daily work as a cycle that goes on and on instead of discrete tasks that need to be completed, the better. Not only does it relieve a lot of tension surrounding what you are trying to do in a day, but it actually gets much better results. 

I've also enjoyed Rachel's book, Loving the Little Years. A quick read with much food for thought, both for now and as our kids get older. Highly recommended.

Kids really do take notice

Recently I've been trying to work more efficiently around the house. And I think it's been working. Things feel more under control. 

After SP finished assembling his sandwich today, he took off his jacket and I reminded him to take it to his room. He said, "While I'm putting my jacket away, I'll just take my plate to my place."

I didn't even realise I'd been saying it out loud...

Working Together

We have family friends around this week, on holidays from down south. They and Mum spent the day with us today.

We had a fun morning together at the park, then once SP was in rest time and F asleep, I benefited from some extra household help. There we were, three women working away on simple household things, together and separately. There was a peacefulness, a camaraderie that struck me. 

I wonder if that's what life was like in the multi-generational households of yesteryear?

Foam Pump

My mother-in-law has one of these. 

Next Robins Kitchen sale, I'm there.