It Starts Here...
Today is the day. I have decided it is time to hold myself accountable.
I know no one is reading this; at least not yet - maybe never. But I'm ok with that.
This is where I am going to be vulnerable, real, bold, and courageous. I may appear to have it all together by those who know me or even people I come across while I live my life. I'm pretty good at smiling and pretending things are ok. Some people assume I'm some sort of Super Mum because I have 6 kids (I have been told on numerous occasions that I am one, so I have to be, right?!) How else do I manage to get the kids to school or church and still look calm? I laugh inwardly when people say I must be so organised with a large family. I'm always honest with them and reply that I am far from it. But sometimes I see the look in their eyes and know they don't believe me. So because I'm so good at making it look easy, I'm here to say it's not. Not all the time.
I struggle with life at the moment because my ideal life in my head doesn't match my reality. In my head I have a tidy, organised, calm, and pretty home. I have kids who know how to look after their things, are polite, play with their siblings nicely, and all help pitch in with the house work without moaning or grumbling. I am able to find time to pray, read my Bible, exercise, and do hobbies. I can have visitors over last minute without having to do a Panic Clean (or my husband, as he is amazing at getting the main living areas tidy super quick!). I know where everything is. And most importantly, I'm not stressed, anxious, or worn out.
But in all honesty, my life is chaotic. I am completely worn out, my cup is empty, I'm stressed, anxious, and I don't feel like our home has a calm atmosphere. I can't find things easily, we run late often because there's no natural rhyme to our days (again, unless my husband kicks everyone into gear... he's my hero!), my kids argue and fight multiple times a day, I can't seem to keep up with the housework. Life is messy!!
I recently finished reading the book How To Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind, by Dana K. White. She is author to A Slob Comes Clean. She spoke straight to my heart and I now have hope! Now I admit, I'm not at the point where she was when she started her blog, as we do have some sort of daily rhymes that happen - dishes get done daily, we have clean clothes to wear (most of the time), but she opened my eyes to a few things that has made me look at my days differently. She talks about our Clutter Threshold - finding the level of stuff we can have in our home without getting overwhelmed. Where we can look around our home and not freak out, and where we can find things easily and most things have homes. I'm know my Clutter Threshold is much lower than the rest of the members in my home. We don't have a super messy house and we don't have a lot of things either, yet I'm still overwhelmed. And that worries me! I know that deep down I am a perfectionist. If I can't do something right then chances are I won't do it. If I know I don't have time to do something then I won't finish it. It drives me crazy and I know it drives my husband and kids crazy. I also have chronic back pain, I am sleep deprived, and I'm worn out from being needed 24/7 (I am a true introvert who just wants space to recharge...) So upon reading Dana's book, I have decided I have had enough of how I'm doing things and I am making a decision to try again, and hope that this time it will be different. This is why I have started a blog. For the same reason Dana started her blog. She decided to come clean and needed accountability and so do I.
I am following Dana's methods, so you will see me mention her often - at least to start with. She says to start by washing the dishes everyday. Because we already have that sorted, I am moving on to Step Two - sweeping the floor everyday. In order to sweep the floor, the floor needs to be tidy. So everyday for the next 7 days I am going to make sure the floor is tidy and swept. I am also going to focus on laundry. I struggle MAJORLY with remembering to finish a load of laundry every day and it then becomes a dreaded task. I am going to give myself 3 weeks to try a new system: Two loads of laundry a week. Because we have 8 people in our family doing one load a week is unachievable, but if I can dedicate two days to washing, drying, folding, and putting away our laundry, then I know that once it's done, it's done until the next washing day.
WEEK ONE
Clear and Sweep Floors Daily
Complete All Washing on Monday's and Thursday's.
If not much else happens this week then that's ok. I am doing things slowly so I don't set myself up to fail.
So here is to a new start. A new beginning.
I know no one is reading this; at least not yet - maybe never. But I'm ok with that.
This is where I am going to be vulnerable, real, bold, and courageous. I may appear to have it all together by those who know me or even people I come across while I live my life. I'm pretty good at smiling and pretending things are ok. Some people assume I'm some sort of Super Mum because I have 6 kids (I have been told on numerous occasions that I am one, so I have to be, right?!) How else do I manage to get the kids to school or church and still look calm? I laugh inwardly when people say I must be so organised with a large family. I'm always honest with them and reply that I am far from it. But sometimes I see the look in their eyes and know they don't believe me. So because I'm so good at making it look easy, I'm here to say it's not. Not all the time.
I struggle with life at the moment because my ideal life in my head doesn't match my reality. In my head I have a tidy, organised, calm, and pretty home. I have kids who know how to look after their things, are polite, play with their siblings nicely, and all help pitch in with the house work without moaning or grumbling. I am able to find time to pray, read my Bible, exercise, and do hobbies. I can have visitors over last minute without having to do a Panic Clean (or my husband, as he is amazing at getting the main living areas tidy super quick!). I know where everything is. And most importantly, I'm not stressed, anxious, or worn out.
But in all honesty, my life is chaotic. I am completely worn out, my cup is empty, I'm stressed, anxious, and I don't feel like our home has a calm atmosphere. I can't find things easily, we run late often because there's no natural rhyme to our days (again, unless my husband kicks everyone into gear... he's my hero!), my kids argue and fight multiple times a day, I can't seem to keep up with the housework. Life is messy!!
I recently finished reading the book How To Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind, by Dana K. White. She is author to A Slob Comes Clean. She spoke straight to my heart and I now have hope! Now I admit, I'm not at the point where she was when she started her blog, as we do have some sort of daily rhymes that happen - dishes get done daily, we have clean clothes to wear (most of the time), but she opened my eyes to a few things that has made me look at my days differently. She talks about our Clutter Threshold - finding the level of stuff we can have in our home without getting overwhelmed. Where we can look around our home and not freak out, and where we can find things easily and most things have homes. I'm know my Clutter Threshold is much lower than the rest of the members in my home. We don't have a super messy house and we don't have a lot of things either, yet I'm still overwhelmed. And that worries me! I know that deep down I am a perfectionist. If I can't do something right then chances are I won't do it. If I know I don't have time to do something then I won't finish it. It drives me crazy and I know it drives my husband and kids crazy. I also have chronic back pain, I am sleep deprived, and I'm worn out from being needed 24/7 (I am a true introvert who just wants space to recharge...) So upon reading Dana's book, I have decided I have had enough of how I'm doing things and I am making a decision to try again, and hope that this time it will be different. This is why I have started a blog. For the same reason Dana started her blog. She decided to come clean and needed accountability and so do I.
I am following Dana's methods, so you will see me mention her often - at least to start with. She says to start by washing the dishes everyday. Because we already have that sorted, I am moving on to Step Two - sweeping the floor everyday. In order to sweep the floor, the floor needs to be tidy. So everyday for the next 7 days I am going to make sure the floor is tidy and swept. I am also going to focus on laundry. I struggle MAJORLY with remembering to finish a load of laundry every day and it then becomes a dreaded task. I am going to give myself 3 weeks to try a new system: Two loads of laundry a week. Because we have 8 people in our family doing one load a week is unachievable, but if I can dedicate two days to washing, drying, folding, and putting away our laundry, then I know that once it's done, it's done until the next washing day.
WEEK ONE
Clear and Sweep Floors Daily
Complete All Washing on Monday's and Thursday's.
If not much else happens this week then that's ok. I am doing things slowly so I don't set myself up to fail.
So here is to a new start. A new beginning.
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