Time

Its the last full day of my vacation. I have two half days, because of work schedules-so I go in at noon on both Monday and Tuesday. Little Man goes back to school on Wednesday, and I go in late so I can walk him into his classroom. I want that pleasure for as long as I can have it.

For a while now, there have been some things that have been off kilter in my life. This past week it has been my chance to right it, and I think I did. I worked very hard to get my house cleaned up and back on track. I didn't do everything I wanted (like steam clean the carpets)but I did do enough that it made a huge difference.

I am back on track with my "cleaning schedule". Basically, it takes about 45 minutes or so a day and the house stays clean. In the morning, I swish & swipe both bathrooms, wipe down the shower in my bathroom & use the daily shower spray, swifter the tile floors and run around with the feather duster on the main level. I try to do a load of laundry overnight and then set up another to go while I am at work. Most days, I spend a few minutes in the evening doing a little more deep cleaning in the different rooms (like using furniture polish, washing windows, that sort of thing). This way, things hum along smoothly and I am not playing catch up all the time.

Every week, I spend time focusing on one room in the house (kitchen, living room/foyer, bathrooms, bedrooms, lower level) and deep clean that particular room. It does make a difference, and it really doesn't take long. Yesterday, I did both bathrooms. I lemon-oiled the woodwork, scrubbed both tubs and polished the surrounds. It took me about a half an hour to do both, which in the grand scheme of things is not so bad. I took a little extra time and also lemon oiled my dining room.
I also spend a little time doing my weekly home blessing where the house gets vacuumed, and the floors get mopped. I have a hoover floor mate and it does a bang up job on the tile floors. The rhythm of it all makes everything hum along.

Quarterly cleaning keeps things humming along too-that's when I steam clean carpets, wash the shower curtains and change the liners, and touch up the grout on my tile floors with a baking soda solution. It just makes the floor look bright and super clean.

I had put off ironing for a long time, and when I actually did it, it only took me 15 minutes. I had put this stuff off for so long, and it was only 15 minutes out of my life that allowed me to have nice looking shirts. Wow. What a realization. When you look at what I do everyday, its amazing that there are things I procrastinate about that only take 15 minutes. I just have to get over that mental hump to do things.

Parenting is all about setting examples for your children. I know what example I want to set for my son. I want him to see his parents eat healthy foods and exercise. I want him to see it takes just a little bit to keep a house clean. I want him to know that it takes just a little bit of effort to have a happy family and peace in your life.
Parenting is also all about showing love for your family. Is it really showing love if all you do is yell or be sarcastic? If you don't plan healthy meals for them? Or be good stewards of the blessings you've been given? The little things really do matter. You could pronounce your love, etc. but not back it up with actions, it doesn't matter. They are just words, and hollow.