One week later...

Last Monday, I bought a new housework planner. To be honest, I was desperate to find something to help me get on top of keeping my home clean. Yet, I had low expectations since I go through organizational attempts like overweight people go through diet plans - I've tried most of them.

I've read "Sidetracked Home Executives" TWICE but there was just WAY too much up-front work getting all the index cards filled out and organized by daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly. LOL

I thought about trying out FlyLady but for various reasons (the 30-day warm up, the sheer number of reminder emails, and the insistence of doing your hair and wearing shoes first thing in the morning) it just didn't seem like me. LOL

Then, one of my favorite bloggy moms mentioned recently she was using a Motivated Moms housework planner. So, I went to the site and looked at some of the sample pages here, here, and here.

I went ahead and pick the one I felt best fit me and popped for the $7 (I had an online coupon code for $1 off). When I posted on Facebook that I'd be starting the planner the following day, I got some feedback from a fellow SAHM that a list like that would completely overwhelm her at this stage of her life. And, I agree...to a point.

As an ADD-er, I'm entirely familiar with the idea of being overwhelmed. However, being the "housework boss" still leaves me in control. I just need help with the breaking down of projects into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Many of the things listed on the planner either don't apply to me or aren't a priority for us. Vacuum? I have hard wood floors. Dust the porch light? Seriously? So, I just cross it off the list. But, helping me remember to rotate out my dish cloths and towels regularly? You better believe I need help in that area.

Also, many of the everyday things are things I was already doing: running a load of laundry, running a load of dishes, rinse kitchen and bathroom sink, plan and cook dinner, etc. And, of the 5-8 things added each day, I'm practicing some new "delegation" skills and generally can hand off nearly half to DaHubby and the Vikings.

For example, my list for tomorrow has the following:

change dishcloth/towel (Flicka)
change towels in bathroom (Pojke)
inventory fridge to plan meals (me)
vacuum (the one area rug in living room - Pojke)
vacuum living rm furniture (Flicka)
clean toilets (Flicka w/vinegar and baking soda and some supervision)
replenish TP stock (Pojke)

Notice how only one of those is actually mine. LOL

So, it's one week in and what do I think? It takes me a little more time but everyone is loving the results! And, Momma's happier with the whole less clutter and cleaner-appearing environs. And, ya know the old saying: "if Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"? The reverse is also true.

So, I'm planning to schedule another post at the one month mark and see how I feel then. If I'm still sticking to it, it may be the best thing that's happened to the Viking Hus in a while!