(image via Google)Remember the feeling you had when, as a small girl, you would wander into Grandma's immaculate, vintage kitchen and wonder at her ability to keep things neat and shiny while still serving up a full roast dinner - for lunch no less! - without breaking a sweat? How did she do it? How did any depression or wartime bride manage?
It's really quite simple. Homekeepers of the past planned. Everything from managing the household finances to calculating how many jars of preserves could be put away that year based on different crop yields was carefully considered before lifting a single finger. In our own times, things have changed dramatically. Just take a walk through your local grocery store's freezer aisle and marvel at the amount of pre-prepared, packaged 'convenience' food on offer. We've grown busy - too busy to whip up our own chicken nuggets so we rely on chemical-laden and expensive alternatives.
Now, not every modern convenience is a bad thing. The invention of the Internet and dishwashers rank pretty highly in my book, LOL. But in our busy lives we are losing our grip on the pleasures of a well run, organized home. A certain degree of mess is acceptable now. Women work. Children are demanding. Marriages dissolve. Things happen. Different problems, perhaps, than our grandmothers had to face, but all things that take our time and energy.
The trick is to work smarter, not harder.
In this chaotic little home of mine, there are five homekeeping 'building blocks' I use which save my bacon every time. If nothing else gets done, if the kids are having a particularly horrid day, if Talented Hubby needs some extra help with a project or an ear after a long day - these are the basics I aim for.
- Basic Weekly Plan
- Basic Daily Plan
- Morning Routine
- Afternoon Routine
- Evening Routine
A tip - never, ever wait until your Plans are 'perfect' before jumping in. The fact is, they'll never be perfect and you'll still be living in a messy home a year from now. Even if you don't do your Detailed Cleaning for a week or two, your home should still be pretty presentable if you've kept up with the five tools above.
Some of you die-hard Binder fans will recognize the basic format as harking from FlyLady. I love Marla, I honestly do, but when I was a FlyBaby, I often felt smothered - the emails were never in the correct timezone for me down here in Australia and my computer wasn't on all day to hear the 'ping' of a new email coming in anyway. Her Zones never worked for me. And - gasp! - while I loved receiving decluttering testimonials, I began to get annoyed with the frequent product advertisements (um...you don't really need a FlyLady branded calendar or timer, *smile*). One day, I 'decluttered' her emails, and it felt great. I still acknowledge her influence on much of my approach to homemaking now, but I don't feel the need to 'dress to my shoes' every morning either. As with any organizing approach, a good attitude to keep in mind is this: take what you need, and leave behind everything else without guilt - don't sweat it! (That goes for anything you read here too!)
Over the next few days, I'll be detailing my Daily and Weekly Plan, and my Routines. Probably most of the individual entries won't work for you, but use them as a jumping off point and devise your own. Do NOT worry about setting up a pretty binder yet - concentrate on the execution, not the beautification.
Do I follow my Magic Five every single day or week? Heck no. But they form the framework over which our daily life is stretched and basically, the whole family would collapse without them, so they must be important, right? LOL.
Stay tuned!
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