Thank you, Company Girls, for the sweet comments and emails this weekend. It was so hard to say goodbye to our dog, Beau, and it was comforting to know that so many of you knew just how we felt. My husband, Tom, is "tore up," as we say here in Texas. He's just tore up over that dog. It really hit him hard.....and I don't think he was expecting it. He asked me to read the comments aloud to him and it brought him a lot of comfort. Thank you for that.
It will get better, I know. And life - the laundry, the cooking, the child-rearing and all the stuff that fills each day - does go on. So.... let's go on ahead today.
I thought I'd start this week with a list of my most popular posts - the top google searches that bring people to my blog.
Far and away, my most searched posts are the ones on setting up a housekeeping schedule. I imagine women stumbling across my easy system, and I can hear them saying, "FINALLY! A schedule that doesn't make me feel like a failure before I even start!"
See, we all know we need to get more organized, but we fear living in a prison of "must-do's" or starting yet one more thing that we know we'll never complete. Here's what I say in one of the posts:
The reality is, most of us would be thrilled with a general system that would corral the clutter into a reasonable scale, help us find permission slips, and keep our homes relatively germ-free and company-ready. We'd like to function freely without being slaves to a monstrous spread sheet.
We want to have a home that embraces the people within its walls and accepts that life is sometimes messy. We don't want to become housekeeping tyrants.
These three posts go together - grab a cup of coffee and consider how you can apply them to YOUR life!
Setting up a Housekeeping System that WORKS
A "Real World" Housekeeping Schedule
And no post about home management would be complete without my best friend, Minimum Maintenance. It is absolutely THE most powerful tool you can use to start getting your life in order. In fact, if the thought of making a schedule (above) freaks you out, simply start here:
The Secret to Successful Home Management
Today's Small Thing is to take ONE concept from any of the above posts and make it a reality TODAY.
There are several downloads you can print off in the posts above.....why not take a pencil and mark them up with your own ideas and tasks? Sometimes, just seeing what you are ALREADY accomplishing each day makes you realize how hard you really ARE working.
Listen. You are not a failure. You are not a loser-mom. Don't listen to that voice in your head that makes you believe you'll never be good at this "home thing." Today you are taking a small but significant stand to improve your life and help you find the joy you've lost along the way. Big things happen in small ways every day....and this task is one of those that will change the course of your life forever.
Song of the Day: Feels like Today, Rascal Flatts
Have you ever made a simple housekeeping schedule? How could you incorporate Minimum Maintenance into your daily habits? I hope you'll share your success stories - and areas you struggle with!
We are in this together.
