My Own Chore Chart

I went to a training seminar at work a couple of months ago that was a brief overview of Stephen R. Covey’s book,  Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  Don’t tell my boss, but a lot of times these trainings are a yawn fest and are full of either general information that anyone could figure out with a little common sense, or the information is too vague and doesn’t actually get into the nitty-gritty of how to actually put it into practice.  Even though the seven habits training was brief, it blew me away, and I really want to read his book now.  One thing I took from his teachings is that we tend to be in urgent mode most of the time.  We run around like chickens with our heads cut off because there’s so much to do, and we are constantly overwhelmed.  We live reactively instead of proactively, and are constantly putting out fires instead of keeping things in shape so the fires won’t start to begin with.  All of this frantic energy ends up burning us out and we end up flopping on the couch and watching tv for hours.  This is not a good use of our time.  No wonder I never feel like I get anything done and I feel so frazzled but so lazy at the same time!

I realized I need to slow down and do more planning, and find ways to put things in place so that life isn’t so stressful.  I worry about our kids not eating enough healthy foods but we get home at 6:00 and they’re starving so I make them convenience food like chicken nuggets or spaghettios.  I hate how messy our house is, but I want to spend time with our kids and by the time I get downstairs after putting them to bed at night I’m pooped, so I sit on the couch all night and watch tv or play on the ipad.  I don’t have a hard time finding creative solutions to problems at work—I need to learn to do it at home too.  The first step is to STOP.  I need to stop, focus, and work out a plan.  It doesn’t have to be a perfect plan—I can always tweak it or completely overhaul it later, but having an imperfect plan is better than the current plan, which is no plan at all.

I was making a chore chart for my 5 year old daughter, and realized that I need to make MYSELF a chart for chores and healthy habits.  I think this will be the thing that will get me to start living more proactively and less reactively.  I’ve got a rough draft written up and I will try to get it typed up in the next few days so I can start using it.  I always get a lecture from the dental assistant about not brushing and flossing enough so those things are going to be on there, I get lazy about shaving and doing other things to take care of myself so that’s going to be on there, I always put off cleaning the litter box so that will be on there, serving and eating fruits and vegetables and getting exercise will be on there, and cleaning and organizing will be on there also.  It’s going to be a huge chart, but I’m hoping that tying a small monetary amount (to be spent on myself, not the kids!) to each “chore” will give me the incentive to have healthy habits and to be more productive.

I will post my chart when I get it finished. 

Handmade Romantic Gift Ideas

So Valentine's Day is coming up on the 14th, and our wedding anniversary is on the 11th.  It has been a little challenging to have two romantic occasions only three days apart, because my husband and I give gifts to each other for both.  We tend to make our anniversary gifts more meaningful since it's such a special day for the two of us.  One thing we like to do a lot of times is give each other handmade gifts.  It really makes the receiver feel special when the giver has put a lot of thought and time into a gift.  Here are a few ideas for you:

I think the best handmade gift idea I came up with was making a Life board game based on our life and relationship.  Unfortunately I still haven't finished it, and I started it two years ago!  So lesson one-- plan ahead.  Start way earlier than you think you need to.  Anyway, the game will be awesome when I finish it.  In the beginning you land on a space and receive a career and a salary-- I used our current and past jobs.  Throughout the game I had spaces where it was mandatory to stop, like our wedding day and the births of our children.  I made spaces that had lots of different things in our past and things we've talked (or joked) of doing in the future.  Maybe I should try to get mine done before this coming anniversary and I can use it as a gift again!  Can you regift the same gift to the same person?  :)

You could make a scrapbook with pictures of the two of you and meaningful quotes and song lyrics.  Sometimes I will look at the store for a Valentine's Day themed book for my husband and I can't find just the right thing.  If you make it yourself, it will say exactly what you want and it will be directly from your heart.  It doesn't have to be fancy-- I once copied a bunch of quotes and lyrics, put them in a nice font and color, printed them out, and put them in a binder for my husband.  He loved it!

You could make a mix cd with meaningful songs from your life, including "your" song, special songs from your wedding reception or ones you both like to sing along to, etc.  You can include songs that remind you of your significant other or just have really awesome lyrics.  You could also make a steamier version with songs that get you in the mood, to play in your bedroom (wink, wink).

You could make a coupon book with things you will do for your significant other.  This can be steamy, sweet, funny, or all three.  A few years ago I made one for my husband that was full of inside jokes.  I hate football, so one of the coupons was for him to be able to spend an evening watching a football game without me complaining.  He likes to goose me when I walk up the stairs ahead of him, so I had started making him walk ahead of me.  One of the coupons I made was for him to get to walk behind me on the stairs.  Be creative, and if you run out of ideas but feel like you don't have enough coupons for a whole book, you can repeat some of them or make simple ones for a kiss or a hug or a batch of cookies.

I haven't done this, but I think it's a really awesome idea.  Make a love jar.  Fill a clear jar with special things that are meaningful to the two of you.  Greeting cards, love notes, souvenirs from your honeymoon or another special trip, photos, mementos from your wedding or a special date, souvenirs from your favorite places like rocks, seashells, business cards, takeout menus, etc.  You don't have to fill the jar, you want to leave room for lots more memories to be kept there.

Have fun and be creative!

Just call me Messy Mommy

I'm the least organized person I know. The funny thing is, though, I am really good at coming up with creative ways to organize things and solve problems. After all, I do have my Bachelor's degree in interior design. I get these great ideas, then after working full time and taking care of our two little kiddos, I run out of steam and flop on the couch and watch tv or play games on the iPad. 

Today we had an unexpected snow day so I was home from work, and I suddenly had lots of energy to tackle some projects I had been putting off. My mind was chugging along all day thinking of cool decorating ideas, new ways to organize our stuff, crafts I'd like to work on, etc. I love to write, and have recently started what will hopefully become a self help book about the art of positive thinking. I was getting all these other ideas today about books I would like to write, and I had so many scattered thoughts that I finally realized I should put them all into a blog.

I'm going to post my organizing projects with embarrassing before photos and hopefully glamorous after photos. I'm hoping that posting about them will help keep me motivated and on track. I also plan to post other types of organization ideas, decorating ideas, crafts, recipes, funny kid stories, etc. 

I can't wait to get started!