You know you're a bad housewife when....

You know you're a bad housewife when.........

• cleaning reveals new dirt.  You know what I mean?  You clean the benchtops of clutter and suddenly it becomes glaringly obvious that the oven door needs a clean.  Or you wash the floor and that causes the architraves to look grubby.

• you clean the bathroom and the kids walk in and say "WOW!"

• dirt is invisible!  You don't even know the house is dirty until someone's coming.

• You have the same jobs on the To Do list day after day after day.

• when one of those jobs is 'find the dining room table'!

• when cleaning the shower weekly doesn't seem as important as attending craft weekly (or spinning, gardening club, photography...)

Things have been terrible around here for the whole term.  It began when I was getting the kids organised before the start of school.  I was making pencil cases, lunch bags, snack bags, labelling pencils....  Within a week our dining table was buried.  When the term began I still hadn't finished some new sandwich wraps so I didn't want to pack away the sewing machine.  It was also my first term with all the kids at school and my expectations of the extra time I would have was unrealistic.  Let's face it.  I was already doing heaps when Pumpkin was home!  I took on stuff that took me away from housework.  So now, not only was the table missing but I had no time left to find it.  

The lunch bags I made with frozen inserts to keep food cool

I didn't enjoy managing without the table because I've always placed importance on eating meals together. The evening is a lovely time of day to talk and stay informed on what is happening with each family member. I didn't like going a whole term without sitting at the table together.

 

However we've have had a lovely time over the school holidays.  We have been at home 80% of the time.  We've enjoyed spending time together, had a couple of nice outings and I've managed to work very hard at getting the house back on track.  I enlisted the children's help and they've been great!  In fact, you can see they feel very good about themselves when they are helping to keep the household functioning.

We've only had a couple of hiccoughs with the helping.  I've already shared one incident and the other taught me to be VERY specific! I had a box of tomatoes in the kitchen.  I'd used them to make sauce and soup etc., but when we were down to the last couple they were over ripe and a bit yukky. I was busy trying to clean the kitchen floor and wanted them out of the kitchen until I had time to put them in the bin.  So I said to Buddy Boy, "Can you put those tomatoes out on the back verandah?"   He DID!!!

 I should have said, "Could you please leave the tomatoes in the box and put them on the back verandah."  Very amusing!

I feel (nearly) organised as we start preparing for another term and it's a good feeling.  Next term I must remember to prioritise homemaking because it really matters to me.  I will never be a clean freak completely organised person however it feels good when the place is clean, the kids are organised and I have some structure to my days.  Running around stresses me whereas creating a cosy and comfortable environment for my family calms me.  I love to cook nice meals and create things for my children (like the pencil cases etc.) and that only happens if I'm home most of the time.  I am in awe of people who seem to manage their homes with ease and I hope this term I will stay at home more, keep on top of things and manage more time doing the things that I see as important.

I would love to hear tips on how you stay sane organised with children in the house.