So, I've been thinking alot about simplifying lately. And what exactly that means to me and in my life and home. In some ways I think it means de-clutter. Less toys and books and stuff means less bother with cleaning and moving. And it means organizing. Everything having a place. The girls are old enough to know that certain toys go in certain containers. They can put their clothes away in the right drawers (Well, C and E can). So, everything needs to have a place. And if it doesn't have a place either one needs to be found quickly or out it goes. Simplify also means having a routine. Daily jobs like tidying up, laundry, dishes, etc. Weekly jobs like cleaning each room. I can normally keep things tidy in my house but have a problem getting to the actual cleaning of everything. The kitchen may look tidy but in reality the corners of the counters need to be cleaned and I'm not even going to tell you what under the sink looks like especially near the bin. So assigning different cleaning jobs to different days should help simplify the cleaning process. Same with the girls' toys. Tidy up several times during the day rather than one huge clean up at 5:00 before Daddy gets home. So when I was thinking of this earlier I was trying to reconcile how working more often can actually mean working less...see, that doesn't make sense. But then I realized this is my new motto "more often, less work". If I tidy up more often I will spend less time overall. If I wipe down my shower twice a week then I won't spend hours on it once a month or whenever I get to it. However, (as if any of you who really know me are worried that this is a possibility) this does not mean I will be going overboard in the cleaning department. I have way more important things to do than clean my shower everyday and dust everything in sight. =)
Simplifying also means that for supper (Australian for after dinner/before bed snack) for youth group I am not going to spend hours baking something that will be gobbled up within minutes and very few thank yous to show for it. So, today they get biscuits (cookies) straight from a tube. The upsides--they have a gluten-free alternative(the chocolate chip ones) and leave me with very few dishes to wash and take less time. The downside--they cost more but I think it's worth it.
And this picture--what little girl doesn't need car shaped peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch? =)
2 comments:
if you figure out how to get your kids to put certain toys in the "matching" bins/containers each time you clean up--let me know. Adreyn is getting into it but I'm lucky to get Tristan and Rehanyn to put the toys in any bins without a meltdown first. I get it organized about once a month and by the next day it is completely unorganized.
Those little vehicles are AWESOME!! Grace would have a fit of happiness over 'em! How cool, mama! I loved this post and all of the different aspects of simplification that you described. A lot of people think that it's only about decluttering, but having a simpler life is about becoming more efficient all around. Great post...and beautiful blog look!
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