Simple Things that Make Me Happy

I've written about this before, but I have to say again.....zone cleaning is the way to go.  I could be in a constant state of being overwhelmed if it weren't for Flylady, who introduced me to this idea of zone cleaning.  Along with the Maxwells program of doing chores and scheduling, my life is so much more manageable.

I had let it slide a bit and was just doing the basic scheduling and the basic chores, but I noticed there were certain areas of my home that were getting worse and worse and I wondered, as I started to sink under the pile of clutter again, was there any hope of ever getting to those things?

That was when I reinstated the zone cleaning.  I made a ridiculously long list of things that had to be done each week in each zone and then assigned duties to myself and all the kids.  I didn't care when they did their task, as long as it was done that week and not carried over into the next.  We are now in week 5 of the month, zone 5....THE DREADED BASEMENT.  This will be the worst of the zones as it is super neglected and somehow stuff just keeps getting put there with no thought of why, but this week, it will all get dealt with, whether the kids like it or not.

I have hope, however, as I've been doing this for a few weeks now and each dreaded task from other rooms has amazingly been done (like cleaning out the garbage closet or washing the disgusting bathroom/toothbrush drawer....)  So I know it will get done.

The other neat thing about zone cleaning is that I've noticed other tasks will come to my attention, say, in the kitchen, and I'm always tempted to get distracted and start on those, but I won't now.  I know the kitchen is zone 1, week 1, which is coming up next week.  So, that allows me to stay focused on the, ugh, basement.  I will eventually get to the kitchen which keeps the overwhelming feeling at bay.  If I maintain this a little better each month, then eventually my house will be almost entirely clutter-free, especially if I am really diligent.

My oldest daughter also gets huge kudos this month....she has taken on the task of teaching my other daughters how to sew.  They both know the basics and how to operate a machine, but they haven't done an actual sewing pattern.  Well, it just so happens Easter is around the corner and, in the past, when she was younger, we used to use that as an opportunity to sew Easter dresses.  Yesterday, she took both girls out to the fabric store and they picked a sweet dress pattern and some fabric and they are going to attempt to make themselves Easter dresses.  I'm so excited for them and I think it will be so cute.

I know I won't have this extra help forever and I am just eating it up while she's here.  What a blessing to the other girls!  Is it cheaper to make your own dress?  Ha!  No.  It most definitely isn't. We could have easily found Easter dresses with matching shoes and hats and purses for what we spent yesterday, but we are considering it an education, so it is an investment.  We invested in my other daughter years ago and now the investment is certainly coming back to bless us.  The funny part is we suggested this to daughter #2 yesterday and she had no interest whatsoever.  Well, too bad, we said.  You're sewing anyway.  Once she was in the store and picked a pattern and some fabric she got all excited, so I think she's on board now.  It's so easy to let them get in a rut and just hang out and be in front of a screen (which is where she would rather be sometimes), but we gently (or not-so-gently) pushed her out of her comfort zone and I think it will be great to see what she comes up with.

Zone cleaning and sewing....just a few of the regular, but awesome things going on that make me happy right now!