Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Getting There

Back when it was just my husband and me things were simple. We lived in a one bedroom apartment and it was no problem at all to keep it neat and tidy all the time. Then, we moved into a large 3 bedroom house, got a dog and then had a baby all over the course of 18 months. From there things started digressing quickly. We had hardwood floors through most of the house that were impossible to keep dog hair-free. I went from working to being a stay-at-home-mom when my son was born and somewhere along the way I lost it, the house was always a mess and I was more unorganized than I've ever been in my entire life.

The dog was too much for me and we had to get rid of her. We moved into a smaller house which I love to bits and had a second child. But I never really regained my organized, cleanly sense of being. Chasing my two kids is enough to keep anybody busy without adding on the cleaning, too.

I finally had a melt-down last week. I figured out that it's really hard for me to be the one to create the structure and plan. I do great falling someone else's plan. So, my husband went to work doling out the responsibilities onto a chore chart. It's been liberating!

He knows what he's supposed to do, I know what I'm supposed to do and the house has been clean and tidy at the end of each day which really is a wonderful way to start any day! There are a few things on there that we have our 3 1/2 year old get involved with and he loves it, too. It's all very simple and doesn't take very long. It takes at most 30 minutes a day for us to re-set and clean the house for the next day. Wow! I'm blown away!

It's great to feel like we're all pulling our own weight and I don't have to ask my husband to do anything because he already knows what to do.