Confessions of a Disorganized Housewife : Learning Habits That Work

You know, sometimes I wish I had a camera...And sometimes I'm pretty thankful that I don't. Today is the latter, although you probably wouldn't believe this scene unless you saw it. Then again, if you know me, you'd know it's pretty much business as usual around here.
    Here on the home front I have a kitten asleep on the laptop keyboard. Some of the keys have stopped working so I have another keyboard hooked up to the laptop these days until it can be fixed. Both J and the Hubs are in the bedrooms. Hubs is sleeping because he works tonight, and J is just hanging out. And I'm here in the kitchen... wondering where all my hard work went.
   Just a few days ago my kitchen was clean. Not immaculate, mind you, but I wouldn't cringe if someone came over (Don't ask about the rest of the house just yet. Thanks). For a good week and a half or so we were doing great! Doing the dishes every day, sweeping and mopping, the table could be seen and the counters were either clear or organized. You know, the way normal people live. Every day. Today? I'm catching up on dishes and working my way towards finding the table and my counter space again. I think there is hope for us, though. One of the main reasons my table is cluttered again is my sweet Hubs took everything out of the cabinets and cleaned the cabinets for me. It was on my list of things to do and he did it for me. Now it's my turn, cleaning all the dishware and choosing what goes back and what gets sent to charity.
  I think it's a little easier these days to get back on track because I'm not constantly feeling like I'm pushing a boulder up a steep hill. So far J is doing well on the meds and his thinking is a little clearer. While his room is still a bone of contention, he's not making more of a mess here in the kitchen or in the living room. Instead of finding a corner or the floor to throw something, he heads for the garbage can. Even dish towels and cloth napkins end up in the trash once he's done with them if I don't keep a good eye on him, but hey, he's learning. And those things are washable!
 My little family and I are learning, little by little to conquer the disorganization and chaos. Day by day we're getting the hang of things. While I did detour yesterday and left the kitchen to attack my bedroom, for the most part I'm finally realizing that the chaos didn't appear overnight and it won't go away overnight. And I'm learning that baby steps is key to not getting overwhelmed. Just like when I decided I needed to lose weight I focused on walking every day until it became a habit, then started focusing on what I was eating instead of just how much, in organization I'm focusing on one habit -and one room- at a time. As in changing my lifestyle habits for better health, I slip up and go back to my disorganized ways now and again. That's okay. I'm making progress in both areas of my life. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other. 

You know, sometimes I wish I had a camera...And sometimes I'm pretty thankful that I don't. Today is the latter, although you probably wouldn't believe this scene unless you saw it. Then again, if you know me, you'd know it's pretty much business as usual around here.
    Here on the home front I have a kitten asleep on the laptop keyboard. Some of the keys have stopped working so I have another keyboard hooked up to the laptop these days until it can be fixed. Both J and the Hubs are in the bedrooms. Hubs is sleeping because he works tonight, and J is just hanging out. And I'm here in the kitchen... wondering where all my hard work went.
   Just a few days ago my kitchen was clean. Not immaculate, mind you, but I wouldn't cringe if someone came over (Don't ask about the rest of the house just yet. Thanks). For a good week and a half or so we were doing great! Doing the dishes every day, sweeping and mopping, the table could be seen and the counters were either clear or organized. You know, the way normal people live. Every day. Today? I'm catching up on dishes and working my way towards finding the table and my counter space again. I think there is hope for us, though. One of the main reasons my table is cluttered again is my sweet Hubs took everything out of the cabinets and cleaned the cabinets for me. It was on my list of things to do and he did it for me. Now it's my turn, cleaning all the dishware and choosing what goes back and what gets sent to charity.
  I think it's a little easier these days to get back on track because I'm not constantly feeling like I'm pushing a boulder up a steep hill. So far J is doing well on the meds and his thinking is a little clearer. While his room is still a bone of contention, he's not making more of a mess here in the kitchen or in the living room. Instead of finding a corner or the floor to throw something, he heads for the garbage can. Even dish towels and cloth napkins end up in the trash once he's done with them if I don't keep a good eye on him, but hey, he's learning. And those things are washable!
 My little family and I are learning, little by little to conquer the disorganization and chaos. Day by day we're getting the hang of things. While I did detour yesterday and left the kitchen to attack my bedroom, for the most part I'm finally realizing that the chaos didn't appear overnight and it won't go away overnight. And I'm learning that baby steps is key to not getting overwhelmed. Just like when I decided I needed to lose weight I focused on walking every day until it became a habit, then started focusing on what I was eating instead of just how much, in organization I'm focusing on one habit -and one room- at a time. As in changing my lifestyle habits for better health, I slip up and go back to my disorganized ways now and again. That's okay. I'm making progress in both areas of my life. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other.