MAKE IT MAGIC

9:34 am

No, I am not talking about Christmas already. It is just that today is one of those days when I lack the motivation to get started. It just simply sounds like too much. I haven't done my my 10 min in a long time and it feels like it is time to revive it. It worked well when I did it. I can do it. 10 min of work 10 of play. Lets gt started! 

10:27 am

The first 30 min are done. The baby is back in bed, I talked to a friend on the phone, I had breakfast. That sounds okay for an hour, doesn't it. Let's see what I can do in the next hour!

11:27 

40 min taken care of. Washer and dishwasher are running. Kitchen is almost done,I am trying to talk myself into going up to the attic. Well. Maybe once the kitchen is taken care of. 

16:57

I got a total of 2,5 hours done. I cooked, I got Halloween costumes out. I did some yard work. I sorted out a costume that is too small for any of my kids. 

16:58

Picked 8 things off the patio to throw away. My inner "Monk" kicked in and made me find 2 more to make it 10. I will declare myself a hero and put dinner in the oven that I pre-made yesterday.

7 a day, 1 costume, 1 shoe, 8 pieces of trash of the patio, 2 more from the living room, 5 piees of clothing out of my husband's wardrobe

surface of the day: girls' room floor

I FELT LIKE WHINING

Today I was going to whine about how I don't ever get around to decluttering anymore and how there is no progress. But guess what. I got rid of what seemed like a cubic meter of baby clothes today. And a baby hammock. And let us not forget about the old bike trailer that a neighbor claimed to have use for. The reason non of this feels like I got it done is because it took weeks and weeks to bring that mountain of baby clothes together. Every time I found a random piece some where I put it in a bag in one of the towers of doom. Yes. They are still in the living room. But back to my success. I AM making progress. It might be slow. it might be barely visible at the moment but in the long run my hard work is definitely paying off 

7 a day: mountains of baby clotes, bike trailer, 1 shoe

surface of the day: the inside of one of the towers of doom

BERMUDA TRIANGLE

Believe it or not, I have my very personal Bermuda Triangle. The whole house is one stinking Bermuda Triangle. Things have become a lot better but just today,I spent at least 2 hours looking for something that I as willing to bet knew exactly where it was. On the dresser, in the hall. IT was right there. On the dresser, for the last 2 weeks. The second I need it. Gone. Okay. I haven't seen it the last few days I guess. But, can you believe it? It evaporated. And ever person living in the Bermuda triangle claims they have never seen him. So obviously it sucks up memories, too. Downright tiresome. I need it by Monday. It better resurface. 

7 a day: cheap toys, paper, paper, paper

surface of the day: top and 2 drawers of the the dresser it has been sitting on

CHILDREN'S CHORES

Let's face it. A lot of the daily disaster is created by the kids. Why not let them clean it up, too? I have heard from people that my poor children have to work quite hard. Interestingly enough that comment usually comes from moms whose kids are spoiled rotten in my opinion. They call it child labor. I call it raising responsible adults.

If you had asked me 15 years ago if I thought that a 4 year old could unload the dishwasher I would have said:"NO WAY!" Yes way. A 4 year old can unload the dishwasher, and will be proud of being given such a responsibility. Sneaky me rearranged the kitchen so the kids could reach everything easily to set the table. Positive side effect is, they can reach it all, too, when it comes to putting the clean dishes away. I didn't really want them to handle the glasses, so the glasses stayed up high.

When one of the kids had difficulties at school, we talked to a specialist. The topic of household chores came up. She was delighted to hear that our kids had responsibilities. The only thing she would have changed was to teach the kids to take a chair to climb on, so they could put the glasses away. I had mixed emotions about it. I decided we would stay with the "put away what you can reach" rule. 2 weeks later the very kid we had been talking about came to the living room with a proud smile on his face. "Mommy," he said, "I put the glasses away. I got myself a chair and when I climb on the chair I can reach the shelf."

Problem solving skills, self esteem, responsibility. And an empty dishwasher. All in one. Awesome! Now if only I could get them to pick up their toys!

7 a day: enough paper to fill up the recycling. I am not sure where it all comes from. SERIOUSLY!

surface of the day: I attempted a shelf in the livign room and failed miserably. At least I picked out everything that could be thrown away. The rest is homeless stuff and I don't want to deal with it today!a

"CANDLES"

Why on earth would I keep this? Beats me. I really don't know. I guess I was under the impression that one could make his/her own candles out of stumps. Right. Very likely.

NOT! Well. No worries. The stuff is gone. The big achievement is not in throwing it away, the big achievement is in noticing that it is trash and making a mental note, so next time things like that will make it to the trash with out a detour to the attic!

7 a day: candle stumps, a pair of pants, 3 socks, 2 pairs of shoes

surface of the day: no surface, sorry, it's SATURDAY!