Time Management

It's all about attitude.

Yesterday was Home Blessing day. A Facebook friend had never heard of that, and asked what it was. She said it "sounds wonderful."

Here's how I answered:

The Home Blessing is my once-a-week-extra-spruce-up. I do it on Monday mornings to set the tone for the week. I use this name because when it's done, it blesses me and my family for a full week. It's an attitude thing. When you see it as giving your family a loving, calm place to live, doing these things doesn't feel like a chore.

Also, this is NOT detailed cleaning. It's getting the big stuff up. Each task takes no more than 10 minutes ... and you get to stop, sit down, and drink water in between.

My version includes:
Changing sheets on my bed
Cleaning master bath thoroughly
Washing towels from both bathrooms & kitchen
Sweeping and spot cleaning the wood floors
Vacuuming bedrooms, living room and halls
Wiping down kitchen counters, stove & cabinets
Removing 'science experiments' from fridge
Dust (fast, with a feather duster)
Watering the plants
Gathering trash all around the house
Taking out trash and recycling
Sweep off the front porch (sometimes back deck)
Keep rebooting the laundry

I got no response to this answer. After all, it looks like cleaning up the house, right? Chores to do. Putting in some elbow grease and getting dirty so that the house can look clean, only to have your family come home and mess it up again.

But you know, that's not what it is at all to me. Doing a Home Blessing becomes a treat. It's home care. It's taking something from messy to organized. It's going from dirty to clean. It's a feeling of accomplishment and knowing I can do a good job. It's knowing that being a homemaker is real work and can be very satisfying.

I have a choice. I can do what I used to do. Whine about it. Get to a Monday morning and feel sorry for myself that the rest of the family can go off to work and school and leave me to take care of the clean-up.

Or I can set my own attitude. I can appreciate this lovely, charmed life I lead and be grateful I have a home, a family, laundry, carpets, wood floors, beds and dishes to care for. (There was a time when I had none of these!) Then I can make these possessions -- and me! -- shine.