Systems for a Sane Home

Transitions and change sure know how to wreak havoc in our lives.  I have heard of friends posting about sleep patterns, new foods, potty training, new jobs, marriages and such so I know I am not alone.  In my own household we could describe almost that whole list and more and it is only January.  I apologize for not being as present here as I had hoped from the start.  It is a change for me and my home and I am still working on getting the time management in its place.  There are many things I want to share and learn so I am committed to getting more in this blog with the assistance of anyone who wants to contribute.

The routine... How do you SAHM, WAHM, part time and full time moms do it?  How have you worked your day logistically so that for the most part, everything gets done AND there is room for a little bit of extra?  I want to know what you have tried and what actually worked.  I love the idea of dry-erase boards or chalkboard calendars/daily schedules but how do you stick with them and make them work?  What baby steps can one take to help get there without setting them up for frustration or failure? 

Here is what I am attempting to do this week.  I am in an epic battle to get my kids to help out.  I think that their contributions would reduce my stress-level and then I could really get those tasks done!  I have a picture of the "chore chart" I recently purchased below.  I'll report back on how it works.  Any suggestions on how your "chore charts" or strategies have worked are very welcome.

Also, I am installing a "one major chore" a day schedule.  Laundry on Sunday, dusting on Tuesday, type of thing.  I am sick of waking up on to Saturday and having to gut out the whole house!  What type of cleaning regiment do you have functioning in your house?  Leo Babauta writes a great article on getting started.  He describes one of the steps to starting this type of system is starting with a clean slate.  Guess what my weekend has been and will consist of... (http://zenhabits.net/handle-chores-house-cleaning-and-errands-with-simple-systems/).  Looking forward to getting into it and coming out cleaner, happier and more sane:) 

So I am still on a food kick and definitely don't think we have exhausted this topic enough to move on!  My first thoughts are always to plan plan plan.  Although I know that even the most put together mommy has those moments where we forgot something, we ran out of time to run to the store or we just don't feel like making what we planned to make!  Last night, my kids were sick and trying something new and exciting would  not work!

For me, I personally have a few recipes/meals that I know by heart.  They require little ingredients or at least ingredients I can have on hand for a long time.  In my household these will usually come out because it is after 7pm and I haven't even made it home yet to start dinner.  Before I want to start working through a brand new recipe that might take me longer than expected to make, I will fall back on my "tried and true" to nourish the family that evening.  I will comment with one of my favorites and list the ingredients, etc.  As I commented on in the previous post, Kraft has a great easy to use recipe where you can plug in "chicken and corn" because that's what you might have on hand and it will give you some easy to make recipes to try.   

So my question this week is "what is your tried and true"?  What do you always have in your pantry that can make a quick meal and be your go to?  I think we all have pasta and sauce so lets move beyond that one.  Staples you always keep in the pantry because you know when all else fails, you can at least serve that.  Is there a website or book you use to find quick recipes with what you have on hand?  Thanks for sharing!!

New Year New You!!

As the WAHM, SAHM, or working mom that you are... what are your plans for 2013??  What do you hope to change and/or accomplish?  Is it the year of finally getting organized?  Or maybe the year you will actually lose and keep off the last 5, 10, 15, etc. pounds you have always hoped?  Maybe it is a new look you are after.  You have had the same hair style for the past 5 years and you are finally ready to wow the world!  Share your New Year New You resolutions and in future posts, we will help you get there!

New Year's plans can be about anything!  Here are some ideas:

• Health / Fitness
• Organization / Home
• Fashion / Hair
• Community / Giving back (LOVE the 26 acts of kindness I have seen people doing on FB)
• Family (Close and distant)
• Work

Good luck to you all.  Together we can move these goals past the weekly to-do list and into a fabulous year!!

How it started

For my first post, I thought I would start by introducing myself a bit and why I decided to start this blog.  I hope that this becomes a common ground for women to "meet, relate, grow and glow"!  So here is what started it all.

I am a working mother of three (all under the ages of 6) and have been married for almost ten years.  I am fortunate to have a home and family nearby to help, support, etc.  So why the blog?  It would appear to be a modern-day "Donna Reed" situation, right?  I thought so too until I realized that in my attempts to do it all, I was failing (and was oblivious to it).  I was happily completing certain tasks but then pushing the problem to another area.  I was never seeing friends or having time to take a bath due to frantically staying busy until midnight when I would lay in bed stressing over what to do tomorrow.

In the balance of home, work, family and myself, it was always tilted one way or another.  Work might be great but the home would then suffer.  Dishes piled high in the sink and laundry touching the ceiling.  Husbands are great and this blog is in no way meant to blast them.  My husband does what he can but that doesn't help with my own guilt.  I grew up with watching the Donna Reeds and decided then that I would be that type of mom, everything to everyone.  Since Donna never worked, I know she is an unfair comparison so I am simply talking about the idea of her.  Always looking good, always happy, always had a clean home, always there for her sons, etc.

That is why I am on a quest to become a "modern-day Donna Reed".  I hope that on this blog there can be discussions of problems, annoyances, concerns toppled with solutions, ideas and support.  Once I have opened up this topic to friends, I realized I was not alone.  Instead though of continuing to complain, I want to morph into the beautiful, confident, attentive, patient, organized... mother-wife that is in all of us.  Sounds cheesy?  How many of you love when you clean your house for a party (the real cleaning) and you get a moment before the guests arrive?  Or relish the feeling when you actually do have one of those days where you had dinner on the table by 6pm, cleaned up and got a moment to play with kids and then sat on the couch and talked with your hubby?

And so the quest begins...

Topics to be included in this blog; organization, recipes/food, parenting ideas, beauty, "date ideas" / friend outings, etc.