Living Room/School Cabinet

"Nothing's better than cleaning to me, Mommy!" he says as he moves out the school cabinet to sweep behind it. Honestly, I could get used to this! He already pulled out my chair, swept under my couch and moved the mat (which he proclaimed to be "pretty dirty"). My son claims nothing's better than "making the floor pretty" and says he won't stop until "he makes the whole floor clean." He even offered to do my room! Which brings me to my latest accomplishment...the living room and school cabinet. I still need to finish cleaning off the top of the school cabinet so I can move the games up there, but I reclaimed two shelves that were nothing but a paper mess and prettied them up. I also gathered the books and put them back on the shelf. After the sweeping it looks a lot better!

Dining Room/Kitchen

Took it upon myself to tackle the dining room today. Scrubbed down each of the chairs until they had blue on them again. Then took to the table. I wiped down everything, including the sides of the table and the legs. How gunk gets on the legs is beyond me (although with four little ones, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised!). I then took it upon myself to move everything and mop the floor. Now it looks a lot nicer!

I didn't do much in the kitchen except catch up on the rest of the dishes that have been slowly stacking and declutter the counters. Hubby had already scrubbed them the other day so all I had to do was wipe gently after moving the clutter and dishes. Mopped in that room too.

Must say I feel more human. I even wiped down the kid's bathroom sink to give it an extra sparkle. I've also been doing a load a day as the laundry builds up and folding it after it comes out. This has made the laundry pile less and the clean clothes stack manageable. Note, I hate folding laundry so this is an accomplishment for me!

Feeling invigorated. What to next? Not quite sure, but there's something!

*Addendum*

When I say "I" this should be clarified to acknowledge the fact I did have a little help. The picture says the rest.

Kid's Bathroom/Laundry Room

First thing I did was to reorganize the linen closet in this room. I combined all the blankets and separated them into blankets, baby blankets, sheets and table cloths. Then I moved one box of extra storage to a lower shelf thus freeing two more shelves for use. All the laundry on the floor was piled in front of the washer where a load was begun. I then picked up all the garbage, swept the floor and scrubbed the toilet. I did all of the laundry, folded it, and put it away, even getting to the sleeping bags and placing them on one of the free shelves in the closet.

Left to do:

1. Scrub bathtub.

2. Wash mirrors.

To Maintain:

1. Wipe counters, pick up floor daily.

2. Do laundry a load a day.

Renewed Vision

Uncluttering is one thing, but sometimes maintaining is even more difficult! I am trying to envision what a beautiful house looks like and keep that in mind as I work toward that goal. Otherwise I might lose the vision completely...And this is the goal. To have a beautiful home that supports my family and our lifestyle. One that reflects who we are and what we enjoy. I refuse to be mastered by clutter and mess, but instead long to free my time and energy for doing the things that I love. If I can get the house in a workable order, I have a much better chance of maintaining it. So I am recommitting to myself to this end. Perhaps the month of March can be my spring cleaning so that by the end of it we are working in beauty. Now for the first step.