Anyone else overwhelmed?

YEPPIE I am not alone I am a type A I am a perfectionist I can not function in the slightest mess I don’t function if I feel other pressing matters I don’t function if the stove fan is is/dishwasher running and the kids are all yelling at the same time I don’t do good when I have a lot to do oh.. and I get hurt very easy if I am trying hard and dh says something about what I am doing.

We have a couple who is wonderful and he saw that I was feelign stressed (yes saw not asked) and yesterday took all 7 of my kids so I could just do what I wanted for a morning. That was wonderful, a miracle and a breath of fresh air.

So you know what we did Wed. we cleaned the house so that on Thurs (yesterday) I could just go the the coffee shop, have a cup of hot coffee, do what I wanted and go shop at the used book store without having to say dont touch, no you can’t lets just go. And that was so good for me!

I hope you all get one of those days!

Tons of good advice above so I won’t get into much, just share two minor tweaks I implemented this past week that helped me.

1. For some reason I always thought that my big weekly housecleaning should be Saturday, after being in tears several Saturdays in a row I finally realized this doesn’t fit our lifestyle. When daddy is around on the weekend is time for fun and maybe tackling some specific projects/outings not a good time for me to be focused on a major clean. But I didn’t want to take another day out to clean the whole house or that would equal a day of no school. So I tried something I’ve heard about before, a zone a day. For me it was:

Monday-bathroom

Tueasday-change sheets & vacuum boys room & my room

Wednesday-change sheets & vacuum girls room & hallway

Thursday-organize living room, vacuum living room & kitchen & dining area

So here we are Friday morning and I feel great knowing that the whole house has been cleaned this week :o) Fridays tend to be a busy day for us so I didn’t want to schedule a zone on Fridays. I usually grocery shop Friday or Saturday.

2. I have been playing around with time blocks to find a good flow for our days. One block I’m really loving is one of the late afternoon ones. For the second hour of my youngest one’s nap I sit down with my two girls and we work on our current handicraft (embroidery) and watch a cooking show together. My 4 year old son hangs out with us playing a game or something. It is really such a relaxing end to the afternoon before jumping into the evening routine :o)

I haven’t yet managed to read all of these, but I know exactly how the original poster (and many others here) feel!  It is soo hard trying to get it all done.  I have not done nearly as much school this term as I had hoped, and I am trying to plan out next term to be more organized so that we can better accomplish something truly productive. 

Getting it all done — school, housework, fun time, time for my dh and I, and the adding in the fact that I work part time — three hours every weekday morning, makes things extra tough for me.  I know I need to get better at making and sticking with a schedule.  I really like the “zone” cleaning.  But for me it’s easier to plan it than stick with it.  It only takes one little thing to mess up my schedule and I am toast.  I really need to get my act together and get the boys more involved.  I also need to purge big time.  But that’s so much easier to do when the boys aren’t around, and they are ALWAYS around.  I have no family near by that I can send them off with for the day, and I really need my husband or a friend to go through everything with me to keep me on track…hmmm.  Just had a possible thought, but not sure it would work out.  Have to think more on that….

Anyway, ya.  I completely agree.  And then some.

Janell, I am looking for that book, 31 Days to Clean, now. It sounds like a wonderful book. 3littlegirls, I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m a little nervous myself but just like you said, I’m tired of putting things in boxes, baskets and shelves. Alot of it has to go!

I was blessed today with this blog and wanted to pass it on

Blessings for this coming week!

Carolyn

I’m a recovering perfectionist who’s been stressed for twelve years now over the condition of my house while homeschooling and trying to do everything else.  I’ve Flyladied, I’ve tried a zillion organizational systems, I’ve consoled myself and told myself I “had” to have things a certain way . . . and just couldn’t understand why I had this constant struggle to do it all and IT NEVER HAPPENED.  I’m intelligent, organized, motivated and committed–and my house is a disaster. 

By all means, do your best.  Enlist your kids.  Try organizational systems.  Work. 

And then realize that sooner or later, you are going to hit a wall and realize you have to prioritize and make some hard choices, and that, for many of us “perfectionists” this is one thing that we may have to lay on the altar.  THERE IS JUST TOO MUCH THAT IS GOOD TO DO.  Something has to give.  And I don’t want it to be my relationships!  I like to have an organized lovely home full of hospitality and peaceful string music and scented candles and . . . what I have is loud boys, lots of shoes, three snakes, and constant effort just to keep them all fed and clothed and healthy.  And I only have three!  But this is what I was given.  It’s my job to learn to love it and pour what I have into my life and give up having House Beautiful because the opportunity cost is too high.  I don’t want my sons, who begin leaving home next year, to remember me as a housework driven nag who never had time to laugh and play and talk and hang out with them.  And that was a real possibility before I got broken.  🙂  There are just times I’ve been forced to choose between vacuuming and dusting, or sitting around with my family and discussing the last presidential debate.  You’d instantly discover if you walked into my home that I chose the discussion. 

So this isn’t to discourage any effort we  make.  Making a lovely home is a good thing, too.  And a worthy one to spend time on.  BUT sometimes, something else is better and more worthy.  Make sure you know how to recognize that.  You’ll have fewer gray hairs than I do since this took me a while.