Schedule change.. doing what works for you

     The other day I realized.. my current cleaning schedule isn't really working for me, I mean my house is fairly clean... downstairs. It was Wednesday when I realized I couldn't get to my Master Bedroom/Bathroom that this schedule isn't going to work. See, I am licensing for a home child care, and I'm not comfortable cleaning upstairs while the kids are napping downstairs. I'm afraid I won't hear them or be able to watch them appropriately, SO a change is in order. See, I can do that because it's MY schedule. This is the important part.. so read this...

You make a schedule that works for you! 

      I am loving pinterest, and all of the inspiration I get there, especially the organizing tips, blogs, pictures, etc.. that I have pinned. I use all of those as a starting point. Not all of those schedules work for me, not all of them make sense to me. It became confusing and I had to sort it all out. It was all trial and error. I kept what worked and filed away what didn't. Notice I didn't throw out what didn't work. Why? I file them, because our lives change daily, and they are good ideas, they just didn't happen to work AT THAT TIME. Week by week things change enough that you can see if it will be a long term change or just happened to change that week. For example we just got a new puppy about 3 weeks ago. THAT was a HUGE change. I started floundering, things were all out of whack, I just had to sit back and see how it would play out. It turns out that my nap time cleaning still works, however leaving the puppy downstairs for the first two weeks didn't work. He got scared and barked. He got scared and peed. He felt relaxed and pooped. I noticed he only did this when I went upstairs. SO I shifted my cleaning during the week to downstairs. Between the puppy and the children that will be in my house, this makes sense to me. I can clean our bedroom and bathroom on the weekends when someone can hang out downstairs playing video games instead of helping out around the house and help with the puppy. 

     Every once in awhile I can see that I am ready to look at how things are working out, or not working out and if they need to tweaking. Then I'm off to Pinterest to look through all of the lovely ideas I have gotten from lovely people. 

     Has anyone been following my schedule that I posted some time ago? Does it work for you? If not have you changed it? Did you switch up days? Did it prompt you to make your own? I would LOVE some feedback. Are you doing something that you think I would love to try? (No crack please) Talk to me people, I want your ideas and feedback!

Organize and Organize again...and again...and....

I've always been a mess, a big hot mess. My house was always the house with clothes and toys EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really do mean everywhere. When Uptown and I bought our house and moved in, a dear friend of mine made a funny comment that has stuck in my head. She said "Your house is beautiful, DO NOT let it get as messy as your apartment!" of course she was joking. It has eaten away at me ever since we moved in. So in the last month my friend Pres and I started an organization challenge. Every day we pick a trouble spot in our respective houses and we organize. We have gotten a lot done, but (and this is a big but) BUT we both found that we can't just organize a spot and move on and forget about it. We had to come up with a schedule to maintain as well. So Today is Tuesday and on my schedule is Kitchen and Dining room/Classroom (I use my dining room as a classroom) So every Tuesday I go through and pick up, wipe down, sweep and mop. Now keep in mind I have 4 kids so this is a daily struggle. I am still trying to balance living in our space and keeping it clean and organized. I've been reading blogs, pinning pins, reading magazines, but it really comes down to what works best for our family, and I've yet to discover that. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.