A Fresh Start

Guess what!? We made it through this “long” winter. Today is the first day of Spring! The two feet of snow that was dumped upon us last week has now melted to at least half the size and my kitchen floors are feeling the after effects of muddy paw prints flying through the doors. However, I am not here to talk to you about mopping floors, organizing your cupboards or wiping the dust from the top of those ceiling fans (you know the ones I’m talking about 😉). Instead, I thought it would be good to write a little about cleaning up my rusty inner workings and the steps I’m taking to organize myself after going from work life to stay at home life. 

I assumed that after getting my new-found spare time out of my system (I gave myself a week to “rest”) that I would suddenly snap my fingers and the house would be in order, meals always cooked, baby content and the puppy all tuckered out by the time my husband arrived home. I have always loved planning, but lack the skills of organization. I went to Target and got myself a fun new little planner and some new pens, the fancy ones with the gel ink that glides oh so smoothly. I cleared out the calendar on my phone and deleted my alarm settings. A fresh start, that’s what I wanted.

Instead of waking up one morning and having the answer to all my organizationally challenged problems. I found myself struggling to get motivated during the day. I realized that while I was working all the stuff I needed to do around the house got pushed to the wayside, because weekends were for resting and there was no other time to do it all. A normal work week for me looked something like this: Wake up at 5am with just enough time to get myself ready before waking my son at 5:30, getting him dressed fed and in the car by 6:00. We’d arrive home in the evening and it would be time to feed Oliver and put him to bed by 6:30 or 7pm just to wake up and repeat again. With not much time to myself between waking hours and sleep hours my energy was at an all-time low. Now that I am not working, I have more energy. I also realize, that I have MORE work since I am now living in the space I had been neglecting for so long. Talk about a Spring clean out! ­

It has been a little over 4 weeks now that I have been home (although one week was spent in NH visiting family). It didn’t take too long to realize that I needed to get the house back to square one to be able to keep up with it as I should. For bigger projects, I have given myself the task of one week to accomplish them. After all, what’s the rush? I tackled organizing the nursery last week. Putting away clothes that were way too small. Separating the ones that I wanted to give away and the ones that I would put into a bin if we have more kids down the road. I dusted, vacuumed and hung what was left of his clothes that currently fit. This helps give me a timeline to follow and continue with once I am done. Next I will tackle the guest room which has turned into a catch all. Everything that doesn’t currently have a place in our home ends up there. Giving myself a week has helped tasks not seem overwhelming. I still have my son’s little music class each week and swim will soon be added to that. I also have class for our pup two evenings a week, not to mention time with him each day for training. 

I am still a work in progress, but this is a list of other things I currently do to organize my life a bit better.

• Wake up at 6:30am every morning. Except for Saturday! That’s the day I get to sleep in.
• Meal plan every Saturday and grocery shop. At least 3 bigger suppers a week, leftovers and easy stuff on the weekends. I LOVE cooking and baking.
• Leave time to work out. My energy is so much better when I give myself 30 minutes a day to walk, complete T25 or lift weights.j
• No napping! If I take a nap, then I find I stay up too late and am even more tired the next day.

Here are some things to ponder as you go through this fresh new week of spring! Look at how you keep yourself organized and what you do to keep your energy up. What are things you can change for the better? What should stay the same? How do you take care of yourself?

1.       What is on your list for keeping yourselves organized? Any tips for this newly stay at home mama?

2.       How are you working ladies keeping yourselves organized?

3.       What do you feel you give up (by working or staying home) to keep the peace and stay sane at home?

4.       What can you do to take care of yourself each day and keep your energy going?

You can share with us here in a comment or in our conversation group on Facebook. We would love to hear from you!