I try really hard to keep my house clean, but admittedly I’m not the most organized person by nature. I have days where creativity hits, I declare it “movie day” for the kids, and soon I have felt, paint, cardboard, the sewing machine, and other craft stuff all over the floor of my bedroom or the kitchen table. Then it’ll be time for dinner or the baby wakes up from her nap and the stuff gets hurriedly stacked somewhere until I can get to it again. Mix all my projects with three kiddos toys, laundry, homeschool supplies, dishes, and well–some days I pray nobody pays a surprise visit!
Jared is completely opposite. His side of the closet is always neat and his office is ultra-clean. He’s a self-proclaimed “master packer” and “master planner” and is super amazing at keeping his spaces organized. Yes, occassionally in the nine years we’ve been married we have had arguements discussions about our conflicting habits.
A few weeks ago life exploded. I realized I was completely over-committed with projects and obligations, and my house was a nightmarish mess. My sweet husband was fairly patient and tried to step in the best he could, but has his own commitments and couldn’t rescue me from everything.
When “life exploded” I had an emotional meltdown from all the stress I had to take a step back and re-figure my big priorities. One of the things I did during that time was pull out my Motivated Moms planner.
Since I’m not a very organized person by nature, I was skeptical about using a planner. Sure, I’ve bought them, but I typically only use them for a few days or weeks before they become doodle paper for the kids at church or the doctor’s office or scratch paper when I need to make a list. (So unlike my husband who has a detailed Excel spreadsheet planner he makes at the beginning of each semester. How I envy his organization!) The Motivated Moms planner is one planner I ACTUALLY use though!
The Motivated Moms planner is an ebook that you download and then print out. It has a list of recommended daily chores like making the beds, running the dishwasher, and taking out the trash. Then each day has a short list of suggested chores such as cleaning the middle shelf in the refrigerator (not the whole fridge, just a shelf!), dusting the kitchen light fixtures, restocking the toilet paper, and clipping the kids’ nails. Obviously I need reminders of these things. (Result of too long baby nails.)
(And please tell me I’m not the only one that has hollered from the bathroom for someone to bring me a new roll of toilet paper?) Not only does the planner remind me about chores (I usually only clean out the kitchen junk drawer when it starts overflowing and I can’t shut it anymore…), it breaks up dreaded chores–because really, cleaning out the fridge can be intimidating, but cleaning one shelf? Tackleable during the kiddos’ snacktime. It even reminds me to plan my meals and organize my coupons! YAY!
If you’re naturally organized, you probably already have a favorite planner (although I’m pretty sure you’d love this one too!). But if you are a creative mess like me, you may want to consider attempting to get things under control with the help of this Motivated Moms planner. I used to think there was no hope for my chaos, but as I’ve been working on becoming more accountable this year, I’m beginning to learn new habits–and (shhh, don’t tell my hubby!)–I kind of like it!
I just love your blog! you always inspire me!
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Good on you! I use the Fly Lady system myself, though probably not quite as strictly as she intended. It works for me though, and hubby is happy, as he’s a neat freak, and all organised like your husband sounds to be.
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lol – once again, I feel like I’m reading about me and John. After 7 years he is STILL way more neat and organized than me. I’ve tried… but it doesn’t work. I’ve reached the healthy point in my life where I have my priorities right where I want them: 20 years from now I won’t care if the dishes weren’t done, or the living room a mess, or the laundry half-finished. But if my kids remember that we read books, went to the park, tickled and laughed and watched movies together INSTEAD of remembering that mom constantly stressed that the house was never put together right… I will be happy.
John needs to get to that point, hahaha. 
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