Resolution Objective #2

Let's start by talking about bad habits. I have plenty of them. Plenty. NOT cleaning happens to be one of them. I like cleaning about as much as I like exercising. That statement would make my husband spit out the coffee he was drinking and laugh out loud. I'm just stating the obvious here.

I had a time in my life when I was a very clean person. I cooked, cleaned and completed laundry on a daily basis. This would be on top of working a 12 hour shift (and commuting an hour each way). Now I can say that time in my life ended on a less than pleasant note, and after I chose to boycott cleaning and laundry (eating is mandatory, and I rather enjoy cooking). And what I used to find funny, and now just completely pathetic, is that I used that as my excuse to be flat out lazy. FOR 3 YEARS. I'm literally embarrassed right now.

I've used the excuse that I was once the only person that ever did anything around my house, and that I deserved a break. I've used the excuse that I'm busy and work long hours, and when they're over I'm simply just tired. I'll tell you that I've used them both, sucessfully (for 3 years), even though my husband could rightfully use those same excuses, he doesn't. He works hours just as long, he gets much less sleep than I do, and he manages to bust his butt to keep the house and laundry caught up. Again, I'm embarrassed.

And then suddenly this revelation hit me! A chore chart! I'm acting like a child, right? So why not treat myself like a child, right? A friend of mine has two young boys, and they are a huge help to her due in part to a chore chart she created for them (and they get stickers!). Why not just take all the basics that keep my house clean, break them down to cover a weeks time and go from there? That's exactly what I've done. I've listed everything I do to deep clean my house in a single day. I've take those things and broken them down over 7 days, doubling some things. It shouldn't take us any more than 30 minutes a day to get it done and it saves me from wasting a whole weekend day cleaning. My cute little chart now graces my fridge.

We started yesterday off with a field day, that is going to continue over our 3 day weekend. I'm deep cleaning the house from top to bottom, and on Wednesday the chore chart will commence. I'm starting with a clean slate. I have faith that only a couple weeks time will engrain a habit that I can continue with. Look Mom! I'm a big girl now!