Update: Laundry Day, Daily Chores
Do you remember how excited I was to set Laundry Day as a leisurely, TV-time activity? How we were going to PAUSE and switch laundry and FOLD while we WATCHED?
Do you remember in that post how we were getting into a nice routine with chores (do we call these daily or weekly?) on a schedule?
Let me tell you a little story about this pile of clothes... while Mr. Moon vacuums the carpets two days late.
So, the basket in front is a pile of clean laundry that needs to be folded and put away. Behind it is a box of candle/decor stuff that I needed out because I'm running out of candles and we need the scrap wax bucket to make fire starters. On top of that box is a trash bag of clothes that no longer fit and need to be put into storage for the time being (until we even determine what's wrong with me, I'm not willing to give up perfectly good clothes that I might fit back into soon--but there is a date with a donation center next year if no progress has been made). Behind THAT is a quilt rack that we still call a quilt rack for lack of a better term, that DOES IN FACT have worn, rewearable clothes on it! But they have exploded all over the top of the shelves that I use as a dresser, on top of a clean sheet that I ran our of energy before folding.
That laundry we started on WEDNESDAY. Bask in my shame.
It really was a good idea. Part of the issue is implementation. We may need a timer to remind us to check on the laundry. We found that there's no good place to put the computer to watch TV and be able to see it while folding laundry. (The computer is, at this time, the only thing available for watching entertainment in our room.) So we tried doing the wash-dry-and watch TV thing, but folding each load before we could unpause again. Neither of us could stick to that, it kept meaning we had to move the computer every few minutes, and I was having a bad day so I was barely any help to begin with--keeping Mr. Moon on task was impossible. Then we discussed folding everything during football, but I don't like folding my delicates in the living room with his parents (I don't know why, I have no problem with leaving them hanging in the laundry room for days) and I couldn't have gotten him to participate during the game anyway. Plus, no place to fold them really.
You know how I said I was going to start making the bed every day? Did you SEE the bed behind that pile of clothes? Yeah, hasn't happened. Heck, I keep forgetting to wash my face in the morning!
I don't know how to get past some of these hurdles. Honestly, getting into good habits like making my bed/washing my face/brushing my teeth/not leaving baskets of clean laundry sitting around for decades has been a list of habits I've been trying to create since... well, I remember writing some of them as improvement goals in kindergarten so what does that tell you? So I clearly haven't figured out whatever it is that helps me to remember a routine long enough to get INTO a routine. Though I do know some of that lack of routine is a coping mechanism for my OCD--if I get into routine for too long, I start to obsess over keeping it the same and don't handle interruptions well. So maybe that's entirely the issue, or maybe it's more than that.
Let's take a look at what our chore list looks like:
Everything in red is the stuff that stays every week. It doesn't include the daily list up top, which has doing the dishes at night as well as a 10-minute tidy. How have we done with it?
I'd give us a C+. B for effort.
Sweeping and mopping: has been a little iffy, but gets done eventually when one of us steps on something and ends up sweeping the whole floor while we're getting it up. D-
Bathroom cleaning: I haven't been terribly pleased with the soap/mineral build-up on the hardware in the bathtub, but everything else has been great. I have no idea how the master bathroom looks, but given the effusive thanks from the 'Rents the last couple weeks that Mr. Moon has gotten to it, I'm going to say it looks pretty good. Daily pick-ups are going pretty well, could use some more mindfulness. B+
Vacuuming under everything has been so-so. Not getting under the easy chairs as much as I would like, but the rest has been great. Saturday's hallway vacuum has happened on Sunday both of the last two, and not because there was no time Saturday. C-
Pick up Bedroom: Fail. Epic Fail. F
Firebomb Kitchen: This is the one thing we've been able to keep up really well. The kitchen is a major trigger area for me, so this surprises absolutely no one. Lost points for not getting the produce bags washed, but bonus points for laying on the floor scrubbing footboards and cabinets the week before. A+!
Pick Up Dining Room: Nope, fail, nada. Hasn't happened properly once since we implemented these chores three weeks ago. F
Trash & Recycling out to curb on trash day: We've been drastically reducing our trash output so that we could easily go to every-other week pickup. Or longer. Recycling would be great as every week. Mr. Moon hasn't been saving the newspapers I wanted saved for weed block, but I'll give him a pass on that one this time since I just reminded him again. A+!
Daily Dishes: We've been doing pretty well at this, but I think we could do better. What we really need is to get in the habit of getting the dishwasher emptied right away in the morning, so the daily dishes can get into it throughout the day--so they don't pile up at night and Mr. Moon has a chance to wash big dishes too instead of leaving them to sit. B+
In light of that B+, I'm doing a little personal contest to take pictures of our kitchen at the end of every day for a week. I'll post them next Monday to show you how we did. I know there are clearly areas which need more attention, but I feel like I'd rather get better at the things that only need a little improvement like daily dishes and the bathrooms so that THOSE things can take the minimum amount of time and then we can focus that extra energy to the bigger improvements. Of course through all this, we're still trying to get the garage set up into a lounge area, which is quickly becoming a priority. We need some more personal space.
---------------------
Want to join the kitchen project? Just take a picture of your kitchen every day right before bedtime. Post it here if you want, or to your own blog/Facebook/Twitter, or just keep it for yourself. Don't feel like cleaning anymore? Don't! Don't feel like letting that picture be your end of the day, so you decide to pick up a bit before you take it? Go for it! Maybe that will be what gets you in the habit of doing one last pick-up before bed every night. Whatever it takes, right?
Do you remember in that post how we were getting into a nice routine with chores (do we call these daily or weekly?) on a schedule?
Let me tell you a little story about this pile of clothes... while Mr. Moon vacuums the carpets two days late.
That laundry we started on WEDNESDAY. Bask in my shame.
It really was a good idea. Part of the issue is implementation. We may need a timer to remind us to check on the laundry. We found that there's no good place to put the computer to watch TV and be able to see it while folding laundry. (The computer is, at this time, the only thing available for watching entertainment in our room.) So we tried doing the wash-dry-and watch TV thing, but folding each load before we could unpause again. Neither of us could stick to that, it kept meaning we had to move the computer every few minutes, and I was having a bad day so I was barely any help to begin with--keeping Mr. Moon on task was impossible. Then we discussed folding everything during football, but I don't like folding my delicates in the living room with his parents (I don't know why, I have no problem with leaving them hanging in the laundry room for days) and I couldn't have gotten him to participate during the game anyway. Plus, no place to fold them really.
You know how I said I was going to start making the bed every day? Did you SEE the bed behind that pile of clothes? Yeah, hasn't happened. Heck, I keep forgetting to wash my face in the morning!
I don't know how to get past some of these hurdles. Honestly, getting into good habits like making my bed/washing my face/brushing my teeth/not leaving baskets of clean laundry sitting around for decades has been a list of habits I've been trying to create since... well, I remember writing some of them as improvement goals in kindergarten so what does that tell you? So I clearly haven't figured out whatever it is that helps me to remember a routine long enough to get INTO a routine. Though I do know some of that lack of routine is a coping mechanism for my OCD--if I get into routine for too long, I start to obsess over keeping it the same and don't handle interruptions well. So maybe that's entirely the issue, or maybe it's more than that.
Let's take a look at what our chore list looks like:
I'd give us a C+. B for effort.
Sweeping and mopping: has been a little iffy, but gets done eventually when one of us steps on something and ends up sweeping the whole floor while we're getting it up. D-
Bathroom cleaning: I haven't been terribly pleased with the soap/mineral build-up on the hardware in the bathtub, but everything else has been great. I have no idea how the master bathroom looks, but given the effusive thanks from the 'Rents the last couple weeks that Mr. Moon has gotten to it, I'm going to say it looks pretty good. Daily pick-ups are going pretty well, could use some more mindfulness. B+
Vacuuming under everything has been so-so. Not getting under the easy chairs as much as I would like, but the rest has been great. Saturday's hallway vacuum has happened on Sunday both of the last two, and not because there was no time Saturday. C-
Pick up Bedroom: Fail. Epic Fail. F
Firebomb Kitchen: This is the one thing we've been able to keep up really well. The kitchen is a major trigger area for me, so this surprises absolutely no one. Lost points for not getting the produce bags washed, but bonus points for laying on the floor scrubbing footboards and cabinets the week before. A+!
Pick Up Dining Room: Nope, fail, nada. Hasn't happened properly once since we implemented these chores three weeks ago. F
Trash & Recycling out to curb on trash day: We've been drastically reducing our trash output so that we could easily go to every-other week pickup. Or longer. Recycling would be great as every week. Mr. Moon hasn't been saving the newspapers I wanted saved for weed block, but I'll give him a pass on that one this time since I just reminded him again. A+!
Daily Dishes: We've been doing pretty well at this, but I think we could do better. What we really need is to get in the habit of getting the dishwasher emptied right away in the morning, so the daily dishes can get into it throughout the day--so they don't pile up at night and Mr. Moon has a chance to wash big dishes too instead of leaving them to sit. B+
In light of that B+, I'm doing a little personal contest to take pictures of our kitchen at the end of every day for a week. I'll post them next Monday to show you how we did. I know there are clearly areas which need more attention, but I feel like I'd rather get better at the things that only need a little improvement like daily dishes and the bathrooms so that THOSE things can take the minimum amount of time and then we can focus that extra energy to the bigger improvements. Of course through all this, we're still trying to get the garage set up into a lounge area, which is quickly becoming a priority. We need some more personal space.
---------------------
Want to join the kitchen project? Just take a picture of your kitchen every day right before bedtime. Post it here if you want, or to your own blog/Facebook/Twitter, or just keep it for yourself. Don't feel like cleaning anymore? Don't! Don't feel like letting that picture be your end of the day, so you decide to pick up a bit before you take it? Go for it! Maybe that will be what gets you in the habit of doing one last pick-up before bed every night. Whatever it takes, right?
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