The Mess of Life

We can talk all day about the messes in our homes, can't we.  Sharing the stories behind those messes can even be  quite entertaining.  But what about the mess of life?  When life gets so busy, you can't tell which end is up?  When life gets so busy you lose focus on your priorities?  When life gets so busy your child looks at you and says, "You're going to be gone AGAIN?!"  What about those messes?  How do you start to control them?

I'm going to refer you back to this post where I reviewed a treasure I found at the library.  I believe, and this is my opinion of course, that the place to start cleaning up the mess of life is in your own dining room.  Or kitchen.  Schedule a time for the family to eat together.  Hubs and I decided to start our summer days as a family rather than as individuals.  When we start as individuals it looks something like this.  I'm up at 7 and eat whenever there is a chance.  Mouse would be up at 7:30/8:00 and likes to eat right away.  Hubs would get up whenever he needed to, anywhere between 7 and 8, and might eat or might not.  JoJo would get up at 8:30/9 and eat within a half an hour of getting up.  And Bud, well, he's a teenager so we might not see him til 10 or later.  Then he might grab some breakfast around 11 and then not eat lunch with us.  The day is messy before noon!  But when we start our day as a family, it goes like this.  Breakfast is served by 8:15.  Period.  Come to the table dressed or in your jammies.  But we are at the table, all 5 of us, by 8:15.  And, when we remember, Hubs leads us in a brief devotion.  It's wonderful!  It sets the tone for the day and starts us out loving one another. 

What about the rest of the day?  The week?  The month?  The year?  What about the other messes that sneak their way in to life?  I'll just tell you that it WILL happen.  There is no way to live a mess-proof life.  But getting your family into routines and traditions will help so much.  Giving the children something they can count on has always been beneficial.  Routine is important.  Well, it's the same for adults.  Knowing the family will eat together, say, every Friday night can become an exciting thing.  Knowing that there are special services at church every Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, is exciting, no?  Knowing that the tooth fairy leaves a little something under the pillow is exciting!  Knowing that the family will honor Memorial Day every year with a trip to the cemetery for a ceremony, then games and a picnic, can be exciting to look forward to! 

Routines and traditions counteract the mess of life.

I'm linking up to Messy Mommy Jobs on Weak and Loved.  Read more about the messes moms deal with.  And know that we are not alone on this exciting adventure called Motherhood!

GAS!

Oh, what I wouldn't give for it. 

In my stove that is.  I learned to cook on a gas stove and oven.  And in every home I've had since I moved out, I've been cursed with an electric.  I will let the world know,

 I hate electric stoves! 


There. I've said it.  **sigh**  I feel better.

Look at that glow...

I want a gas oven so badly.  It's so much easier to control the heat, and...well,...I just like them better!


So there!


I have been known to pick up the pot with one hand and fan the hot burner with a hot pad held in the other hand.  While blowing madly.  Yep, looks pretty ridiculous.  How else can you get the heat down to a simmer without scorching the bottom of the pot?!?


Although I did eventually learn the trick of getting the pot to boil on one burner, then moving it to another cooler burner for the simmer time.  Clever huh?  Oh it would be so much easier with a gas stove.


I hate electric stoves!


Even my camper has a gas stove top!  I'm so spoiled when we camp.  I'm in cooking heaven!  Ok, I exaggerate slightly.  It is tiny and cramped, but it does have 3 burners that use gas.  Propane.  Same principal. 

More Even Cooking.


My rant for the day has ended.

A Good Laugh

I was going to write about introverts, as I am very much one of them.  But JoJo sat down next to me as I was firing up my computer and we got to looking at my "Ponderings, Smiles & Giggles" board on pinterest.  (Hello, my name is Jenny and I'm a pinterest geek.)  He got the giggles so badly that I decided to post some and save introversion for another day.  I think that's the introvert in me - taking the attention off of myself and passing it on to someone else.  Ya think?

Anyway, here are JoJo's favorites.

"We ride!"

(he thinks this is hysterical!)

"Whaaaaat??"

(this one just produced a good giggle)

"Tickle him!"

(jamming his finger toward the ground, trying to sound tough through the laughter)

Hope you get to enjoy some laughter with your kiddos today.

A New View

Kind of a cool picture, isn't it?  Goggle "change of perspective" and you get all kinds of interesting photos.  I like this one too, although it kind of scares me.

I was having a conversation with a friend several years ago, about how much we dislike certain household chores.  For her, it was laundry.  For me, ironing.  She had come across the notion of simply changing the way we look at our chores, the way we view them.  For example, we may not have servants to help us as in the days of Jane Austen (ahhh...).  No maid, no cook, no maidservant.  But we do have washing machines and dryers, dishwashers, electric irons, even bread machines!  So as my friend dreaded having to do laundry for her family of 5 several times a week, she decided to change her perspective.  She decided to look on that washing machine and that dryer as her servants.  All she had to do was toss in the load and some soap, push a button, crank a knob and she was done!  The hard work of actually cleaning the clothes was left up to her servant.  Not a bad deal, huh?

Now as far as ironing goes, I think I have it tougher.  (Pity me, please?)  I still have to do the work of smoothing out that blasted shirt and ironing out those little curves and wrinkles...oh, how I dislike it.  BUT.  If I challenge myself to change my perspective, I begin to see that all I need to do is plug in my iron and set it to the desired temperature.  Thank God I don't have to mess with one that needed to be heated on the stove.  I'm sure I would have burned a hole in each one of Hubby's shirts.  Oh can you imagine the mess?  And the attentiveness it required!  Nope, not for me.  After thinking on this, I look a little more lovingly on my electric iron.  Not much, but a little. 

And then there is the simple fact of showing our family how important they are to us; how much we love them.  We can use our household servants to help us be better servants to our loved ones.  I like this quote by Mary Engelbreit:

"If you don't like something, change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."

A Few of My Favorite Things

A friend once shared with me a new way to view our household chores.  And I'll get to that, but first I thought I'd show you some of my favorite things when it comes to working at home.  These are some things I decided I just can't do without.  I'd be interested to hear what your favorite things are, too!

Hm.  The picture's not the best.  Oh well, we make do, right? 

Starting from the left is my food processor.  Oh how I love my food processor!  And for the longest time I thought one of these was an unnecessary waste of precious space.  Not anymore.  I have used it for soups and biscuit dough and shredding and chopping and I love it! 

Next is my new toy I got at Christmas, the immersion blender.  So cool.  Hubby uses it mostly for his smoothies.  But I've used it to quickly smoosh up beans or tomatoes in soups.  Such a useful tool.

Then there is my Swivel Sweeper.  Fell in love with friend Kassie's and had to get my own.  Ooo, this thing is fun.  Battery operated, easy to use, empty and clean, and even the boyos like to use it!  Does it do as good of a job as a broom?  Maybe not.  It can't get under every little thing or in every tight corner, but it does the job well enough for me.  It sucks up the mess. And it's quick.  And the boyos like to use it, did I mention that?

My french press!  (La-La-LAAA!!)  Oh don't ever take this away from me.  Or Hubby.  We love our french press coffee!  But you have to use Kenya AA beans.  The beans do make the difference.  And Kenya AA is our favorite.  Mmmm.

Then, of course, is the dishwasher and stove.  We've had to go a few days now and then without the dishwasher because of drain problems.  We made it through.  But I didn't like it.  I so much prefer loading the machine and having it do the work for me.  Same goes for the most blessed washing machine and dryer in my basement.  Oh the blessings of electricity and indoor plumbing!  Have to say, though, I'd like my stove better if it were gas...