Summer 2011, Part Two--Puttering Around with the Lights Down Low

Life continues to amaze me.
Just when you think you have life figured out, something new comes your way to change your perspective.

I am an inherently busy person. To-do lists and projects fill my days.  Always too many things to do and not enough hours in the day.  Every day.

Summer taught me to putter.

• Straighten a room a little each time I'm in it.
• Only touch something once--not move it and put it away later.
• It's okay to not follow my scheduled trips to the store if it means I'm finishing up the kitchen or folding the laundry.
• Kids need to address their assigned chores more than once a day.  They don't think it's such a burden when they only have to put away 4-5 things instead of 20 before bed. 
• Don't expect my family to catch my vision immediately.  A little encouragement and a lot of consistency from me, and I'm beginning to see small changes in their behavior.

These may sound stupid, but it's changed my perspective on my housework and made a marked difference in its cleanliness.  Only took me 22 years of marriage to discover it.   I'm a slow learner.

And the second epiphany of the summer?  After dinner, dim the lights.  Use lamps and more subtle lighting--candle in the clean kitchen.  It calms my kiddos down and helps them recognize it's time to quiet down and settle down and get ready for bed.

These two small changes in my mothering have resulted in big changes with my family.

Thanks, Summer 2011.