Thursday morning I was awakened by Ward with a sweet kiss and a "is the coffee made honey?" Hm? What? Coffee? Oh crap! I forgot to fix the coffee before bed last night! I fall out of bed and half hop into my fleece pajama pants as I stumble out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen to fix the coffee. I think to myself, "Man this kitchen is a wreck- I should clean today" I pick up a glass and then set it back down. Nope. Too tired. I need more sleep. My body is screaming for me to get back to bed. So I stumble back upstairs trying to rub the sleep from my eyes. Back in the bedroom Ward is getting dressed and says "I'm out of deodorant! Here's too hoping I make it through the day today. And do you know if I have anymore black socks?" "Crap!" I think to myself, I forgot to pick some up earlier this week when he mentioned it before. "Black socks? Have you checked the hamper of clean laundry?" I walk over to his side of the room. "OH MY Goodness! Well of course you have no black socks! There is a MOUNTAIN of laundry over here!"
So that was my morning wake up call on Day 1. In the subsequent guilt induced cleaning frenzy that occurred in the hours following that wake up call the June Cleaver Project was born. Inspired by my new project I decided to shower and dress and run to the CVS to pick up some deodorant for Ward before he came home for lunch at 11. So off I went, getting ready in a frenzy, getting the babies up and fed and dressed so that we could run our quick errand. By the time Ward came home for lunch, I had lunch ready and waiting for him and the babies were ready to go down for their midday naps. We had a wonderful lunch and he seemed to be in a really good mood. When he sat down to the table he said "you've been busy! The house looks great! I love the vacuum lines on the carpet. Vacuum lines make me happy." haha. Wow.. Really? It was that easy? hm.. interesting. He complimented me on how nice I looked and then we had some nice quiet one on one time. He didn't even rush back to work after he ate like he usually does. So that was a nice motivator. The rest of the day I spent folding and putting away laundry, picking up around the house and dealing with the kiddos. Around 4:00 I got a text message from him asking if I would like to spread out a blanket and eat dinner in front of the tv while we watch a good movie. This is my second wow moment. A date night activity on a Thursday? Why did I not do this before!? I was off the hook for cooking dinner (we picked up some Mickey D's) AND a fun date night in! The rest of the night was pretty much routine, he helped me bathe the babies and we put them to bed. Then we watched another movie on the floor together WITH popcorn. Not a bad reward for some cleaning and dressing up!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Nice to meet you I'm June!
Hi! It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm June. Well, not really- but that's what I'm going to go by for the next 30 days. Let me take the next few minutes to introduce myself. I am 29, very happily married to a wonderful man (whom we'll refer to as Ward*) and we have 3 beautiful girls (Betsy-7, Bailey-20 months, and Belle-8 months). I quit the workforce last year to become a stay at home mom and housewife. I absolutely love that I'm able to be home with the children and am able to focus on them but I've gotta say- I AM BORED. My days are consumed with potty training, diaper changing, laundry, cooking and cleaning and it seems endless. The house gets cleaned when the kids are down but as soon as they wake up it looks like a hurricane ran through it. Its a vicious endless, thankless cycle. So I've been in a bit of a rut.
To brighten my spirits, I've been watching lots of romantic comedies. And I ran across one called the Ugly Truth (with Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl). In the movie it brings up what guys want .. what they really want. T&A basically. Someone who doesn't try to control things, someone who doesn't criticize, the librarian and the stripper all in one. While I do get that its a very male chauvinistic view of things I think there's truth in it.. A lot actually. That in conjunction of my mother constantly telling me, "dress and look nice when Ward* comes home!" "always have food going in the kitchen" "keep the house picked up so its neat when he gets home.." I'm serious. She preaches this to me EVERY time she comes. But I love when she visits because she forces me to dress up and put on makeup and get "girly". Hopefully if any moms are reading this, they know what I mean. So the other morning I was thinking.. IS there any truth to what my mom's been telling me all these times? Is that what men really want? A June Cleaver type wife who cooks, cleans, and doesn't greet her husband at the door in pajama bottoms and a nursing tank but in a dress, apron and pearls? Or is it just what women THINK men want? Is it the way to create a happier home? Does it still apply in today's society? All these tidbits of advice had to start somewhere right? So this is my new project. For the next 30 days I will be chronicling my "transformation" into being June. Then at the end of the 30 days we'll see if I actually learned anything or if anything ever really comes of it.
Before we start, I think it would be wise to list what I do now so you at least get a starting place of how I do things now.. NOT as June. So here we go:
- I let dishes pile up in the sink until the morning. And sometimes I don't get to them until the next afternoon.
- There is almost always something on the playroom floor 95% of the time. I pick up maybe 3 times a week.
- I sweep the kitchen floor 4 times a week and mop only when I can't remember the last time I did or if there's something sticky.
- I sweep the stairs and floor of the den every week or week and a half
- I don't iron, I despise ironing with a passion.
- I vacuum once every week or week and a half
- I clean the bathroom once every month. I despise this chore too.
- I like things to be neat and orderly but usually am too busy to put things away immediately and when I'm not busy, I'm too tired and lazy to do it.
- I am usually in pajamas most of the day. My hair is usually combed straight or put up in a pony tail and I only put on makeup when I leave the house.
- I spend most of my time occupied with the babies and I need to spend more one on one time with Betsy. I feel as if we're growing apart and I don't like that at all.
- Oh, and one more thing. I'm loud. I'm loud by nature and I tend to yell - I've grown up around loud people and the only way to be heard when you're surrounded by loud people is to BE Loud. This trait in particular I'm going to have to change and honestly have wanted to change for quite some time now. I don't think I've EVER seen June Cleaver raise her voice so this one will be a challenge for sure.
So that's me in a nutshell.
Here is what I'm planning on doing as June:
- I will start my day by taking a shower and getting fully dressed and ready (as if I'm ready to go out on a date)
- I will have all rooms of the house neat and tidy throughout the day (All floors will be clear and everything will be put in its proper place.)
- All beds in the house will be made daily
- All floors will be vacuumed daily
- Floors that need to be mopped will be mopped daily (kitchen, bathrooms, den)
- Laundry that needs to be ironed will be ironed the day it is washed
- I will ensure that all cleaning chores are done before my husband comes home
- I will make sure that I have his lunch and supper prepared before he comes home
- I will not raise my voice. I will maintain a calm tone at all times
- I will spend more quality time with all of my children
- I will restrain my control freak side of nature
- I will not criticize and will not complain to my husband
To brighten my spirits, I've been watching lots of romantic comedies. And I ran across one called the Ugly Truth (with Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl). In the movie it brings up what guys want .. what they really want. T&A basically. Someone who doesn't try to control things, someone who doesn't criticize, the librarian and the stripper all in one. While I do get that its a very male chauvinistic view of things I think there's truth in it.. A lot actually. That in conjunction of my mother constantly telling me, "dress and look nice when Ward* comes home!" "always have food going in the kitchen" "keep the house picked up so its neat when he gets home.." I'm serious. She preaches this to me EVERY time she comes. But I love when she visits because she forces me to dress up and put on makeup and get "girly". Hopefully if any moms are reading this, they know what I mean. So the other morning I was thinking.. IS there any truth to what my mom's been telling me all these times? Is that what men really want? A June Cleaver type wife who cooks, cleans, and doesn't greet her husband at the door in pajama bottoms and a nursing tank but in a dress, apron and pearls? Or is it just what women THINK men want? Is it the way to create a happier home? Does it still apply in today's society? All these tidbits of advice had to start somewhere right? So this is my new project. For the next 30 days I will be chronicling my "transformation" into being June. Then at the end of the 30 days we'll see if I actually learned anything or if anything ever really comes of it.
Before we start, I think it would be wise to list what I do now so you at least get a starting place of how I do things now.. NOT as June. So here we go:
- I let dishes pile up in the sink until the morning. And sometimes I don't get to them until the next afternoon.
- There is almost always something on the playroom floor 95% of the time. I pick up maybe 3 times a week.
- I sweep the kitchen floor 4 times a week and mop only when I can't remember the last time I did or if there's something sticky.
- I sweep the stairs and floor of the den every week or week and a half
- I don't iron, I despise ironing with a passion.
- I vacuum once every week or week and a half
- I clean the bathroom once every month. I despise this chore too.
- I like things to be neat and orderly but usually am too busy to put things away immediately and when I'm not busy, I'm too tired and lazy to do it.
- I am usually in pajamas most of the day. My hair is usually combed straight or put up in a pony tail and I only put on makeup when I leave the house.
- I spend most of my time occupied with the babies and I need to spend more one on one time with Betsy. I feel as if we're growing apart and I don't like that at all.
- Oh, and one more thing. I'm loud. I'm loud by nature and I tend to yell - I've grown up around loud people and the only way to be heard when you're surrounded by loud people is to BE Loud. This trait in particular I'm going to have to change and honestly have wanted to change for quite some time now. I don't think I've EVER seen June Cleaver raise her voice so this one will be a challenge for sure.
So that's me in a nutshell.
Here is what I'm planning on doing as June:
- I will start my day by taking a shower and getting fully dressed and ready (as if I'm ready to go out on a date)
- I will have all rooms of the house neat and tidy throughout the day (All floors will be clear and everything will be put in its proper place.)
- All beds in the house will be made daily
- All floors will be vacuumed daily
- Floors that need to be mopped will be mopped daily (kitchen, bathrooms, den)
- Laundry that needs to be ironed will be ironed the day it is washed
- I will ensure that all cleaning chores are done before my husband comes home
- I will make sure that I have his lunch and supper prepared before he comes home
- I will not raise my voice. I will maintain a calm tone at all times
- I will spend more quality time with all of my children
- I will restrain my control freak side of nature
- I will not criticize and will not complain to my husband
Now for those of you who know me personally - you know this is going to be a challenge.
I'm loud by nature and am not one to hold my tongue.
That and the fact that I'm absolutely HORRIBLE at keeping secrets from Ward*.
But I don't think it'll really work if he knows - so I'm asking you-
PLEASE don't say anything to him about it! Not until the 30 days are up! :)
OK! I think that's it! Here we go!
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