This post starts with an appology. I've been very busy lately, and I think I've been short with a lot of people in my life. It's even crept in here, but today I was busy and having a bad day, and I said something that hurt my daughter's feelings.
I am very sorry that I said it. It wasn't meant to be hurtful, it was a thoughtless comment. But it addressed something that she's sensitive about, and I should have known it was important to her.
I would never want to say anything that would upset her. She's such a great kid, and I'm really proud of her. Unfortunately, she's a lot like me, and she sets standards for herself that are way too high.
Goals are great, but she needs to remember that goals are things that you're trying to do, not things that you are already able to do. You can't beat yourself up for not accomplishing your goals instantly. If you do reach them immediately, they weren't the right goals.
I just wish that my daughter and every woman on the planet could see that not being able to do something today, is not the same as never being able to do it. And, that Can't really can't.
I can't take back what I said today, but I can try to help her to see that what I said was just stupid. Moms make mistakes too. And even if I don't like the way she does something, I love her and her enthusiasm.

I do want to post here every day. But, when my family needs me, that's where I need to be. And that's the thought I leave you with today: Your children will never be the age they are today again. There will be other grocery shopping days, there will be more laundry and dishes tomorrow. But, when your child needs to talk, they can't wait. You can hire someone to do the housework, but no one can replace "mommy".

Go hug your kids.

Don't mend your sails in a storm

A little more than 19 years ago, when hubby and I got home from our honeymoon, we eagerly watched the wedding video that a friend made. We were surprised to find interviews with some of our friends and family on it. The comments included advice from people of all ages and walks of life, but the only one I remember is this: "Never mend your sails in a storm".

Tonight something happened, and my initial reaction was to come here and say, "I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm not contented, I have no business telling you how to better yourself, I'm a mess myself." But, now that the storm is over, I realize that it is the ability to get through rough weather is what proves we're sea worthy.

I am not perfect, I do not do everything with my family as well as I would like to do it. My hubby gets sick and tired of me sometimes. But, he's always there for me. He is my best friend, no matter what. I love my family, and I'm trying to do my best.

If you want a magic fairy to tell you how to be the perfect wife, you won't find it here. If you want someone who knows how tough it is to deal with homeschooler's that you never get a break from, pets and science projects all over the house, and a hubby that just wants to spend time with you alone, I hope you hang around and leave me a comment now and then.

As you can see by the time of this post, I'm failing on my bed time goal too, so I will leave you until tomorrow.

Something is better than nothing.

My house is always the messiest it ever gets on Monday. Even before FlyLady, I always did a big cleaning day on Monday. But, now that things don’t get that bad, I can do what needs done without spending the whole day.
But, it’s easy to get discouraged and overwhelmed when the house gets really messy.
It’s then that you have to set the timer for 15 minutes and just do it. Today I thought we’d address the “I don’t have time” excuse. Do you have 15 minutes? I bet you do. Let’s see what I got done in 15 minutes.
Over the weekend, I got creative. Remember the mom’s design studio in Yours, Mine, and Ours? That’s what my house looks like when I’m in a designing mood. This is what my house looked like this morning:





I forgot to take a picture of the kitchen counter, which was just as full. It’s spread over two rooms, because I don’t have a proper table in the craft room (because it’s my formal living room). It’s ransacked to the degree that it is, because I couldn’t find my elastic box (still haven’t found it). – you know what? as I’m writing this I realize that I probably took it with me the last time I sewed at my mother’s house and left it there.-

Anyway, I took these pics and then set the timer for 15 minutes. I started in the kitchen. I sorted, threw away scraps, put it the half finished projects in labeled boxes to finish this week, and wiped down the table and counters in 15 minutes. My son woke up and started talking which did distract me a little, and I had to feed the cats to make them stop meowing, but I basically kept focused on the job at hand.

This is what it looked after 15 minutes:



The living room did take me a little longer, and I did do some less stressful jobs before I tackled it. But, I decided to declutter while I was putting away, so there was some sorting involved. Normally, picking up is just putting something where it goes, not deciding where it goes.
This is what it looked like after 30 minutes. Not done, but a lot better. If you only had half an hour, wouldn’t that be better than, “I don’t have time”?






I set one more 15 minute timer and got to this point. But, a friend stopped by when I was only 5 minutes into the timer, and I was very distracted, at this point I was just putting things where they went.

There are still Ebay items in this room and some packing materials for them. I really have to make some decisions over where they will be stored in the future. But, that’s not today, don’t get weighed down with doing everything perfectly. Something is better than nothing.





Have a great week, and start it out with a great Monday!