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Getting My House in Order |
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[Editorial published 6/12/08]
Hi Everybody,
In last week's editorial I wrote about my top priority this summer of being a better role model for my kids - including being more organized and having an orderly home. Well, IT HAPPENED! I was so tired I crashed on the couch Friday evening and actually got enough sleep to be motivated to clean the house Saturday: the toys, kitchen and lots of laundry. My house has been "in order" for 5 days in a row - this is a big achievement for me. Here's what I've figured out so far:
1. Before engaging the kids with new rules or mini-lectures, start from a clean state so the job of maintaining order doesn't seem daunting.
2. Push the idea that a clean home makes everyone happier. Show your joy when the kids have helped straighten up. During your bedtime ritual or just chatting in the car, remind your kids how happy you are because they've helped keep the house in order.
3. In addition to being responsible for their toys, give simple jobs to the kids so that they are responsible for helping keep general order too. My 2.5 year-old daughter is in charge of keeping books and shoes in order. My 5 year-old son has small jobs such as putting away eating utensils and his own socks.
4. VERY IMPORTANT: Remind the kids with words and by your own example, to clean up before beginning something new or moving to another room to play. Go ask them to straighten up before having a meal, before moving to another room to play, before taking out a different set of toys, and before leaving the house. Use easy words like "please take a minute to put a few things away" or "I'm going to just take a minute to straighten up".
5. Include "keeping things orderly" on your verbal list of good traits. Many times each day I used to remind them not to make a mess, now I spend the same energy praising them for keeping things in order, and keeping their shirts + eating area clean.
6. Make sure there is a place for everything and the kids know (and can reach) it. Furthermore, if you have a sorting system that is too complicated, loosen up and make it simpler. If you have too much stuff, downsize! (An upcoming editorial will have some helpful ideas on this topic.)
7. Engage in silliness to help the cleaning process along. Use your magic wand/words to turn everyone into vacuum cleaners, robots, etc.
Enemies to your success:
a. rushing out the door
b. being tired (I believe this applies to parents even more than kids)
c. letting clean laundry, dirty dishes, or toy messes pile up for even an hour
d. paper (when I have more success dealing with papers, I'll let you know)
If any member of the family falls off the bandwagon, be pro-active to help the family stay on course.
While it may seem a bit silly that I'm rejoicing over [just] 5 days with an orderly home, this is a new record for me and I feel that a switch has been thrown in my head. It may all be a matter of perspective. Every time I get the dishes done fast, walk into a clean room, or put away a load of laundry that is still warm, it feels like the right thing to do and I mentally pat myself on the back. I'm trying to addict myself to these feelings of success. I truly believe that setting this example and keeping our home in order will help my kids avoid a life of procrastination and disorder. This alone is reason enough to stay onboard.
Father's Day
This Father's Day I'm going to give my husband what he's wanted for a very long time. Me. One of the main attractors in our relationship was that we have the skills and creativity to accomplish "great things" together (we fell in love while leading an underground initiative that showed our company's executives in a couple weeks what larger teams had tried to accomplish for many months.) For the first five years of our marriage, my husband suggested amazing projects and big ideas. At the time there were 2 obstacles: I was wrapped up in a charitable project that I had launched in 1992 and was keeping alive even though it was not self-sustaining and was no longer fun for me. Secondly, and more importantly, I was consumed by "fear-based decision making". I could shoot down a cool idea in 30 seconds flat. Instead of finding what was great in his ideas, I would find a slew of reasons why we shouldn't pursue them.
This continued until last summer when I met a fearless woman with a big idea who was committing herself 100% to seeing it thru and launch a nationwide business. Although she and I have a very different set of skills, it was like a lightning bolt to my soul that if she could move forward with such a big idea, then what was holding me back?
Unfortunately for my husband, I lost my fear at the same time I discovered my passion for spreading ideas and telling people about events. I started with a simple email last July to some friends and acquaintances, today I re-read my early notes and learned I was only covering 5-10 ideas every couple weeks. In cranking up GreatIdeasForKids.com last Fall, I found resources and learned tools for producing an excellent newsletter with coverage of 30 events and ideas per week on average. To produce the weekly newsletter at this level, I either take significant time away from my children or my husband. Furthermore, the production of GreatIdeasForKids.com is 95% mine, not a project we share. With the inspirational achievement of keeping our house in order, I know it's now time to turn over a new leaf with the newsletter and website.
Business Update
This month, there's going to be a number of changes to GreatIdeasForKids.com as I focus on the elements that I enjoy the most, and put my business goals on the backburner. You may notice the following:
1. the local event list will be more focused on the top picks
2. there will be more articles, editorial commentaries, and GreatIdeas Guides
3. I'll be using a tool that sends out digests mentioning updated articles (including event listings) as opposed to the current newsletter template that has to be painstakingly formatted each week. Likewise, new information will be appearing on different days, and I'll reduce my big midweek effort.
4. As early as next week, I may drop a line asking you to subscribe again (since I'll be eliminating the current newsletter tool and the new software will probably have more mailing preferences for you to select.)
It's been a wonderful journey so far -- I really appreciate those of you who've dropped a line of encouragement in email or in person. As we all know, kids grow up in the blink of an eye. My goal is to reduce my GreatIdeasForKids.com commitment this summer to just 3-5 hours per week and have more energy for local adventures and creative endeavors with my husband and kids. So stay tuned, there's more fun coming, thank you for your continued support.
I hope your week is filled with laughter,
Jill
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 16 July 2008 )
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