Now that I’ve firmly planted the “Row row row your boat” song in your head (you’re welcome), I need to come clean. (Pun intended).

There is nothing like a clean house, admit it. Clean and Tidy just feels good. However, when you work as many hours a day as I do, have 2 kids with 2 different sets of paraphernalia, a husband (who doesn’t take up all that much room, but he’s gotta be responsible for SOME of this chaos!) a cat, and a dog with a double coat that is constantly shedding, this doesn’t always work out real well.

“But you’re a stay at home Mom, Jenn… aren’t you?” you might say.

Well, yes and no. Yes, I’m at home with/for my kids, and definitely I’m a Mom first. But I’m also that entrepreneur I mentioned in an earlier post, and that means sitting here in this chair (thankfully it’s a comfy one) for many, many hours almost every day, or, I’m working and THEN off to scheduled meetings (scheduled around my youngest daughter’s JK routine) OR working and running errands, etc. So while I’m home, I just don’t have the time to do everything that needs to be done. Sometimes I don’t even think about dinner until someone asks what we’re having. Usually at 5pm.

My house is “clean”, meaning my bathrooms aren’t going to cause anyone to cringe, and my kitchen is almost always safe to eat in ;) However, the house itself is a constant mess, and that drives me around the bend.

I think I’ll become a flybaby again, and start over.

Once upon a time I was following FlyLady’s methods, and it really worked for me. I highly recommend you check out her website and give it a try.

What needs to happen first is decluttering

Confession: I’m a recovering pack rat.

I still have a LOT that I never use, and probably forget that I have. I have to make some rules and then get busy:

• If I haven’t used it in a year, I don’t need it, and it can go.
• If I don’t really like it, it’s gone.
• If it doesn’t fit, is uncomfortable, out of style or looks awful, it goes!
• If I have more of something than I need, and will never use, someone else can have it!

Where we live is not conducive to a garagesale (can you believe that? And ME being the Garagesale Guru!) because we don’t get enough traffic. So as I want to get rid of things that are still good, I offer them up on FreeCycle.

FreeCycle is awesome. Not only can you pick and choose who gets your items, but you can sometimes find things that you need or want without putting out a penny. Unwanted items being passed along, and NOT sent to landfill. Now THAT is Living Green. I also find great satisfaction in providing a needy family or person with something they can really use. I always choose someone who “needs” it over someone who just “wants” it. The only drawback to Freecycle is that you have to join Yahoo to opt into a Freecycle in your area. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning. The best part is that the recipients of your generosity come and pick the items up, and you can leave them on your doorstep for them.

What happens next is organizing

Not my forte. Oh, I have moments where my desktop gleams and my files, disks, hardware, monitors, etc. are in the perfect spot, and my whiteboard is neat and up to date… and the next day you’d never know it was so tidy. My kitchen has more of those moments than the office, but still the island tends to get things piled up on it, the counters attract appliances that don’t get put away immediately, people leave their breakfast and lunch dishes on the counter because the dishwasher is full of clean dishes, and so on and so forth. Annoying. This must end!!

What happens last is a thorough cleaning!

Top to bottom! Scrub! Dust! Vacuum!

…tomorrow, because I’m too busy just now.