There is no easy way to say it. Tevye and I are hopelessly mismatched. He is Born Organised. I am a Sidetracked Home Executive ... or just plain sidetracked. In the early, more affluent years of our marriage harmony was maintained by employing a cleaner, who prevented the gulf between Tevye's ability to keep a house clean and tidy and my corrresponding inability becoming too glaringly obvious. Since children squeezed the cleaner out of our budget we have muddled through, maintaining a precarious balance of working hours (I used to work part time) and housework between us. Over the past couple of years of crisis mode Tevye ended up taking on more than his fair share of domestic duties. Now we are back on an even keel I have a whole raft of bad habits to break. The time has come ... I need to get Organised.
When I feel the need to kickstart myself out of Hopeless Housewife Syndrome, I turn to FlyLady. Her routines, control journals and reminders about the most basic of daily duties work for me - or at least they do if I'm feeling sufficiently motivated. Without lists and routines I get nowhere. Either I don't notice what needs to be done, or I get so overwhelmed that I don't know where to start. I now have a nice list of daily and weekly routines up in the kitchen, along with my Mother's Rule of Life Schedules. Tevye thinks them very funny. Surely I can't forget things like "change and dress Little Cherub" and "shower and dress"? Don't bet on it! I do get there eventually, but I'm ashamed to say there are days when I suddenly realise mid-morning that I have forgotten to do one or the other.
Now I need to work out a foolproof system for remembering to press Start buttons. If I had a pound for each time I have loaded the washer or dishwasher and then forgotten to press the vital button ...
Monday, June 11, 2007
Confessions of a Hopeless Housewife
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
Oh, Kathryn! I knew you were a kindred spirit! I do the same exact thing with start buttons. I load the dishwasher then forget to put it on. I load the clotheswasher then forget to put it on, and the dryer, same story. It always makes me feel so hopeless. I have so many good intentions and yet even the most basic things, that I am sure 99% of the population never even thinks to notice, I have to struggle with over and over again to overcome. Sigh.
Do you habitually put the wrong clothes in the wrong drawers too?
I have some very detailed lists myself ... please tell Tevye not to chuckle at those of us who are domestically impaired. ;-)
Will you have to walk the children to school in September? That might galvanise you into action each day!{g}
I did the SHE index card system for years. It was the only thing that held our home together, until the kids were able to take on parts of the rota. (They save me now!)
Dorothy
Mercifully no - there is a "walk to school" culture here, so they will walk themselves. A mile each way, morning and afternoon, would be more exercise than I want (maybe not more than I need {grin}). I will have to get up, get breakfast and shoo them out the door, so that should get me into gear for the day.
Post a Comment