December 19, 2006

Why common tricks?

Go to any "housewife" blog, and at some point they will describe themselves cleaning the house or describe the method they use to clean the house. Countless women (and men) everywhere have that amazing ability to tame the tumultuous kitchen or calm a calamitous bedroom, but like most tricks there's a knack to it. Some women have to open their housekeeping binder to a certain page and pore over it for 10.8 seconds in order to tackle the bathroom floor. Others develop a magic sequence that allows themselves to dash through three stories like water running downhill. It's an immensely common trick, but it's a trick nonetheless. As I write this blog I'm trying to discover and develop my own "knack." Instead of trying to "force" myself to do everything I need to do, I'm looking for the satisfaction of weeding out the closet and the inspiration to level mountains in the living room. It'll take a while. Right now I'm still at the stage of dropping my balls after half a jug. Sometimes I make it to one. But I still spend a lot of my time chasing those dropped balls around. Speaking of which...I bet I could get this living room straight in about five minutes. Excuse me, I need to practice again.

1 comment:

Janel said...

Aahh yes, I remember those days Natalie! I got married the beginning of February and had our first son the end of November. I didn't like doing dishes either. pssst... listen close... I still don't almost 13 years later and I have a dishwasher now. How's that for bad?

You'll learn your tricks just like I learned mine. Keep your chin up! :) BTW, I don't have a housekeeping binder. All those sections and details would drive me crazy. How's that for worse?

What works for me? I have a sheet I put together in Excel that has my weekly to dos under the day. I use a highlighter to cross off what gets done. It's like my "gold star" for the day.

Keep cruising those blogs for ideas. Use what works and don't feel guilty about the rest!

Have a wonderful Christmas!