Simplifying Life at Home

It is the stuff again, overflowing from every vantage point. There are mountains of work every where - dirty laundry, dishes to be washed, toys to put away, books to find a home for, it could go on and on. The kids, even my husband, have not been cleaning up after themselves, which means I end up dealing with their messes, and I can't get to the heavy load already on my plate. While I may feel like flipping out at my husband and pointing my finger at my children, it really all starts with me. Mom sets the mood and tone for the household. If I want self sufficient cleaner uppers I need to lead by example.

The problem is that trap I mentioned above. After all, how can you clean up or do your chores when the family is making dirty faster than clean. It is not possible, especially if you work outside the home or homeschool. No matter how hard one tidy person works, they cannot make up for four people who do not pick up after themselves. My friend once put her husbands dirty socks in his coffee maker to teach him a lesson, that was brilliant, but I wonder if it only worked for a while. Trust me, I have try all sort so ways - hard as nails, crying, bagging, threatening, and bribing. You can lower your standards, but eventually, if you lower them too much you have ran out of clean dishes, clean clothes and the floor is covered in "stuff."

We are about to start our homeschooling year tomorrow, and this issue of the "mess" and "stuff" was weighing heavily upon my spirit. For the past month I have been asking God for wisdom of how to solve this problem and to show me what we needed to change. Then the Lord used another family's similar struggle to answer my prayer.

It was a blog post on Building Cathedrals titled "Less is More." Basically, you take everything out you can and box it up, donate it or put in the trash. Everyone will find it much easy to pick up after themselves. Then, as you master that level, you can bring some things back up from the basement. Follow the link and read the whole post, it sounds extreme, but I think it will make your household much easier to run. It follows a very basic, biblical principle of stewardship (Parable of the Talents). Focus on one thing, master it and then and only then, move on while reviewing what you mastered. It is so simple, so basic, now we must need to do it.

The photo at the top is a big mess my son made while I was schooling my daughter, below is my repentant son after he cleaned it all up.

Extreme Couponing and the Stockpile Controversy

TLC aired a show tonight called Extreme Couponing. While I don't have cable and are not able to watch it, I thought I would post a reply to a blog post of one of the couponers, Joanie, one of the authors of Pick Another

Checkout Lane Honey. Click here

to read her post on stockpiling. What do you think of her stockpile? This is a photo of her stockpile. Oh, FYI the show had 4 couponers on, one of which had a forty year supply of toilet paper, which I reference below :-)

My Response: Your stockpile is beautiful. It is neat and tidy and very, very SMART! What all of us need to ask ourselves is : Am I being a good steward of what I have? That includes your time and the items in your stockpile :-) Sometime being frugal is the same thing as being a good steward and sometimes it is not. Donating is being a good steward, keeping a 40 year supply of toilet paper is not. Maybe there is a reason that I don't know, but I am thinking defiantly not.

Since you cover a great chapter on coupon ethics in your book, I would say you are certainly a good steward. Remember that people show anger for a variety of reason, usually nothing to do with you, but themselves. Women particularly have problems with the Martha Stewart Syndrome - hating other women that are good at something they never took the time to do themselves.

For myself, I have a stockpile, and I donate. It is fun to hear of how much it has helped people. A couple nights a week instead of watching TV, I like to cut coupons while I listen to an audio book or chat with my husband. I spend just a little more time shopping, than before couponing on a average week. My children actually argue and plea to help me put away items in our stockpile. They are much more aware of the cost of things. It also covers the loss of my part-time job and helps us save for our adoption! None of it would work without the stockpile!! So raise those garage doors honey, and show it off!!!