I haven't read the chapter for today yet, but I did part of my challenge.
Amber did much better about going down for her nap today! Yay! I was, however, much more productive yesterday when she fought it for two hours & then napped for an hour! :P
I got my shower. I photographed four more records. I got 8 done yesterday. I wasn't able to find homes for my few items left from yesterday before Amber woke up.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Day 6/7 Update #2
Well, Amber seemed pretty tired around 1:00... so, shortly thereafter, we headed upstairs & got her ready. It's now 3:00 & she's yet to sleep.
She's discovered that she can get out of her bed & open her door, so she's been running all over. I feel exhausted & my throat's getting sore from yelling "back in bed!" and "lay down!" at her.
In the mean time, I did manage to photograph some more records, though that task is proving MUCH bigger than I thought... and tedious.
These are the records I've gotten photographed in the last few days.
And this is what I still have to do...
So, After a while, I took a break from that & did my Day 7 challenge step.
Thankfully, I actually did what I set out to do in that step all in one go & much of what I set aside for step 8 as well! :) So, that makes me feel better & a little more on track.
I had a box of random stuff that I needed to sort through & put away elsewhere or get rid of. My goal for today, Day 7, was to sort through the box & then my goal for tomorrow was to find homes for everything in the box. I found many homes for things as I sorted, so there are just a few more things in there that need homes yet. I have ideas for them, but they mostly require getting the office & some other areas cleaned up. I guess the office may have to move up on my list of projects to tackle next.
I'm going to do my best, however, to balance these projects that are "chores" with ones that I find fun... like crafts & home decorating. :)
The Day 7 chapter in the book starts with "We've all heard the phrase, 'Can't never could do anything.'"
Um, sorry, never heard that before... but I get it.
I mis-stated in my earlier post that it was partially about avoiding negativity... I guess I had read a teensy bit ahead. ;)
Crystal goes on to tell us to remove "I can't" and "try" from our vocabularies (at least in regards to this process)... I have heard the phrase "Do or do not. There is no try." Thank you Yoda!
So, that's the goal here. Take up the Nike slogan & "Just do it!" Gah...
Ha! Next part of the book says to watch this video... called, yup, "Just Do It." Nothing to do with Nike, though. Some guy named Art Williams giving a speech back in the '80s.
Crystal suggests we watch that clip every morning for motivation.
Sorry Crystal, I can't handle that much of that accent! That's why I can't stand country music... all twangy.
No offense to you fans & southerners... just my own personal aesthetic. I'm used to the Midwestern non-accent. ;)
3:27 & kiddo's FINALLY sleeping! Woot! I'm taking a break that I feel I actually deserve! ;)
She's discovered that she can get out of her bed & open her door, so she's been running all over. I feel exhausted & my throat's getting sore from yelling "back in bed!" and "lay down!" at her.
In the mean time, I did manage to photograph some more records, though that task is proving MUCH bigger than I thought... and tedious.
So, After a while, I took a break from that & did my Day 7 challenge step.
Thankfully, I actually did what I set out to do in that step all in one go & much of what I set aside for step 8 as well! :) So, that makes me feel better & a little more on track.
I had a box of random stuff that I needed to sort through & put away elsewhere or get rid of. My goal for today, Day 7, was to sort through the box & then my goal for tomorrow was to find homes for everything in the box. I found many homes for things as I sorted, so there are just a few more things in there that need homes yet. I have ideas for them, but they mostly require getting the office & some other areas cleaned up. I guess the office may have to move up on my list of projects to tackle next.
I'm going to do my best, however, to balance these projects that are "chores" with ones that I find fun... like crafts & home decorating. :)
The Day 7 chapter in the book starts with "We've all heard the phrase, 'Can't never could do anything.'"
Um, sorry, never heard that before... but I get it.
I mis-stated in my earlier post that it was partially about avoiding negativity... I guess I had read a teensy bit ahead. ;)
Crystal goes on to tell us to remove "I can't" and "try" from our vocabularies (at least in regards to this process)... I have heard the phrase "Do or do not. There is no try." Thank you Yoda!
So, that's the goal here. Take up the Nike slogan & "Just do it!" Gah...
Ha! Next part of the book says to watch this video... called, yup, "Just Do It." Nothing to do with Nike, though. Some guy named Art Williams giving a speech back in the '80s.
Crystal suggests we watch that clip every morning for motivation.
Sorry Crystal, I can't handle that much of that accent! That's why I can't stand country music... all twangy.
No offense to you fans & southerners... just my own personal aesthetic. I'm used to the Midwestern non-accent. ;)
3:27 & kiddo's FINALLY sleeping! Woot! I'm taking a break that I feel I actually deserve! ;)
Day 6/7 update
Hard to believe I started out ahead in this challenge!
Well, Day Six is all about avoiding negativity & being realistic with your goals. Crystal asks if they're SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Rewarding & Time Specific.
Specific? Yes, I wrote down specifically what I wanted to accomplish.
Measurable? Yes, either I'll accomplish my goal & the basement hall will become a kids' arts & crafts room or it will continue to be a storage area.
Attainable? Yes, I have to remind myself of this, but it really shouldn't be that hard to accomplish!
Rewarding Yes, my hubby will be so much happier once this area is uncluttered since he walks through it at least once daily & Amber (& I) will love having her own space to do her art projects. It will be totally awesome when it's tiled & I won't have to worry about her messes so much either!
Time Specific? Yes, since it's part of the 21 days project, I've given myself,... well, 23 days since I actually began.
So, I updated a little below, but we were talking about re-assessing the goal and the steps along the way to make sure it's reasonable. I did look through my steps & remembered/discovered that my past self knew my present self pretty well & what was my day 9 assignment for myself? -"Catch-up Day!"
Yup, and the day after that? - "Misc. Clean-Up."
I knew. So, at least in a few days I'll officially be back on track if I stick with it until then.
My one fear is that my Day 6 step is taking much longer than I'd anticipated.
I have a whole container full of my dad's old vinyl records. Ages ago we bought a USB plug-in record player to convert these to digital files. It didn't work quite the way we'd hoped & it's a long & tedious process, so we've set it aside & the crate full of records have sat, untouched, for ages.
I am hesitant to just get rid of them for so many reasons, but there are only about two or three I can think of off-hand that I might actually bother listening to. One or two of those are because they're by a friend of ours & I don't know if he ever produced tapes or CDs. I've actually recently gotten back in contact w/him via facebook, so I guess I could ask, but I still don't plan to part with those. I think that's reasonable, but I still have the whole rest of this crate to deal with. I think about a third of it is Neil Diamond.
I know there's not likely to be any worth any particular amount of money. Dad's parents were among those who got rid of his Beatles albums, so there isn't much cool in there that would be rare now.
My concession to the hoarder in me is to photograph all the albums & their covers. That way I'll still sort-of have the art & be able to reference what we had.
That was my Day 6 assignment. I started on it yesterday, but due to difficulties with lighting & a late start, I only got through three records & their covers... in 49 pictures!
Unfortunately, Day 7's step is another one I expect to be time-consuming. Good thing I have those built-in catch-up days & such! My other contingency plan is to only make my goal for this 21(23) days the hall instead of the hall AND furnace room. That cuts almost a week off of my original plan. :)
So, I'm proud of myself for sticking with my "life hack" and getting all the laundry I did yesterday folded & put away... yesterday! :D
On the other hand, I haven't made much effort towards picking up the toys.
I didn't list it, but a couple other goals I've had are to do a better job with providing lunches at home for Amber & myself & do a better job cleaning up afterwards & not leaving the mess for Paul when he gets home.
I did make some progress on this yesterday & today. Yesterday I made actual grilled cheese sandwiches for us. I didn't "cheat" by making toasted cheese. ;)
Today, I took her leftover chicken from eating out last night & mixed it with some leftover pasta Paul made & added pesto & cheese. Just wish we'd had some veggies to mix in. Oh well, at the restaurant last night, about all she ate was her broccoli, which is why there wasn't much leftover for today. ;) Then we had grapes. She had part of an apple with breakfast, too. Getting her to eat fruits & veggies is the easy part, it's getting her to eat grains & proteins that I have to work at! So, I was glad today when I went to clean her up & only threw out one bite of chicken. :)
I can't wait for nap time so I can try to take this momentum & get some more work done!
Well, Day Six is all about avoiding negativity & being realistic with your goals. Crystal asks if they're SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Rewarding & Time Specific.
Specific? Yes, I wrote down specifically what I wanted to accomplish.
Measurable? Yes, either I'll accomplish my goal & the basement hall will become a kids' arts & crafts room or it will continue to be a storage area.
Attainable? Yes, I have to remind myself of this, but it really shouldn't be that hard to accomplish!
Rewarding Yes, my hubby will be so much happier once this area is uncluttered since he walks through it at least once daily & Amber (& I) will love having her own space to do her art projects. It will be totally awesome when it's tiled & I won't have to worry about her messes so much either!
Time Specific? Yes, since it's part of the 21 days project, I've given myself,... well, 23 days since I actually began.
So, I updated a little below, but we were talking about re-assessing the goal and the steps along the way to make sure it's reasonable. I did look through my steps & remembered/discovered that my past self knew my present self pretty well & what was my day 9 assignment for myself? -"Catch-up Day!"
Yup, and the day after that? - "Misc. Clean-Up."
I knew. So, at least in a few days I'll officially be back on track if I stick with it until then.
My one fear is that my Day 6 step is taking much longer than I'd anticipated.
I have a whole container full of my dad's old vinyl records. Ages ago we bought a USB plug-in record player to convert these to digital files. It didn't work quite the way we'd hoped & it's a long & tedious process, so we've set it aside & the crate full of records have sat, untouched, for ages.
I am hesitant to just get rid of them for so many reasons, but there are only about two or three I can think of off-hand that I might actually bother listening to. One or two of those are because they're by a friend of ours & I don't know if he ever produced tapes or CDs. I've actually recently gotten back in contact w/him via facebook, so I guess I could ask, but I still don't plan to part with those. I think that's reasonable, but I still have the whole rest of this crate to deal with. I think about a third of it is Neil Diamond.
I know there's not likely to be any worth any particular amount of money. Dad's parents were among those who got rid of his Beatles albums, so there isn't much cool in there that would be rare now.
My concession to the hoarder in me is to photograph all the albums & their covers. That way I'll still sort-of have the art & be able to reference what we had.
That was my Day 6 assignment. I started on it yesterday, but due to difficulties with lighting & a late start, I only got through three records & their covers... in 49 pictures!
Unfortunately, Day 7's step is another one I expect to be time-consuming. Good thing I have those built-in catch-up days & such! My other contingency plan is to only make my goal for this 21(23) days the hall instead of the hall AND furnace room. That cuts almost a week off of my original plan. :)
So, I'm proud of myself for sticking with my "life hack" and getting all the laundry I did yesterday folded & put away... yesterday! :D
On the other hand, I haven't made much effort towards picking up the toys.
I didn't list it, but a couple other goals I've had are to do a better job with providing lunches at home for Amber & myself & do a better job cleaning up afterwards & not leaving the mess for Paul when he gets home.
I did make some progress on this yesterday & today. Yesterday I made actual grilled cheese sandwiches for us. I didn't "cheat" by making toasted cheese. ;)
Today, I took her leftover chicken from eating out last night & mixed it with some leftover pasta Paul made & added pesto & cheese. Just wish we'd had some veggies to mix in. Oh well, at the restaurant last night, about all she ate was her broccoli, which is why there wasn't much leftover for today. ;) Then we had grapes. She had part of an apple with breakfast, too. Getting her to eat fruits & veggies is the easy part, it's getting her to eat grains & proteins that I have to work at! So, I was glad today when I went to clean her up & only threw out one bite of chicken. :)
I can't wait for nap time so I can try to take this momentum & get some more work done!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Day 5/6 Update
So, I referenced an article in the previous post that Crystal wants us to read, so here's a link to Michael Hyatt's "5 Steps to Developing Discipline.
In the article, he talks about anticipating obstacles that might impede your reaching your goal & coming up with a plan to deal with & overcome those obstacles. Crystal assigns us to think about those & write down at least one foreseeable obstacle & two strategies to overcome it.
My number one obstacle is right here: the computer. I spend so much time parked in the same spot on the couch, checking my email, facebook & other sites obsessively. I know that's my biggest time suck. So, my strategies for dealing with it: setting a timer is one option, but I haven't really tried it yet. My other strategy I've used is to use the TV & Amber. In the morning, especially, the TV is usually on. So, I'm going to try & make a point to get up when the show changes. Most of the time that's every half-hour. The other cue I'm giving myself is if Amber asks me to get up or to get her something. I'll make a point of breaking away from the computer, even if I'm not consenting to what she wants.
I came up with these ideas last night, but I'm afraid I didn't really follow through that well this morning. I didn't completely fail, as I did manage to work on my to-do list & got out of the house.
Today I have worked on the laundry (see previous post), gotten dressed, made lunch, voted, done a little shopping & read the article above. Now that kiddo's napping, I've worked a bit more on the laundry, gotten a pic ready to hang, checked things online & updated this blog while, admittedly, getting distracted by the TV. Back to it.
In the article, he talks about anticipating obstacles that might impede your reaching your goal & coming up with a plan to deal with & overcome those obstacles. Crystal assigns us to think about those & write down at least one foreseeable obstacle & two strategies to overcome it.
My number one obstacle is right here: the computer. I spend so much time parked in the same spot on the couch, checking my email, facebook & other sites obsessively. I know that's my biggest time suck. So, my strategies for dealing with it: setting a timer is one option, but I haven't really tried it yet. My other strategy I've used is to use the TV & Amber. In the morning, especially, the TV is usually on. So, I'm going to try & make a point to get up when the show changes. Most of the time that's every half-hour. The other cue I'm giving myself is if Amber asks me to get up or to get her something. I'll make a point of breaking away from the computer, even if I'm not consenting to what she wants.
I came up with these ideas last night, but I'm afraid I didn't really follow through that well this morning. I didn't completely fail, as I did manage to work on my to-do list & got out of the house.
Today I have worked on the laundry (see previous post), gotten dressed, made lunch, voted, done a little shopping & read the article above. Now that kiddo's napping, I've worked a bit more on the laundry, gotten a pic ready to hang, checked things online & updated this blog while, admittedly, getting distracted by the TV. Back to it.
21 Days Update for days 4 & 5 & Jewelry-Making Update!
Pretty much fell off the bandwagon. Already.
Day 4 we were supposed to write an exhaustive list of habits we want to change. I didn't. I also haven't kept up with the one habit I'm supposed to be working on. The toys are everywhere again.
Monday/yesterday was babysitting. Both kiddos did fine for me, but I was super tired & low on patience. I think they may have had upset tummies based on little boy's diaper & Amber's accident... ugh. So, doing Amber's laundry is high on my priority list today.
On Sunday, on a total whim, I looked at FireMountain gems & beads & started picking out some things I was interested in. I wanted to get my daughter some real Amber to make a special necklace for when she's older. Then, I noticed a link for their 67cent sale! Tons of items for 67cents or less! I ended up finding a bunch of birthstone gem beads. I ended up going through & between what I already have & will be getting (because I did go ahead & place my order yesterday), I'll have real gemstone beads for all the birthstones except diamond (April), ruby (July) & sapphire (September) which I just couldn't afford. ;) Some of the others I used alternative stones that were more affordable as well. So, here's what I ended up with:
I'm excited to make birthstone gifts & products for sale!
But, back to the 21 Days challenge...
I still haven't done the day 2 assignment I gave myself (hang the pics that are ready to go up) but I tried talking to my hubby & the only one we know for sure where we want it, we can't get to the wall to hang it until he cleans up stuff in the office. The rest, I'm not sure where we want them. So, all that's left of that challenge is to clear up some space in storage to get hubby to lift the heavy bin & put it in storage.
I did my day 4 assignment ahead of time, so I'm good on that. My day 5 assignment I gave myself was to go through some CDs I have in the hall & figure out where to store them. I've been thinking about it & the only idea I have for where they should go is in the office... which is also a big mes s& there's not really anywhere to put them until we clear out some stuff in there. *sigh*
So, I added a step that wasn't in my original plan... which turns out to be what Day 5 was all about. Day 5 was all about what to do if you get off track. Crystal talked about the importance of not giving up or going overboard and just to let a little setback stay little & get right back on track. The extra Day 5 assignment was to re-assess the Mega Project plan & make a contingency plan for if/when you get off track.
Well, I'm already off-track. So, it's time to re-assess & re-vamp the plan. Since I found more stuff that I'd set aside for the garage sale, I decided to photograph some of it & list it on facebook for my friends to look over. I did get that done yesterday.
So, today it turns out that I have nothing scheduled today except to go vote at some point.
I actually prefer having more to do, structured time to work around. This has been my greatest struggle since becoming a stay-at-home mom: the complete lack of externally imposed structure. Without a work/school schedule to work around, I have nothing but "free" time that isn't really free. Now, the only structure I have to work with are meal & nap/sleep times, which keep changing as Amber gets older & are about to change even more as we add her little brother in to the mix! I do NOT know what I'm going to do except to try my best to go with the flow & figure things out as we go along.
So, my to-do list for today:
*Vote
*Laundry (Amber's: _Wash _Dry _Fold _Put Away Towels: _Wash _Dry _Fold _Put Away)
*Re-vamp my Mega Project plan & complete another step. [I didn't really need to re-vamp it. I looked back through it & remembered that I had built in catch-up days & similar!]
*Pick up the toys
*Read Michael Hyatt's "5 Steps to Developing Discipline" (Another assignment from the book)
AND, if I get through all that with time to spare, I'll read for Day 6 & try to get back on track!
Day 4 we were supposed to write an exhaustive list of habits we want to change. I didn't. I also haven't kept up with the one habit I'm supposed to be working on. The toys are everywhere again.
Monday/yesterday was babysitting. Both kiddos did fine for me, but I was super tired & low on patience. I think they may have had upset tummies based on little boy's diaper & Amber's accident... ugh. So, doing Amber's laundry is high on my priority list today.
On Sunday, on a total whim, I looked at FireMountain gems & beads & started picking out some things I was interested in. I wanted to get my daughter some real Amber to make a special necklace for when she's older. Then, I noticed a link for their 67cent sale! Tons of items for 67cents or less! I ended up finding a bunch of birthstone gem beads. I ended up going through & between what I already have & will be getting (because I did go ahead & place my order yesterday), I'll have real gemstone beads for all the birthstones except diamond (April), ruby (July) & sapphire (September) which I just couldn't afford. ;) Some of the others I used alternative stones that were more affordable as well. So, here's what I ended up with:
I'm excited to make birthstone gifts & products for sale!
But, back to the 21 Days challenge...
I still haven't done the day 2 assignment I gave myself (hang the pics that are ready to go up) but I tried talking to my hubby & the only one we know for sure where we want it, we can't get to the wall to hang it until he cleans up stuff in the office. The rest, I'm not sure where we want them. So, all that's left of that challenge is to clear up some space in storage to get hubby to lift the heavy bin & put it in storage.
I did my day 4 assignment ahead of time, so I'm good on that. My day 5 assignment I gave myself was to go through some CDs I have in the hall & figure out where to store them. I've been thinking about it & the only idea I have for where they should go is in the office... which is also a big mes s& there's not really anywhere to put them until we clear out some stuff in there. *sigh*
So, I added a step that wasn't in my original plan... which turns out to be what Day 5 was all about. Day 5 was all about what to do if you get off track. Crystal talked about the importance of not giving up or going overboard and just to let a little setback stay little & get right back on track. The extra Day 5 assignment was to re-assess the Mega Project plan & make a contingency plan for if/when you get off track.
Well, I'm already off-track. So, it's time to re-assess & re-vamp the plan. Since I found more stuff that I'd set aside for the garage sale, I decided to photograph some of it & list it on facebook for my friends to look over. I did get that done yesterday.
So, today it turns out that I have nothing scheduled today except to go vote at some point.
I actually prefer having more to do, structured time to work around. This has been my greatest struggle since becoming a stay-at-home mom: the complete lack of externally imposed structure. Without a work/school schedule to work around, I have nothing but "free" time that isn't really free. Now, the only structure I have to work with are meal & nap/sleep times, which keep changing as Amber gets older & are about to change even more as we add her little brother in to the mix! I do NOT know what I'm going to do except to try my best to go with the flow & figure things out as we go along.
So, my to-do list for today:
*
*
*
*Pick up the toys
*
AND, if I get through all that with time to spare, I'll read for Day 6 & try to get back on track!
Saturday, November 3, 2012
21 Days 2nd Update for Day 3
Well, nap time did prove to be difficult. No more so than some others, so I can't say if it's due to the bed change or not. She generally stayed in or right next to the bed, but fought sleep for hours. This was after willingly laying down nearly an hour earlier than usual.
During nap time I snacked and snacked. I read a whole section of my for fun book & picked up most of the toys. I didn't bother fishing everything out from under the furniture, but I got most of the rest. All the table surfaces are covered with both my & her things that really should be cleaned up, but I feel good about the progress I did make.
I'm hoping my friend calls me back & comes over or comes up with an idea for something to do. It's so quiet now, it's almost eerie & the sun's already setting. I'm feeling rather lonesome. I guess kiddo will wake up soon enough, but I'm really hoping to spend some time with my friend, too.
During nap time I snacked and snacked. I read a whole section of my for fun book & picked up most of the toys. I didn't bother fishing everything out from under the furniture, but I got most of the rest. All the table surfaces are covered with both my & her things that really should be cleaned up, but I feel good about the progress I did make.
I'm hoping my friend calls me back & comes over or comes up with an idea for something to do. It's so quiet now, it's almost eerie & the sun's already setting. I'm feeling rather lonesome. I guess kiddo will wake up soon enough, but I'm really hoping to spend some time with my friend, too.
21 Days Update 3
More like update 2.5 - I skipped my Mega Project assignment for day two, but did my assignments for days 3 & 4 just now. I'd given myself some easy assignments for those.
Day 3's assignment was to find a place to store the stuff I'd held on to for a garage sale when we took a bunch of stuff to donate to Goodwill recently after not being able to sell it to any of my facebook friends. A few of the picture frames I sorted on day one got added to this box. I also have the box of incomplete frames to donate yet. I put both in the storage room & discovered I have at least 1 or 2 more boxes that were earmarked for garage sale already in there! I hope to tackle the storage room soon in my organizing attempts, but I may just hold on to that stuff & hope we can actually have some things for the garage sale next summer.
My day four assignment was to find a new home for all the extra lightbulbs that had randomly accumulated down there. I'd forgotten that I'd already found a plastic crate thing to put them all in, so I just moved them to the furnace room. I think it'll fit on that shelving unit in there once we move the tools to the peg-board.
Last night we opened up Amber's bed so she has a big girl bed. She did great at night! She slept & stayed in there until Paul went in this morning. She doesn't seem to realize that she could just get out yet. *Fingers crossed*
Now it's nap time. She went up there quite willingly & was quiet for a good 15mins before she started talking & moving around. She's been doing that for a good half hour now, but staying in the bed! We moved her video monitor so we could see more of the room in case she did get up, but we can't see all of the bed now & it's driving me nuts that I can't actually see her!
She keeps saying "Uh-oh! I dropped something!" ("something" being her Elmo doll, a binky & now she's actually just saying "something") and not seeming to realize that she can just get up & get whatever it is. She was pretending there's a door on her bed where the crib side used to be, but she can "open" it. *shrug* I prefer this to all over the place!
The Day 3 challenge (aside from part 3 of the Mega Project) was to chose one chore to tackle for the next 18 days as a "life hack." That is, some small change made one day that's meant to help start the next day with a positive outlook. Crystal's example was to make sure the kitchen is clean before bed.
This is supposed to be a small & easy change & the state of our kitchen right now... Well, Idk if that would be small enough for us. Plus, the kitchen is my hubby's domain. He does a pretty good job of keeping up with the dishwasher safe stuff every day, it's just the plethora of sippy cups & other plastic-ware that has to be hand-washed that piles up... and the fact that the kitchen counter "peninsula" is our catch-all area.
I think what I'll commit to, is picking up the toys. I've tried to do this before, and I think especially if I can get Amber more in the habit of actually playing with one set of toys at a time & not just dumping out as many bins as she can & then ignoring all of it.... we could actually accomplish this. I've timed myself, & before I was pregnant, I could consistently get all the toys on the main floor picked up in 10-15 minutes.
Before I timed it, it seemed like such a gargantuan task; especially with the whole two-steps forward, one step backwards progress when Amber is "helping." Even when she's actually on board with helping & trying to do what I ask I have to constantly give her very specific directions and be working alongside her. Most often, though, she loses interest in cleaning up after a while & suddenly whatever I just put away is what she desperately wants to play with at this very moment.
Now that I'm in my third trimester, it's even harder to keep ahead of her when she's doing this. I can't just wander around picking up things like I used to. Every time I bend over or sit on the floor, it's an effort! So, now I have to work on an area and just clean/sort all that's within reach & then move on to the next area. I can clean during nap time, but sometimes the noisy toys disrupt her and then we still have plenty of hours until bedtime for her to undo all that I've done.
At any rate... that's my goal.
I unknowingly made a teeny bit of progress on this yesterday. Not only had I worked on picking up the toys, but as we were getting ready to go do something Amber had pulled out her toy toolbox & I said "We don't need that right now, can you please put it back away? Where does it go?" and she actually put it back where it goes! Yay! Hopefully we can take these small victories & build on them!
Day 3's assignment was to find a place to store the stuff I'd held on to for a garage sale when we took a bunch of stuff to donate to Goodwill recently after not being able to sell it to any of my facebook friends. A few of the picture frames I sorted on day one got added to this box. I also have the box of incomplete frames to donate yet. I put both in the storage room & discovered I have at least 1 or 2 more boxes that were earmarked for garage sale already in there! I hope to tackle the storage room soon in my organizing attempts, but I may just hold on to that stuff & hope we can actually have some things for the garage sale next summer.
My day four assignment was to find a new home for all the extra lightbulbs that had randomly accumulated down there. I'd forgotten that I'd already found a plastic crate thing to put them all in, so I just moved them to the furnace room. I think it'll fit on that shelving unit in there once we move the tools to the peg-board.
Now it's nap time. She went up there quite willingly & was quiet for a good 15mins before she started talking & moving around. She's been doing that for a good half hour now, but staying in the bed! We moved her video monitor so we could see more of the room in case she did get up, but we can't see all of the bed now & it's driving me nuts that I can't actually see her!
She keeps saying "Uh-oh! I dropped something!" ("something" being her Elmo doll, a binky & now she's actually just saying "something") and not seeming to realize that she can just get up & get whatever it is. She was pretending there's a door on her bed where the crib side used to be, but she can "open" it. *shrug* I prefer this to all over the place!
The Day 3 challenge (aside from part 3 of the Mega Project) was to chose one chore to tackle for the next 18 days as a "life hack." That is, some small change made one day that's meant to help start the next day with a positive outlook. Crystal's example was to make sure the kitchen is clean before bed.
This is supposed to be a small & easy change & the state of our kitchen right now... Well, Idk if that would be small enough for us. Plus, the kitchen is my hubby's domain. He does a pretty good job of keeping up with the dishwasher safe stuff every day, it's just the plethora of sippy cups & other plastic-ware that has to be hand-washed that piles up... and the fact that the kitchen counter "peninsula" is our catch-all area.
I think what I'll commit to, is picking up the toys. I've tried to do this before, and I think especially if I can get Amber more in the habit of actually playing with one set of toys at a time & not just dumping out as many bins as she can & then ignoring all of it.... we could actually accomplish this. I've timed myself, & before I was pregnant, I could consistently get all the toys on the main floor picked up in 10-15 minutes.
Before I timed it, it seemed like such a gargantuan task; especially with the whole two-steps forward, one step backwards progress when Amber is "helping." Even when she's actually on board with helping & trying to do what I ask I have to constantly give her very specific directions and be working alongside her. Most often, though, she loses interest in cleaning up after a while & suddenly whatever I just put away is what she desperately wants to play with at this very moment.
Now that I'm in my third trimester, it's even harder to keep ahead of her when she's doing this. I can't just wander around picking up things like I used to. Every time I bend over or sit on the floor, it's an effort! So, now I have to work on an area and just clean/sort all that's within reach & then move on to the next area. I can clean during nap time, but sometimes the noisy toys disrupt her and then we still have plenty of hours until bedtime for her to undo all that I've done.
At any rate... that's my goal.
I unknowingly made a teeny bit of progress on this yesterday. Not only had I worked on picking up the toys, but as we were getting ready to go do something Amber had pulled out her toy toolbox & I said "We don't need that right now, can you please put it back away? Where does it go?" and she actually put it back where it goes! Yay! Hopefully we can take these small victories & build on them!
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