Last week, Reg flew out to CO to spend a few days job hunting, and a few days skiing with his bro, Ethan. Isabelle and I were left to our own antics, and I had the delight of taking a few days off work to accompany Busybelle on activities such as Storytime at the library, Mom2Mom group at church, a playdate at a local science museum, and lots of time to just BE, here at our humble abode. The quiet, computerless evenings prompted me to deep clean and organize our house, and led me on a mission to make our lives simpler, less cluttered, more financially responsible, and hopefully more ecofriendly. Enter cloth diapers and no more paper towels. Huh? That's right, we've
gone paperless (except in the TP department, in case you were worried), thanks to these cuties I found at Ikea, 10 for $3.99. A pack of these babies + a $1.49 Command Hook = an endless supply of hand towels for less than a $8.99 value pack of paper towels (and we go through at least 10 a year, making a savings of roughly $90-100 a year)... waHOO! Who would've thought that putting a little loop of ribbon on a simple white washcloth could be so novel? Needless to say, I'm relatively, well, thrilled with the discovery. We also switched over to cloth diapers, which should save us somewhere between $800-$1000 in the next year or so until we move on to the big girl potty. Think of all the money that can go toward other things now- groceries, paying off debt, date nights, the 529 fund, etc. Hooray!
The other big accomplishment of the week started as an attempt to create some order (read: SANITY) out of a cleaning routine, or lack thereof. I came up with a master schedule that I can easily tweak each month. Basically, each day has the same 5 basic tasks: wiping counters, doing dishes, sanitizing toys that get flung out of the Pack-n-Play, doing one load of laundry, and general decluttering of surfaces. Then each day of the week is also assigned a weekly task (i.e. Monday-dusting, Tuesday- trash, Wednesday-refridgerator, Thursday-vacuum, Friday- weekly menu, Saturday-bathroom, Sunday-groceries).
Finally, each day also has a once-a-month "deep cleaning" task such as cleaning the freezer, disinfecting light switches & doorknobs, or cleaning out the car. The list is taking about 30-40 minutes of each day, which is doable so far, and SO worth it just to know that it WILL all get done. I don't have to flip out today that the microwave has grease spatters on its walls, because I know they'll be gone on Thursday. Whew. The moral of the story, and the reason I'm doing a whole post about this on a blog devoted to Isabelle Grace, is that these simple changes have made vast improvements in my stress level, time management, and general demeanor, meaning I have more mental/emotional capacity and time to spend with my sweet girl (and, as an added bonus, less waste and a cleaner house). And now that Reg is home to assist with The List, it means even more time for family time... Yesssss!
My mom used cloth diapers for all of us, and all four of us were potty trained before we turned two. My mom's theory is that disposable diapers wick away all of the moisture, so that kids don't really realize that they have gone, and they don't necessarily get uncomfortable when their diaper is wet right away. So not only are you saving money and lessening your footprint, you are also taking a big step towards potty training her earlier than most kids are!
ReplyDeleteWowee! You said you organized, but this is like a whole new level, my dear. Props to you - I hope it continues to work well for you AND Reg now that he's back!
ReplyDeletePuts my sporadic cleaning spurts to shame...
This is so cool, Cebbie - I'm really, really happy for you that you've made these positive changes.
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