I Hate Carpet!

We have a guy coming over to clean our carpets tomorrow. They are long overdue for a good, professional, steam-cleaning, let me tell you. Yuck. He can't get here quickly enough.

You know, I grew up in a house with carpet in almost all of the rooms. The only ones that didn't have carpet were the bathrooms, the kitchen, and my mom's hair salon. Oh, and the storage room and utility closets, if you want to get really specific. But, you know, all the rooms that shouldn't have carpet, didn't. And I loved having carpet throughout most of the house. It's so warm and cozy on your feet (and I'm almost always barefoot while at home) and soft to play or take a nap on. When hardwood floor began to become popular again or even tile (bleh!), I thought people were crazy! Why would you want something so hard and cold underfoot all day long? It sounded dreadful to me.

But now--now that I have small children of my own--I so totally understand!

I hate carpet! I absolutely, positively hate it with every fiber of my being! It is so gross and nearly impossible to keep clean with a nasty dog and young, potty-training children running about. I don't even want to think about what has landed on this carpet in the last year-and-a-half since we last had it cleaned, so I won't, but I'm sure many of you can relate and imagine for yourselves.

And if it wasn't bad enough having carpet in our living room where our children spend 95% of their time, but someone had the bright idea to put indoor/outdoor carpet in our.......wait for it........yes, I'm totally thinking what you're thinking.........all you mothers out there are cringing in your seats!.......okay, I'm going to say it!........(gulp) kitchen!!! (Shudder!)

Why?? Who in their right mind would do such a thing? Why does the universe hate me so? Don't people understand how much stuff gets spilled daily on a kitchen floor especially when toddlers and preschoolers are involved? Bleh! It's so nasty, I just wanna cry thinking about it.

So I'm pretty dang excited for the carpet cleaners to come tomorrow. Not that it'll last long (who wants to bet that my kids will break raw eggs on it before the week is out?), but at least it'll be better than it is.

The moral of this story is, if you're planning to buy and/or renovate a house and you have an indoor dog or children under the age of, say, 20, put in laminate flooring. Sure it's not warm and cozy like carpet and it's not as nice as hardwood, but it's strong and durable and will wipe up oh-so-nicely. After your kids have grown and moved out and there's little-to-no chance of them moving back in with you with your grandchildren in tow (so, you know, when they're in their 40s or 50s), then you can finally enjoy the warm comforts of carpet or the luxury of hardwood floors. Until then, just go with laminate and save yourself the stress and heartache of dealing with carpet, give your nostrils a break, spare your feet from being constantly sticky, and treat yourself to a trip to Hawaii for your 20th anniversary with all the money you'll save on carpet cleaning products and services. And send me a postcard while you're there because at this rate, that's the closest I'll ever get.

Is the carpet cleaner here yet?

Side note: Seriously, don't even bother investing any amount of money into anything nice while you are raising your children. Because if it's nice and expensive and it brings you happiness and joy, your children will destroy it. (There's a little bonus lesson for you today. You're welcome.)

Even American Ninja Warriors Get Scared Sometimes

Have you seen that show? American Ninja Warrior? I've seen snippets of it in the past, but this summer, my family and I really got into it. Especially Trey.

For those of you who don't know, it is the most difficult obstacle course you'll ever see. Hundreds of people train for years in order to beat it, and only a few dozen make it past the qualifying rounds to advance to the main course in Vegas. In Las Vegas, there are 4 stages. Before this year, after 7 seasons of the show, no one had ever passed Stage 3. This year, two did. Both moved on to Stage 4 called Mt. Midoriyama. It's a 70-foot rope climb that has to be completed in under 30 seconds. Both competitors were able to conquer it, but only the faster of the two was able to claim the prize of 1 million dollars and the official title as the American Ninja Warrior.

What I'm saying is, this competition is brutal and intense.

And Trey wants to do it. He wants to win the title of the next American Ninja Warrior.

He's four years old.

But he's off to an early start. Already he's climbing everything and jumping parkour-style from the couch to the chair. He's working on his dismount from the kitchen bench to the carpet in the living room. He's climbing up the wall in the hallway with a foot on each side or with both feet on one side and his back on the other. He's even setting up his own obstacle course across the living room floor, running across it and slapping the buzzer on the other side (and by "buzzer" I mean "thermostat").

He has a goal, and he is determined. And if he still wants this in 15 years and the show is still on the aire, I believe he will be an American Ninja Warrior.

But as of right now...well, I think he's getting a little ahead of himself.

Yesterday we went to the park. Trey's favorite thing to do at the park is climb up the playground and zoom down the slides. Ally's favorite thing is to swing. And swing. And swing some more. So most of our park visits look like me pushimg Ally in the swing, Grayson relaxing in the baby swing, and Trey playing by himself on the slides. But this particular day there were quite a few other people at the park, too, which is always great because the kids have other little people to run around with, and I don't have to feel so bad that one of them is feeling left out.

So yesterday, Trey was playing on the slides with the other kids, and I was just putting Grayson into the baby swing so that I could give Ally a good and proper pushin' when out of nowhere, I heard that noise--that dreaded, horrific sound that no parent wants to hear while on their outing to the park.

I heard a bloodcurdling, fear-induced, out-of-control scream.

I looked up at the playground to see whose kid was screaming bloody murder, and of course, it was my kid. It was Trey, and he was on top of the slide--on top of the outside of the tube slide, mind you--and he looked absolutely terrified. And for good reason, because it's a pretty dang high slide. It's one of those playgrounds that has stairs up to the first level and then a ladder up to the second level where the slides are. So he had to be, I dunno, 20 feet off of the ground. Pretty high. Poor kid.

So it's great when there are other kids at the park to play with, but it's not so great when those kids are a little bit older than your preschooler and they show said preschooler how to do naughty things like climb up the outside of the slide. Yeah.

So I ran over to Trey, and he was freaking out. He had tears running down his face, and he yelled down to me, "I'm so scared!" My first thought was just to get him to calm down because he was not going to be able to climb down sobbing like that. So I told him that he was okay, we were going to get him down, and to take a big, deep breath. All the while, I'm thinking How the heck am I going to climb up there and get him down??

Thankfully, the same kid who led him up there in the first place and then left him up there climbed back up and helped him down. There was also a dad who was helpful in calming him down and reassured him that we would get him down. I'm very thankful for those two because I so did not want to have to climb up there myself! I would've, if I had to. But I'm glad I didn't.

So all's well that ends well. But my little American Ninja Warrior learned a valuable lesson about heights that day and will hopefully save his skills for scaling Mt. Midoriyama for the show and not for the improper use of playground equipment.

Grayson at 8 months

Today is Grayson's 8-month birthday. He's so dang precious, and I just want him to stay wittle fowevor! But alas, he continues to grow and change and get bigger every day. Then again, watching them learn and grow and progress is one of my greatest joys of motherhood, so I guess he can go right on changing. Each time they discover something new, some mundane thing that I take for granted every day, and its discovery fills them with elation, I just feel so honored to be able to witness that and share in that experience. To watch them explore their newly found thing and rejoice in their own cleverness...well, there really is nothing like it.

Grayson's new discoveries this past month include crawling--actual hand-over-hand, knee-after-knee crawling--and pulling himself into a stand. He just adores standing all by himself while holding onto the couch or some other at least semi-stable object. While at the park today, that object happened to be me. I was lying on my stomach on a blanket next to him and he grabbed ahold of my back and pulled himself right up. He then spent the next 20 or so minutes moving from my butt to my shoulder, back and forth, back and forth, ever so pleased with himself.

He just loves to stand on his own. He yearns for it, he craves it, I daresay he's nearly addicted to it. It's getting so bad that he now fights me every time I stuff him in that once-beloved-but-now-infuriatingly-confining bouncer of his. He doesn't want to be supported or safe from the ever-present dangers associated with being exposed on the floor with two kids and a stinky mastiff roaming the house. No, he wants to be wild and free, to go where no Gronenthal baby has dared gone before...

And so, a new level of Mommy Vigilance must be reached by me once more. How draining it is...

On another note, still no teethies for this little one which is pretty surprising for me. I saw them peeking through his gums when he was only two months old, and I thought for sure he would get them sooner than the others. Trey's first tooth made its appearance at five months and it seems likes Ally's was shortly after that. But here we are at eight months and not a tooth in sight. I looked it up, and it's normal to not get them until 12 months, so I'm not going to worry about it until after that point. I'm just going to enjoy the fact that he doesn't have them yet because even with just his gums, this kid can bite hard! 

And in other news, our little Gray-Gray is starting to be more vocal. His favorite "word" is "da-da" (I put that in quotes because he doesn't associate it with Brian yet. It's just a fun sound to say), and he's beginning to say, "Nah-nah-nah," when he's hungry. That's interesting because that was also Trey's word for num-nums or food or, you know, me. Do other babies make that noise when it's time to nurse or is it just my boys? I can't remember if Ally did that or not.

And I am so pleased to report (more like brag) that he has not had a single bald spot since before birth! As you all know, he was born with a full head of at least 1-inch long brown hair, and as his birth hair falls out, new light-blond hair seamlessly fills in underneath. And he has had 2 1/2 hair cuts so far. Love his hair! (Be jealous, each and every one of you. I give you permission.)

All-in-all, Grayson is a happy, healthy, smiley, beautiful, easy-going, and handsome little guy, and he gets compliments all the time while we are out and about. He wins them over when he flashes them his adorable grin, and he loves everybody. Not only will he go to anybody to be held, but he wants to. He reaches for anyone standing close enough to grab onto. I love that about him, and I hope he continues to see the good in people throughout his life. He's such a sweetie, and he lights up my life! We are so blessed to have him!

A Writing Challenge!

Okay, people, it's time to get serious now. Time to challenge myself!

As you can see, I have not been taking this blog very seriously since I started it a year-and-a-half ago. In that time, I've posted a grand total of three posts. Pathetic.

I didn't intend to be so nonchalant about this. That wasn't my goal. I wanted to write a blog in order to get back into the writing game with something other than my journal. I wanted to have an audience, to receive feedback, to practice, and to improve. I wanted to write one post a week and work on my novel as well. And although I have several posts half-done, I haven't worked on them for the past few months, and I can't remember the last time I pulled out my novel.

Enough is enough! It's time to stop procrastinating and start writing! Time to stop making excuses and to start filling pages!

So, I'm going to issue myself a challenge:

I challenge myself to write and publish a post every single day for a month beginning right now.

I don't know what I'll write about. Anything and everything. Whatever's on my mind. Funny things my kids say or do, an article I read online, my thoughts about The Best Time Ever or General Conference or my new part-time job...whatever. Anything and everything is fair game.

I'm not going to worry about them being worded just perfectly. I'm not going to post pictures with cute little captions. I'm not going to pretend that I'm working on a professional blog for which I'm getting paid. Because let's face it--I'm not.

The goal here is simply to write. To post something each day, even if it's just to say, "I'm tired, so I'm going to bed now. Good night." Something.

So check back in and see what random crap I can come up with. Some might be interesting, full of wisdom and insight that will change your life forever! And some might just help you fall asleep that night. Either way, no skin off your nose, right?

Oh, and any encouragement would be appreciated. I'm calling this a challenge for a reason--it will be difficult for me. I will struggle with it. But I believe I can do it. With you holding me accountable, it will be that much easier.

Wish me luck!

My 10 Favorite Little Kid Shows on Netflix

Note the TV behind my beautiful little ones. It always looks like that. And by "that" I mean "on".

My kids watch TV. Sometimes a lot of it. Okay, most days, a lot of it. Okay, okay, every day they watch a lot of it.

It all started when my oldest, Trey, was about 16 months old. Like a lot of you, I'm sure, I needed some way to distract him so that I could get some stuff done around the house. What did I turn to? Horton Hears a Who! It's the first thing Trey ever sat down and actually watched. He loved the beginning sequence with the thistle barreling down on and knocking over the helpless flower, releasing the speck into the air. I think it was the music that drew him in. He really got into it, yelling, "Oh no!" as the poor flower hit the ground.

He's been hooked ever since.

So now, two and a half years later, he and my little girl, Ally, watch quite a bit of it. Which means Mommy watches quite a bit of it. Thankfully, cartoons have come quite a ways since I was little, especially the little kids' ones.

One of my Education professors at BYU-I taught us that children don't learn without human interaction--they don't retain knowledge very well without talking about it with someone like a parent or a teacher. I've noticed a lot of new cartoons engage kids by having the lead characters talk directly to the audience. Trey and Ally don't usually respond, but they’re paying attention, and I think it helps them understand the subject matter better than if it were simply presented to them. I haven't consulted any scientific research, though; these are just my observations. So don't take my word for it, but they seem to be learning to me.

Plus the music is so much catchier than when I was little! And a lot of these shows use music as a teaching tool which helps kids retain new information because the tunes are easy to memorize. I often find myself singing along because they have a good beat and melody and are a lot of fun. Trey enjoys singing them, too, and seriously, what is cuter than a 3-year-old singing his little heart out to Super Why?  

To paraphrase Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, you don't have to play down to kids, just play with them. If it's something you'd enjoy, they'll enjoy. It seems like cartoon makers have taken this to heart nowadays, and for good reason. Not only is it better for the kids' minds, but it makes it easier on parents who have to listen to the same episodes over and over and over....

Following is a list of my 10 favorite little kids' shows found on Netflix (we don't have cable or anything, so Netflix and Youtube are our TV). The criteria I've used to rate them is based on how much my kids love them, how educational and uplifting they are, and, of course, how much I'm able to enjoy them as well.

10. Art and Music

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Okay, some of you may think I'm crazy for including this BabyFirstTV show on a list of shows that adults can find enjoyable, but I really do! I love art but am not so artsy myself, so I love watching other people create it. This show demonstrates drawing and shading, sand art, shadow stories, clay figures, and more. The Bonnie Bear segment is where I lose interest, but overall I find the show fascinating.



9. Peep and the Big Wide World

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Trey hasn't watched this one a whole lot, but I think it's worth adding to my list because it's cute, it teaches basic science concepts, and most of all, one of the characters, Quack, cracks me up! You know that friend you have who's a bit of a know-it-all and can tell you how to do everything but drags his feet when it comes to actually doing anything himself, but you love him anyway because you know when it comes right down to it, he'll do anything for you? Plus he has random moments of pure hilarity that bring tears to your eyes? That's Quack. And I love it. The characterization is a lot more raw, realistic, and relatable than in other shows where everyone is on one of two emotional levels, either overly happy or a little bummed out (have you noticed that in preschooler cartoons?). 

8. Peg + Cat

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Now, math was never a strong point of mine growing up and certainly not something that I enjoyed, but I've learned to appreciate its usefulness over the years (not Calculus by any means, but Algebra and Arithmetic for sure). And as my kids' at-home tutor in the years to come, I don't want my negative experiences with math to rub off on them. So I'm thankful for shows like this one that introduce math concepts in a fun and appealing way. Peg is so adorable, and even though problems sometimes "totally [freak her] out!," she's able to pull herself together, think it through, and solve it. And it always turns out to not be as big of a problem as she first thought.

7. Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

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Remember Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and all the characters with which we grew up and loved? Well, they had children, and now my kids will get to grow up with them and experience the love found in the neighborhood in a whole new way. It's such a neat way to carry on Fred Rogers' legacy into the next generation! And it's so stinkin' cute I think it's actually better than the original. Daniel and his friends interact with the audience and teach them short songs to remember important lessons like, "When we do something new, let's talk about what we'll do." This show would be a great tool to use when dealing with behavioral problems or making new transitions in life, for parents and children alike.

6. Super Why!

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 I love to read and I love books, so a super hero who uses books to save the day is right up my alley. The show follows the Super Readers who run into a problem then look in books to find the answer to that problem. I love how this teaches kids to transfer knowledge from one situation to another and that it specifically encourages kids to use the stories they read to find solutions. And it has an awesome revamped version of the ABC Song which is way cooler than the old one. I seriously have a hard time singing the original when I could sing Alpha Pig's instead. I hope Trey isn't the only one in kindergarten singing it, or he's going to feel a little silly.

5. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 

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Who doesn't love Mickey Mouse? This classic cartoon character has been revamped with a whole new setting but the same dear friends. This Mickey interacts with his viewers, teaches them how to solve problems and socialize with others, and boasts music written and performed by They Might Be Giants (oh yes, I definitely find myself singing along with it). Netflix currently has only one episode, but we have been able to find quite a few of them available on Youtube.

4. Jake and the Never Land Pirates 

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This knockoff of Disney's Peter Pan follows some new friends of Peter, the Never Land Pirates, and the same zany antics of that old codfish, Captain Hook. Peter Pan is one of my favorite stories ever, and I love the fun new characters that still stay true to the original story. The characters often address the audience, and I love how they always wear their life jackets when in a small boat or on a surf board and helmets when they're skateboarding or sledding. I remember thinking that I didn't need to wear a helmet because my TV role models never did, and Trey is just the opposite. He always has to wear his helmet while riding his trike outside, and that's not something I've stressed at all with him, so I don't know where else he could have got that but from Jake.

3. Curious George

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Talk about educational! George teaches his audience so much about everything--numbers, dancing, going green, animals, food, different cultures, dinosaurs--just about everything under the sun. And most importantly, he teaches how to solve a problem, which he finds himself in in every episode. And Trey really is learning! One time, we were at my in-laws', and my hubby was outside with Trey. Trey walked up to the pump and said (not in so many words but enough to get his point across), "This is a water pump."
   Shocked, my husband replied, "What did you say?"
   "It pumps water to the house," Trey explained.
   "Really? Where did you learn that?"
   "George," he said.
   Now when a 2-year-old learns what a water pump is from a picture drawn in the dirt with a stick for a monkey, you know that's a good show!

2. Justin Time 

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This Canadian show follows a regular kid with a big imagination. He and his imaginary friends, Squidgy and Olive, go on adventures all around the world, learning about different countries and cultures while also teaching my kids about all sorts of things like good manners, how to juggle, and that they need rest to do their best. This was the first show Ally ever requested, and it's still a favorite despite having watched each season at least 10 times.

1. Dinosaur Train 

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This is the show from which I personally have learned the most, and my husband also enjoys it. They have discovered so much more about dinosaurs since I was in school! Like some had feathers to keep them warm. Yeah, I didn’t know that either. And it also taught my nephew, who was 3 at the time, what an hypothesis is. Imagine walking along and all of sudden this preschooler jumps out in front of you and says, "I have an hypothesis!" then rattles off his idea that he can test. They use that word a lot always followed by the definition and doing so obviously made an impression. Trey even calls the show Hypothesis Train although I haven't heard an hypothesis from him yet.


Since I watch a lot of these shows with my kids, it's neat to be able to recognize the creativity sparked by them, like when Trey climbed to the top of his dresser to save Gretel (a goat from Justin Time), or Ally walking around saying "Yo ho!" from Jake (which sounded more like "Ho ho," and if I hadn't known better, I would've thought she was playing Santa). It's fun having this dialogue open with them.

Plus I think it's important for us as parents to know what our kids are watching because a lot of it, even on the Kids version of Netflix, is not very uplifting (don't even get me started on some of the shows from Cartoon Network!). Our children's minds are very impressionable, and we need to safeguard them from anything that could have a negative effect on them. Seriously, if your kids are having problems with aggression or bad language, I'd examine what they're watching. Maybe some new guidelines need to be enforced.

Maybe my kids watch too much TV, but at least I can feel good about a lot of the shows they're watching and know that some good is coming from it.

Taming My "Piles of Ridiculousness" Part 1--Laundry

Oh yes, even your closets can look like this.

When I was first married and without children, I remember my sister-in-law warning me that I wouldn't believe the amount of laundry I would have to do once I had even one kid. I kinda laughed to myself and thought, "Yeah right. How big of a difference could one tiny body make?"

 A couple of years later after I'd had my first child, Trey, this same sister-in-law posted on Facebook that, "Laundry and dishes are never-ending piles of ridiculousness." I sat there looking at her post, probably wearing clothes that should've been washed days before but that I was still wearing because I had no clean clothes to change into, and humbly nodded and thought to myself, "You are so right! They are!"

Then I wept. Silently. Bitterly. Pathetically.

It is astounding how much laundry one little body can produce in a very short time! For various reasons, I would end up changing Trey's clothes at least five times a day the first four months or so. And now I have two little poop monsters sweet angels running a-muck creating 10 times more laundry than that! They're both still working out their potty training kinks which translates into lots of wet and sometimes even poopy clothing and bedding which equals even bigger "piles of ridiculousness" for me to handle. Plus, on top of that, my little Ally is such a girly-girl, she thinks she needs to change her outfit at least 10 times a day and have 5 blankets out at once just for kicks and giggles.

I don't know about you, but I, for one, have struggled greatly with knowing how to deal with this problem which even escalated to the point where we spent several weeks stepping over piles of dirty clothes to get to one of the four baskets of (hopefully) clean clothes and digging through them in order to get dressed each day because all of our closets and drawers were empty (In my defense, we reached this point during the first trimester of my third pregnancy earlier this year when I stopped doing pretty much everything but breathing and sleeping, so don't judge me).

But those days are no more!

I have finally figured out how I can stay on top of the laundry without it consuming all of my time, my life, and my sanity. I hope that the following tips can help you tame your laundry piles, too.

1. Change Your Mind about Laundry

This is the first and most important step to changing those "piles of ridiculousness" into manageable, organized piles that are actually your friends, not your enemies.

I used to complain to my husband that I just couldn't keep up with the laundry because it was never-ending. I never got a break. I'd work really hard one day to catch up on all of it just to have it all right back in the dirty pile a day or two later. I felt like it was impossible to ever get it all done.


And guess what? I was right.

It is impossible to ever get it all done. It is never-ending. So stop thinking that it isn't! I will never be able  to take a day off from doing laundry because I never take a day off from wearing clothes. Just like you have to shower every day, eat every day, get dressed every day, you have to do laundry every day. I kept expecting to reach an end to it all and then getting frustrated when it never came.
  
Stop expecting to see an end in sight. There isn't one.

So change your mind about it. Instead of making it a goal to get all of the laundry done, set the goal to get 1-3 loads done in a day. Instead of seeing it as something that has to be completely finished in order to cross it off your to-do list, see your smaller goal of a few loads as the end to that chore for the day, then triumphantly cross it off your list. You'll receive the satisfaction of a job well-done, and by repeating this process every day, you will always have clean clothes at the ready.

This ties in with Tip #2--

2. Don't Wash More than You Can Handle 

As I mentioned before, I used to take a day and wash as much laundry as I possibly could in an effort to get caught up with it all. After all, it's easy to throw another load into the washer when you're already in front of it putting the wet things into the dryer. It kind of seems silly not to, really. Then you won't have to think about it later.

But this actually often resulted in the same overflowing laundry baskets I had before I started, only this time, they were filled with clean clothes instead of dirty ones. Some of you may be thinking, "But the goal is to get the clothes clean, right? So at least you're achieving that." To that I would respond, technically ye-ess, but at the end of the day...not really, no. Sure it's great to have clean clothes, but if I have to spend 10 minutes digging through four baskets for a specific top to finally find it smashed, wrinkled, and unwearable on the bottom of one of them, then no, I'm not achieving my goal. My goal is to have clean, wrinkle-free clothes that are ready to be worn and within easy reach. The only way to do that is to actually put the clothes away where they belong in their closets or drawers. If they never end up there, then I have frustratingly missed my goal. Close but no cigar.

So now I've developed a system where I'm able to actually get the clothes folded and put away, and it's real simple. Are you ready for this? I actually fold them and put them away. The trick, though, is to not wash more than I can handle folding in one day. On my washing marathon days, I would always plan on sitting down on my bed at the end of the day and fold everything and put it away all at once. But after spending so much time on laundry all day already and then seeing the massive amounts of clothing awaiting me...well, my back hurts just thinking about how long it's going to take me to accomplish that task.

So I would put it off until tomorrow, then the next day, and then soon enough, the baskets of clean clothes are nearly empty, and it's time for me to have another washing marathon because the dirty clothes are now inundating the floor, all-the-while my closets remain clothesless. It's a very frustrating cycle to get caught up in. Can anyone relate?

All right. Washed, dried, and folded. 3/4 of the way there. Now to just get you to your drawers...

So now, instead of washing 4-6 loads a day, I stick to only 1 or 2, possibly 3 if one of the loads is something easy to fold like towels or jeans or if I really need something washed that can't wait until the next day. How I accomplish the actual folding of them leads me to my next tip--

3. Adopt the "Do It Now" Philosophy

Like I said above, I used to wait to fold my clothes until the end of the day when I could do it all at once after my kids have gone to bed. But as I've already illustrated, this tactic wasn't really working for me. For one, I'm tired at the end of the day. Once those kids are in bed, all I want to do is veg out on the couch to my new Netflix addiction. Plus, I'm not able to put all of the clothes away because I don't want to risk waking them by going into their room and opening their drawers and rifling through hangers. So there their clothes sit, folded neatly in a basket, all night. And then, morning comes, along with my children who are attracted to that neatly organized thing which they must destroy! before they can possibly even think about doing anything else.

Laundry fail again.

So now I "do it now", meaning as soon as I pull it out of the dryer, I fold it and put it away. You know, it really doesn't take very long to fold a single load of laundry and put it in its place. 10 minutes maybe. 20 for the really little pieces 'cause, you know, you can fit a whole lotta onesies in that big ol' washing machine. So unless I'm in the middle of something like cooking dinner or headed out the door, I can spare 10 minutes pretty much any time of the day. Out it comes, and away it goes.

This also helps to keep my clothes from getting wrinkled because they aren't sitting squashed in a basket all day. Bonus!

4. Fold it on an Elevated Surface 

The next trick that helps me achieve "doing it now" is folding it on an elevated surface. My mom always folded our laundry on her bed, and I've always liked this method because there's lots of space to lay it all out on plus I can watch TV at the same time, or in my current situation, Netflix on my laptop. But folding laundry on a bouncy surface with little ones running around is just asking for trouble.

Now I keep the tops of my washer and dryer clear of clutter and use that as my folding surface. It's harder for the kids to climb up there to "help" plus everything is within reaching distance, so I can protect it from them more easily than when it's spread across my king-sized bed. And another bonus, my dryer doesn't become a dumping ground for everything under the sun. The shelves right across from it don't look so hot, but at least one surface looks neat and clean.

Ahh, so easy to fold clothes without little ones flinging them around the room so I have to refold them again and again and again...

  
5. Cut Out the Excess

Minimizing the amount of clothing you need to wash will also save you a lot of stress, energy, time, and money. I keep a box on the top shelf of my kids' closet for clothing they've outgrown. As I'm folding laundry, I keep an eye out for things that I've noticed don't quite fit them anymore then toss it in the box to keep it out of circulation and ready to move to storage once the box is full.

The same goes for my husband's and my own clothing. Occasionally going through our things and setting apart anything that doesn't fit, is worn out, or is no longer our style will also help keep "laundry" and "ridiculousness" out of the same sentence.

If filling your storage with a bunch of unneeded clothing doesn't appeal to you or if you're done adding children to your family, then have a box readily available to collect items you want to sell or donate instead of store.

6. Have Adequate Storage to Hold Your Dirty Laundry

I think it's also important to note that having enough baskets to hold your dirty laundry will help you keep it separated and organized so you can quickly toss a load into the wash without having to search the globe for like items to make up one load. I was trying to make 2 hampers and 3 laundry baskets work for our massive amount of laundry, the hampers for dirty clothes and the baskets for clean ones. Both clean and dirty clothes kept spilling over onto the floor mixing together, and I'd waste so much time, money, and energy rewashing things over and over before we even got to wear them. We definitely needed a new system.

So we bought a few more hampers and now have one each for kids' clothes; towels, washcloths and rags; linens and blankets; and mine and my hubby's clothes. We also have a hamper for each of our bedrooms and an extra one for when we clean up the living room which always has clothes scattered around it for some reason.

Our lovely hampers and my new best friends. :)

Having hampers in our rooms has made a huge difference because we're all able to just throw our clothes in there instead of letting them pile up on the floor or our end table. And the kids can whine about having to walk clear down the hall and through the kitchen to get to the laundry room to put their clothes away, but there's not much excuse when it's right next to their bed. Every day or so, I take the hamper to the laundry room and sort the items into their appropriate hampers there (my bedroom hamper always ends up with items other than clothes, like towels or linens).

I've also found that having a basket and a garbage can in the living while we clean up makes that chore so much easier on all of us, so the extra hamper has really come in handy. We save ourselves a lot of effort when we don't have to make a zillion trips back and forth to put clothes in the laundry room and garbage in the kitchen. The kids are much more eager to help pick up with this simple strategy than anything else I've tried! And again, once everything's picked up, I take the basket to the laundry room and sort everything there. It's a great system that has been working really well for us.

7. Get Your Kids (and Husband) Involved

Now this one may sound like I'm contradicting myself from earlier when I said to fold your clothes away from your kids, but that's not what I mean by getting them involved. Let me explain:


I've had a hard time keeping one little girl by the name of Ally out of her drawers. She thinks she needs to change her clothes at least 10 times a day whether her clothes are dirty or not, and in order to do that, she needs to throw everything out of her drawer and onto the floor so she can properly see what's available to her. (Literally as I was typing this paragraph, she said she needed to change her clothes and headed to her bedroom to do so. She's been wearing her current outfit for only about an hour.) Add that to all the other items scattered around the house, and it's just too much for anybody to handle by themselves and keep their head.

Why yes, I did put this outfit together all by myself. Would you like to see another? Hang on a sec. I'll be right back.

So now I have my kids help me put their clean clothes away on a regular basis. I may not like their help to fold the clothes, but they can help me put them in their drawers once I'm done. I think this helps them see how much work it takes to take care of them and increase their respect for them. And since I've started doing this with them, she has been much better about leaving them in the drawers and off her floor.

I also remind them throughout the day to pick up their clothes and put them in their basket in their room when they get that hankerin' to change. It's easily accessible, and I think they feel a sense of ownership over it, like that's their basket, so they're almost eager to use it when I ask them to help out.

I've also had to remind my husband a time or two to use the hamper in our room. This way I don't have to sort through his things wondering what's dirty and what's not or pick up all his clothes off of the floor. I've also asked him to make sure his socks aren't balled up when he throws them in so that I don't have to go through them one-by-one and undo them because they don't get properly cleaned or dried in that state. Having him be more conscientious of that saves me time and effort up front and keeps me from having to rewash them.

It may seem like a small thing for me to do these things for him, but that means it's also a small thing for him to do them for me. And remember, I am pregnant and in my third trimester, so bending down to the floor isn't as easy of a task as it used to be. ;)

And finally, my last tip of the day--

8. Let it Go

Now I feel like breaking out in song, but for your sake, I'll refrain. My last tip has to do with more mind-changing, especially where kids are involved.

I used to get so frustrated and upset when I'd finish a chore, like putting laundry into the kids' drawers, and then turn around to see they've ruffled through it, tried on socks, got them covered in dog hair, and then threw them off and grabbed another pair. You know, things like that.

Now I've learned to just let those things go. It's more important to me that they are able to grab their own clothes out of their drawers and dress themselves, especially Clothes-Fettish Ally, than to have their drawers neatly organized. That means I have to let my own perfections go. Their drawers don't have to be perfect and dog-hair free (their clothes are just going to get covered in dog hair after they've been wearing them for 2 seconds anyway). As long as their clothes are in their drawers, it doesn't really matter the state of them.

So I don't spend all day refolding and reorganizing their clothes and drawers because it really doesn't matter at this point in time. As long as I model the correct way to put their clothes away, they'll get it eventually when they're more mature and responsible and actually care about things like neatness (they are only 3 and 2, after all).

It may only last a second, but their drawers look so nice with neatly folded clothes. So much better than empty!

When I get motivated to make a change and be a better housekeeper, the feeling and new habits usually last for about a week, then I go right back to doing things the way I was before. But it's been about 2 months now with my new laundry habits, and I'm still going strong. My closets and drawers are full with clean clothes, I have towels and wash cloths in my bathroom and kitchen, and I have linens ready to swap out on my bed when necessary.

It's been such a relief and has saved me so much stress by having these things readily available. And it really wasn't that hard to make these small changes. Once I changed my mind about a few things, it's been relatively easy to keep up with the daily maintenance.

Does that mean I fold every bit of laundry and put it away that same day? No, it doesn't. But skipping one or two loads a day and adding them to the one or two that I do the next day is a lot easier to catch up on than adding four loads to four more that I'll try to fold all at once.

Does it mean that I do laundry every single day, Sunday-Saturday, each and every week? It most certainly does not. I believe in keeping the Sabbath day holy which means, in-part, to me, no chores. Seriously, no grocery shopping, no vacuuming, no toilets, and no laundry (I mean, if the Lord not only gives us permission but commands us to take a break from our daily tasks, why wouldn't every mother take full advantage of that?). And there are also days that I'm just too caught up with other things like running errands or spending the day out and about with my hubby and kids. So no, I don't do it every day, but I do shoot for 5-6 days a week. 

Yay for clean clothes! Thank you, Mommy, for being so awesome!

I hope you find these tips helpful in taming your own "piles of ridiculousness", and now that I've got this one under control, it's time to tackle the other one--Dishes. Once I get it figured out, I'll write Part 2 of this series and let you know how it goes!. ;)

Inspiration for "Mastering the Art of Mommyhood"

Have you seen Julie and Julia with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams? I love that movie! I found it very inspiring how both women found something lacking in their lives and took the necessary steps to change it.  Even though people thought they couldn't do it, and it was hard, and at times they felt like giving up, they didn't. They kept pressing forward and made their dreams a reality. Very cool!

I've been feeling the same way lately--like there's something lacking in my life. I've been very busy being a mom of a 3 and a 1 1/2 year old who are the light in my life, striving to become a Sales Director with Mary Kay Cosmetics which I enjoy, and trying to be a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which I know to be true, but there's still something missing. I haven't been really happy. Instead I've been really stressed-out--definitely feeling a surplus of stress. But I'm finally taking the steps to change that.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Mary Kay. I love the company, the woman, everything they teach and stand for, and the ladies I that work with. But you know, the whole thing where I don't get paid unless I make sales is...well, way stressful, as you can imagine. I was working really hard to be consistent and work full-time hours so that my pay wouldn't rely on only one or two parties a month, but it wasn't working out as well as I had hoped, and I had a hard time balancing my time between my family and my job. When I was working, I felt guilty that I wasn't spending more time with my kids or cleaning my house (which was always way messier than even a young mom's house should be), and when I was with my family, I had this nagging feeling that I needed to be working in order to make my sales goal for the week.

You know that lady that's married to her phone and is constantly texting, emailing, and doing other work-related things on it when she should be enjoying her time with her family? Yeah, I was turning into that lady, and she was someone I had never wanted to be. I just wasn't making my Mary Kay business work for me.

But I wanted it. I loved how motivating the women were, the rush I got from helping someone feel beautiful, the joy I got from making a sale. I wanted to become a Director, inspire other women to go for their dreams, and, most importantly, earn enough money to pay off our deb and buy a house. Then last September, my Senior Sales Director offered a training course to help us get past our mental blocks so that we can move forward and become great leaders. I knew that that was something for me and decided to invest the time, money, and effort into it.

It was awesome! I learned a lot about myself and why I think the way I do. I learned that I feel like I don't deserve success because, for one reason or another, I'm not worthy of it. If I were making $5000 a month, I was afraid that I would squander it instead of paying off my debt like I should. So in order to avoid that situation, I was holding myself back from moving forward to Directorship.

And then our training came to our dreams, and my training came to a standstill. We were supposed to imagine ourselves achieving our dreams and make collages to represent them: becoming a Sales Director, getting out of debt, traveling the world on Mary Kay's dime, buying my dream home with cash, the whole shebang. Really specific details. And I could not bring myself to sit down and do it. I didn't even want to try and picture myself doing those things. I didn't understand why I felt that way, but I did. I fell behind in the training and eventually gave up on it. It was a couple of months later before I finally realized why I couldn't face my dreams.

My Sales Director sent me an article, again talking about achieving success, and the author said she often asks people what their dreams are--what do they want to be? Let's say they want to be a writer. She then asks what they're doing to move towards their dream. Are they freelancing? Journaling? Studying? Their usual response is, "Nothing." Their dreams are just something that's often on their minds but in the back of them. Something that they'll do someday.

And that was me! Even the example fit perfectly. Even before I wanted to be a mom, I wanted to be a writer. I used to sit at my dresser with my parents' electric typewriter writing short stories for hours at a time. That was something I did for fun as a kid. And even though being a mom later moved to the top of my dream list, I still have always thought I would be a writer. Someday.

That's why I couldn't do the dream exercise with my training--my real, deep-down, true-blue, if-I-could-be-anything-what-would-it-be? dream had nothing to do with Mary Kay. As much as I loved enriching women's lives, making them look and feel beautiful, and being compared to Carmindy from TLC's What Not to Wear, I wasn't doing what I really wanted to do. And so I couldn't lie to myself and say that I wanted all this Mary Kay success when I knew deep down that it wasn't true.

I really wanted to write. And it was time to stop putting it off until someday. 

And, ironically, I had Mary Kay to thank for giving me the confidence and perspective I needed to finally go for my real dreams.

So I made a change. I decided to stop striving for Directorship, move my business to part-time, and start doing something to achieve my dream of becoming a writer.


Now I'm writing my first novel and this blog. I have a lot of thoughts, feelings, and experiences about life that I'm just bursting to share. I love reading articles and blogs about parenthood and homemaking and have found them very helpful in my life, so I've decided to make that the theme of my blog. I would love to be that person for someone else. I have a voice, I have ideas worthy of sharing, and I'm excited to finally take the time to do so.

If you haven't put two and two together yet, just as Julie and Julia in part inspired me to go after my dreams, it also inspired the title for my blog. Julia Child's cookbook is called Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and I like how that applies to mommyhood. Like any art, mommyhood takes discipline, study, creativity, a release of control to let your masterpiece be what it's meant to be, and the grace of our Heavenly Father to make it all come together harmoniously. Now, I'm not at all claiming to be a master of mommyhood; on the contrary, this blog will document my journey as I strive to master it while, hopefully, inspiring others as they do the same.

I plan on writing articles about all things mommy: cooking, cleaning, teaching, snuggling, spending time with your hubby, teaching your children the gospel, working from home, child birth, potty training--I want to cover it all. So I hope you enjoy my blog and find something in it to help you in your life. And I also hope that you will feel free to share any ideas or experiences you've had as well. Like Mary Kay said, if you have an idea and I have an idea, we each have one idea. But if we share our ideas with each other, then we'll each have two ideas. The best way to learn is by sharing with others, and then we'll both be that much closer to mastering our arts of mommyhood.