On Saturdays, my partner and I are mostly rushing around taking the girls to swimming, to parties and carrying out various other errands and chores.  Today was no different.  Finding myself with a small gap of time, I thought I could fit in a bit of tidying up.  As I looked around the house, I felt overwhelmed with the unorganised chaos I faced.  Everything was where it shouldn’t be and that was only the lounge – the rest of the house was even worse. 

I could feel myself getting stressed and it must have shown in my face.  “Mummy, why are you sad” said my daughter.  I told her that mummy has so much to do to which she replied “I thought it was because if daddy takes me to the party then you would miss me”.  I gave her a big hug and told her that it would be a good idea that daddy takes her and asked her advice about how to tackle all this mess and clutter.  She replied “if I was here I could help you”.  She then told me to start with the kitchen because then it would look tidy.

So I did and it only took ten minutes to empty the dishwasher, load it and clean down the kitchen surfaces.  All the time I was doing it, I thought how easy it is to dwell on what needs to be done instead of taking action and getting on with it.  Putting some washing on means that the clothes as well as the dishes are being cleaned whilst you can get on with something else.  Then a quick whizz around the house with a few storage baskets gets rid of all the surface clutter and make things look much tidier. 

My tip for today:  Are you fed up of spending so much time on the housework? Are feeling out of control?  Nip those feelings in the bud; set the timer for half an hour and immediately get a few small jobs done.  Taking action has a way of eleviating some of that stressed feeling. 

I felt so much better after half an hour, that I even had time to write this blog.  Even my four year onld knows that doing something (taking action) when you are feeling overwhelmed, makes you feel better.  “Are you going to think about me talking in your head,” she said to me as she left for her party.   My daughters are wonderful!

Until next time…

Sandra