A confession...

Hi, My name is Courtney and I struggle with time management. I just had to go ahead and get that out there. *Whew* I feel better.

I never knew that I wanted to be a Stay at Home Mom (SAHM), but we are blessed that it has all worked out this way. I LOVE it!! I would not trade it for anything in the world. I think I am pretty great at the "Mom" part, but the somewhat unwritten "homemaking" part of it is more of a challenge. I love to play with my daughter, care for her, love on her, etc.  I do not love to clean house, go grocery shopping, run errands, etc. Which, unfortunately, makes me sort of a failure of a homemaker. I have always told my husband, even when we were dating that I am really no good at the keeping a clean house and having a home cooked meal stuff. Through the past (almost) four years of marriage, I would like to think that I have learned and improved on these tasks. But, in all honesty, I don't think I have improved as much as I would like. (I am a master straightener and stacker. If it is neatly stacked and sitting parallel to the edge of the coffee table, counter top, dining room table, it is clean, right? The stacks must consist of similarly categorized items with the largest items on the bottom and the smallest on the top. I have a problem, I know.)

My usual cleaning regimen usually takes place in about 1-2 hours and involves me running around like a mad woman straightening and sanitizing as much as possible and ends just minutes before company walks through the door on Friday night. If we had company come into town every weekend, the house would be clean most of the time and I would have to recover most of the week to gear up for the next cleaning frenzy.

Today, as my sweet husband vacuumed, dusted, and mopped the wood floors while I fed E breakfast, got her dressed for church and entertained her, I realized that I need to try harder to do all of these things during the week while he is working so that we can relax and enjoy the weekend as a family even more. Aside from the guilt that I felt for not being able to do this for him, I am in total awe at the fact that he just did it. He has always amazed me with his incredible time management skills. I guess opposites really do attract! He can get more done in one hour than I could in a whole day. He is like a speed cleaning super hero. I love him and I am so blessed that he chose me to live life with.

So, on my hunt to find the perfect home management plan I have found a website that some of you fellow SAHMs and working moms, too, may find helpful.
Home Sanctuary This is an old post, but it came up in my search and I really like the "5 minute" plan. Another one from the same site.
FlyLady
A little more involved than I am ready for, but a great resource. My aunt has always been a fan.
Keepers of the Home My aunt is also a fan of this site. She leads a group in her church in OKC. I am interested in finding out more about this site as I continue my search for the perfect plan.

I am going to implement the plan that I found on the Home Sanctuary site this week. I will let you know if it was a success. If any of you, like me, have struggled with keeping your home, I hope that you find some of these resources helpful. And know that you are not alone!

Have a blessed day!
Courtney