Dear Summer, Having Fun Vs. Cleaning the House

SUMMER is here…

I think summer can’t exist without clear skies and farmers market, fresh produce, vendors and time spent as we move between vendor stalls.

So, how are you spending summer? I believe as single moms we need to attempt to spend summer intentionally, having fun and making memories.

Discovering new places in my neighbourhood and state or revisiting old ones, it’s celebrating, it’s rediscovering crafts and hobbies, discovering new foods and drinks, new art forms and artists it’s going to events and festivals both outdoor and indoor.

It’s melodies, sounds, music, musicians to discover, and old favorites to listen to again as I top it off with trips to family and friends, now that’s summer.

My aim with this month’s newsletter is to remind you to relax and have fun this summer in spite of the way your home looks. I have been there, where a house is so disorganized and cluttered that it becomes so hard to start anything. When you think you are being judged by the way your home looks, with things everywhere you wonder why you can’t spend more time cleaning up your space. I have cried sometimes over this, but even at its worst my home is not that bad. My house can be whipped in order in 5 – 15 minutes because I have a system in place in the chaos. It’s the people who are single parents and whose homes have almost crossed to the borderline of cluttered that I worry about most of the time because they get no breaks and cleaning their home is no longer an option.

Also remember that your home would be in some form of consistently immaculate order – “now that’s a mouthful”; but as the only one taking your child to every trip, game, event and activity how can you after a busy day at work with or without extra curricular activities keep a consistently immaculate home? it”s just not possible.

Do relax, have fun and tackle the activity later, but if you just need to do this; you know…. the make the house clean at all cost thingy. Here are two things to consider;

1. I will suggest creating organizational stations where you place things like toys, shoes, books, dirty clothes all over your home, and next time you return home from a busy day at work all you do is pick-up and tidy-up using the organization stations you created above.

2. If you don’t have family members that can help around where you live, I will suggest finding someone in your current community to help with taking your kids to some of the events they need to attend. Try asking around, is there another single mom you can partner with so you can rotate pick-ups and drop-offs. Can you imagine what you would do with that time … clean your house and tidy up or even go get a quick facial or a manicure this summer?. For real, now that’s summer.

For those in the second group you can always use a Professional Organizer to jump-start the process and still spend time with your kids, friends and family, and if possible yourself, instead of obsessing over your home.

Enjoy this video from Buzzfeed which puts the mess in our hands.

Change Watch

If there is any consolation, it’s in the fact that once fall comes and soon; and daylight savings kicks in, we have more than enough time to keep the house clean.

GM, xoxoxo