A sink full of hot sudsy water

Today I wanted to write about fixing dinner and a few things to help ease the process. If you are starting with a messy kitchen take 10 minutes and put everything in the dishwasher. Then wipe your counters. This will give you the space you need to fix your meal, clear your mind, and no one will care if dinner is 10 minutes later than expected. Once you have a clean space run a nice hot sink full of sudsy water. The key here is to clean as you go. During the cooking process it seems there are always a few minutes (SSS)  you can snatch to wash a pot here and wipe a mess there. This is always easier if you have a sink full of hot sudsy water. Then the cleanup process is so much easier and mostly done by the time you put dinner on the table.
     I hope your new small and simple routines are still going ok. Don't add anymore things until you have established a habit. You know it is a habit when you don't have to think about it you just do it! Give yourself 3-4 weeks for this to happen. Happy cleaning!!!!

Small and Simple Seconds Schedule Day 2

Well were you able to keep that sink shiny yesterday? I have to admit I almost went to bed with dishes in the sink. One quick check and I discovered I had to put a few dishes in the dishwasher then rinse and dry my sink. It is always so refreshing to wake up in the morning to a clean kitchen. It only took me 2 minutes to tidy it up before I went to bed too. So yep those were 2 minutes well spent! Today let's add a simple morning routine and a simple after dinner routine. These routines are meant for maintenance only. We will get to the declutter phase in a few days time. Be patient with me and establish a few easy routines first. We didn't get in this mess in a few days so don't try to do it all in a few days either. It's not fun to crash and burn because we bit off more than we could chew.
     Here is your small and simple morning routine. Get up and make your bed as soon as you get out of it. My husband and I have a little competition with this. Whoever gets out of the bed last has to make it. If you leave the house and don't make it, you owe the other person 5 bed makings. (I have been as far as 20 in debt to Dave) If you are not leaving the house that day don't worry we have a rule in place for that one too. If you don't make the bed by noon you owe the same 5 bed makings. If noon is not early enough for you bump it up to a time that is reasonable for both of you.
     Next for the small and simple morning routine is go straight to the bathroom get dressed all the way to a lace up pair of shoes and fix your hair and face. (I'm a rebel here and fit the exercise in before I shower and do my hair and face) As you leave the bedroom in the morning take a load of laundry with you and start a load. Now you can head to the kitchen for the morning rush! If you did your after dinner routine your kitchen should be clean with a nice shiny sink. Take a few minutes to hit your "hot spots". This is anywhere that collects papers and junk faster than you know what to do with it. I have 3 in my kitchen, 1 in my front room and 2 in my bedroom that I like to hit every morning. Now don't be tempted to overhaul every spot. Just take 2 minutes every morning and before you know it those spots will get smaller and smaller until you have a happy space! I fit my scripture time in right around here too. When my kids were small I read scriptures at nap time.
     Your after dinner routine starts as soon as you are finished eating. While everyone is in the kitchen do all the dishes and shine the sink together as a family. Kitchen will stay clean for the rest of the night. I do one last check when I go to bed because someone has always had a snack and left something out. While you are still in the kitchen pack any lunches you will need the next day. This also helps you stick on the healthy eating goal you have. (or in my case want to have) Next just set out everything you will need in the morning. Clothes, backpacks, keys, purse etc. Kids also love the security of a routine. Involve them in this also! Now just take some time for yourself to have some down time or play with the kids. However you unwind. Get a full nights sleep! In Proverbs 16:32 it says He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. I am much slower to anger when I have a full nights sleep!

Small and Simple Seconds My First Task

On January 5, 2012 I will be demonstrating a class on cleaning organization. My main objective for this is to start little! Line upon line. In Alma 37:6 it says, by small and simple things are great things brought to pass and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. So we are going to confound the wise!!! We will start by just doing some small tasks that take from 5 to 15 min. We all have 5 to 15 minutes scattered throughout our day! We just need to snatch those Small and Simple Seconds and off we go! The first Small and Simple Seconds (SSS) task I have for you is to shine your kitchen sink! Now this first time is going to take longer but once you get that done we will learn a 10 second task that will keep it clean! First things first get to your kitchen sink and lets empty all the dishes from the sink. I didn't say do all the dishes just set them to the side for now. Fill the sink to the very top with hot bleach water. A cup in each side will do. (I only do one side at a time so I still have a sink available) Let this set for one hour. Rinse well. Get some ajax or comet etc and scrub the sink. Rinse well. You might need to get an old toothbrush or a razor blade for the next step of getting off the hard water and scum that just attaches itself. Go to town gals! Be careful with a razor to not scratch your surface but it works well on hard water build up. If you want to shine the sink even more clean it with some window cleaner and you should have a shiny new sink! Yea! Are you still wondering how this can only take 10 seconds? Each time you use the sink just wipe it down with a dishtowel. Dry everything off and wala. It is just as beautiful! I keep my dishcloth right by my sink so it is always there when I need it. Now we have our first SSS task completed we will begin a journey of adding SSST(task) until we have built a SSSSchedule! (no I didn't stutter! Lol.) I like the information the flylady has. Her website is flylady.net. She has inspired me! Keeping a clean house is definitely a spiritual matter. In D&C 29:34 it says Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal. So have we been given a law by the Lord to keep our house clean? Because this scripture says if we have a law from the Lord then it is a spiritual matter. Well in D&C 88:119 it says Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God; That is why I always feel good when I have a clean home. Because Heavenly Father wants me to have a clean home! Now I am not real great at this and will learn as we go too! If I try to do the whole house all at once I will crash and burn! So to prevent that lets start small! Tomorrow I will post a SSSS. Yes you got it Small and Simple Seconds Schedule. As for the rest of today? I know you want to do more but just keep that sink shiny. If you do want to do more. Have the family stay in the kitchen after dinner and clean all the dishes. It can be done in 10 minutes with the family helping. If you have to do it in the morning it could take upwards of an hour!