Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Napkins and Toilet Paper

What a day I had yesterday...busy day. I have been busy this week trying to get my chaotic house back into a simple routine that worked for me before. I have been an off again, on again flybaby. I found Flylady in 2003 from a magazine article (I'm not sure which magazine). She talked about her going on a "Cruise through the holidays". I thought, this lady is crazy. But I went to her website, followed her plan and had the most organized planning I had ever had. I was hooked. I got my house in order and continued flying until my 3rd son was born and we moved back to our home state in 2006. That's when everything fell apart. I had all three boys home with me, one nursing, a house to unpack, husband went straight to work and well I fell apart. My house became a place that I did not cherish and did not want to be in. I decided it was time to go back to basics and establish a simple routine that I could build on. I went back to Flylady and have started over with the Beginner Steps and will work my way through until I build my routines up again.

A few weeks ago, while I was gone on my trip, our basement flooded due to a pierced waterline on the refrigerator. I came home to a mess. I did not want to deal with it, so I waited (I made sure that the dehumidifier was emptied and running do help absorb the moisture in the air). I finally decided that I needed to work down there. I started yesterday and spent several hours moving toys and vacuuming and just overall cleaning and organizing toys.

The following is why I never get much accomplished and why I feel like my house is chaotic...
Upon walking out of my basement I came to find that my house had been toilet papered by my 3 year old. 5 rolls in total. Now you ask, where were you and why didn't you hear him running aorund. I was in the basement, in the corner, in the middle of Little People, with the TV on cartoons and the computer on with Caillou. He had been lying on the couch watching cartoons. almost asleep, when it got quiet I thought he had gone to sleep. So this is what it looked like...

View into the family room from the kitchen
Standing outside the family room

In the family room, looking into the kitchen
In the bathroom and finally the pile after it was all cleaned up.


I put him in a timeout because I gave him the option of cleaning up the mess or sitting in a time out and he said he wasn't cleaning it up so he sat in a time out. I just didn't realize that Halloween had come early and that monsters could toilet paper the inside of your house.

Now. for the napkins part of the title. I am participating in a Napkin Swap at Rhonda Jean's blog . What a wonderful blog she has, she has several homekeeping ideas, ideas on being a green household and how to make a lot of your own goods. She is hosting this swap so that we can quit using disposable items. And this swap is for napkins, we were to swap a minimum of 4 cotton napkins, preferably homemade but they could be purchased. The napkins were to be made of 100% cotton and measure 10 inches. My napkins are complete and I will wait to post the pictures until Alexia has received them. I am going to mail them tomorrow, when I'm out running errands.

Have a wonderful day!!

4 comments:

Anina said...

Oh, wow! And I thought my dog made a mess when she gets hold of the toilet paper.
I've done the flylady thing too but found it a little too intense, especially the getting dressed to my shoes part. We don't wear shoes in the house and cleaning the bathroom with bleach-based cleaner in my nice clothes is just not practical.
But...she's definitely taught me some stuff and I do now have a daily routine that works for me. I print the week's routine out on Sunday night, stick it on the fridge and tick off each task as I do it each day. My house has never been so pulled-together. I do not have CHAOS any more.

Alexia said...

Hi Napkin Partner:

It sure looks like he had alot of fun creating the mess. Glad you took pictures, because you will always remember this and laugh:)
Have a great day!
Alexia

Nicole said...

I discovered the Flylady a few years ago too. I love her rule about making sure the sink is clean and shiny--that way you feel like you have control over the rest of the messy house!
I cannot believe your 3 year old accomplished all that while you were in the basement!

Rhonda Jean said...

oh no! LOL I remember something like that happening many years ago. I hope you enjoy the swap. : )