Where Did That Dust Come From?

I thought I had dusted everything last week, but my eyes saw a thick layer in the afternoon light.  Where did that come from?  How did I miss that cabinet in the breakfast area?  It looked awful, and I had visions of dust spreading through my house.

Problem solved!  I grabbed a microfiber dusting mitt and got busy.  I wish I had timed myself, because surely this job took no longer than 2 or 3 minutes.  Then, I threw the mitt in the towel laundry bin.  Simple job.  It was simple, because the clutter is gone from that area.

Families Dusting Together

Have you been busy with summer fun or work, when all of sudden you realized it has been three or four weeks since you last dusted?   Can you write in the dust?

Oops!  I can.  No excuses are necessary.  We make choices about how we are going to spend our time and energy.  Sometimes, the house suffers:  well, actually--the house doesn't care, but we do.  Therefore, I am sending out a dusting challenge this week.  Let's dust and vacuum at least one room a day.  Here are some choices of how to do that.  Dust with a throw away Swiffer duster or a Microfiber Dust Rag.  My mother always used the vacuum cleaner brush and sucked up that dirt and hair.

1. We are dusting, not polishing, unless you just prefer to spray and wipe.
2. Choices of how to do this job are:

• Dust and vacuum one room a day.  Or
• Dust all your rooms in one day--perfection is not the objective here.
• Vacuum the centers of the rooms, not every little corner, or under everything.  Break this job into increments of time you are able to accomplish or let someone else do it for you. 
• Option for mothers and fathers with children at home:  hand each child a dust rag and set the timer.  Give them specific areas to dust  and turn on some music.  You can make this a family affair, working in one room at a time or let them do their own rooms. If your child needs hands on attention for this job:  stick to doing one room together.  Make it fun with a treat at the end, such as reading a book or watching a DVD.

Parents, children need to learn to work at home.  It is a necessary part of their training, or they are liable to expect someone else to do it their whole lives.  If they need supervision, remember they will probably not do the job as well as you;  however, it is still important they do it.  Do not frustrate your children by constantly comparing how they do their chores with other members of the household.  Do not heap your perfectionism on them.  Be matter of fact:  "Today we are going to dust.  We will start in the ________.  You work in this section of the room.  Your sister will work in that section of the room, and I will work in this section."

Do the children want to do something later, such as going to a friend's house, swimming, or playing in the sprinkler?  Tell them that none of these things are going to happen, until together you dust a certain number of rooms.  STICK TO YOUR GUNS!  This is training time that will benefit them the rest of their lives.

We did it!
Image Courtesy of [Ambro]
/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Back to Vacuuming

When you dust, you should vacuum if you can.  These two jobs go hand in hand.  However, use your best judgement.  You can only do what you can do, and you may have to find creative ways to get the job done.  However, I would not wait more than one day to vacuum each room you dust.  What is on the floor will eventually manage to find it's way to the furniture.  Moreover, if you have not vacuumed and dusted for a while, you might want to change your filter for your air conditioner.  A clean filter will help keep your house clean longer.

Note:  If you are going to have to declutter tabletops, because you have let things accumulate on them, you will want to do that a different day than the day you dust;  unless, you are so impressed with clean tabletops, you cannot help yourself.  If you just have to dust after you pick up and put away what is on the tables, the  one room a day method is best

Have a great week, and remember:  when you can write in the dust, your house looks dirty, even when it is decluttered.  

Love,

Deborah

The Master Bedroom, The Start and End To Your Day

Image Courtesy of  [luigi diamanti] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last week, I finished writing about the heart of the home.  However, would you be surprised that some people consider the master bedroom the heart of their home?  After all, it is a place where we should be able to retreat when we need some peace and quiet;  moreover, this is where we rest our heads at night, so our bodies can repair and be ready for the morrow.  Even though, many people with chronic illnesses do not get optimal rest at night, we still need to have a place where we can get the best possible rest for our bodies.  

A neat, well-tended bedroom is a blessing.  Have you ever walked into a bed and breakfast, a hotel room, or a comfortable guest room, and felt the almost instantaneous relaxing of your body?  Ah, what a pleasant place, my place to let down my hair, to put up my feet, and to find comfort and relaxation.  Compare this to walking in a room that has clothes tossed over various chairs, clothes baskets waiting to be emptied, boxes tossed in a corner to be out of the way, shoes lying in various places where they were taken off, weeks of dust on the furniture, and an unmade bed.  I can say this, because I have been there.  How about you?  Does any of this sound familiar?  

Image Courtesy of [winnond]/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A bedroom does not have to be sumptuous to be delightful.  I have admired bedrooms that had stacked crates beside the bed for nightstands and unmatched tables for setting down items one needs.   The creativity of making a bedroom a comfortable place does not depend on a fat pocketbook.  However, there are some basics that make a difference in how a person feels when walking into his or her own room.  Here is a list of what I consider basic:  

1. A chair with arms, so you can assist yourself in standing up.
2. A dresser or chest of drawers for your clothes.  Even crates or inexpensive rolling carts will work.  If you want to dress them up, you could paint them or throw a scarf of some sort over the top.
3. Tables beside the bed;  however, I have seen lovely design settings where stacked books were used.
4. Lamps beside the beds and possibly a small book light for those that have spouses who are annoyed by light when he/she is trying to sleep.
5. Closets are nice, but people used hooks and wardrobes long before there were closets.  Also, shoes can be neatly lined up under the side of the bed.  Some people even buy rolling carts.  I have a hanging shoe bag in my closet.

These are some of the essentials.  If you think of some more, please write a comment.  And I might add:  if you have CFS/ME or Fibromyalgia, you should consider a comfortable bed.  This is where I would put my money.  If you cannot afford a new mattress, at least top it with some sort of padding to cushion your body in the right places.  

Image Courtesy of [Maggie Smith]/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Moreover, let me talk about sheets.  I am sure we all have our preferences.  Sometime in the middle of my bouts with Fibromyalgia, I discovered that thread counts do count.  It seems the sheets with a thread count of 600 or higher feel better when they touch my skin.  It is pitiful when even the sheets hurt your skin;  however, they have:  and, I felt desperate.  I could not stand to be touched for a time.  Just the brush of my husband's elbow against me at night made me stay awake for hours.  I hurt everywhere.  That is when we got a king size bed and I got a higher thread count in our sheets.  Let me add:  it was not my husband's fault:  it was the miserable illness.  How, anyone does not believe a person with Fibromyalgia is sick, is beyond me.  Thank goodness there is data now to back up what we feel in our bodies.

So there it is:  my introduction to a week of cleaning the master bedroom.  My goal is to walk in, to see and smell the freshness, and be rid of most of the dust mites in my room.  How many of you wake up with stuffy, swollen sinuses or with post-nasal drip?  I want my bedroom to be a launching point for my day, my own personal bed and breakfast room, and a place that oozes restfulness and peace to me and my husband.  

Finally, it doesn't matter whether you have children at home or you are the only one that lives there --your bedroom can help set the tone for your day.  I know it is your attitude that should set the tone for the day, but having a clean, neat room can make a difference.  I think order in our lives is an innate need, even a God-given need.  Therefore, I am looking forward to this week of working on our bedrooms.  Maybe, some of you will be able to do the advanced version.  LOL.  However, some of us have some heavy dusting to do.

Gentle hugs,
Deborah

P.S.  Later on tonight, I will post the proposed cleaning schedule for our bedrooms.  I know there will probably be differences, depending on the state of your room;  so, please don't be frustrated if my suggestions do not exactly fit your situation.  If you have any questions, you can comment here or at Chronic Fatigue and Creative Decluttering.

Ten Days to Go

Days 19 & 20   

September 28, 2012, I started a 31 day journey to travel through FlyLady's Beginner Babysteps.  According  to my records, today, I should be on Day 29;  however, I knew it might take longer.  The point of this for me was to read through every single day of Cilley's steps, and use this for a guide to improve my habits in taking care of me and the house.  When I am in sync in these two areas, one supports the other.  If I take care of myself, I usually have more energy;  on the other hand, if I take care of the house, it is energizing.

Even though I have had to skip some days of doing housework or was not able to do every step, I can see the progress and feel encouraged that I can do this.  I won't do it perfectly, but I have become more aware of picking up behind myself as I go along.  I have found myself putting things away immediately, so I won't have to do it later.  It is easier to dust, because the tops of my furniture are clear and I don't have to use a spray cleaner every time.  I use my microfiber cloth, microfiber mitt, or an ostrich feather duster.

I admit to not shining my sink every night, but it stays shiny longer when this is a goal.  Getting dressed in the morning, or whenever I wake up, actually motivates me more than shining the sink;  however, it is lovely to have a shiny sink.  I am going to go shine it after I finish this post.  There is nothing groundbreaking going on here:  just days of trying to keep up with the new job I have given myself by being a blogger, and the sense that my life is on an even keel.  That is a good place to be.

Do you feel like your life is on an even keel?  Can you think of one thing you could do that would help you get there?  Or, does your mind feel like a jumbled mass of confusion, wondering when the fog will lift?
Many times we blame this on our illness, which does play around with the hormones and chemical reactions that go on inside our bodies.  If you are in peri-menopause or have just hit menopause, I think these conditions hit Fibromites with a double whammy.  However, I think there is a psychological factor involved too.  When one is ill, day in and day out, when one is exhausted most of the time, it seems to breed more exhaustion out of the frustration that has built.  It's going to take a process and time to see improvement.  I have been working on getting my good habits back for four years with several setbacks, such as flares, a broken ankle, hip replacement, a sprained knee, and a move.  Each time I have recovered, I had to slowly start adding small steps to my routine.  This time it has been a little easier.

Just for a couple of minutes, other than taking your medications and supplements, what small step can you take that will help you move from stasis to flow?  I encourage you to take a very tiny step.  It doesn't have to be cleaning house.  It could be as simple as going outside and walking around the house once or going fishing.  Could you go to the library or to a park?  Or maybe, it would be as simple as taking the dishes out of the sink and cleaning it.  Make it really shiny--but not perfect.  Then, dry it with a towel.

What I have found is one move leads to another move.  It is almost like setting dominoes into action, except you will be stepping up, not falling down.

P. S.  Day 20 mentioned taking care of laundry in the morning and at night.   This is a fresh load into the dryer from the washer: I took this picture tonight.  I love washing things in cold water.  How many of you remember having to wash whites, lights, and darks?  Now, I combine my whites and lights.  I know this is how my daughter with 7 children keeps up with her laundry.  My other daughter washes clothes at night too.  Just one word:  please don't go to sleep with the dryer going.  We had a friend whose house burned down from a dryer fire, while she ran an errand in her car.  That's why FlyLady encourages people to get the lint you don't see out of the dryer.