I'd like to think that my house has been a disaster because I've been sick, but I realize that it is an ongoing battle--me against the other seven (plus the dog) in the house. It's really been a mess for quite awhile--ten years? Well, it feels like that many. Here we are back at the me that continues to be dissatisfied. So much of a perfectionist that I'm paralyzed by it.
Okay, so I came up with a very fun game that I started yesterday. My new phone is AWESOME! It's not even the new-fangled jobber like Z got, but it's wonderful for me.
You can set a reminder for anything on the calendar and then you can snooze it when it goes off. Oh how I love the snooze button! Someday I'm gonna meet the man who invented the snooze button, and I'm gonna kiss him right on the lips. I don't even care if Z's around.
Here's the sweetest part of it all. My friend Rachel introduced us to zedge.com when she was here a few months back. We had so much fun downloading ringtones. So, a few days ago, I went to zedge and started downloading for the new phone. I set it up so that when my calendar alerts go off (and the snoozes) Joey Tribiani (the character from Friends) says, "Hey, how you doin'?"
So, A left for Kindergarten yesterday and T went down for his nap. I set the alert for cleaning the house. It was set to snooze every five minutes. I had also created a job list for each room in the house. So, I'd go to the first room on the list and work on it until Joey said, "Hey, how you doin'?" Most of the time I responded to him with, "Much better than a few minutes ago." Even though I only gave each room five minutes, it was amazing what could be accomplished and I wasn't bored at all. I also worked my tail off to be sure I could clean out under my bed in five minutes, clean the front room windows and clean the toilet each in their five minute allotment.
To be honest, I got through the room lineup three times for each. My house wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it was so much better, and I was proud of myself for just getting over the overwhelmed feeling of it all and getting down to business. I woke up this morning trying to figure out when I could play the game again.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Just a Silly Little Game
Posted by Hesses Madhouse at 11:39 PM
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8 comments:
Great plan!
Does your phone play music too?
I clean much faster, and enjoy it too, when I am listening to tunes.
(But this is not to infer that I clean well or often with or without music).
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
-Della
Awesome! I love to clean to music too!
What a great plan. I've never heard of that website either. I need to clean much more often than I do. I realized yesterday when I was sweeping my kitchen floor that I can't remember the last time I mopped it. You can tell too.
That is such a great idea! I wish my calender was like yours! Mine, well its alright but yeah. That game sounds fun! Keep up the great work!!!
<3 Jeannie
Does that ringtone site actually work? Like does it cost money? I have been wanting to get ringtones but I don't want to buy any and heard about the site from your blog, and wondered if it works, and doesn't cost. Let me know!!
Thanks!
Way cool! Since I am still not teathered by an electronic leash I couldn't use that exact method, but I have a timer and could carry it with me. Way cool Julie! You are a genius- with a much neater house I am sure!
Love, megan
Yep, Jeannie, it really works, and it is completely free. I've found all kinds of treasures there. I even found this song (http://hessesmadhouse.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-love-to-singa.html), which I am going to use for my wake up alarm in the morning. Check it out! It's great!
I love that game! You made it work for you in a huge way. Fantastica.
Here's a house cleaning game my kids and I play. We call it "Bless our House", you know, 'cause that's what FlyLady called it. First: I made cards with every conceivable chore on them—clean out under couches, wipe windowsills, vacuum ___ room, wipe ____ bathroom counter—all the chores that need doing. Then when we play the game I choose out only the chores that need to be done.
We shuffle them like a deck of cards, put them face down, and set a timer for 30 minutes. And then we're off! We each choose a chore, race off to do it, when we're done we race back for another. We finish either when the stack is done or when the timer goes off, whichever comes first. And in 30 minutes the entire house is so much cleaner (and not just a fake, quick kind of clean!) that it is amazing. And then we're guilt-free and we can go play! :)
We do a different version even more like yours, too, where we all attack a room for five minutes together. Though we almost always need a second five minutes to really make the room look great.
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