February 08, 2002 - 9:06 p.m.
Another week gone already. And February used to feel like the longest month of the year.
Ever since I came home from my mother's house in January, I've been looking around my own and trying to figure out a way to get a handle on it, short of trying to budget a maid service. Not that I would be entirely comfortable with a maid service. I think I'd feel compelled to clean before they came. But my housekeeping skills are pretty bad and something needs to be done.
Granted, the comparison with my mother's house is not entirely fair. She's traded children at home for my retired father who seems to find housework an interesting novelty. And she doesn't have an explosively shedding dog. Nonetheless, each time I come home I look around and start making lists of things to do.
So on Sunday I decided to assign a task to each day of the week - nothing monumental, just something I could achieve in a average, toddler-chasing day. Monday's was to empty all the trash cans and get the trash out of the house for Tuesday's pick up. Tuesday's task was to pick up clutter. Wednesday was to sweep and vacuum downstairs, mop if time and Zack's nap permitted. Thursday was supposed to be a catch-up day for anything missed on the previous days and Friday was laundry.
If I'm lucky, I did half of it. And here is it Friday night and the house looks pretty much the same as it did last weekend - excepting, perhaps, the kitchen because Mike and I are finally working out a system to keep dishes out of the sink. Even the laundry isn't finished.
To make matters worse, my March issue of Real Simple came in the mail today, urging me on another crazy mission of household organization.
Argh! I feel like Genie's second rat.
