routine

I'll admit it. I've never been obessive about a clean house. I'm okay with a smattering of cheerios on the floor until the morning or a sink with dishes left from yesterday.

Lately though, something changed. I don't know what sparked it but I'm suddenly finding this little burst of energy after Noella is down for the night to clean up the house. Nothing intense just generally picking up what was left to do from the day and the dishes even get done. It's unusual because I am not the type to worry about those things. They can always be done in the morning. Not any more. This new whatever it is kind of takes over and in about 35 minutes all my normal "chores" are done. Including mopping. I've mopped three times this week. THREE! That's some kind of record I tell ya. 

I used to just wait until just before Jason came home to start cleaning (around 4) and then go right into cooking dinner but then I realized, after dinner, there is always food on the floor, toys are taken back out as well as books so why bother? 

This new routine makes my days much happier. I can just get up in the morning and put away the dishes and be on my way. Gone are the days of Noella fighting with the broom or dishes for my attention. We can just settle in and I don't worry about much cleaning until bedtime. Then Noella puts away all of her toys and books, we get ready for bed and she even puts her clothes into the hamper now before bed. It's making things run a little more smoothly in our house. It also frees up naptime for me to have a little time by my self to do what I'd like to, be it editing photos, reading or working on my cross stitch project (a little more on that later). I wonder why I never thought of this before. 

I can tell you, I'm not at all opposed to a two year old with chores. Teach them while they are young I say! She is so obedient about it too (9 times out of 10. There are always days where she's had enough and doesn't want to do anything).  She knows exactly where everything goes now too. She even piles all of her pots and pans into her little sink. Everything has it's place in her little world and it's just so darling. I hope our next babe is as awesome as she is. 

I also hope against hope that I can keep this momentum going. I'm liking having a clean house.