Last Minute Mel: Resolutions and a whole lot of rambling

Happy New Year!
2010 has a great ring to it, and since it wouldn’t take a lot to beat 2009, let’s hope the year is a good one for everyone. We had a lovely evening at home saying goodbye to ‘09 and welcoming the New Year. Big P came home with some party hats and noise makers, so all I ended up having to make was the 2010 eye glasses, which the kids decorated. They also filled in a 2009 Favorite Things Worksheet – which basically consisted of a blank piece of printer paper, with a spot to write their name and the year on top, and then I wrote out a list of their Favorites Things of the Year, such as friends, sports, games, video games, colors, animals, candy, food etc. and they filled them in. They actually quite enjoyed thinking about all their "favorites" and so we shall do this every year, and re-read the lists every New Year’s Eve.

Last New Year’s Eve, we had family in town and after dinner we discussed each person’s Funniest, Happiest, Worst, Best etc. Moments of The Year. I had taken down notes, so we could look at the list again the following New Year’s Eve (which would be this one…) but I could not find where I had put them. Surely with the Christmas stuff, but apparently not…. I do this all the time, so it’s not surprising to anyone…and of course I will find the list sometime in January…

Anyhoo, on that note, the year is off to a good, but disorganized start. I haven’t had a chance to sit down and really think about my goals and hopes for the year, but there are some very obvious Resolutions, such as Get Organized, that seem to have a permanent place on the top of any list of Resolutions I will ever make for myself. Specifically, Household Organization. My husband and I like things neat, tidy and organized, however, to walk into our house, you would never imagine that we are actually like this. Unless, of course, you let us know ahead of time that you will be coming over, then I will go into a frenzy, picking up, tidying up, neatening and straightening and not allowing the children to touch Anything In The House. Not Even Their Toys - Especially Not Their Toys. After all, that is the cause of most of the chaos to begin with....
But since most of my friends are always popping in ~~uninvited~~ unexpectantly, they know to expect a well lived in house...

I find it is next to impossible to keep an organized house living in a small space, but I know that I am full of excuses and that it can be done…with a lot of consistency and effort. But for someone who is not a big fan of domesticity, it is a bit of a challenge. I love my family and family life, I am just Not A Fan of the constant cleaning and tidying up and laundry and cooking and general menial household work. I know some Mother’s live for that stuff, or maybe some Mother’s just do it gladly without complaining, but I am a bit of a dud in that area. I mean, I do it, I just do not enjoy doing it.

I wouldn’t mind so much if it was every now and then, but it seems like every second of the day there is something to pick up, something to put away, dishes to wash, laundry that piles up, floors needing to be swept or mopped... It makes me wonder if living in a small house is a good or bad thing. Good, because there is less of it to keep tidy and organized or Bad, because within 5 seconds of the kids walking through the door, every single square foot of space in the house is covered in an explosion of hats, gloves, boots, toys, art work and everything else under the sun.

I know I should not complain – I should be more American and resolve to become super proactive about my shortcomings, but I blame the British in me…the truth is that I do like a good bitch and a moan. Did Lily Allen sing that? (Must get one of her CD’s this year…) But in all seriousness, I need to shift my focus away from the drudgery and focus more on the bright side and be thankful for every single thing I have.

And I do try – I do stuff like put up little signs, like the one that used to be above my kitchen sink that says:

“Thank God for dirty dishes, they have a tale to tell.
While others are going hungry, we are eating very well.
With health and home and happiness, I shouldn’t want to fuss.
For by this stack of evidence, God’s been very good to us.”

Author Unknown

I know, I am such a nerd, but that leads me directly to New Year’s Resolution Numbah 2, which is...Shifting My Perceptions. To shift my focus away from disliking the menial stuff to being thankful that I have a house to clean; a husband and kids to pick up after, clothes to wash; food to cook and dishes to wash. Not to mention a dishwasher and clothes washer and dryer to help.
And, in the words of Sarah Ban Breathnach (Simple Abundance), I must strive to “find the sacred in the ordinary.”

I will sign off with a quote from A Course in Miracles: