So, um, when you said daily non-negotiables, you meant I have to do them every day? Not just partway done, but all the way done, right? See, I understand this part, I really do. I can totally get how spending just 30 seconds to a minute sweeping every day and five minutes putting the dishes into the dishwasher and another five to ten minutes handwashing the bottles really keeps the jobs from piling up. So if I understand this, how come I have such a hard time doing it?
Dishes
My first non-negotiable is dishes. The goal is to put the dirty dishes onto the counter or in the dishwasher (depending on if the dishwasher is holding clean or dirty dishes), as opposed to letting them languish on the sink (attracting more unrinsed dishes...you know how it goes). The idea being that if the dishwasher is full enough to run a load at bedtime, I can run it at night and empty it in the morning. Instead, since I didn't empty the sink last night, I had some pretty serious piles of dishes to deal with this morning. So, I put it off, and put it off, and put it off some more...right up until DH was able to take both boys for the evening and I could focus on the dishes. I rinsed the dishes in the sink, then ran hot soapy water so I could handwash the bottles, lids, nipples, sippy cups, and coffee machine accessories. Granted, there were more bottles and lids due to the pantry cleanup I did yesterday (I found quite a few dusty items that I wanted to wash before using them). As you can imagine, this task took closer to 45 minutes, rather than the 15 it should have. Sigh. Looks like I'll be rededicating to this one tomorrow, starting with putting away the dirty dishes while my breakfast toast is toasting.
Sweeping (or Beware the Silent Toddler)
My second non-negotiable is to sweep the foyer and kitchen, and maybe the breakfast nook. Last night, if you remember, I only swept the kitchen. It paid off this afternoon, when I discovered why my toddler had been playing quietly in the kitchen.
My suspicions were aroused when I called to him, and he came trotting into the living room, wiping his hands on his shorts. I knew immediately what he had likely been doing. I was right.
We keep the kitty food and water in the kitchen, and I try to refill both at least twice a day. For the most part, my toddler is okay with leaving the water alone, and he'll even help out by collecting the food kibbles that the cats carry with them to other parts of the house (presumably to eat them later, but later never comes) and bringing the kibble back to the food bowl. Sometimes, though, he gets it in his head to play with the water bowl. Usually, this means gently splashing water all over that corner (can you hear the sarcasm in "gently"?). Today though...
Yeah. All the food, dropped/poured/scooped/I-don't-even-know into the water bowl. A moment of parent-to-toddler discipline and then I had to clean it up. Fortunately, most of any spilled water ended up on the wash cloth (which, by the way, is only there because of previous water incidents caused by said toddler), so it was just a matter of throwing out the wet food, rinsing the water dish, and refilling both bowls accordingly. Oh, and sweeping. Since I had swept the kitchen the night before, this was pretty easy. Hooray for easy clean up!
Of course, I put so much effort into doing the dishes this evening and the boys were having a rough evening that I didn't get around to fully sweeping the foyer and kitchen, as is actually required by my non-negotiable. I'll have to make time for that tomorrow.
To anyone else reading, have you met Nony yet? You should definitely check her out at A Slob Comes Clean. Roam around, click a few links, and then go here if you want to read through her blog the way she recommends.
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