Clean.

One of my goals this year is to keep my house more orderly. That being said, I'm also adopting the attitude that it's totally okay if my house is a wreck. I follow I Heart Organizing (because I do - I'm obsessed with organization...especially for others ha ha) and I've pretty much stolen her cleaning check list. I created my own list in Excel that looks nearly identical to hers, but changed up slightly to fit our families needs (I added cleaning the litter box and deleted cleaning the stairs since we don't have any). I bought some laminating pages from Hobby Lobby, printed out my list, sandwiched it between the laminating pages, stuck a magnet strip on the back and hung it on my fridge.

Nick was looking at my list and saying things like putting an asterisk next to some things like vacuuming because it doesn't necessarily have to be done every day. I'm like, pfft. The clean police aren't going to come knocking on my door if I don't check off every single item on my "daily" section. While I do want to strive towards having a cleaner abode, I'm not going to stress out about it. Heavens knows that I don't want to be so busy keeping my house clean that I forget to enjoy the reason I'm home - Ben.

He's decided he doesn't mind the vacuum cleaner at all. He likes to chase after it, play with the cord and watch me vacuum. So I get to do that while he's up, and I don't need Nick to keep an eye on him while I do it, which is a bonus. Today he was staring at Sadie (who was outside, barking at squirrels) so I cleaned the microwave. While he naps, I'll clean our shower (ugh.... I hate cleaning the bathroom). He's a little helpful with putting toys away because he thinks it's a game, but he stops playing after a few things and wanders off. As he gets older, he'll be more help.

...But if I don't make my bed or sweep the kitchen floor today.... BFD. Life's for living, not for cleaning (but it does make me happy when my kitchen counters are tidy).