Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Lessons I could learn

There's nothing like living with someone for an extended period of time to make you watch their habits.

My mother-in-law Pam.... Man! Could I learn a thing or two from her!

Someone said to me recently, "Well, Pam will certainly make sainthood."

It's true. :)

But one particular thing I'd love to rub off on me/learn by living here, is the Principle of Ground Zero.


The Principle of Ground Zero is this: Every night after dinner the kitchen, dining room, and living room get returned to their proper "normal" and thus the next day we start from Ground Zero.

This includes: Washing all the dishes, clearing the table and cleaning, replacing the tablecloth, taking all the dirty linens to the laundry room, putting away every day (instead of letting them airdry and having to put them away in the morning!!), vacuuming the floors, and then mopping the kitchen floors with a vinegar/water mix and a rag.

Do you know how sparkling clean her kitchen looks at the end of the night? It's inspiring!

I hope to adopt that plan when we get into our place. I think it would make a world of difference for me.

Oh, and one more thing - there's always a clean rag and three different cleaners (all vinegar and water combos, varying strengths) sitting on the kitchen counter. It means there's always a cleaner within arms reach, and it also means that no child can hurt themselves on the cleaners! Awesome idea, right?

*** Mom, you're amazing! Thanks so much for all you've done while having us here! ***

8 comments:

  1. my mom made us do that frowing up, after dinner we had "clean up time" and everything had to return to it's proper place. If we left something out after given that chance it went into a basket, and we had to buy it back by trading things in for it.. for instance if I would have left out a toy then I could get it back by trading in 15 of my 30 minutes to wach t.v. that day... we learned how to pick everything up quickly

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  2. My mom does that, always has, and especially living down south with year round bugs I need to get better about it too. I'm a big fan, of the "put leftovers in fridge, dishes under water in sink for tomorrow morning" method of cleaning though, or at least that's what's habit for me.

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  3. I'm moving house tomorrow - and that is so gonna be my mantra in the new house... I'm making up a little "Ground Zero" sign right now to pop on my Kitchen Notice Board :)

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  4. If you are really interested in making some money in the home, sewing isn't going to do it. Did you time yourself when you made that cute little dress? Supplies, cutting, sewing, etc. How much per hour did you make, if anything?

    I am a licensed home childcare provider. There is a screaming need for infant care. If you took in only one infant, you wouldn't need to be licensed (in most states). You might even consider taking in a child the same age as one of your own, because then they'd be playing all day together. It's really easy money if you have your own kids anyway.

    It's such a good business (I'm licensed) that I was able to buy a house last year!

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  5. We do this too, but I don't vacuum and mop *every* night.

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  6. Do you know why your mom has different strengths of vinegar/water cleaner? I usually see it mixed equal parts so I would love to know her reasons. Thanks!

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  7. I am going to start this tonight! I do the dishes but that's usually all. Yay, I'm excited about Ground Zero! Hope you are settling in well. Have you permanently left NZ?

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  8. I love my mother-in-law too - it is so special to have someone wonderful like that, especially when you hear so many 'horror stories!'

    I have a blog award for you - http://erikajo.blogspot.com/2010/10/blogger-award.html

    Have a wonderful day!
    ~Erika

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