Kitchen Blessings

It said that the kitchen is the hearth of the home.  Or was it heart? (giggles)  Well my kitchen is the center of my home. It's right next to the living room, and is an open space, there is only one wall that seperates the office from the kichen.  There is a long hallway that takes you to the bedrooms, bathroom and laudry room.

If my kitchen is messy, you are able to see it from the living room, which then makes the living room look messy too.  I am not one of those born organized Mom's.  But I personally think that a messy home gets me into a depressed mood.

 I am a very distracted person.  So I might get distracted by certain tasks or hobbies and this house gets neglected.  When I first got married, I had a job and went to college.  So I only had a few hours to do house keeping before husband came home from work. 

Of course, no kids no toys to pick up, or spill ups in the kitchen.  So it was pretty easy keeping a home.  Then daughter came along.  I became a full -time Mom, after her birth.   Everything was the same, until she was able to walk, all over the place. 

I still was able to do mostly everything.  While she was taking naps, I will clean the bathroom and  the kitchen.  And when it was almost time for husband to come home, I will pick up all her toys.  And get her all nicely dressed and hair done.

Husband hated to see her all messy, like  she had just woken up.  But then Son was born, and I was never the same.  I am not sure what was the difference.  Now that I look back, I was probably going through post-partum depression and I never got it diagnosed properly. 

I was not able to sleep well at night.  When I had to wake up, to prepare my husband's lunch, I hated it, because I wanted to sleep more.  And to top it off, I now had three kids to take care of during the day, so napping for me was not possible.  Wait a minute, did I just said three?  Yes, I had three kids, my own two, and my niece.  My sister-in-law went back to work and I took care of her child. 

I had a four year old and two six month old babies, in my home.  So you can imagine the fun I had with them.  I do not know how I did it.  But I was able to do some work while the babies were napping.  Daughter was a little help too.  

As the kids got older, the house was more difficult to manage.  I became forgetful of important errands, that I needed to do for husband.  The arguements began and I sure did not like that.  

I am so glad my sister-in-law stoped working, because I had one less child to worry about.  Not that she was any trouble, but I think I had enough with my own at that time.  I still had things to work on.  I had to learn had to manage my time well.  How to use it wisely.

The one person that I thank for helping me keep my sanity is Jesus.  My faith in Him, and the knowledge of his word, was able to bring me peace in the midst of CHAOS.

 I still felt, I should find a way to keep organized.   And how to keep my house from looking cluttered and messy.   So I searched the net, and I came across the Flylady System.  I have told you about it before. 

Out of all the books I have, on home organization, the one book that I keep coming to and will recommend to everyone is Sink Reflections, by  Marla Cilley- The Flylady.

 Keeping your sink shiny is one of the first learned habits in the Flylady system

Every week we go through an area or zone in our homes.  This week was the kitchen zone.  So here are some pictures of my kitchen.

Here is some of the wall decor in my kitchen:

You can see that my theme is Jalapeno Peppers.

Just a hint of Mexico.

To finish off this week, I continued my way down to the home office.

My sister got me the Flylady doll.  I also keep a small print out of this icon in my kitchen, bathroom and laundry room.  As a reminder that I can always get back on track by following my daily routines.

 Why do I want a clutter free home, and well organized?  Not just for my family, but also for me.

I deserve to have a peaceful clean home.

But to get it clean, does not mean I need to spend all my day cleaning. 

Or that I need to do all the work.

And it doesn't  have to be perfect.

Take baby-steps and you will get there too.