The Hopeful Homestead

The Simple Life...

Do you ever catch yourself making things more complicated than they need to be?  In your quest for simplicity do you ever get hung up on the nuts and bolts of the thing, and forget to enjoy the "simplicity of simplicity"?

I ask, because I've just found myself guilty of this.  You see, I'm a fan of FlyLady, I have my list of things to do (routines) in a page protector on my fridge so I can use a dry-erase and check things off every day as I've done them.  Sounds good, in theory.  Problem is, I've got so many things on my list that I haven't been using it.  AHA! Something that is meant to help me stay organized is now making me feel guilty.  I fear I've become one of those moms that she gets testimonials about (not so nice ones) who are spending so much time cleaning and organizing that they don't have fun.  NOT the point of FlyLady, this is my fault, not hers... My Fly Timer is right above the offending list telling me 'just 15 minutes', but somehow I have been missing the point.  Now that I'm also trying to homeschool the girls, this has become very obvious to me.  SO today I SET THE TIMER! (duh!) and cleaned up the kitchen, then for another 15 I ironed Al's workshirts.  Now I'm here.  I plan to open word here shortly and revamp my list.  To 2 short columns instead of 3 long ones.  One for daily chores, and one for weekly.  That's the point of FlyLady, to adapt it to your needs. 

So rather than rushing through hanging clothes, so I can hurry and bake bread (forgetting it and having it fall like the other day) I'm going to make a real effort to stop and listen to the birds, and enjoy the quiet and sunshine while I'm outside at my clothesline.  Then, when I'm done I will try to be mindful of how much I ENJOY baking for our family.  And I'm going to try to stop PLANNING so much the "perfect" (ugh!) way to homeschool, and be happy with the time I'm getting with the girls while we actually DO it.

After all, living the simple life is supposed to be just that.  Simple.  Peace.  Shari

Untitled Comment

08:54, Sunday, August 5, 2007 .. Posted by leighannwhitten

Amen sister!! Aren't we all guilty of this once and a while...I know I am. I brings me up short when I realize it. Simple is the way I want to be and sometimes it's hard to remember to find the joy in the simple things. Good luck on your quest. Maybe we can keep each other on track. Love and Peace, Leigh-Ann