Realistic Housewives - Toys

Do you ever feel like toys multiply overnight? Or when your kid has a birthday party you pray there aren't any toys that make noise or have 10,000 itty bitty pieces? Do you ever just sit and dream of all the toys being sorted and organized in nice neat baskets or bins? Or dream that your kids would play with one thing at a time and then put it away before pulling out something else to play with?!! Oh one can dream!

I suppose a real housewife would go around picking up after her kids so that toys aren't scattered all over the house. Or even better she would have trained her kids to put away before going on to the next toy. And her house would be straightened before the kids went to bed. Do you know someone like this? I don't. We like to believe that we are the only ones with cars on the kitchen counter, trains on the bathroom floor, and pink purses laying all over the living room instead of in the playroom or bedroom. So basically we think our house is the only one overrun with toys that need to be organized! We just don't want anyone to know that happens in our house!

Toys have always been a problem in our house being a mess. Even with a "playroom" they seems to take over the house. So this summer I am trying to implement some new rules to keep my sanity. We are doing two things - 1. making our beds everyday (which I blog about here) and 2. we are going to pick-up the house everyday before supper. I decided to do this so I don't feel like I'm living in chaos all the time. I also want to be able to do more fun things instead of constantly picking up. Also it is time my kids learn to help around the house. My hope is these things become a part of our routine which will make our lives much easier! One can hope!

So anyone else feel this way about toys? Any tips? If you have any leave a message and I'll do another post on it.

I forgot to take pictures before we cleaned up yesterday. Picture the train table a wreck. A train couldn't run on that track if he tried. And toys all over the floor. We did a lot of cleaning out and getting rid of toys we don't use anymore as well. My plan is to get a chalkboard and white board to hand on the wall so I can get rid of the easel combo chalk/white board that takes up a lot of space.


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This is the other side of the room looking into the foyer and dining room. See the toys that are spilling over into those rooms? Can you relate to that?!


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Realistic Housewives - The Bed

It seems in the world there are the people who make their bed and then the ones that don't. No in between. Well maybe except for when company comes over then you make the bed. I have never made my bed. Oh sure I've tried to be one of those that makes it as soon as they get out but it never lasts long. It fades quickly. But a real housewife would make it every day no matter what.

But the weird thing is when I get in the bed I have to straighten it up so it isn't messy. Drives my husband crazy! And I know you are thinking, "then why didn't you make it in the first place?!" Oh I don't know just didn't. Lazy. But with summer coming and three kids getting bigger and making bigger messes, I have decided that making beds everyday is in order for everyone! So starting next week all the beds will be made.

I do need to say that I told my husband about this the other day and the next day when he got up he made the bed! I beat him to it the next day but he has continued to do it the last two days! What a sweet husband! So we are turning over a new leaf!



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Dishes - Realistic Housewives

Dishes, dishes, dishes. A Real Housewife would clean up all the dishes after every meal/snack so that there are never any dirty dishes. A Real Housewife would make sure that the dishes go immediately into the dishwasher after using them and not let them sit in the sink for a couple of days or maybe longer. A Real Housewife would unload the dishwasher as soon as it was done so that she could start the process all over again.

I get so tired of doing the dishes. I try to put them in the dishwasher after they are used but that doesn't always happen and so they might sit for a while, or a day or two days. Something always comes up with one of the kids or we are running out the door to get to school or some activity and so the dishes wait. Or sometimes I have to confess I just don't want to do them right then and so the dishes sit. What I really hate is unloading the dishwasher. For some reason when those dishes are clean I can't seem to make myself put them away. That should be the easiest part, right? Thankfully, my husband came to my rescue! He unloads the dishwasher and I load it. It has made a real difference in the amount of dirty dishes that pile up in the sink.

I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem. I know at least one other person that has the same problem, my mom. Maybe that's where I learned it. HaHa! I love you momma!

"Realistic" Housewives

This is a new series of posts that I am going to do periodically called "Realistic" Housewives not to be confused with "Real" Housewives. I think that most of us believe that we are the only ones that don't have it all together. We look at our friends, women we work with, women who write other blogs, etc and think "man, I could never do all she does, how does she do it?! She home schools her kids, cooks everything from scratch, her house is always clean, clothes are always washed and put away, she has time to go to the gym, take her kids to all their activities, volunteer at ________, and the list goes on and on!" You know someone like this don't you? If it's you then stop reading and move on to someone else's blog cause this post will not pertain to you. I sometimes think of Bree on "Desperate Housewives." Don't judge - yes I use to watch that show! Anyway, she is the epitome of what we would think of as a "REAL" Housewife. She always had everything perfect. Of course her life was a wreck but from the outside you would never know it! I am not going to get into all that now but really just sticking to realistically what a happens as a housewife in my house.

I am here to set the record straight that most of us or probably all of us if we are honest, don't have it "all together." I guess some of us are better at time management or organizing than others which helps.  I use to try and compare myself to others but I have learned that really does no good. Comparison leads down a road of envy maybe jealousy. So I am trying to keep it real as a housewife.

So one of the things I am most realistic about is laundry. Living overseas spoiled me a teeny tiny bit. I guess I never knew how bad I was at it until we moved back to the states. You see while we living overseas I had a housekeeper who came once a week to clean and do laundry. I did the laundry occasionally but she did the bulk of it even ironing! Oh how I miss Sertap! (I do miss her for other reasons as well like her wonderful mercimek kofte.) Ok anyway, I was spoiled. But still I don't think I was that bad until I had kid #3. I think that was the big kicker. Having three kids has changed a lot of things! That's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it!

So onto laundry, I suppose a "real" housewife would wash and fold all in one maybe two days. That just never happens at my house. I might get 3 or 4 loads washed in one day but it might take a week (uh, maybe longer if I'm honest) to get it folded. Ever have to dig through laundry to find underwear or socks that match?! Folding laundry is one of chores I hate the most. I would wash all day long but fold...well it could sit and sit and sit. And it does sometimes. It ain't goin' now where. I can't wait for the day till my kids can fold their own clothes! So now you know that I am horrible housewife when it comes to laundry. #justkeepingitreal!

so I know you are wondering how long this laundry will sit here before it's folded!



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