When You Need To Find The Wind To Fill Your Sail.

Photo Credit: Owen Duncan

​"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” 
― L.M. Montgomery
I repeat this phrase to myself almost everyday. However, this particular morning I awoke to a sink and counter filled with dishes, a mountain of laundry still to fold, and more toys OUT than IN their nice neat hiding places. I knew I had a workday filled to the max and about 10 free minutes before I needed to walk out the door.  I felt frustrated as I realized that lately this had become my "normal" morning. I remembered a trick I learned that said to spend 10 minutes tidying up as fast as you can. I had A LOT more than 10 minutes of chores and little motivation, but I figured I'd go for it. Believe it or not, that 10 minutes got me cleared-off counters, an empty sink, and a tidied-up family room.  I was surprised to see how much I could actually get done in so little time, and  it felt great leaving the house in a mild state of sanity. I felt a small bit of wind catching up into my sail. I would have to remember that trick in the future. Then I started to wonder if I could get the younger kids to do the same "race the clock" style straightening. I mean, we DID still have all that laundry to put away! That night after dinner I told them they needed to fold and put away their clothes before any screen time and added that I would be up in 10 minutes to inspect. I shooed them all upstairs, and I got busy with the dinner dishes so as not to wake up to all the chaos again in the morning. It probably took more like 15-20 minutes, but it all got done. Finding something to motivate you and get that wind in your sails when you have chores to do -- and little time to do them -- can mean a great start to the day for everyone. I mean, there is something to be said for having a clean coffee cup and a pair of socks that you can actually find in the morning, am I right? By "racing the clock" that morning I had found the motivation to get SOMETHING done, and in fact, I was surprised by how much got cleaned up. By asking for help from the kids that night and motivating them with "no screen time until it's done and inspected," I had the wind I needed to fill my sail to do another sink filled with dinner dishes and finish the day out well, AND my coffee cup and socks were waiting for me in proper spots the next morning.