Your Questions Answered

I am so flattered that so many people read my blog.  I received several emails in response to my last post!  I decided to do a special post where I answer a few of your questions right here on the blog. 

Q: How does your husband help out around the house? Does he watch your kids for you at all?  If so, how often? ~Kelly

A: Dear Kelly, thank you for your question.  I am truly flattered that there are people reading my blog whom I have never even met in person!  What started out as my attempt to document the life adventures of our little family for our newborn son to look back on one day has blossomed into so much more! First, I should mention that thus far we only have one child - a 4-month-old baby boy named Leo.  So I have no experience dealing with children who are actually able to throw things on the floor.  So far I only have experience with spit-up and poopy diapers (laugh).  

To answer your question, my husband is a tremendous help around the house. His organizational skills really inspire me.  We are both visual people, and it's become apparent to him that when the house isn't chaotic, everyone is happier.  He tries to help out as much as possible.  Our housekeeping is a team effort.

Mr. U works a 9-5  job about 20 minutes away from home.  Mr. U wakes up at 4:00 every morning to have quiet time in the morning where he can think.  He says that when he wakes up that early he feels like he's on top of the world! This means that he goes to bed around 8:00 p.m. every night in order to make this possible.  He goes to the gym in the morning three days a week (usually around 5:00 a.m.), and then showers at the gym before he goes to work (he has to be at work at 9:00 a.m.)  Mr. U comes home from work between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m.  Dinner is served promptly at 6:00 p.m.  At 7:00 p.m. Mr. U takes our baby for one hour (so from 7-8 p.m.)  which gives me 1 hour to tackle the tasks I couldn't get done while our baby was awake. This is also the time when I take my nightly bubble bath for relaxation.  I take over babywatch at 8:00 p.m, and Mr. U is in bed by 8:30 p.m.  In the morning, Mr. U helps out with the dishes if he has time.  I exclusively nurse our baby so it would make it difficult for Mr. U to watch our baby for a lengthy period of time.  Plus, if our baby cries, I always ask Mr. U to bring him to me.  To do otherwise would put Mr. U in an unfair position since he does not have breasts.  But Mr. U has only ever had to bring our baby to me once.  I think scheduling in the hour where Mr. U watches our baby has been a lifesaver.  When that hour is scheduled in, both of us expect it, so I don't have to feel bad about asking for it, and Mr. U has already prepared himself for it.  

Q: I know that the first step to becoming organized is to declutter, but I have a hard time parting with things.  How do you train yourself to let go of things? ~Rowena

Dear Rowena, my advice is to stop thinking about decluttering and just do it.  It gets easier and easier.  The more you do it, the more you will notice how much more pleasant it makes your life, and you'll want to do it.  You will eventually get into a mindset where you'll constantly be asking yourself questions like "Do I love this?" "Do I need this?" "Could somebody else use this?" etc, etc.  Just dive in!

Q: Is your husband as organized as you are? ~Alice

Dear Alice, yes, my husband is organized.  However, I can assure you that it wasn't always this way!  It took one of us taking the lead for the other to follow.  I have found that if everything has a place, and if I keep the house tidy, people are more apt to put things away.  For example, if you keep your coffee table clear, things that don't belong there will stand out, and people will be more likely to put them away.  Lead by example, and the rest of the family will follow.  It might not happen overnight, but I guarantee you'll see improvement.  

*Thanks for your questions! As always, feel free to email me at exobexo@yahoo.com

*As a side note, I really don't want to give anyone the impression that I'm totally organized and that I totally have my act together.  Thankfully, at least half of the people who read this blog actually know me in person, so they can attest to the fact that I still have a long way to go. My husband can also attest to the fact that there is also a pile of dust bunnies under our bed which I've been saying I'll vacuum up for about a month now.  I definitely still have my problem areas. That's why I hope to learn from everyone so that I can implement some of the things that you do into my own household routines :-)