An Accomplished Woman

In order to understand my feeling of accomplishment yesterday evening I need to explain my cleaning strategy at home.  A few years ago I was talking to my mom about getting caught up in a book and not doing any housework that day, and she gave me an idea.  When I was caught up in a good book, just set the timer on the microwave for 15 minutes and read, then get up at the beep, reset the timer for 15 minutes, and spend 15 minutes cleaning a specific area or room.  "It's amazing what you can accomplish in 15 minutes of focused cleaning!" she said.  So I tried it. Pretty soon, it became not just my strategy for when I was having a hard time putting a book down, but just for keeping my whole house in order all of the time in general.  


I'll set the timer and clean the kitchen furiously for 15 minutes.  When the timer beeps, that's it for the kitchen (even if there are still things that could be done) and I'm on to the dining room.  I like this method because it's hard to be focused on something for more than 15 minutes at a time when you have young children anyway, and it takes away the overwhelming feeling of looking at the house and wondering where to start.  It also allows for working on different things every day.  For instance, if I just dusted the den the day before, today after picking up all the clutter, I might dust the baseboards or I might have time to clean the microwave or vacuum my closet.  


It's always been a goal to spend 15 minutes in every single room of my house, but that has never happened.  You know, in between cleaning, I'm fixing juice cups, changing diapers, changing clothes, bathing children, working out, playing games, and running errands, etc.


But yesterday...oh, yesterday, I cleaned every single room of my house.  I include my walk-in closet as a room, so 9 rooms times 15 minutes adds up to 2 hours and 15 minutes of cleaning, plus a few 15-minute rounds doing laundry.  How was I able to achieve this?  This girl:

While in the midst of playing computer games, she saw me dusting in the den and offered to help.  She likes dusting.  She helps around the house frequently but usually fades out and into her room playing after a little while.  But not yesterday.  Yesterday Ella was motivated to help me get as much as possible done before James woke up from his nap.  Here are all the things she did all by herself: made my bed, put away toys, cleaned the bathroom sinks, gathered laundry, put away folded clothes, and dusted.  She was a cleaning wonder.  I was so proud of her.  We were on such a cleaning frenzy, we even decided to go outside and cut the grass to surprise KJ.  He was out late at the county jail (preaching, that is).

I have NEVER cut the grass in all my life.  Never.  And I've still never cranked up a lawn mower, because this is what we have:

KJ enjoyed a good laugh at my expense when he drove up to find me thus.  No, my job wasn't perfect but it was just a trim, I explained.  He cut the grass on Thursday, but with all the rain we've had it's been growing quickly.  So, maybe it wasn't perfect, but it was a lot of fun.  I love that little lawn mower.

And that my friends, the story of my day off accomplishments.  It falls a little short from this list:

"No one can be really esteemed accomplished who does not 

greatly surpass what is usually met with.  A woman must have 

a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, 

and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, 

she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, 

the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, 

or the word will be but half deserved."

- Caroline Bingley in Pride and Prejudice