O.k., So I'm Weird...

Not like that is a surprise for anyone hanging around here.  But I am learning to wear it proudly.  Maybe someone else will share this eccentricity with me!

I love listening to podcasts and one of the ones I have been listening to lately is Sorta Awesome with Megan Tietz and guests.  One of the episodes I listened to featured Becky Rapinchuk of the blog Clean Mama.  I have to tell you here that I grew up in a home that was always in chaos.  There was lots of love and affection but keeping things neat and tidy was NOT one of the strengths of my parents.  I used to think it had to do with just not caring but since having Pk tested and realizing that she has a learning disability in executive function (organizing, managing day-to-day stuff), I have decided that my mom suffers from that, too.  But I digress.  I grew up a bit ashamed of having people over into the chaos and really not sure how to deal with that side of homemaking.  It's become a bit of a passion of mine since it feels to me like an important part of making our home a place of welcome and comfort.

During the podcast, the subject of her book came up and, given my abebooks addiction (I LOVE ordering second hand books almost more than anything!), I had to buy it.  I am not a fan of commercial cleaners and in earlier days, when I had only one child and not so many lessons and sports to run people to I was pretty crunchy about things.  This seemed right up my alley.

People, I LOVE this book!  My house smells so nice when I have cleaned using her recipes and there hasn't been anything especially hard to find - the most challenging so far was liquid castille soap but I found a lovely lavender one at my local grocery store in my small town, hooray!  I have to wait until the kids are in bed and then, I do 30 - 45 minutes of cleaning while I listen to a podcast or a book and I go to sleep with the house tidy and potentially going to stay that way, at least for 8 hours or so until the kids get up again.  It's silly how much pleasure I am getting from this but in my out-of-control life, having a little corner of my house that feels controlled is pretty awesome.

I'd love to hear about books that are making a difference for you, too!