Celebrating Small Accomplishments

As I look around my home where the everyday clutter is pulling ahead of my everyday cleanup, I have decided that I need to celebrate the stuff that I actually accomplished this week.  I find it helpful to occasionally look at what I did do so that I don't become too overwhelmed by the stuff that I didn't do, which is so much easier to see.  

For most of the week, I had a huge mountain of clean laundry in a pile outside the laundry room.  As I would take a load out of the dryer and pile it there, my intentions were to fold it while I watched American Idol that night or while I watched the little girls playing in the basement.  Did this happen?  No.  The kids were off school for holidays and snow days so they were staying up too late leaving me little time alone in the evening.  When I sat down to watch TV the laundry was too far away from where I was sitting, and I was really tired anyway, so I just forgot about it.  Because of this the pile kept getting bigger and when kids wanted socks or pants and came to me for them, I would say, "Haven't you looked in the pile in the basement?"  Of course they hadn't.  Finding a pair of socks in that pile required moving things, looking under them, maybe even sorting stuff.  That's a mom's job.  Soon, the pile of clean laundry became one of those overwhelming things that I hadn't done that day.  It was easier to ignore than face.  Until Thursday evening.  Ralph was in Kentucky, the kids knew they had school the next day and went to bed at a reasonable hour, so I faced down the pile of laundry and got it folded.  

As if getting that pile of laundry folded wasn't enough, I also put felt pads on the bottom of the rocking chair that was scratching my floor.  

I cleaned all the floors on the main level.  

I put away the Christmas lights that were in a pile in the entry.  

I found lost stuff for family members.

I shoveled snow off the walkways.  

I made dinner every night and usually got the dishes done.  

I taught Primary.  

I convinced kids to bathe.

I wiped up spills.

I plunged a toilet.

I put some beautiful roses on my table.

I helped with school projects and checked homework.  

I cleaned up toys even though I didn't play with them.  

I changed diapers.  

I gave kids rides.  

I sorted the Scrabble tiles so I would know which ones were missing.  

I even went to the gym most days and got a workout.  

See, even with an incomplete listing of the stuff I did, I feel better about the stuff I didn't do.  I mean, really, when would I have fit it in, and who would be looking under my bed anyway.