Homekeeping Schedule: Why it's important! (Part 2)

Monday I talked... floundered... through some of why it's important to have a schedule to keep your home. Monica did a better job, I think. Basically, it's just hard to go the extra mile when we're tripping over clutter and discouraged by mess.

Then there are the extra times we have to say no to the requests of our littles...
Can't play/work at the table because it hasn't been wiped down yet. Can't play under the table because it hasn't been swept. Can't spread out something messy on the floor because it needs to be vacuumed. Really... the list can go on!

And what about "Mommy, can you play with me?" "No honey... I have to do something about this house."

Ugh!

Well... there is another important reason for keeping a home keeping schedule... one I was all too aware of yesterday when I got the call.

Funny, because a few weeks ago, I read this post by Copperswife, which you simply must read! Now that my husband is a practicing EMT volunteering with our local station on Tuesday evenings, it hit me even harder! Coupled with the occasional comment from My Beloved that we could sometimes be considered one of "those houses" the EMTs would be required to report should they be called into our home... ouch.

Offended? Yes. For a minute. Then I remembered that he loves me (really loves me) and never says anything to hurt or attack or make me feel bad. I thought about what he said. Thought about this story from Copperswife. And I realized how much dishonor I bring (or would bring if anyone happened upon us in our messiest times) to my husband.

What's that verse again??? "She brings him Good, not harm all the days of her life." (Proverbs 31:12) Dishonor sounds like harm to me!

Back to yesterday's phone call. Sometime around 2:30, My Beloved called, "Have you heard from my mom?"

I knew then that something was wrong. Not that Mom doesn't call, but for him to be asking meant something. And I hadn't. Usually this means something is wrong with a brother or sister in law, a grandparent, or something. But usually it's his dad that's calling... and occasionally about Mom.

Dad was in the hospital... confused. Possible stroke. And we didn't know anything else. His brother had called.

I hung up the phone after an "I love you" and "I'll pray" and I looked at my sweet baby (sitting and laughing with me before the phone rang) and knew what I needed to do.

We didn't know what the next report would be. Didn't know how serious it was. But I did know that if it was serious, we'd be leaving. I'd have packing to do. Preparations to trek our 3 littles the 8 hours to Michigan. And I knew... I just knew... I couldn't leave our house like this.

One thing after another had kept me from folding laundry and washing dishes all day. The carpet is in dire need of being vacuumed. The floors need to be swept. The bathroom... yeah.

I settled (thankfully) contented baby into his play chair and set out to get those dishes done as fast as possible, all the while realizing that there would be so little to do if I had just followed my schedule that morning... let alone lived a schedule every day.

Imagine. If I followed my homekeeping schedule every day (or at least most days), I could have pulled my entire house to "company ready" in 10-15 minutes. But no. When My Beloved got home early at 3:30 I was just starting with my second load of folding. From there I worked on tackling other little projects. Granted, it was nice to have something to occupy my hands while we waited, but if we'd needed to pack up and leave in an hours time, none of that would have been done.

No big deal right? Priorities... right? Who cares when faced with family emergencies.

Now imagine if our home were broken into or our landlord needed to let himself in while we were gone. What would they see? What would they find? Perhaps if it's just a matter of myself being embarrassed, that's one thing. But am I willing for it to embarrass... dishonor my sweet husband.

No... I am not.

And so you see why I've determined that it is so very important for us to schedule... and then follow that schedule... our home keeping duties!

(Note: Seems to be that My DFIL is ok. I know you were all going to ask. No stroke. No tumor. Confusion and forgetfulness passed. Praise God!)


Did you look through and think through your own possible schedule this week? There is still time. We're going to spend this next week on this topic too. I just didn't feel like I was done with the importance of doing it part.


So, tell me... anyone have an embarrassing "someone saw my mess" story? I know we'd all love to hear it. Leave a comment or a link to your own post!

Labels: Suzy meets P31

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:48 PM