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Here’s one for all the cleaning pragmatists

October 12, 2010

A lot of moms get really stressed out over cleaning. I used to be one of them, especially when it seems like I’m spending so much time cleaning and things never stays clean for more than half a day and I get all frustrated and start yelling at everyone a lot more, which is all so unnecessary. Until I discovered a formula to determine what needs to be cleaned up immediately and what doesn’t. Now my house is in a constant state of disarray but the important thing is that I feel SO much better.

Formula:

M (How bad is the mess) x B (How much does it bother you) / H (How long it is likely to stay clean) = C (Should I clean?)

Let me illustrate with examples to make it clearer.

#1: Kid’s Room = Don’t Clean

I call this the war zone because epic battles go on in here. At any given point in the day, someone will be emptying boxes of toys into a massive heap on the floor and then someone else will observe the destruction, throw her head back in maniacal laughter, and proceed to fling toys everywhere. Because it’s so fun to watch mommy grab her head and look horrified.

I used to categorize their toys into neat little boxes. One for vehicles, one for play cooking, one for animals, one for pirates and one for weird items (broken doll limbs, that kind of thing) that don’t fit anywhere else. I had a whole complicated organizational system going on that made the Dewey Decimal System look like child’s play. But the moment it’s all neatly packed up, they would drag out all the boxes and dump them onto the floor all over again in less than a second.

With the formula, I’ve learnt to leave it the hell alone. That way, I didn’t have to spend hours packing up or nagging at them to pack up only for it to be messed up again. WIN.

#2: Dishes, Laundry, Spills = Clean

No brainer. It’s relatively easy to clean and it stays clean for a decent amount of time. I mean, only slobs leave dishes piled up in the sink for weeks and I’m no slob. Only a cleaning pragmatist. There’s a difference.

#3: Living room = Debatable

I have clearly demarcated territory in my house. The kids know that toys are meant to be played with in the room but the occasional toy encroaches into my space and I put it right back where it belongs, i.e., the war zone. Other times, I leave it until the end of the day when I do my evening clean up of the house.

Cleaning is like money – there’s never enough. Everything could always be cleaner if it bothers you enough to get off your ass and put on those scrubbing gloves. Or if you have someone to do it for you then just flog them every now and then to give them some added motivation. But if you find yourself getting all high strung over cleaning, I suggest you try the formula and spend that cleaning time having a cup of coffee.

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Happee Day

More Happee Updates

October 11, 2010

I promised updates on Happee Day so let’s get right to it. We’ve got more sponsors who agreed to help out with the event and they are really awesome. Most of the booths are shaping up and I’m very excited. I think the kids are going to have a blast on 31 Oct. Can’t wait.

On top of the list of sponsors who have already pledged their support, I’m thrilled to say that we’re also working with the following people. Show them some love, aight?

1. Queenie from Artybody, our face and body painter for the day. Actually, to call her a face painter is a misnomer because she’s not your usual grab some face paint and draw some squiggly lines kind of face painter. She creates masterpieces on faces and other body parts that you won’t want to wash off for days. I mean, there’s even going to be glitter so you can look like a fairy princess or sparkle like Edward Cullen in sunlight (if you’re into that sort of thing).

2. Brenda from Baker’s Club, who is sponsoring cookie art. It’s like art, except on cookies. Kids can decorate it with all sorts of colorful edible stuff and then eat it, which is twice the fun.

3. Expressprint, who are helping to print the invitation cards, stickers, banners and posters.

4. Tracy, who offered to contribute these lovely journals as well as handmade photo frames for the kids. They are so pretty and happy and I am drooling over all the stuff in her craft blog.

5. Sharon (aka. Corsage), and her friends,  are putting together an activity kit for the kids so they have some fun art and craft stuff to do back home. Stuff like Roald Dahl books, tshirts, fabric paint, scrapbooking items and a whole lot more.

6. Jason and Verlyna, who are sponsoring a Happee Bag, sort of like a welcome kit for the kids.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to confirm the rest of the sponsors by this week and we’ll work out the program and assign all the volunteers with time to spare.

Speaking of which, the response for volunteers has been off the charts and I’d like to say thanks again for taking the time to make a difference in these kids’ lives. At the same time, I’m putting out a final call for an RSVP because we will be catering for the food, assigning each volunteer to a specific task and printing the stickers. Yes, all the volunteers (and your kids) will be issued official Happee Day stickers. So we do need to know if you are coming down.

For those who have confirmed your availability, I’ll be contacting you with tasking details soon. For those who are still arranging to be there, do let me know by this week if you can. Registrations will close once we have enough volunteers.

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picture perfect

Who needs color when you’ve got black and white

October 8, 2010

There was a time when I was so into black and white photography. There’s something so bittersweet and romantic about it, which suited my angsty teenage self just fine. It had nothing to do with how I felt so badass shooting in black and white with a film camera or the fact that my terrible pictures could pass off as artistic without color. Nothing like that at all.

Then I met color which was all happy and vibrant and made everything pop, which was great for taking photos of the kids and I’ve been shooting in color ever since.

But this batch of photos I took seemed just perfect for black and white, so I did a bit of Lightroom-ing and I think I’m in love with black and white all over again.

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