simple living...who knew it would actually WORK?

So...I'm feeling a little guilty about my post yesterday and when the kids grow up they'll know how totally slack i could be at times. I think i should write about some things i'm proud of. Lately, i've been feeling really good about our home and the amount of crapola it contains. I think we've FINALLY reached a manageable level (of crapola). For the most part; the house basically stays clean (not perfectly dusted or anything worthy of me sharing with Flylady). There are no toys upstairs, things get put in their place. The kids have a simple morning routine which involves making their own beds and getting dressed, putting their reading time books back on the shelf, etc. This can take 6 minutes or over an hour depending on how focused they are...that's okay...there's no time limit on it, they just can't get to lessons until it's done. They've been doing this since each turned 2 so the beds didn't actually look 'made' for several years..but that's alright too. I just say "Nice job!" if they've made the effort and let them wear whatever clothes they wanted. While they're doing this i have time for my own morning routine and our morning ritual makes for a good start to the day.
Mostly i give credit to having a small house. This house is the PERFECT size for us right now (and if the kitchen had major modifications and doubled in size i'd want to live here forever). There is no room to throw clutter and procrastinate sorting...and that's a very good thing for me. All the rooms stay pretty straightened and if needed we can do a quick run through for guests and have it looking quite nice (granted, my standards may be lower than yours 'quite nice' is a relative term) in under 10 minutes. Another thing that helps with is this is that my certain belief that Finished is better than Perfect. It makes for some pretty 'creative' knitting projects that i DO complete.
I'm proud that my weekly donations to the thrift store, not shopping, being VERY selective in my purchases, and weeding through all the loads of stuff we somehow constantly acquire has finally gotten me to the point where i feel control over the stuff and keeping house. I can hear some of you snickering that I never stressed about a messy house...this is true...because, honestly, i just don't care that much. But i still did wish for a house that stayed pretty clean and to not be a big job i dreaded doing.
I'm there! Yay! Thanks, Roomba- I love you!
Other things I'm proud of: The kids have never slept away from us until last weekend. In all 11 birthday parties no one has ever had one of those gross frosting, tacky, store-bought cakes. Most days I don't cry or yell at the kids and we have really lovely, wonderful days together. Some days are so much fun you wouldn't believe me if I told you and I feel like I could burst with love. I'm proud I taught Jackson to knit on sticks yesterday and he's sitting on the chair with a furrowed brow, working very hard on his SECOND animal cape creation right now. I'm proud that Billie just said "Jackson look at the kite I made...do you want me to make one for you? I'll need to cut off the string to your balloon...but it'll turn out to be an excellent kite."
There. Some good things. I'll get out of the hammock again in August, I won't keep up reading four books a week forever. And it won't really hurt Sloane if she grows up and when reading Anne Tyler books somehow, they remind her of Curious George.