I have received hundreds and hundreds of emails asking me questions such as how do I come up with my weekly Lazy Mom series posts, do I really clean that way, are the photos real or staged and am I really a "Lazy Mom?"
O.k., so maybe I only received ONE email but I'm sure that she spoke for all the rest of you, right? ;) And besides, it gave me something to write about today. So let's get to it.
ARE YOU REALLY A LAZY MOM?
Yes, I am really a Lazy Mom. I love a clean, tidy home and work hard to keep it that way. But we also live in this house and I am a busy person (aren't we all?), so it does tend to get messy from time to time.
Sometimes I just get tired and lazy and I don't WANT to clean, but I have to because I don't like the clutter and chaos. So I bribe myself by promising it will be easy, fast, and painless.
I also like to have fun and be motivated at the same time. So I really DO like to race the timer and I really DO like to alternate between work and fun breaks when I can.
There's a motto that goes something like "Work smarter. Not harder."
My Lazy Mom motto is: Make it easy, make it fun and get it done!
I believe that you can have fun while cleaning and organizing. So I watch t.v. or listen to music when I can. Occasionally I might get a little distracted by a good movie but I get right back to focusing again. Usually.....
HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH YOUR LAZY MOM POSTS?
Many times the posts come out of cleaning/organizing projects that I am actually doing around here. For example, Monday I sat down and cleaned out one of my bottom kitchen cupboards and so later in the day I wrote this post about it. I really DID clean it out that way, minus the crying part, lol!
So I clean or organize and then think, HEY! That would make a great Lazy Mom post! I just write up a post about what I did (such as this cleaning the fridge post) and another LM post is born.
Sometimes I look at something and think oh wow, THAT needs to be cleaned and I start thinking "How could I do that the Lazy Mom way and make it easy and fun?"
Today I was starting to clean and organize an area and I stopped a moment and thought "I should take a picture of this!" so I tossed the few things back that I had already removed (lol!) and went and grabbed my camera.
Next Tuesday it will be a Lazy Mom post. That picture is both real AND staged at the same time. It's a real mess that I had already started cleaning, but it was staged in that I threw a few things back so that I could take a messier picture of it. I had already removed them before I thought of making a LM post out of it.
ARE THE PICTURES REAL OR STAGED?
Well, both, actually. It depends.
Some of the photos are "before" photos, such as mentioned above, when I have decided that something needs to be cleaned or organized and so I take a before picture, just in case I want to use it for a future Lazy Mom post or some other post.
Then when I do a Lazy Mom post on it, I already have a picture! I'm always taking pictures of messes or crazy things around here and my hubby is always laughing at me or saying "I don't even want to know."
Some of the photos are staged, such as this post when I decided to do a Lazy Mom post on cleaning the living room. However, my living room was already clean but I wanted a messy one for the picture.
So I just grabbed a laundry basket and threw a bunch of CLEAN kitchen towels in it that were already folded and put away (I had to unfold them for the shot and then fold them again and put them away, lol!), grabbed some clean dishes from the kitchen and put them around, tossed my coat and purse on the loveseat, tossed a blanket and some pillows around, and grabbed a tissue box and a magazine and set it down and took a picture of it all.
It's not like I'm doing a "before" and "after" shot so it's really not a problem if I do stage something.
DO YOU REALLY USE LAUNDRY BASKETS TO CLEAN AND ORGANIZE WITH?
Absolutely! All the time. They're sturdy, it's easy to use them to sort stuff into, they have carrying handles and I already have them around. Plus it encourages me to keep up with my laundry so that they're empty and I can use them, such as I did in this post!
DO YOU REALLY CLEAN THAT WAY?
Yes. And no. I really do squats when I load the dishwasher or dust. But not ALL the time, just some of the time. I really do lunges when I vacuum. Sometimes. Sometimes I dance! And sometimes I just skip the fun and vacuum like a boss!
I really use baskets to sort and organize and bags to toss garbage into. I really race the timer sometimes and work hard for 15 minutes and then goof off for 15 minutes, and then go back and work another 15 minutes, etc. Sometimes I will work away at something for 45 minutes or a couple of hours with little to no breaks. It just depends.
I really will listen to music when I do dishes and I really will watch t.v. when I fold laundry, unpack a suitcase, clean a messy drawer or clean the living room. Why not?
But I believe in motivating myself and having fun and if I can sort or fold laundry and watch a fun t.v. show while doing it, I am so THERE!
DO YOU REALLY LIKE AND REWARD YOURSELF WITH M&M'S?
Well, duhhhhhh! Yeah....... ;)
Note: While we're on the subject of questions, I would love for you to leave me a comment or email me if you have any questions that you'd like to see me do a blog post on or any questions you'd like me to answer! So feel free to leave your questions in a comment or pop me an email. That way I'll get another blog post out of your questions and YOU get to do all the hard work thinking it up and I only have to answer, lol! ;)
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