My house is a wreck

[PrairieRose]

after all that has been going on for the last 2 months with my mother's illness, the painting and move, having company during this time on and off.... I'm not sure it will ever be the same again. I'm off to do some , some cleaning and then

How do you cope when your world gets turned so upside down?

[AmyBoz]

One step at a time, Lisa.

[Darlene]

Sending you healing hugs.

[FrugalMomof3]

one step at a time! Take it easy!

[canadian gardener]

give myself permission to pace myself, which means naps are more important than pulling it back together. Commercial break cleaning, meaning I watch TV and do little bursts in the commercials, as I feel up to it.

Sometimes I just sleep a lot.

Then priorities. Stuff that interferes with breathing comes before stuff that just looks messy or dirty.

I always take weeks to months to recover from big changes and challenges. It's taken me almost 9 months to recover from last Junes epic adventure of having my very assorted group of fruits and nuts aka my family assembled for my kid's double graduation and degree granting.

That just is what it is. Chronic health problems well managed leave us with the surface illusion that all is well because we are coping.

Till the challenge comes, and then we wonder along with our family, why we can't pull rabbits out of hats and make it all happen.

Truth is, when dealing with any chronic illness, maintaining order and control is a delicate thing, and stuff that others deal with -- whatever the monkey wrench, isn't as easy for us to cope with and pull back up and out of.

I am face to face with the facts of life that I have a chronic illness only when my carefully constructed little maintenance dance gets thrown off by something extra.
\
Then I'm back to square one, realizing that however "normal" things appear, it's all a carefully orchestrated maintenance dance, that makes my life look "normal".

People think I'm fine, I even get sucked into thinking I'm fine.

But I'm not.

[canadian gardener]

so essentially what I'm saying is, give yourself permission to take longer to pull up and out, and break it into tinier bites and take LOTS of naps. That isn't lazy, that is efficient!

When dealing with challenges it helps to remember the race is not to the swift, and the finish line isn't about who has the best looking house at any point in time.

Our races are all different and if you deal with chronic illness, you are running with one leg tied in knots so to speak and can't measure your progress against someone with more energy and less life challenges.

[wendy]

The rooms that I'm in the most get tackled first (the bathroom). When my bath is clean, I feel clean. Laundry is always there, so I'm always doing laundry while I'm cleaning something else. Here's my list of prioritizing what to clean first:

1. Bath
2. Laundry
3. Bedroom
4. Laundry
5. Living room/Dining Room
6. Laundry
7. Kitchen
8. Laundry
9. Foyer/hallway

I hate the kitchen work. Hate it. Never had to wash dishes as a child and still act childish about washing dishes. If dh doesn't load the dishwasher and I'm drinking out of the same glass for three days, then I usually MAKE MYSELF wash them.

Good luck!

[dolphin]

Yep, one day at a time. Don't try to do it all in one day. Spread it out over days and maybe even weeks to do the deep cleaning. Hope you remember to take some time for yourself too but sounds like you'll feel a lot better after your home is clean. Hugs to you for all you've gone through lately.

[dwallyfam]

Don't try to do it all in one day. Plan to do it over a week or two. Take freqent breaks and most importantly take care of yourself.

Kellie