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Inside ** How your kitchen can help you smile a bit more by following this simple list.

Kitchen + Family = 2nd Living Room

Does your kitchen ever feel like your 2nd living room? Mine sure did. That kitchen never got bored with my family of six.
For example, here is one of those typical evenings.

• 12 yr. old daughter – “Mom, is my hairband here in the kitchen?”
• 5 yr. old son – “Vroom Vroom” while racing 3 or 4 toy cars around on the floor
• 8 yr. old daughter – “Mom, I’m hungry.” 
• 2 yr. old son – opening drawer after drawer, looking for something to play with.
• 35 yr. old husband – “Honey, are we out of salsa?” with fridge door wide open
• 31 yr. old self – “I really should clean this junk drawer right now.”

Related: That Unforgettable First Day I was officially Called ‘Mother’

I learned early on that how those days ended affected the way the next day began. Let this little story explain what I mean.

“All three kids down for the night. Mission accomplished,” Mother thought while sensing the living room couch whispering two sentences.
“You’re exhausted. Sit down riiiiight here and relax.”
She crashed on that couch and escaped life for a while when, before she knew it, it was too late to do anything except call it a night.

The Next Morning With Her Kitchen

“A rare morning! I get to wake up to silence, coffee, and some Me-Myself-and-I time before everyone’s up,” she thought while walking towards the kitchen.
When, all of a sudden . . .

“OUCH!”

She stepped onto her sons plastic toy solders right there on the kitchen floor. After kicking those solders aside, she looked up and saw everyday items on the counter top she wished weren’t there. And of course her favorite but dirty coffee cup was hiding behind an empty bag of chips her husband left out. And to top it off, those screaming dishes hollered ‘WASH ME! WASH ME!’

Those unwanted kitchen tasks had her already feeling behind in that days TO-DO list. Hope for any Me-Myself-and-I time disappeared, for as soon as she had poured coffee into her FINALLY clean coffee cup, six words down the hallway were heard.

We know things like that happen. We know not every morning is picture perfect. But if this story is anywhere close to your normal morning routine, read on. 

A Clean Kitchen

Here’s a short list of 7 things you should attempt to do before your day is done.
Doing them each evening will most importantly help start each day with a little more cheer.
1- House Tidying-Up
2- Last Food/Dishes Clean up
3- Counter
4- Stove
5- Sweep
6- Garbage
I save the best on the list for last.
7- Smile

If this list is all you need, great! GO, GIRL ! However, incase you’d like this list to be described a bit more, it can easily be found by clicking here.

Feel free to mix and match anything from this list onto those that live under your roof. As they got older, I passed some of the jobs off to them. But I’ll be honest. For many years, evening after evening, I still did it all on my own. My husband knew it best to just take on the role as Super Daddy, knowing I could sure use some Me-Myself-and-I (and sink) time, even if it was just going to be in that 2nd living room.

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Marianne’s book – God and My Pillow is available in book or PDF form via Paypal, or purchased through Amazon, Barnes & Noble.

You can follow Marianne on Twitter at @mariannesmemoirs and read more on her blog, mariannesmemoirs.com.