Equipping young women professionals with young families to find fulfillment, contentment and joy as mothers and home makers without losing sight of who they are as women.

Volume 11, Issue 33: What's Your Therapy?

What is your therapy? Each of us have a few activities that we find therapeutic. If you are lucky, you find or make opportunities to engage is such activities regularly. If you do, you find that you are usually in high spirits a good amount of time, if not all the time, regardless of your circumstances.

Which activities do you find therapeutic? Mine are time with God, brisk walking outdoors, writing, cleaning and organizing spaces. I will talk a little bit about my therapeutic activities in this article to inspire you to put words into your therapeutic activities.

• Time with God

I am fortunate to be able to say that I don't remember the last time I didn't have my early morning time with God. This habit took a long time and a lot of failures and frustrations along the way to cultivate. When I started almost two decades ago, I struggled with waking up early consistently but I have had a good handle on it for several years now.

Time with God for me is really a privilege. I don't have to pray, I get to pray. I don't have to read the Bible, I get to sit under the instruction of an all-knowing, all-powerful God. This time is precious because it anchors me for the day ahead. It's the reservoir for my life. I have a dedicated space at home where I do this each morning, and when I am not home I use the most convenient space available.

• Brisk Walking outdoors

Aside from strength training, brisk walking is my main form of exercise but it does more for me than keep me physically fit and agile. I find walking very therapeutic. It refreshes my mind, energizes my body and enhances my mood. I like to walk very early in the morning, so the morning breeze adds to the refreshment. I also use this time to pray. I do this every week day irrespective of where I am in the world, or the weather. It's another thing that I have gotten a very good handle on doing consistently over the years. I walk indoors when the weather is unfavorable for outdoor walking.

• Writing

If I had all the money in the world, I would spend my days writing, raising parents and coaching people. Writing is my muse. It is the thing I lose track of time doing. It's needless to say that I enjoy writing. I find it energizing, exciting and quite therapeutic. I have been writing consistently for slightly over a decade now. I try to post 52 articles on my website each year. That makes for one article each week. Some weeks I write more than two articles while other weeks I write none. But when I sit down to write from my heart, it's sheer enjoyment.

• Cleaning and organizing spaces

I just like to clean. I know there are probably very few people who can say that, but there are a few of us who enjoy cleaning. I truly enjoy the few minutes I invest in cleaning parts of my house every day. I could go on and on if it weren't for the very limited time I have for cleaning. Don't ask me to organize events, organizing small spaces is my arena. The only criteria is that the space has to be not too messy or cluttered, otherwise I would be too overwhelmed to start. I find organizing a room or a closet in my house therapeutic.

It's your turn now. Can you put words into your therapeutic activities? What is your therapy? What activities do you find therapeutic? Go beyond listing them down to writing what about them you find therapeutic. Then see to it that your schedule affords you the privilege to spend time on your therapeutic activities regularly.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 11, Issue 32: Home Making Schedule Part V

You can tell that I am more of a "prevention is better than cure" kind of home maker. They say "an apple a day keeps the doctor away". I add that "a little cleaning a day keeps dirt away". I would rather clean a not-so-dirty space regularly than wait for it to get really dirty, then clean.

We have come to the tail end of this home making series. If you are just joining us, I recommend you start with Part I and progress all the way up to Part IV of the series before reading this one. You will no doubt enjoy the read if you relate with home making.

Related article: Home Making Schedule Part IV

As you saw in the last post, my monthly cleaning list is rather brief. I am more of a "do a little bit everyday" kind of girl. I would rather spend 30 seconds each evening wiping down my clean hood head than let dirt and grease pile on it and have to invest several minutes deep cleaning it at some point in the future. The thought of that would intimidate me to the point of not getting it done for a very long time.

In fact, I think the reason I have a monthly list at all is because I don't want to take on too much cleaning any given Saturday. I want to spend less than half an hour attending to a section of my kitchen so I don't get bogged down with cleaning. By going over different sections of the kitchen every other Saturday, dirt and grease don't build up, eliminating the need for tedious deep cleaning.

All the seats in my living spaces are made of fabric, most beige in color and a few red in color. By taking 5 minutes each day to dust a category of seats as I described in my daily cleaning schedule, my seats stay clean all year. I engage professional cleaning service once a year for deep cleaning of the seats. These habits keep my seats looking as good as new for years.

Whatever your home making habits are, I hope that this series has inspired you to customize your home making routines in a way that best suits your personality, time and the needs of your household. If you don't like cleaning or have time to clean, hire a good cleaner to do it for you. Never hesitate to engage domestic or professional help where necessary. And most of all, I hope you find joy in the mundanity of the repetitive nature of home making.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 11, Issue 31: Home Making Schedule Part IV

The hard work is behind us. Although not intense as we have seen in the earlier posts, daily maintenance and weekly cleaning carries the weight of keeping a house clean. In fact, you could call monthly cleaning the icing on the cake. However, my monthly cleaning routine addresses the areas that I wouldn't work on daily or weekly. It's really what you would do once in awhile but I prefer to spend a few minutes to do them monthly than wait for dirt and grease to set, requiring hard and time consuming deep cleaning.

• Monthly Cleaning

My monthly cleaning list has 3 items each Saturday. If you are just joining us on this home making series, I recommend that you start with Part I down to part III first, then come back to this one. You will be glad you did.

Related Article: Home Making Schedule Part III

First Saturday of the month: Clean inside plates cabinet, wipe and organize upper pantry shelves and storage vessels, clean and organize fridge.

Second Saturday of the month: Clean inside lower cabinets, wipe and organize island drawers and cabinets, clean inside shoe cabinet.

Third Saturday of the month: Clean inside cups cabinet, wipe and organize lower pantry shelves and storage vessels, clean and organize freezer.

Fourth Saturday of the month: Clean inside upper cabinets, clean hood filters, clean behind media cabinet and behind living room seats.

Our cleaning schedule is colour-coded, marking who does which task. The daily cleaning list has a majority of the tasks done by me and the rest by the kids. The weekly cleaning list is very heavy on Fridays and light on Saturdays. My cleaning lady comes on Fridays, so the list has a lot of items done by her and a few by me. The Saturday list is dominated by the kids as this is when they do their less than half an hour weekly chores, sprucing up different parts of the house. All the items on the monthly list are done by me.

There's more to add here but the content is a lot. I don't want to make this a very long read. Let's wrap up on the subject in the next post. What's on your daily list? What's on your weekly list? What's on your monthly list? Do you have things that you do seasonally, bi-annually or annually?

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 11, Issue 30: Home Making Schedule Part III

In the last post we laid out my deep cleaning routine that goes down every Friday with the help of my cleaning lady. I don't do much else on the weekend after that but I have my kids take turns in doing a few minutes of general cleaning around the house. This is more about them getting into the habit of routine cleaning and organizing than it is about them making spaces clean.

• Weekly Cleaning Continued

If you are just joining us in this home making series, you may want to start with the last two posts for better flow, then jump right back onto this one. Here's how my Saturday general cleaning schedule looks like.

Related article: Home Making Schedule Part II

Kitchen, living and dining spaces: Polish dining table and seats and island seats, wipe and organize utility drawers, clean inside the microwave, wipe media cabinet gadgets and speakers, wipe stains off walls and shine hallway mirror.

Bathrooms and bedrooms: Shine mirrors, wipe window sills and furniture, replace shower mats and towels, refill toilet paper holders, change bedding and organize linen drawers, organize wardrobes, wipe and organize dressing/bedside tables, clean bedside mats.

Laundry: Wipe back door and cabinet doors, organize and store ironed clothes, towels and linens, organize laundry cabinets, clean door mat, clean washing machine, wipe balcony grills and furniture.

You might be wondering, why not just keep a full time house help? For me, it's a matter of personal preference. I am comfortable with my once a week cleaning lady service. I have a diligent and reliable cleaning lady who does wonders for me every Friday. All I do the rest of the week is maintenance, and I am so good at maintenance that my cleaning lady finds the house clean every Friday. Let's tackle monthly cleaning in the next post.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 11, Issue 29: Home Making Schedule Part II

As a home maker, you are not expected to do everything. You are the commander-in-chief. You make sure all that needs to get done is done. Some home makers have able troops to command, others have "little" helpers in training while others run a "one-man" show. Either way, as commanders in chief, we see to it that the work is done to the glory of God. Don't feel less of a home maker for having help. You are the commander in chief of your home and have at your disposal what you need for your season of life.

Home making gives me an opportunity to appreciate the gift of my home, and the privilege to get to keep it clean and beautiful for the Lord and for my family. If you are just joining us in this home making series, you may want to start with Part I then jump right back onto this one. We will focus on weekly cleaning and see how that looks like for our different situations.

Related article: Home Making Schedule Part I

• Weekly Cleaning

My weekly cleaning list is split into two: Friday deep cleaning and Saturday general cleaning. I typically work only in the kitchen on Fridays, with a little bit of time in the laundry. The rest of the deep cleaning is done by my cleaning lady. Here is how my Friday deep cleaning schedule looks like:

Kitchen: Light scrub hood head, clean cabinet doors, clean cooker sides and back and burners, clean the floor behind the cooker, clean on top of the fridge, scrub countertops, scrub dish rack area, sink, faucet and cleaning holders, clean table mats and countertop appliances, clean and shine window, wipe under the sink and dustbin cabinets.

Living and dining spaces: Dust and wipe seats, wipe media cabinet and speakers, sweep and shake carpet, clean behind and underneath lounge seats, brush and wipe lounge carpet, wipe the legs of dining seats and island seats.

Bathrooms: Scrub shower walls and glass partitions, clean toilets, sinks and bathtub, scrub bathroom floors, clean and shine mirrors, wipe windows and doors, clean over the sink toiletries' shelves.

Bedrooms: Wipe furniture, shake and dust bedside mats, clean glass windows and slides, clean behind lounge and under the beds, and clean floors.

Laundry and balconies: Clean underneath cabinets and under the sink, empty and clean dustbins, clean rugs, mops and brooms, scrub sink and countertops, wipe inside cabinets, wipe cabinet doors, clean balcony glass and grill, wipe back door, wipe front door and grill, dust and wipe balcony furniture.

I hope you are enjoying this series or at least finding it useful. I enjoy home making way more than many of the people I interact with often. Cleaning is part of life, and I wish you the privilege of feeling the satisfaction of making spaces clean and organized, or arranging for spaces to be made clean and organized by someone else for your enjoyment. Stay tuned for the second part of my weekly cleaning schedule and more in the next post.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi