Smart Habit Saturday

Hello!!!! I'm so happy we had some new bloggers join us last week. I might have to offer a prize next month too! You know, if you aren't a blogger you can join us as well by telling us in the comments what habit you want to work on for the week. We would love to hear from you. My husband sometimes lists the habits he's working on although he doesn't give us the details that we women like to hear. Details Honey! We want details!

Don't forget that anyone who participates in SHS for two weeks in a row by the end of March will be entered into a drawing to win free Organizing Bags! After you have completed your two weeks, e-mail me and I will enter you in the drawing.

If you are new to SHS find out all about it here: Getting Started with SHS. Click here to read more SHS posts. Please don't forget to link back to this post so your readers can find out more about SHS.

Laura was kind enough to write my Habit post for me this week so head on over to see what has to say about habits. Thanks Laura!

I'm not going to be lazy though so I'll write my own post as well. I've been reading the Ensign every day and there are just too many wonderful articles in it. As you know, I can relate anything to organizing! I have to share for those of you who don't read it.

This week I read an article by Margaret S. Lifferth, Behold Your Little Ones. She says, "We cannot teach principles that we do not know and that we do not live. Who we are and what is in our heart are discerned by children more quickly than we think." She is speaking of spiritual matters but how does this relate to our daily responsibilities in life? Do you want to teach your children to grow up to be responsible capable adults? You can't teach what you don't know! I wish I had been a better sort of person before I had children so that I could have been a better teacher for them. But there are some things that take a lifetime to learn and there are some things that I couldn't have learned any other way than from having a family. They are really teaching me!

So this is where I am today, completely flawed. And the truth is I always will be, for the rest of my life. The point is not that we need to teach our children to keep a perfectly organized home and schedule. The point is that we need to teach them to try. I want you to share with your children, or if you don't have children, I want you to share with a friend's child or a child at church or school, what you are learning from SHS. Tell them how you want to become a better person so you are working on things a little bit at a time. Tell them how you are struggling with your goals every single day but that you don't quit. You keep on trying.

I think this can make a huge impact on the little ones in your life. Sometimes we are afraid to let children see our faults (as if we could hide them!). We think we need to set a good example by doing everything right. I think we can set a better example by showing them we don't do everything right. We make mistakes every day but we are humble enough to own them and to learn from them. You aren't doing anyone any favors by trying to hide your weaknesses. Share your weaknesses. Share your struggles. Share your triumphs. You have shared with us now go share them with a child that you know because it may just change their life.

Here are the habits I have been working on this year. Some of them are habits and some of them still need a lot of work but all of them have improved my life!

Playing games with my kids and reading my Church Magazine
Kitchen and studio clutter free
Clear Counters
Clear Desk
Review Planner
Daily Prayer
Clean Toilet

My new habit for this week is going to be dressing in the morning instead of working in my pajamas all day. The first few years we were married Stranger used to ask me every time I got dressed in the morning, "Where are you going?"

"No where. I'm getting dressed."

"Why?"

"Because that's what people do in the morning. They get dressed." Years went by and he could just not figure out why I would be getting dressed when I wasn't going somewhere. I couldn't figure out why this was such a mystery for him. After we had been married a few years I figured out that his Mother doesn't get dressed unless she's going somewhere. Ah Ha! The mystery is solved!

One morning this last week the kids kept hovering around me asking, "Are we going to the gym? Are we going shopping? Where are we going? " They were driving me crazy! "What is the deal? We're going to the gym at 4:00 like we always do!"

"They why are you dressed?"

My heart sank. Apparently their Mother doesn't get dressed unless she's going somewhere! I used to be a Dresser but then I married a Lounger so I turned into a lounger. Now my Lounger is a Dresser (as of SHS a few weeks ago) and I don't want to be left out!

*Important - Please link to your individual SMART Habit post instead of your home page or else my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder will have to spend time fixing the links. Here is how you link to an individual post if you’ve never done it before: Right click on the date at the bottom of the post you want to link to (or the post title depending on where you blog) click “Copy Shortcut” and then paste it into Mr. Linky.