10 Ways to Find Quiet When Your Home is Full of Noise
As I sit here typing, I can hear the baby “talking” loudly in her crib while her big sister indulges her by speaking back to her in baby talk.
They should be asleep, and I should finally have some silence to think, plan, and accomplish some things. But instead, you’ll most likely end up reading a blog post full of jumbled thoughts as I try in vain to think clearly amid the ruckus.
Life around here is never dull, which means it’s never very quiet either!
I have so many things I need to be doing, but most of them require clarity of thought – something that is hard to come by when there is noise all around me!
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the constant noise?
Maybe it’s the constant “Mama! Mama!” you hear all day long.
Maybe it’s the sound of the vacuum and the dishwasher and the washing machine (and the smoke alarm?) all going at the same time.
Maybe it’s the never-ending buzzing and dinging from your phone.
It’s highly possible that it’s all of the above.
Is there hope of finding peace when you can’t even seem find a quiet moment to go the bathroom alone, let alone think about anything important?
Homemaking places so many demands on us, not just physically, but also mentally and even spiritually.
Quiet moments do not come easily; therefore you will have to intentionally create them.
If your life seems chaotic and disorganized, creating some quiet time to get your thoughts in order will go a long way toward helping you create a more peaceful home.
So how in the world do you create quiet time when you’re overwhelmed with all the noise in your home?
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.
1. Get up early.
Say what? I have little ones who don’t sleep through the night! OR I have chronic insomnia, and there is no way I can get up early!
I hear you. I have been there. I have been through seasons of life where getting up early was not the right thing for me.
Don’t worry. There are other suggestions here to help you create some quiet.
Hint: You might want to check out Crystal Paine’s Make Over Your Morning course. She teaches you how to overcome some of the overwhelm in your day with a smooth morning routine – regardless of whether you can get up early or not!
2. Stay up late.
Okay, now you’re confusing me. I thought you just told me to get up early. I can’t do that if I stay up late!
I agree. If you’re going to get up early, you need to get to bed and get some sleep. But maybe you’re just not in a season of life where you can do early mornings right now. So flip that on its head and stay up a little later than everyone else. Not late enough to wreak havoc on your body, but just enough to hear yourself think after the house is (finally!) silent. I know it’s tempting to just veg. out in front of a screen because you’re tired, but taking 10 – 15 minutes to get a clear picture in your head of how you need to order your day will save you from frustration and chaos tomorrow. Hint: If you’re more of the evening type, you’ll want to snag Crystal Paine’s Make Over Your Evenings course, where she’ll walk you through how to use your evening to create a peaceful day the next day. Best part – her courses are super affordable!
3. Institute a daily quiet time
If you have small children, most likely they will still take naps. Do your best to put them down for naps at the same time so you can have an hour or two of quiet in the midst of your day. If your kids are too old for naps, you can still have a mandatory quiet time every day.
In my home, the kids may read or color or play quietly with Legos. Occasionally I will put on a movie for them. Having everyone doing something quiet gives me a few minutes to breathe, regroup, and prepare myself mentally and spiritually for the remainder of the day.
Even if you don’t have children in the home, taking a time out in the middle of your day to just Be Still (Psalm 46:10) will do wonders for your soul, especially when your mind feels pulled in a million different directions.
4. Turn it off
I am a big proponent of listening to Godly, uplifting music in the home. It can keep our hearts and minds in the right place and help us to keep our focus on Christ. But occasionally I find that it’s just adding to the noise of the moment. With lots of little people talking and timers beeping and phones ringing, it’s just one more thing to add to the cacophony. Don’t feel guilty turning off the music if it’s doing more harm than good!
5. Disconnect
To keep a peaceful and orderly home, it’s important not to be mentally distracted. Turn off notifications from your phone, stick to set times to be on social media, and even remove apps from your phone if you find yourself picking it up too often throughout the day. Too much social media adds to the mental clutter and creates noise in your brain.
I don’t know about you, but for me it doesn’t matter whether the noise is in my brain or in my ears – noise is still noise! And too much of it makes it hard for me to focus on keeping my home running smoothly and giving the attention to my children that they need.
6. Learn to focus on one thing at a time
This is an area where I struggle. I know I need to get the laundry done, get dinner made, oversee the children’s schooling and chores, and accomplish all of the other miscellaneous to-do items from my list each day. But like the internet browser on my computer, ALL THE TABS ARE OPEN AT ONCE. Instead of finishing one thing, I flit around from one to the other. And it’s just more mental clutter.
When I focus on one thing at a time, I can do it well, and it doesn’t hurt my brain because I’m not trying to remember 20 other things at the same time.
7. Go outside
When I’m starting to feel like the noise is closing in on me, one of the best ways for me to regroup is to go outside for a while. The fresh air does me good and helps me clear my head (not to mention, when the little munchkins get outside to run, they’re a lot less noisy when they go back inside.)
8. Prioritize your to-do list
I could cook and clean and take care of kids for a hundred years, and I would never, ever run out of things to put on my to-do list.
But looking at a list of 25 things is a lot for my small brain to take in, and adds to that mental clutter and feeling of overwhelm.
But listing the top 3 things I need to do? That is much more manageable and helps to create a little bit of “white space” in my mind so that it doesn’t feel so noisy in there!
9. Take a break
If you want a sure-fire way to burn yourself out as homemaker, then don’t ever take a break from your responsibilities and just relax with no guilt!
You don’t ever need to feel guilty for leaving the kids with dad or a sitter and taking a shopping day or a bubble bath or whatever else you want to do! Me time is not selfish when it is done in the interest of recharging your batteries so you can be fresh and revitalized for your family! (Here are 13 Free Ways to Take Care of You!)
10. Play the Quiet Game
When the chatter reaches its highest crescendo, and you can’t even hear yourself think enough to remember whether it was two or three teaspoons of baking powder you just added to the biscuits, it’s time to play the quiet game.
Whew! The sound of silence immediately after a deafening roar is heavenly. It only takes a few minutes of the quiet game before you’ll be thinking clearly again and ready to continue managing your home well.
You're all set! Check your inbox for the link to the resource library where you can download your printables.
25 Ways to Celebrate a Christ Centered Christmas
“Christmas is only 11 weeks away” my son informed me. I groaned inwardly, not because I don't like Christmas, but because I was not prepared for another stressful season of shopping for the perfect gifts and then trying to make homes for all the things my children receive. I longed for a Christ centered Christmas, and I knew from years past that in spite of my intentions for Christmas to be a simple celebration of Christ's birth, there was still too much emphasis placed on the gifts.
Don't get me wrong. I don't think that gifts are a bad thing or that giving and receiving gifts at Christmas is always materialistic. We try to give our children things they need or things that will have some usefulness for many years rather than loading them up with the latest toy trends.
But shopping for those gifts takes a lot of my time and energy away from some of the other things I'd like to do to celebrate Christmas. When you live with a chronic illness, even the simplest things are difficult and stressful.
Additionally, our budget is not exactly what you'd call large, and trying to find gifts that fit within it is a challenge and a time suck.
What I want this year is to enjoy spending time together as a family celebrating what Christmas really is instead of spending so much time shopping for gifts.
So I sat the children down one evening and told them that Christmas gifts were going to be extremely simple this year. I was honest with them about our budget as well as my desire to put even less emphasis on the gifts than we usually did.
I asked them what, in their opinion, would make Christmas meaningful.
Instead of groaning that we were cutting back on our already simple gifts, they seemed excited. I learned something that evening that I already knew: KIDS DON'T WANT GIFTS; THEY WANT YOU!
“We could sing Christmas Carols together.”
“I would like it if we could play some silly Christmas games together.”
“I just want to spend time as a family.”
These were the kinds of answers they gave me that night.
And so, as I began to brainstorm what a Christ-centered Christmas would entail, I came up with some guidelines:
- A Christ-centered Christmas means serving others.
- A Christ-centered Christmas means focusing on family instead of gifts.
- A Christ-centered Christmas means we aren't afraid to have fun and be filled with the joy of the Lord!
For several weeks, I mulled over exactly how we could do those things. We knew where we wanted to go; we just didn't exactly have a plan to get there yet.
I prayed for wisdom and ideas, and in time the Lord showed me exactly how we could celebrate a Christ-centered Christmas.
My 4 year old went shopping with grandma on her birthday, and one of the things she picked out was a little Christmas mailbox.
(Get your own mailbox here.)
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At first, the kids used it to deliver kind notes to each other (sounds like they were already in the spirit of a Christ-centered Christmas!)
But after a couple days, it got to be overload on the little scraps of paper all over the house. They were beginning to write nonsense instead of meaningful notes just for the novelty of using the mailbox.
So my husband told them they had to wait until we came up with some guidelines for using the mailbox.
After about a week or so, I had an idea!
Our mailbox will be a central part of our Christ-Centered Christmas!
Each morning when the kids come to the table for breakfast, they can check the mailbox. Inside I will have placed a folded slip of paper with the day's date on it. On it they will find the day's Christ-centered Christmas activity.
I'm really excited about this because it doesn't have to be completed in advance like a lot of Christmas countdown calendars I've seen. This will give me the freedom to decide based on how I'm feeling that day whether I write something simple and low-energy or something more ambitious. Plus, as I see different Christmas activities come up on our local community calendar, I can decide on a whim whether to include that in our mailbox.
So, I know what you're wondering. What are some of the activities I'm thinking of putting in the mailbox?
I have here a list of 25 Christ-centered Christmas activities to get you started on your own family Christmas.
If all goes well, I imagine this will become a yearly tradition for us.
1. Go see Christmas lights.
Remind the children the Christ is the light of the world. You could also do this fun Christmas lights scavenger hunt from my friend Kim at Not Consumed.
2. Make a meal together.
3. Write a letter to a relative.
Be a blessing to someone you don't get to see very often.
4. Sing Christmas Carols together.
Talk about the meanings of the songs that you sing.
5. Play a Game.
Here's a fun version of Christmas Carol Catch Phrase
6. Let the kids decorate their rooms for Christmas.
7. Make Healthy Homemade Hot Chocolate.
8. Decorate Christmas cookies together.
Here's a fun set of nativity cookie cutters.
9. Go on a family outing (ice skating, Christmas parade, tree lighting etc.)
10.Bake and deliver goodies to the neighbors.
11. Make a Christmas craft.
(Tons of ideas on Pinterest!)
12. Watch a Christmas movie together.
Here is one I have watched.
13. Read a Christmas book together.
This is a good one.
14.String popcorn for the Christmas tree.
15. Make homemade Christmas ornaments.
These names of Christ ornaments are nice. (You can also buy names of Christ ornaments.)
16. Make cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
17. Act out the Christmas story.
Be as simple or elaborate as you wish with costumes.
18. Pick out a gift for a child or family in need.
19. Prepare a scripture, song, or poem to share with the family on Christmas day.
20. Put together candy cane tracts to give to people as you're out and about.
Here is a free printable candy cane tract from my mom's blog.
21. Go to a Christmas concert.
22. Visit residents at the nursing home and sing Christmas carols for them.
23. Decorate a gingerbread house.
Get a pre-made kit here.
24. Make a family video with scripture and songs for friends and family.
25. Draw names and do a secret acts of kindness for a family member.
How to Get Free Clothes and Jewelry to Give as Gifts
If you've been reading the blog for the past couple days, you've seen that I'm sharing ideas for crossing items off your gift list for free or really cheap!
A couple free things here and a couple free things there will knock a nice chunk off your budget!
I try to take advantage of each of these opportunities that comes my way and by Christmas I have a good little stash of gifts already collected. It's a huge help when money is tight!
Today I'm going to tell you how to get free clothes that you can give as gifts!
Here's how it works:
- Sign up for an account at Thredup and/or Schoola (Thredup is my favorite!)
- When you sign up you'll get a free $10 credit in your account.
- Shop for an item that is $10 or under and you'll have another gift crossed off your list for free!
Tips and Tricks:
Thredup and/or Schoola sell gently used clothing, which you may or may not feel comfortable giving as a gift. However, you can find plenty of articles that are new with tags. On Thredup, click on the “price” filter and check the box that says New with Tags. On Schoola, you'll click on the “condition” filter and choose New with Tags.
If you're giving something to your children, you may not care if the item doesn't have tags on it.
For example, my 10 year old is into Under Armour, so I've been able to find inexpensive Under Armour clothes on Thredup for him. He won't even care or notice whether they have tags on them!
Other items that make nice gifts:
Scarves
Wristlets or wallets
Jewelry
Get your Thredup credit through this link.
Get your Schoola credit through this link.
Have fun!
Don't forget to check out other inexpensive gift ideas too:
15 Stocking Stuffers You Can Get For Free
I'm shopping for Christmas on a super tight budget this year, and I've come up with lots of creative ways to get gifts for free or nearly free.
Yesterday I shared 10 Gifts You Can Get Free or Nearly Free from Grove Collaborative, and today I'm sharing some stocking stuffers that you can score for free!
Here's how it works:
- Sign up for an account at Hollar through my referral link. When you do, you'll receive a $5 credit in your account.
- Browse the list below for some nice stocking stuffer ideas that you can get free with your credit.
- Shipping is free on your first order of $10 or more!
- Check off some stocking stuffers from your list!
- (If you already have a Hollar account, you won't get another $5 credit; however, you can share this post with your friends and ask them to use your referral link instead of mine. You'll both get $5 when they sign up!)
Sally Hansen nail polish – $3.49; FREE after $5 sign-up credit
Burt's Bees lip balm – $2.29; free after sign up credit
Conair hair brush – $2; free after sign up credit
Goody hair elastics – $1.50; free after sign up credit
Light up Love sign – $5; FREE after sign-up credit
Softcover notebook – $1; Free after signup credit
Kumon educational activity books – $4; FREE after sign-up credit
Multi-colored sidewalk chalk – $1.50; Free after sign up credit
Melissa and Doug scratch art kit – $1.50; Free after sign up credit
Hello Kitty mess free activity book – $2; Free after sign-up credit
DIY Canvas Tote – $2; Free after sign up credit
Basketball hoop – $5; FREE after sign-up credit
Jump rope with counter – $3.29; free after sign up credit
Cobi building sets (compatible with Lego) – $5; FREE after signup credit
Snowball launcher – $3; FREE after signup credit
Enjoy your free shopping!
Also check out:
10 Gifts You Can Get Free or Cheap from Grove Collaborative
How to Get Free Clothes and Jewelry to Give as Gifts
10 Gifts You Can Get Free or Nearly Free at Grove Collaborative
I'm in Christmas shopping mode, but unfortunately this year we've found the need to cut our budget back quite a bit. I'm coming up with lots of creative ways to “purchase” gifts for free or very inexpensively.
I'll be sharing lots of my ideas here, so be sure to sign up for my email newsletter to stay in the loop!
Today I have a list of 10 gifts you can purchase for free or very inexpensively from Grove Collaborative.
Here's how it works:
1. Sign up as a new Grove Collaborative user here, and you'll get a $10 credit in your account.
2. Browse the list below for some of my favorite products that will make great gifts!
3. Apply your credit at checkout and voila! Check of another gift (or 2 or 3) from your shopping list without spending anything!
4. (If you're already a Grove Collaborative customer, you won't get another $10 credit; however, you can share this post with your friends and ask them to sign up through your referral link instead of mine. You'll get a $10 credit when they sign up!)
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Grove Collaborative auto-ships items each month, so you need to double check to make you are not scheduled for automatic delivery of more items (they will send you an email each month to remind you to check your subscriptions.) You DO NOT have to continue to have items shipped to you unless you want to, but be sure to double check!
Update 11/2018: Instead of the $10 credit, Grove is currently offering a 5 piece Mrs. Meyers gift set to new customers ($35 value!)
Click here to get yours!
The following products are some of my favorite items that I regularly purchase from Grove:
eCloth kitchen pack – $14.99, only $4.99 after $10 credit
(Read my eCloth review here.)
Grove kitchen towels 2 pack – $9.99; free after $10 credit
These towels are SO NICE!
Grove cleaning caddy – $14.95; $4.95 after credit
Mrs. Meyer's dish soap – $3.89; get several nearly free with $10 credit
Wool Dryer Balls – $15.95; $5.95 after $10 credit
Such a great gift!
Grove hand sanitizer – $3.95; get several nearly free after $10 credit
This smells SO good!
Grove lip balm – $3.95; get several nearly free after $10 credit
Grove hand cream – $7.95; FREE after $10 credit
Mrs. Meyer's hand soap – $3.89; get several nearly free after $10 credit
Mrs. Meyer's body wash – $7.99; FREE after $10 credit
Have fun with your free gift shopping!
Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter so you can get notified of additional ideas that I'll be posting!
6 Products to Help Prepare Your Home for Winter
I have a bittersweet relationship with fall. I love the cooler air, the bonfires, and all of the pumpkin and apple flavored goodies that come my way. But with the fall comes the knowledge that winter is on its way. I've never liked the cold, and every winter, despite my best intentions to bundle up and go outside for some fresh air, I end up spending 99% of my time indoors.
All that time spent indoors means the house needs to stay clean!
A dirty house makes me feel quite irritable. An irritable mommy stuck inside with 5 small children is not a good combination, so I need to make sure I'm prepared to keep the house as clean as possible!
When Babbleboxx wrote and asked if they could send some products to help me do some fall cleaning, I readily agreed. I don't do sponsored posts very often, but this was clearly a perfect fit. I'm excited to show you the products they sent, because I know you'll find them as helpful as I did!
Ready? Let's take a look!
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com.
Duck® brand Roll-On® Window Kits
We live in North Carolina, so I'm sure those from up north will laugh at my extreme aversion to cold, but nonetheless, our temperatures do occasionally drop below freezing! 🙂
The Duck® brand Roll-On® Window Kit is an easy way to keep those cold winter drafts from coming through the windows. The edges are pre-taped, which makes installation super simple! There's no need to even measure the thing, and it fits snugly on the indoor window frames to provide an airtight seal.
If you want to save some money on your energy bills this coming winter (and keep yourself more cozy), you should check these window kits out!
(Here's a quick video showing how easy it is to install them.)
Link to purchase the window kits: Click here
Scrub Daddy: Sponge Caddy & Scour Daddy
Babbleboxx sent me a box in the spring, which is where I was first introduced to Scrub Daddy. I was happy to see that this box also had Scrub Daddy products in it because the others I had tried had become some of my favorite kitchen products.
This time I got to try the Sponge Caddy and the Scour Daddy.
You know how the sponges on your kitchen sink get all nasty and slimy when they sit there all wet? The Sponge Caddy provides a place to store them where they have air flow that helps dry them out. The dual suction cups adhere to any surface, and the little holes allow the water to drain from your sponges into your sink instead of sitting there stagnating into a bacterial breeding ground.
The Scour Daddy is not like any regular old kitchen sponge. It holds a firm shape, which makes it so much easier to wash dishes with it. The scratchy surface cleans but does not scratch. AND…the multiple colors mean that you can easily keep track of which sponge is for which job. When you're finished, you can use the nifty little hang tag to hang your sponge to dry.
You really should go look at the Scrub Daddy website because I am not doing justice to just how essential of a kitchen tool these little guys are.
Molly’s Suds: All Sport Laundry Wash, Oxygen Whitener
I've been a Molly's Suds user for about a year now, but I hadn't yet tried either the All Sport Laundry Wash or the Oxygen Whitener.
In fact, having Molly's Suds included in this Babbleboxx was one of the reasons I so readily said that I would do this post.
It truly is one of my favorite laundry products, and I wanted to make sure you knew about this wonderful, non-toxic brand of detergent that actually works! (I've not had great success with other brands of non-toxic detergent that I've tried.)
I've been equally happy with these two new varieties of Molly's Suds that I tried, and I think you will love them as much as I do!
You can purchase Molly's Suds All Sport Laundry Wash or Molly's Suds Oxygen Whitener right here. (Through 10/31/17, use the code IMPERFECTBABBLE to get an additional 25% off your order.
O-Cedar: Pro Mist Max Spray Mop
What a pleasant surprise! When it showed up on my porch I dropped everything and mopped my floors! Almost all of the floors in my house are “fake” wood, and we've been able to keep them fairly clean by keeping our shoes off in the house and by making sure either me or the kids sweeps them daily. But I've been wanting one of these little spray mops too so that I can quickly mop them.
The O-Cedar Pro Mist Max Spray Mop is perfect! I can get my floors clean so quickly with it!
All you do is fill up the little container with your cleaning solution (I just use vinegar water with a little essential oil in it) and you can spray a squirt using the trigger on the handle. Spray, mop, spray, mop. So easy!
The reversible head means that when one side gets too dirty to use, you can just flip it over and keep going! Then when you're finished you can take the re-usable microfiber mop pad and wash it so it will be ready for the next time.
I know I've said this about every product I've shown you, but this was one of my favorites! Efficient cleaning is what I'm all about!
You can purchase your own O-Cedar Pro Mist Max Spray Mop right here. (You might want to sign up to receive special offers here.)
PowerOE – Odor Eliminating Spray and Cleaner + Odor Eliminator
I can't imagine why, in a household which includes a couple bedwetters, children who sneak fruit into their rooms and leave the peels hidden under their bed, and boys who are…well…boys, why in the world we would need an odor eliminator!
The PowerOE Odor Eliminating Spray can be sprayed on sports equipment, garbage cans, bathrooms, you name it! It can also be used to pre-treat smelly clothes. It's dye-free and scented with essential oils (also available in a fragrance free solution.)
The PowerOE Cleaner + Odor Eliminator is powered by Thymol, a bleach alternative. For a mom who doesn't like to use harsh chemicals, but who still needs to keep the house clean and get the laundry wash, it's nice to have some other options that will still do the job!
Find PowerOe right here and use the code IMH17 to get 25% off your purchase.
Grout Gator
The mom who invented this was using her thinking cap! Why use a toothbrush to clean one grout line at a time when we can get the job done 4 times faster with the Grout Gator?!
(Actually the Grout Gator can clean up to 8 lines at a time, so you can get the job done WAY faster than the toothbrush method!)
The adjustable brush heads fit over tile sizes from 2” to 13” so you can use it for whatever job you're doing. And don't worry, when the brush heads get worn out you can replace them.
It's time to speed up your cleaning time! Go here to purchase the Grout Gator, and use the code BB17 for 15% off your purchase.
That's it for now! I'm sure with these tools to help you, you'll have your home ready for the winter in no time! What else do you to during the fall to prepare your home for winter?