An Oldie You Might Enjoy...

[ContentWriter]

I stumbled across one of my works from years past and thought I'd post it here for you to enjoy.

Some good advice with just a touch of humor.

~Karen

Do you suffer from LMH syndrome?

Is it curable?

I coined the term to justify my initial inability to separate business from home duties. At first I had the family fooled into thinking I had a real disease. I have had medical training after all. This gained me a measure of sympathy for my lack of organization and a constantly messy house. Eventually the truth came out and it was clear that something could, and had to be done. I'll explain later in the article how to treat this problem.

You see, LMH is nothing more than "Last Minute Housekeeping."

Symptoms

• You throw in a load of laundry at 11 pm so the kids will have clothes to wear to school in the morning.
• You hear your spouse pull in the driveway from work and jump up from the computer to wash enough dishes to cook dinner.
• You run to the convenience store at 5:00 am to get milk for their cereal because you just can't find the time to do any "real" grocery shopping.
• You make a mad dash to the electric company to pay the bill before they shut you off. After all you do need power to run the computer.
• You never have company over for dinner. Your excuses leave others believing that your family has had the longest bout of the flu in recorded history.

Treatment options

• Break up your duties into bite-sized portions and tackle them during one or two hour-long breaks in your workday.
• Make grocery shopping a family outing on the weekend. Take in a movie and lunch beforehand.
• If your children are old enough, teach them how to do laundry and put each one in charge of their own load.
• If you have a preschooler, join or form a babysitting co-op with other stay-at-home parents. Take turns giving each other a day off and make sure to keep records so that everyone does and gets their fair share.
• Write other chores such as dinner dishes, mopping, vacuuming, etc. on slips of paper and let everyone draw out of a bowl. Allow for trading in case someone gets stuck with the same chore too often.

Get creative! It's hard to break away from your business, especially if you're very passionate about what you do. But it is possible to do it all if you're reasonable with yourself and recruit the help of others. You don't have to be SuperMom or Dad!

[Sandra]

Karen,
Yes I did enjoy it and yes I do have LMH Syndrome. I decided a few years ago that I did not want to cure it, so now I just tell everyone that I do not believe in house work. I think I might tell my family that I have LMH Syndrome instead. The only problem is my brothers and sisters will believe it, as thay are always threatening to sort out 'my stuff' in the shed. I know what they mean though. They mean, throw it out. My excuse is an artist (especially one without focus and who tries everything) needs lots of 'stuff', so it is staying, until I find time to sort through it.
Sandra

[debbott]

When my daughters were all grown up;I didn't cook for 7 years. I ate out or ordered in. When asked " why?" I said "I've cooked enough"   Doing marine canvas w/ 43 orders to do quickly; get the canvas back on their boats isn't easy.   Before my own business-my house was immaculate.  Now I tell my daughters that "My Domestic Goddess days are over."   You really have to make choices and lists of what is going to get done. When you are a sole proprietor- you have to do everything-and you only have the same 24 hours as everyone else.   Debbott