Watch this blog for cleaning tips and tricks!

Why Norwex is the future of clean...

We often hear people talk about storing up water, food, and necessities in case of emergency. With Hurricanes and a nervous country, now more than ever, we need to think about preparing for the future. If you don't have money or gas to get to the store, how will you get cleaning supplies? 

Being clean and staying clean will be a priority. I totally believe that with Norwex, we'll be able to clean things without soap or chemicals. 

Body cloths remove dirt, oils, and bacteria with only water. If you can only clean with water, Norwex will work for you. You can rest assured that your surfaces will be clean and that your body will be clean. Order today! 

www,janinedeckard.norwex.biz

I just want a Window Cloth please...

It's an amazing cloth.

You see what it can do and you want to have it, right?

 But it would be like having Robin come and rescue you when you really need Batman.

It's the dynamic duo, but without the Envirocloth, you might be disappointed.

The Envirocloth is like the first volley in a war. The soldiers come and clear the area and prepare for the medics.

If you have a dirty and greasy surface, you need the Envirocloth to come and clean up the mess and THEN the Window cloth can polish and remove streaks.

Is there ever a time you can use a Window Cloth on its own? YES! After a hot shower- it is IDEAL on a foggy mirror.

The Envirocloth can dust. DRY. The static is still there.

The Envirocloth WET- It can remove all dirt from a surface. Bird poop? YES! There is very little that the Envirocloth can't tackle.

But when it comes to removing water streaks, fingerprints, and basic water spots- the WINDOW CLOTH IS KING! It's also called the Polishing Cloth! It is awesome on stainless steel.

So order yours today! ------>Click Here!

CONTEST TIME!!!

This is a social media contest. Share my NORWEX FB page with your Social Media connections and win a free Norwex Dusting Mitt! Go to Facebook and like my page: Janine's Real Clean. Share it with all of your favorite Social Media outlets. Then comment on this post and let me know how many places you've shared it with. For each share, you'll be entered to win a dusting mitt.

Working from home

Educating kids: Most teachers work 40 hours at least. With our schooling we are 24-7.
Keeping the house clean. That alone is a full time job.
I'm writing a book. Every free minute I have; I'm writing.
A small business: Selling Norwex. I share on social media, book parties, demonstrate product whenever I can, use it, share it, love it!
Making time for fun: This doesn't come naturally. It takes work.

One of these days this will be just a memory. Digging deep to find the joy is really important.

I want my kids' memories to be full of joy and overcoming challenges.

Silly days

 

My days have been weird lately. I have big goals but lately allergies have been so bad I'm stuck with a roll of toilet paper and waiting for the medicine to kick in. 

I'm enjoying the cooler weather and we have chickens, so I find myself less interested in being inside. But work beckons. 

I am writing everyday. My book will get written. It will be published. Just a little bit everyday. Just like my business. Do 1 thing every day. Eventually I'll get my groove back. I'm just all over the place lately. 

Stampin' Up Fun BONUS TIME!!!

Click Here

I'm totally excited about the new catalog! If you would like to have a party and make this card, please let me know.

 The stock is critically low right now, so you might not be able to order it right now. But I love sharing! In fact my favorite acronym is CASE: Copy And Share EVERYTHING!!!

  

This blue set it so elegant!

Look at this paper! 

Here are the sentiments in the set! I have this too! 

Let me know today. My schedule is filling fast! 

Influenster

I LOVE MY INFLUENSTER APP!

It's so much fun!

Why? Because I get to test products FOR FREE BABY and it's so awesome! This shampoo and conditioner is different than anything I've ever used. You reverse it- Condition first and Shampoo second. I love the volume and fragrance. Seriously- get the app! Try this shampoo. It's amazing! 

My daughter has used it and she loves how soft her hair is and how fragrant her hair is. We have oily hair and this shampoo does a great job. 

Messes and living

As I get older, I can tell that messes are just a part of life. My eldest children went to visit family for a week and my house is still clean. I have a 3 year old that has toys all over the floor and the dog has pulled all of the fluff out of it's chew toy.


But it's not dirty. It's just life clutter.


When my children are grown and gone there won't be the life clutter of toys and art mess.

I feel stress and guilt when the house is messy.

Anxiety keeps me from enjoying the mess.

When my children are grown the mess will be gone and so will the anxiety and stress in some respects.

But the guilt will join a new feeling: loneliness.

So may we embrace and accept that our houses will stay messy as long as we have people in them- living- not crippled in fear of making messes.

 Let's not scold for messes.

Take a deep breath. If they make a mess what lesson might they learn? It takes patience for us to slowly guide and teach our children how to clean. It won't happen over night. And the standard of clean that we can provide will be less when we delegate to them. We have to find peace in that. Their sub-par help will be missed one day. It's our job to teach them. Perhaps with our guidance they will stop the cycle of guilt and shame associated with making the normal messes that come with living. Perhaps a new generation of artists and creators will come from us and the obsession with maintaining the status quo will be a thing of the past. Perhaps the future will be filled with less mental anguish and more peace and beauty. We can dream right?

Dealing with Burn Out

It's difficult to keep going when it feels like you've never done anything else. I feel you. Since I was 17 I've been cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry. I'm sure I'm not alone. For a few years I didn't have a car and had to walk two miles with heavy wet laundry to the laundry mat (my first two babies used cloth diapers only). The difference with that, is I didn't have to worry about anything else. I just did laundry. It took all day, but I would have one day a week when all my laundry was washed and put away. When you do your own laundry at home: IT. IS. NEVER. DONE. 

I bet if you pick up an organization magazine, you'll read somewhere that you should do one load of laundry each evening before you go to bed. I haven't found that to work for my three children. I agree that you need to stay on top of the laundry piles or the laundry will take over your home.

Dishes? I have found that if you are able to wash the pots and pans while you are cooking and then wash the dishes as soon as you are finished eating, your sink will stay empty longer. But that's not always reality. Sick babies, needy teens, and children that just need your hugs are far more important. Then you'll have a pile of dishes staring at you every day.

Cleaning your house can be fun and my children are at the best stage to help. But even they face burn out. I remember how overwhelmed and anxious cleaning my room could make me. I had too much stuff and not enough space much as I do now. I would love to get rid of most of my stuff, but it's not mine. I have three other people that live with me and I choose not to fight over their stuff. They've lost so much over the years, I'm not going to force them to lose more over my need to have a clean house. 

So how do you deal with the feelings of burn out? The thoughts, "I can't wash another dish". "Why do I have to keep washing these same clothes every week?" " I'd much rather just play on my phone."

1. Set a timer. Once you see how much time it actually takes to do a job, you'll be less stressed to do it the next time. 15 minutes to wash dishes isn't bad. How about starting a TV program and do some dishes just during commercial breaks? This will help if you have someone to yell at you if you can't see the TV. I've taken to watching French lessons while I do my dishes. Takes my mind off of the task.

2. An ounce of prevention. I don't think paper plates are the best solution, but you can ask your kids to just wash their plates after the meal. If you can tell your family is wearing clothes and putting them in the dirty hamper and they aren't really dirty- time for a family meeting. Our Norwex bath towels contain microsilver so you can use them more than once without laundering them each time. 

3. Planning. I use Sunday's as my meal planning day. Get a reusable write-on white board for your fridge. Write down your menu for the week. Then look at your pantry and make a grocery list based on your menu. Stick to that. If you are able shop on Sunday, it works well if you can wake up early enough. Trying to come up with something each day can be tedious and overwhelming. So a little planning goes a long way. While you're at it, plan your week's goals too. You are more likely to accomplish goals if you have them scheduled. A calendar is so important and helpful if you use it.

I hope this has helped. Please comment if you've found a great thing that helps prevent and/or get rid of burnout. 

Pet messes vs Norwex

We love animals. Practically everyone in my family has animals. What is one thing they have in common? MESSES! Have you ever read the packaging on most cleaners? They are dangerous for animals. I want to encourage you to start reading the labels of your cleaning supplies and then ask yourself, can I do better? There is an alternative! Norwex.

This is an enzyme based cleaner for every room in your home!

If you have carpet this is a must!

Kitties? We have a dusting mitt and lint mitt for cat hair!

My mom rescued some kittens that were born feral in her yard.

They are growing so fast! 

Doggies love lap time! 

See this? The Envirowand is an amazing tool for cleaning fans, Venetian blinds, hard-to-reach spaces in your home! Plus you don't have the expense and waste of the name brand dusting cloths that you throw away after each use. 

It's possible to have a clean house and have all the animals in your home. Visit my website and feel free to ask me any questions you might have!

Never stop learning (My guilty pleasure!)

I have to say that I'm really enjoying learning French. It's basically the only "me" time I get anymore. I dream of using it in Quebec or walking in Lyon buying fruit at a market. Zee is learning Japanese and Zippy is picking up some French but teeter totters between Spanish, Hebrew and French. I'm just letting her coast right now since dyslexia makes English a bit tricky for her. She  has an amazing ear and can pronounce words perfectly. Zee's Japanese accent is actually pretty impressive. We love languages I guess. We can see that learning a new language is basically a free ticket to another world. I think learning Hebrew has helped me with French. They don't have the same letter system (alphabet vs alephbet) but the accents have some similarity. If you listen carefully to Israeli speakers, they can sound French, especially when they speak heavily accented English.

Recently I've been watching French movies to see how much I'm retaining. My most recent favorites were recommended by a friend. I do not recommend them for American children at all. They are French movies after all. The story telling is intricate for both movies and the love stories are equally beautiful. 

If you want a happy ending, these two movies will not disappoint. The English subtitles are clear and easy to understand so you don't have to understand French to enjoy either of these stories.

I was delighted to find out my mom had watched both of these movies and enjoyed them. I just had to share these as they are on Netflix if you want something new to watch... here are two! Comment and let me know what you think!

Small spaces, large living

 I know what it's like to live in a tiny space. Every inch counts and it helps when everything you have, has it's own place. Can you imagine having space under your sink? Can you imagine what it might be like to have an extra cabinet in each room of your house? I can do that! By replacing the harmful cleaning chemicals with Norwex, you can have extra space while knowing that you are making a difference in your home and the world.

With summer just around the corner, you might choose to live in a smaller space- so that you can explore the great wide open! If cleaning chemicals spill in your rented RV, the price to fix the damage can be disastrous. You won't have that problem with Norwex. Please take a minute to change the way you think and try a new way to clean your home- large or small!

On a completely different topic

Discovery Family has been playing reruns of Blossom. If you didn't know, I love Mayim Bialik.

My mother in law took us to a lecture Mayim gave at Texas Tech. It was so awesome.  (My first real outing since having my third baby).

I remember watching Blossom when I was a young girl. TV back then had a purpose. Today's children's programming teaches Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) but for tweens and teens, the programming leaves a lot to be desired. A fairy that goes to high school doesn't really help anyone. Witches? I'm sorry that makes no sense at all. I admit that I get tired of preachy TV, but Blossom wasn't preachy. They left the viewer to make their own conclusions. Blossom's dad had a lot on his plate trying to support three children on an artists' income. I can relate to that. He was human. So were Blossom and her brothers. They made plenty of mistakes but they also made plenty of good decisions. 

I love how real the characters were, how serious the topics were and how much fun they all seemed to have; especially Blossom. She had friendship issues with Six, her BFF. 

With today's adult sitcoms, they follow the same protocol. Funny, have a message, get people talking... So why did tweens and teens get left out of the mix? Mayim stars currently in Big Bang theory and they have covered issues that no one really wants to talk about. The writers have done it in a tasteful and funny way. Thank you Mayim for sticking with meaningful programming. 

Find me!

I'm on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and even Stellar. It would be awesome to have you follow my posts. I record new videos weekly. They have to go through compliance and be approved so I don't get them uploaded as quickly as I'd like. 

It's a new way of thinking so it's not just something people understand right away. If you want me to come demonstrate how to use these products, please let me know! 

Busy week!

We've had a great week here at the Deckard Haven. Busy with school, work, home, garden... groceries, cooking, cleaning... It never ends.

The peacocks have been a nice bonus!

I've made two videos with Norwex cleaning products. I've sent them to compliance for approval. Zippy is starring in one of them. 

This great video explains why I love Norwex so much!

Contest!

I get 5 extra points to tell you all about this contest! I have a blog and they have a contest. Who is they? Sizzix! The makers of the Big Shot. You go to their page, follow the steps, and get entered to win. I have a Big Shot, but this awesome package would be so much fun!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER!!! 

You want a digital version of our latest catalog?

Click here:     Catalog 2016

You know what I love?

This mop is awesome! It's so nice to have everything together in one easy to use system. 

I use it everyday and love it. Wanna try it? Let me know and I'll tell you how you can get your own!