Monday, March 31, 2008
Resolutions
This year I made one New Year's resolution and that was to get on top of and stay on top of all our laundry. I have failed miserably! So once again I resolve to try to do better. Washing laundry isn't the problem, it's hauling it back upstairs and putting it away that never seems to get done. This week I have made a serious effort to do some laundry every night and get it put away but that requires entering my kids bedroom after they've fallen asleep and opening drawers and closet doors. So far I've been lucky and they've stirred but haven't woken up. I have also managed to clean up (and keep it clean) my living room, dining room and kitchen and both of the kids rooms. I need to tackle the half bath but its not too bad yet and the other stuff is more pressing right now. I can't tell you how many people have told me "just spend 15 minutes a night and clean something and your house will stay neat". Clearly those people don't have an out of control house to begin with. No way is my house going to get clean in 15 minutes a night so I'm trying to take the extra time and get each room cleaned up so I can spend 15 minutes a night and see if it works. Working full time and taking care of 2 small fry doesn't leave a whole lot of time or energy for cleaning. Every weekend I say I'm going to clean something and then I choose to do something fun with my kids instead so I have no one to blame but myself. I need to clean my bedroom and both of my bathrooms and then I will finally be in a position to try the 15 minutes a night thing. So my goal is within reach. I'm trying to put away all loads of laundry I complete each night plus one extra from the gigantic pile of clean laundry in the basement. Maybe since I have given myself a very public challenge I will finally find the motivation I need to keep my house in order. I just feel so much better when I walk in and it looks nice. How do you keep your house in order? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
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2 comments:
I can't be much help here. I often choose time with my kids, or time to myself, over cleaning. I think it's more important to keep myself sane, and make memories with my kids. The house can wait. as long as we have clean clothes to wear and clean dished to cook/eat with, and the floor is clean of things Kylie shouldn't eat, the rest can wait. When it really drives me crazy and I can't stand to look at it anmore, then I got on a cleaning rampage and tackle the worst areas until I'm out of energy, or the kids stop me because they need me.
I spend way more than 15 minutes a day cleaning, but I do find that cleaning something every day helps keep the house looking nice. Because who has four hours to clean on the weekends?
First of all, go through your stuff and get rid of anything you don't need, don't want or aren't using. Too much stuff equals clutter and clutter makes it hard to keep things neat.
Then focus on one room at a time and clean it top to bottom. Everything. Windows, ceiling fans, walls, etc. Deep cleaning each room might take a few months.
After that, I have a cleaning schedule. On Mondays, I sweep and mop the floor and clean the upstairs bathroom. I vacuum, dust and disinfect the kitchen on Tuesdays. On Thursdays I bag all the paper recyle and put it in the bin, mop the floor again and clean the downstairs bathroom. Laundry gets done as needed. Knowing ahead of time what I need to do and splitting the work up really helps a lot.
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