Yes, Mom. You read that right. I’m writing a post about keeping up with the house.
{Sigh} This is so not my thing.
But I want it to be. And I actually do have some tricks of the trade that work well… when I follow them.
Wanna-be neat and tidy homemakers: This one’s for you!
- Start early. Maybe it’s just me, but if I don’t gain momentum early in the morning, I get distracted by other things throughout the day and the job doesn’t get done. I try to have almost all of my housework finished by noon.
- Don’t let the mess get out of control. Easier said than done, but I find that if I clean as I go, and do a daily “good enough” sweep through the house, the bigger cleaning chores don’t seem so daunting. What I still desperately need to work on is training my children to put away one toy or game before reaching for another.
- Let your children help. Even the littles can (and usually want to!) pitch in. Will they do the job as thoroughly as you? Maybe
, maybe not. But they are learning. Let them! - Have a routine. My washing machine works non-stop on Monday mornings, and in between loading, re-loading, folding, and putting away, I can be found cleaning my bathroom and doing daily kitchen chores. After the big Monday washing machine workout, I do one or two loads first thing each morning to stay on top of the laundry all week. Weekends? All bets are off.
- Focus on a few rooms. When someone opens my front door they are thrust into my living room and have a direct shot at my dining room. I don’t want to dread surprise company. If I can keep those two rooms (and the bathroom!) good enough at all times, I reduce my risk of embarrassment. Just don’t ask to see our bedrooms!
- Don’t waste trips through the house. If I’m heading from one room to another, my time is much better spent when I look around and put things away as I go. Dirty clothes on the floor? Drop them in the laundry chute on my way from the bedroom to the kitchen. Breakfast dishes on the table? Grab those after dumping clothes down the chute.
That’s all I’ve got for ya. Like I said, housekeeping is just not my thing. I know there are oodles of cleaning schedules and calendars and methods out there, but I’m afraid those would only add to my clutter. Perhaps Mandi will have some motivating ideas for my wanna-be efforts.
Here’s to conquering the mess in 2010!
Am I all alone here? What helps you stay on top of household chores?
I’m totally with you on this one – housecleaning is not my thing! Number one is the key for me. I must get going early as my determination to get a lot accomplished is usually gone by lunch time!
Yes. Afternoon is computer time and other fun stuff. Cleaning… definitely a morning activity.
I rarely stay on top of household cleaning. To the point I’ll stay on my front porch and talk to someone. I’ve found that when I stick to it Flylady’s system is great, and sounds like some of the thing you do.
I like to stay on top of the bathroom all week long. I have five children living at home with us so every morning after they’ve left for school, I clean the toilet and sink with a mixture of lemon Pine Sol, a touch of bleach and water and clean the toilet, starting with the handle and working down, with about 10 squares of toilet tissue. At the same time I spray down the toilet, I also spray the sink and let it work on toothpaste. I then clean that with the same amount of tissue. Once I’m done, I flush it all away. That really helps keep things clean and makes me feel better. Everything is so fresh when I’m done.
That’s a good plan. The bathroom gets out of control rather quickly around here.
Great tips to live by:-)
My kids have their own daily chore lists, which makes a huge difference! We tackle the house one room per day, with just “light” clean ups in between. That way, I don’t have to clean the whole house on any one particular day!
How old were your kids when you started the chore lists? I think my kiddos could handle something like that on a smaller scale. They are 6, 4, and 2.
I Agree I need to STAY on top of my household duties. What helps me is just doing little by little. I read somewhere that when you get up out of bed and make it, 80%o f your work is done. The bed of your bedroom take up most of the space in your room. So by making up the bed, your almost done with the room!
Amazing the difference a made bed makes!
Great post!
I am not very good at staying on top of my cleaning either.
My husband and I were just discussing that we need to have people over more frequently that way we are doing a more thorough cleaning and not just a good enough cleaning.
Yes. I love having company for the same reason!
This is definitely our creed around here! If I don’t make up my own bed, start the laundry, and empty the dish washer when I first get up, my day feels all out of whack.
Another tip that I picked up somewhere that I haven’t really used yet is having 3 separate “chore times” during the day. This is something I think I’ll try when the kiddos are a little older. After breakfast, after lunch, and after dinner there are set chores for each child to do. Makes so much sense!
Three separate chore times is a good idea. Even if I have things looking good by noon, they can get all out of whack before bedtime.
I have a love/hate relationship with housework! I do however try and put things away when I am done with them and encourage my kids to do the same (altho easier said than done). If an item doesn’t have said “place” to be put away it brings me to the question…do we really need to create a place or do we dispose of the item…hence helping with clutter which after all is a big part of housekeeping (at least in my world)! Great post~
That’s what I will be thinking about as I go through our bedrooms and closets. If something doesn’t have a place, should I create one or get rid of it? Hmmm.
Tonight while giving the kids a bath I looked around their bathroom (one of 3 we have) and noticed how DIRTY it was. Then I realized I couldn’t recall the last time I’d CLEANED it. Sigh.
I find I have to tackle as much as I can on Monday because as the week wears on my energy level rapidly decreases. And hosting everything I can (parties, Bible study, playdates, etc) — that ALWAYS gets me in a cleaning frenzy. Dirty toilets are fine for us but not COMPANY!! LOL
I blame my lack of housekeeping on having small children. We’ll see what my excuse is when they’re older!
I am a cleaning machine on Monday mornings!