Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Let's talk about cleaning
I've had this conversation with a few of you before, but this efficient housekeeping gene was never installed for me. I feel like I spend so much of my free time at home cleaning or picking up or something, but there's got to be a leak in my system somewhere, because I can still walk into our kitchen or bedroom at any given time and chances are, it's a disaster of clutter and needs to be vacuumed, dusted, something. I have paid enough attention to confirm that this is a real problem and not just the "one thing's out of place so the house is a mess" sort of syndrome. I'm not sure if it's a discipline problem, a systems problem or what. Do you guys have tips, ideas, thoughts, routines, that help you? Emily, can I just follow you around for a few days and see how you do it? :)
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8 comments:
I think it might just be discipline. Most of our messes come from, we can't seem to decide, how long to keep this stack of magazines, or those notes to self. So then cleaning becomes this paramount task where it should be, I walk, I breathe, I clean, a constant ongoing thing. Don't listen to me though, I don't have a cleaning leak, I have a cleaning geyser.
Oh Honey! I clean, walk out of the room, return 10 minutes later and the anti-cleaning crew known as Katarina and Ben have conquered the cleanliness with Little People, cars, colored pencils, sippy cups, barrettes, hair rubberbands, stickers, stuffed animals, their clothes, doll clothes, blocks, etc etc etc the list could go on forever.
I will say that as upset as I get when they splash water all over the bathroom floor during their baths it does force me to get down their and mop it up. And that can be a "good thing!"
So, needless to say, I didn't get the cleaning gene either and if I did one would never know because of K and B. Hey! Maybe in 16 years we'll see if I really got the gene or not!
LOVE YOU! E !
I hear ya, sista!! We made the resolution in January to spend a few minutes each night picking up a few things so it didn't get out of control--well, here we are in April, and they are often out of control! We have talked about this idea and maybe we should start doing it--set days of the week to do certain chores. EX: Mon-dust, Tues-vacuum, Wed-laundry, etc. so that it isn't just all overwhelming at once, you just have to do that chore that day. Of course things like dishes and clutter come every day, so taking care of right away would help at our house. Good luck, let me know if you need a little extra help around the house!
-Aunt Mandy :)
my solution: give up. wasn't it einstein that defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? :-)
All wise advice...I think the discipline part plays into it big for us. And the dog hair doesn't help either. I'm thinking of shaving him :)
It's true, I do like to clean and enjoy a tidy place. But, keep in mind, I have a one bedroom apartment. I'm sure keeping a whole house clean would be much more of a challenge. Not to mention the fact that a boy will be moving in with me in 3 months. Everything may change after that! :)
To clean up the extraneous stuff, you could sell things on eBay. Don't sell Craig or Bartlett though; they don't count. ;)
The ebay idea is good too, although indeed I would not consider Craig or Bartlett extraneous!
Emily, sinec you are successful at cleaning a one-bedroom apartment, hopefully the transition to cleaning bigger spaces should be successful too!
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