Housekeeping routines

[Desiree Allen]

Now all I need to do is figure out what to keep and what to let go of

Me too.

[Marsha Lynn]

I'm in a funk and need a different perspective on doing my housekeeping. Would anyone care to share your routine?

Hi, Desiree. As my NazNet profile indicates, I am domestically-challenged. I have visual tune-out strong enough to compete with any man and can sit in a dirty, cluttered room without noticing a thing -- until a guest walks in.

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum from Barb. Housecleaning is not a matter of simply putting everything in order before I go to bed. It is screwing up the strongest, most resolute self-discipline I can possibly come up with. For me, maintaining a neat and tidy home ranks right up there with losing that last ten pounds and developing a consistent exercise routine. I have long maintained that it takes me twice as long to do half as much as other women.

I discovered years before I ever heard of Flylady the value of a kitchen timer hung from a belt around my waist. Without a timer, I wonder off-task at every little distraction. With the timer, I submit everything to the clock. I have a list of tasks I have developed over the years (daily, weekly, monthly, bimonthly) and work to that list - for example, my "daily list" includes 10 minutes in the kitchen, 3 minutes in the living room, 2 minutes in each bathroom, etc., for a total of 41 minutes to start the day. When I manage to get into the cleaning groove, every time the timer goes off I drop what I'm doing wherever I am and move on to the next task. It gives me a sense of freedom and control to do that and helps me keep going. After all, there's no task on my list to which I devote more than 20 minutes. At the end of the cleaning day, it's no big deal to make a sweep of the house and tidy up what I left lying about.

It has been a while, but as soon as my household members go back to work and school after the holidays, I plan to get back on schedule. In order to do that I will have to make a pledge to "finish this week's cleaning list if it kills me -- and there's a good chance it may".

When I read the "just tidy up before you go to bed" advice, it makes me wonder if I am the only woman anywhere for whom a clean house is such a daunting goal. It's sort of like those who advise that the way to lose weight is to simply eliminate between-meal snacks.

One of the great realizations of my life was that the promise of ways to fight clutter is on the cover of almost every issue of 'house and home' magazines. Maybe I'm not alone after all.

It's a new year. Onward and upward.



Marsha

[Joanne Vergin]

Let go Rai let go!!!
Can I come over and help you do an intervention?

[Sheya Stephens]

My husband was raised in a house where it rarely clean. No friends were ever allowed and having the occassional guests meant they had to start cleaning weeks in advance and then cutting it close as the guests were walking up the sidewalk.

My mom was a perfectionist. We weren't allowed to walk on the 'tracks' of a vaccuumed room. We didn't have people over because they might make a mess.

So when we first started out together... I thought cleaning together would be the end of our marriage. My husband went into this frenzy... yelling (from him), tears (usually mine), etc. I assummed that if the guests wanted my house clean, then they can bring their own mop.

I keep the house picked up... but with toys, schedules, etc I fall behind. It isn't that hard to get it back on track.

My husband doesn't like having people over because he sees the faults that our house has, but I really don't care and invite people over anyways. It is still stressful and we still don't clean together. Pretty amazing what that difference in our upbringing did to our early married years.

[Barb Bouldrey]

Marsha,

Your post made me chuckle. Do you really have a timer on your belt? What an idea!

A lot of it is how we are raised and who we are. The Mrs. Perfect Susie Homemaker went out the window a long time ago.

It is good to see Sheya write that she really doesn't care and invites people over anyway. That is the way it should be.

We do the best we can and should not have to live up to anyone's expectations of what we should be.

I am a "FAST" housecleaner. I get up and get it done and get it over with so I can do things I want to do...like read or play on NazNet.

I am my mother's daughter. After being trained to make my bed as soon as I get out of it, I still do that. After being the only daughter with 6 brothers and getting up from the table and starting the dishes so I could go do what I wanted, I still get up from the table and immediately get the dishes done, or dishwasher going.

If I have an envangelist staying with us and we have to be at church for a service, I am often accused of taking his plate from under his nose. LOL I will start to clear the table and put things away while the men are talking and often an evangelist will grab his plate and hold on just to tease me. I like having everything put away and the dishwasher going as I leave for church.

My mother would shake her head if she saw how I do not clean the way she did at my age. LOL That woman moved every piece of furniture once a week and swept under it. She would wash the molding around the base of the walls every week, too. She did spring and fall cleaning. I don't do any of those things. I might wash curtains every 5 years unless we move before that, and then I wash them. LOL

Barb

[Joanne Vergin]

Sheya,
we have been living parallel lives.

[Desiree Allen]

Wow, who woulda thought a tiny little request could have stirred up this much discussion! I've thoroughly enjoyed reading all of your posts!

[Joanne Vergin]

Just goes to prove there are no tiny little requests!

[LoraineStanton]

Let go Rai let go!!!
Can I come over and help you do an intervention?

You sure know how to scare me don't you Jo?

[Joanne Vergin]

Like it's my mission in life!