How do you do it?
I've come to realize that I'm not satisfied with my cleaning efforts...or lack thereof.
I'm gonna come "clean" and say that I never really learned how to keep a clean house. My mother hired a sweet lady to come and clean the house once a week and just did light housekeeping the rest of the time. So I never really learned how to deep clean and how to maintain on my own.
I look around our humble home and realize that I'm really not comfortable with the state of things. I wrote out a weekly rhythm:
Monday: Baking
Tuesday: Bathrooms
Wednesday: Dust and Vacuum
Thursday: Grocery Shopping
Friday: Scrub floors
(The kitchen is daily maintenance and I always get the laundry done since we use cloth diapers.)
The above are my problem areas, hence they received a particular day. It's like they sneak up on you. I never notice how dirty something is until it's really dirty. I have a bad habit of putting things off till it gets that way. So my question to you is, How do you do it?
5 comments:
Damage control during the in between days. Especially in the bathroom, and especially with multips in the house (messing it up constantly ;)), i have found that "keeping it tidy" cuts down on the nasties.
For instance:
a rag by the sink to wipe up the drippy drops every time we wash hands/brush teeth
a microfiber rag to hit-and-miss those shiney end tables that reveal every little smudge
an easily accessed broom and dustpan that i use 3 times daily (at least) not because i am OCD, but because little ones (and husbands, too - shh!) crumb like it's their job and i LOATHE crumbs! (n.b. it has to be easily accessible so i dont put it off)
And the list could go on, but you'll get into your own groove and discover the secrets on your own.
And have you always had the beautiful paisley print on your sidebar???! I have a slow connection and am normally in and out before everything loads.....
I use the Flylady - www.flylady.com. I just follow her daily email of what to clean - her little cleaning missions. Here was yesterday's:
"Today's mission:
Bathroom: wipe the baseboards
Other: spend 5 minutes tidying your craft area."
I can handle that.
(There's also a lot of miscellaneous emails, like testimonials that could be filtered into the trashcan. I just delete them and move on).
I'm sure you know my biggest issue with our apartment is dirt (dirt road) and spiders (basement). So far I've seen 0 spiders since I started using Flylady's methods. The dirt still accumulates, but hey; at least it doesn't walk on me. :P
There are some days - growth spurts especially - that it's a Major Achievement if I make the bed and do the dishes. I try not to beat myself up about it. I'm particularly AR and hate clutter and dirtiness, so I have been learning to pick my battles and do what I can with Elise. Things are still kind of annoyingly messy but not as bad as it used to be.
My mom is also clean AR - she washes the ceilings on a regular basis. I'm not that bad, but I do have my quirks (organizing spices by jar size and alphabetically, folding laundry a certain way, etc). She taught me everything I know ... maybe that's why I sometimes go bonkers with the apartment. :X
i have the same problem as you. the dishes get done and the counters wiped and the laundry is almost always done, but other than that things get a little sloppy around here. then again we also had someone clean our house as well. i tried a schedule, but failed miserably. i'm hoping when greta can entertain herself a little more i will be able to stick to it better! good luck!
i get my husband to do it all...hehe!
i have the same problem as you; i leave things too long. maybe writing out a daily plan as you did will help.
xxx
Those wipe thingys are my friend. Those help a lot. And you know what? If we don't sweep everyday or every few days, that's OK. I just have learned to accept it.
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