I clearly did not inherit the cleanliness gene. How many generations does that skip? Because I did not inherit this, I have to train myself to follow certain routines in order to create and maintain a reasonably clean house. The only problem is that I am too impatient for a slow but steady approach. And then, on the flip side, I am too overwhelmed by the "clean it all today, and then keep it that way forever" approach, as well. So I end up cleaning it all today, then letting it sit for a while until I can't stand it anymore. Not a great way to approach house cleaning.
I am sure my issue is shared by many. How can we, then, conquer this problem? I have already tried Flylady.net multiple times. I am frustrated by her "shine your sink for a week straight before we add in anything else" approach. Not fast enough results for me. Maybe I should just focus on one room for a week. Get it clean, and keep it clean every day. The next week, I'll add another room. And so on. I think I will begin with the kitchen, as this is the most essential to keep clean. Then, I'll add in the living room.
So today it begins. I will keep my kitchen very clean and neat every day this week. I will begin by decluttering my counters, which definitely gather much clutter in our home. Keeping the dishes out of the sink will be another challenge. The rest is not so bad. I do have a large kitchen, so this will be a chore for me. I'll try to add some before and after pictures so you can see my progress. With a bit of dedication, I will have this room clean and ready for company every day of the week. The rest of the house...??
4 comments:
I used to be pretty good about keeping things picked up and vacuumed. Usually, the kitchen and the living room, at least, were ready for visitors, and the bedroom was relatively tidy, and the bathrooms were clean...
But now? Goodness. That seventh kid, this hard-to-arrange house, the farm work... I'm in a little over my head. ;-)
Hopefully, though, your children are old enough to pitch in with some stuff. Teaching them to put things away when they're finished with them. Training ourselves to do the same thing. That, I think, is the biggest thing in cutting down on clutter. If we'd just learn to put things back when we're done with them. It's not like we don't know where they belong...and if we'd take that 1 extra minute to do it, then we wouldn't have to do it all at once later on. I do this in the kitchen religiously, but not everywhere else in the house. It's something I need to work on.
Reminds me of a story I read in a book once:
Two sisters, both chronically disorganized, invited their super-together friend over for tea so they could pick her brain and find out what made her so different from them. "Okay," she said. "I'll be over as soon as I finish my morning chores."
She arrived around 9:00 and sat down at their kitchen table and they asked, "So how do you do it? How do you keep such a nice home and still do all the other things you do?"
She looked at them, then looked at the row of used teabags lined up along the edge of the sink. "Well," she began cautiously, "are you going to use those again?"
The sisters were shocked. "Of course not!" they exclaimed.
The friend looked at them and suggested, "Then why don't you throw them away?"
So true! Love the story, Jenn. I guess my problem is my own, actually. I bring the clutter upon myself. However, I do have other people contributing that I have not properly trained. Tis something indeed I will have to work on. One of many things I have to work on :)
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