Today I am sitting in front of my computer exhausted. Today is the day my neighbor comes over to help clean. This requires that I of course, clean before she comes. Really just not looking forward to what lay ahead of me. What if I didn’t feel like this? What if my house really only ever needed a quick pick up to be ready to clean, or even better, just a few minutes work to be decently cleaned. How does one accomplish such a task? I started where I always do when I have home making questions. A cup of tea and the internet. Everyone has so many wonderful charts, calenders, 3×5 cards and control journals. It’s all very pretty and neatly organized. But it really just made me feel overwhelmed. Looking at a month long chart of chores I wonder how I would ever want to do any of it. So, with pen in hand I walked through my house and wrote down what must be done before “the neighbor” comes over. Not as a check list, but as a “what gets so messed up so fast?” list. Here is why my house is a disaster.
There are 5 problem areas. Let’s break down the problems and see if their is a solution.
Dirty Clothes – It doesn’t matter where I put my clothes hamper, each member of the household has their own ideas, the bathroom floor, hanging over the banister, hallway, bedroom floor, the stairs, (sigh). We do have a central area where they all go in the end and that is our master closet. Maybe I just needed something more than a laundry basket. Something that won’t fill up fast and make a a quick pick up part of my routine.
Dishes -This could be easily solved by filling the washer as I go, washing at night, emptying in the morning.
Toys – I have tried so many times to confine toys to certain rooms. I’m certain when the kiddos are older this won’t be an issue. That also needs to be a nightly task.
Bathroom – Children who aren’t fully potty trained make a bathroom pretty gross pretty fast. Cleaning this has to be a daily thing. I’ve avoided it too long.
Floors – On my floors is the following; dried bits of play dough, small pieces of food that didn’t quite make it all the way into little mouths, dog hair, cat hair and the regular mess of just living. This also will need to be done more than once a week.
In conclusion, “Go to the mouth of the river of pain.” -The Buddha. This basically means stop avoiding and walk right into the fire. I need to except a Morning and Evening routine, no matter how big a river of pain in my arse it is. It may take a few days or even weeks before I know the full affect this is going to have on me. Will it make life better, easier and give me a sense of accomplishment or will you hear my screams…”how do other women do this?!”