I loathe cleaning.
But I also love sitting down after cleaning the house, looking around, and feeling light and free. You know what I'm talking about, right?
I grew up in a household that was always busy. It seemed like there was something to do almost every night, whether it was FHE, symphony rehearsal, dance practices, swim lessons, piano lessons, mutual, scouts, this, that, and the other plus school. By the time Saturday rolls around, the last thing any kid--and probably any mother-- wants to do is clean the house. As the song goes, however, Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday... and for my family, Saturday was the only day to clean. So the chore lists were written, complaints were filed and whining was sounded, guilt was passed around until one of us finally did way more cleaning than was fair, and Mom was probably the only one who cleaned anything properly.
Out of habit, I tried to clean on Saturdays. Now, don't get me wrong-- I have an apartment. Apartments are just the right size that you should be able to clean the entire thing in a couple hours if you just buckled down and did it. It wouldn't be that big of a deal, right? For me, apparently not. Things only really got clean when one of us went on a binge, most likely out of annoyance, and the other joined in because we are really good at sharing emotions.
So while on Pinterest (judge me if you want) I saw an idea for a cleaning rotation. It was a two-week setup that got you to clean the house for what looked like less than an hour a day. Half commitment? Sounds like my kind of chore chart! So I took it, and adapted it for our needs in our apartment.
What I loved most about this is that it got through everything. We don't use our shower enough to wash it every week, so instead of have the bathrooms on one square, I just spread it out. The floors get vacuumed twice a week, but the living room gets vacuumed an extra two times because it seems like there are always crumbs everywhere (thanks to a 9-month-old food lover). Rest Days are Sundays, because that is how it should be. And there are the daily things that need to be done, too, such as making the beds, and loading the dishwasher so that clutter stays down in the kitchen.
Now, I realise this is super minimal and probably makes me look lazy. I don't care, because this works for me. As I dusted the surfaces today, I couldn't help but smile because I knew it would help keep my allergies down this summer. When I use the sink in the evening, it's nice to see it clean instead of hairy and dirty. Making my chore list minimal is fantastic, because it gives me time to do the things I want to do, and it makes my "chore of the day" so much less intimidating. Now I can look around and be proud of my house, instead of being embarrassed every time Husband Man comes home from work. Don't get me wrong-- I fall behind. Today I did pretty much everything that I should have been doing all week. Things were busier than usual, and I didn't get to the cleaning. But I took the time, got it done, and now I'm all caught up. And it feels fantastic. I feel more successful as a housewife.
One of my friends recently told me a cleaning trick: If it takes less than two minutes to finish, then just do it. I'm not very good at this, but it's starting to work for me. Instead of looking at my shirts on the floor, I can just hang them up and be done with it. I've noticed that it's the jobs that take less than two minutes that are what keep the clutter off of the floor, and that alone makes your house feel cleaner! If you have a smaller livingspace, such as a dinky one-bedroom apartment, keeping clutter away helps your space to look larger.
Just put your completed chart in a clear sleeve, and you're ready to go!
Oh yeah, the "Don't Forget" part is so I could write in events and appointments that are happening in the upcoming week. That would have been a great place to remind myself that we were feeding the missionaries today...
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