how and WHY my mother (of 4 girls) could keep the house clean.
Before AJ was born and until he could crawl around and get into things, we were very lazy on the house-cleaning front. If we were to have company, we would literally spend the entire weekend cleaning the house. And not just de-cluttering, but cleaning. Dishes, the stove, the oven, the bathroom (YUCK!), the floors. It took the two of us about 10 full hours to clean the home to be presentable for company. (Did I just admit that! LOL)
Well, now as the mother of three wonderful children, I know why and how. You HAVE to keep the house clean, or it drives you crazy. You HAVE to be organized, otherwise your day will get the better of you. If you go to bed without the dishes cleared from the table and counters, they just multiply. 10 minutes here, 5 minutes there saves you 10 hours of cleaning times 2 adults. You see, being able to put 10 straight hours of anything is impossible these days. Especially when you clean one room and move onto the next and the children have messed up the one you just cleaned.
I have a group of friends (HI! March Moms!), and we are doing a cleaning challenge. I’m finding that I really don’t have to do much of the cleaning that’s being suggested. For instance, we are following the Flylady. This week was the kitchen. Deep-cleaning the microwave, the oven, the stove. Those are typically clean. I wipe up most spills when they happen. Wiping fingerprints off the front of cabinets. I do that already, everyday. The kids fingerprints drive me crazy. The only thing I have left to do is to clean the fridge. Although, I have no outdated food in there, it does need a proper cleaning of the shelves. And the freezer – now that needs work. It should just be called the money pit because we put stuff in there and it always ends up in the trash 6 months later. However, I did de-clutter my countertops a little. I had too many piles, now I have letter sorters with folders. Now, just to make sure they go in their place!
