I recently wrote a series of updates over the course of an hour on Facebook, just to track what I could accomplish with one solid, steady hour of cleaning. What I managed (while both children were asleep, mind you) was to give my kitchen a thorough clean. I did the dishes, cleaned the microwave, emptied the toaster crumbs and even filled the sugar bowl along with the usual dishes/stove/etc. sort of cleaning. I didn’t manage to wash the floor in my allotted time, (although I swept) nor did I do any ‘deep cleaning’ like defrosting the freezer, emptying cupboards and washing them, or cleaning the walls. What I proved to myself, though, was that 1 hour was all I needed to bring a dirty room up to ‘company’s coming’ standards.
I’m not a housekeeper who should be emulated by anyone who is looking to make this their ‘job’, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve, and I thought it might be fun to share them here in this space. Fun for me, that is, I can’t imagine you’re going to derive much enjoyment from it.
I’m pretty obsessive about planning, organizing and knowing what exactly to do at each and every point along the way, and so you’ll find that my advice tends to be this way as well. And when I am unsure about something, or want to become better or more efficient at it, I tend to research the issue to death. With that in mind, to start off here are a few of my best reads on the net about where and how to start.
The Stressed Mom wrote this post to highlight 10 of her best tips for keeping the home running smoothly. Some of them are a little elementary, but there is one that saves me time and again. Do one complete load of laundry per day. That’s washing, drying, folding and putting away! Especially if you are using cloth diapers, running a load of those through a rinse and then continuing with your reg. laundry will save you.
A Slob Comes Clean is a great starter resource that I came across when I was starting our decluttering journey. She’s very real, very funny and even has her own Youtube channel. Also, her ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures actually look something like MY before and after pictures, which makes me feel better. You don’t see a lot of bedrooms online that have a pile of clothes on the floor. For the next little while she also has an e-book that teaches you how to teach your children to clean, and it is free.
Dwija at House Unseen, Life Unscripted wrote a guest post that I completely agree with on when tasks need to be done throughout the day. So many times you hear about how you should be able to just clean, regardless of where the kids are, what they’re doing, etc. And the fact is, that’s not true! Trust me, I have a two year old and a newborn and if I leave them alone they’re going to need me within five minutes. Dwija splits her housecleaning into really practical sections, and you should check it out.
Happy reading!
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