How are you keeping your house clean?

[AnnieClaus]

Cindylouwho- I like what you said about kids flourishing in a clutter-free, clean environment. I believe that to be true.

And really for anyone- we cannot function in disorganization!

Do you all remember those little books that were popular in the 90's entitled, Life's Little Instruction Book? It started out as a father wrote out a little booklet to give to his son when he left for college. Just little tid bits of advice to make life easier.

One of the tid bits is: Never go to bed with dishes in the sink.

That has stuck with me and when I say it to people, more often than not, they'll come up to me 2,3 weeks later and say, "Annie, ever since you said that to me I cannot go to bed with dishes in the sink."

Annie

 

[MissBrittany]

kim- can you give him a closet or the garage to do whatever he wants with? DH has the whole garage to keep everything in whatever disarray he chooses. so long as both cars fit inside, i'm happy.

 

[Cindylouwho]

Cindylouwho lol! I don't think my asking skills are up to par yet.

ROFL! Oh I know!!! Took me MONTHS (years?) of working on this! Thus the practice in front of the mirror! I'm so Type A! DH's messing up my clean spots was (and still is) the hardest thing for me to swallow simply because he's a grownup!

Miss Brittany you bring up a good point about the garage. Oddly, my DH has his shop, his garage, our crawl space, the office and the best cabinet of the mudroom buried in tools and clutter. Uhm, what's up with that? (Actually I think it is because the garage door is not installed yet).

Colleen in PA -- Your experience is similar to mine. Don't know when it happened but eventually things started to change. DH is more helpful now and the household runs more smoothly now that everyone has bought in. And they bought in (sorta) because they were rewarded. A clean home hugs not only me but all of us and it only takes a while til even the worst offenders feel the hug.

So I was thinking yesterday about my initial weeks with the SHE books (Sidetracked Home Execs), FlyLady etc and I remember.....confusion. And impatience. I don't think I really understood I was developing "habits" until they became actual habits. One day I just woke up and realized I was unloading the dishwasher in the morning on auto-pilot.

I started with those little side-comments to the family to instill into their subconscious that THEY would be happier in an organized home. I kid you not. This was a marketing effort! I corralled and contained "like items" and was dismayed at how many duplicates I had. Once I had the visual I became much more ruthless in decluttering. This went for the pantry too. And I bought a garden rake for the kids toys -- their option was take the 5 minutes to tidy up or, "No problem sweeties - I'll take care of it while you're at school. Love you!". They learned quickly that their toys were safest if they were the ones in charge of cleaning them up. I leave the garden rake in their room to make it easier for them but also as a reminder. I studied my existing habits on a daily basis. Two things I learned about myself: 1. My energy crashes at 5pm and I become overwhelmed. My day must be top-loaded toward the mornings. I too had to give myself permission to break things into smaller jobs. 2. If I get to bed late the night before, I'm overwhelmed before I even start my day.

 

[Christmas Paper]

Hi Ladies, It's a chore isn't it? I just spent part of my day getting rid of stuff in my Dining Room. I finally got 3 bins of Pictures back into the closet, after having them out for weeks. I took down my Crystal, to see what I have, & what I don't. I'm short some Glasses, 1 Wine, 2 Goblet, & 1 Champagne or something else. I'm thinking of Going out & Buying a whole new set, something very Pretty, as the ones I have are very Delicate, I just might do that. I'm having Christmas & I would like everything to Match, Right! How are you getting ready for the Holidays? Good Luck Everyone~