A while back, Bill of e.IA.f.t. left a comment on one of my posts (this one, specifically) that has really helped me. A lot.
Most of my house is clean. For, perhaps, the first time since about a month before my imp was born (when I couldn't bend over any more).
He pointed me at the FlyLady. Yes, a lot of her site deals with a lot of feel-good, self-esteem bullshit, but there's also a lot of really good advice about how to build cleaning into a routine. That's something I never really learned, growing up--neither keeping house nor cooking (though I seem to be pretty good at cooking for my family--it may not look pretty, but it tastes so good!).
The advice on how to start has been invaluable: start with something small (shine the sink), and build habits around it (you can't really do that unless you keep up with the dishes. And then you start building from that). The advice on how to continue has been at least as invaluable. Up until recently, I tried to do a room a day.
Trust me, trying to clean an entire disaster area room starts out looking worse than before you tried to deal with the mess.
No, the advice that's gotten my house cleaner than it's been since I had my first child (who's going to be three and a half in about a week) has been 1. break the room into chunks, and 2. work in 15 minute increments.
I still have the bedrooms and our future dining/now storage room to go, but the kitchen, living room, hall, and hall bath are presentable enough that my in-laws have been invited to visit tomorrow (bringing the imp with them, as he's spent the last two nights with Granma and Grampa).
Again, many thanks to Bill for pointing me in the right direction. I owe you at the very least the drink of your choice.
48 minutes ago
Hey there Ms. H, I'm happy this is working out so well. I give my wife grief for joining the "Fly Lady Cult" - but it sure works for her. I still like to zing her a bit when the 15 minute buzzer goes off or she gets a new duster, toilet bowl cleaner, calendar . . . Yep, a lot of entertainment for me! :) Yet, when she first found Fly Lady we were nose deep in kids, careers and foreign exchange students. It really saved her.
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm glad I shared Fly Lady with you and I truly am happy it's working out - keep it up!!
I don't set timers--the kids are better timers than the ones that go ding!--but the concepts really are life savers.
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd come across the calendar concept a week earlier. I've got friends in town this morning (they live on the East coast, and this will be the first time I've seen them since they first found out they were expecting--and my first time meeting their son), and they're leaving around 11 or so. If I'd remembered, I'd've arranged things with the in-laws a bit differently.
Who does the windows?
DeleteOCM, to answer your question (no matter which way it was intended)...both of us.
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