Littlest Helpers are the best!

I was explaining to Mason the other day about the cleaning challenge and he asked me if he was "clean enough to win?" I love that kid. I told him that if he put his own shoes in the hanging organizer and made his bed every day(among his other responsibilities), then he could win a prize too .

I told him to do it for 7 days... that's how long its "supposedly" takes to form a habit, right? :)

Ladies... day 3, his bed made first thing in the morning. Boom!

So here's my question: What chores do your children do and at what age did you start? I think I started late with Mason and am trying to start earlier with Van.

Sheeting Cleaning Question?

So how often do you wash your bedding?  I shoot for every other week but I am not sure what is the "ideal" amount?  What think ye?

Pee so much freaking pee!

Every day I let Hyrum choose if he wants to wear underpants or a pull-up diaper. Most days he has underpants on he does not have accidents. Today he chose underpants and had 3 accidents (carseat, couch!!! and one that was not a huge problem).  I have been using my homemade disinfecting cleaner spray for the carpets, etc but a couch cushion? How do I clean that up? Right now I soaked up what I could and then covered the area on the cushion with baking soda. Any great potty training clean up ideas you have would be much appreciated.

Not the first post I intended to write, but...

There I was, crouching in the back seat of my not-yet-year-old car, scrubbing the vomit off the upholstery when I began to get very philosophical.

Lessons from a very gross encounter:

1. Always carry a bucket in the car.
2. Always say yes when the new car salesperson wants you to scotch-guard your upholstery.
3. When children express the need to throw up. Go home immediately. Do not wait.
4. Before cleaning a really gross mess, sometimes it's okay to go to book group, have a good night's sleep and eat breakfast. It gives a lot of important distance from the trauma.
5. It's okay to invite your visiting teacher over to watch your kids while you do the deed. (Thank you!!!!)

I hope to never need to apply these life lessons again. Ever.

Small Victories

Today, I didn't get around to making the bed until early afternoon. But, as I entered our bedroom and saw the unmade bed, it bugged me more than it typically does, and I felt so much better once it was made!

I know this isn't an issue for most of you, but, like Amanda leaving the breakfast things out during breakfast, this, for me, is kind of huge.  I'm getting hooked on the few minutes it takes to make our bed every day!

cleaning the microwave

It's not on my list but since I made my list at 1am and accidentally had one item listed twice or maybe 2 listed twice I keep thinking about what to do in place of the mistaken add-on. So today I cleaned the microwave. I'm not a regular wiper-outer of the microwave. It can get pretty gross and baked on. But I have a trick! A measuring cup with some citrus fruit and water (a slice of lemon is best but today I used the peel from the cutie orange I gave to Hyrum for a snack) . Microwave for 3 mins. The steam from the boiling water loosens the gunk and the citrus helps get rid of the nasty smell microwaves tend to accumulate. After that it's just a little scrubbing and a thorough wipe with a paper towel. I hate to use chemicals where my food is cooked since I can't exactly rinse in there.

I am really enjoying watching/reading about everyone's progress and challenges. It is so motivating for me!

2 Gospel Principles That Do Not Motivate Me

I have been so intrigued by all of these posts. I keep thinking about posts I would like to write, such as "Let's Talk Feng Shui" (I believe in Feng Shui), "Let's Talk About Our Mothers" (their habits are either ingrained in us or rebelled against ... and I think it's fascinating to talk about), and finally, "KILL THE TOYS"  (the toys multiply and replenish and take over time after time after time and I do not know how this happens). However, today I will only write this post: "2 Gospel Principles That Do Not Motivate Me." And then I will go and clean out my hall closet. Or read more blogs. Or whatever.

Perhaps they shouldn't be dubbed "principles." You wouldn't find either of these as major topics in the Gospel Principles lesson manual. Let's call them "facets of the gospel or facets of our gospel culture."

1. Perfectionism - "Be Ye Therefore Perfect." NO! I will not! Because I cannot. And therefore I will not try. It's taken me awhile to come to the realization that it is a futile venture to embark upon perfection. It is a maddening undertaking. And, so, I have set "above average mediocrity" as my aim. And I feel so much better. It really does not work for me to try to be perfect. So when people talk about that in church, I think of something to the effect of "be ye therefore a little better and try a little harder." Little I can do. Perfect I cannot.

2. Guilt - I used to think that feeling guilty meant I recognized a better way and was headed for it. But although I was headed for it, I was always falling short and feeling terrible about it. What a drag to be around someone who is always racked with guilt! I was annoyed hanging around my own guilt-racked self! Enter: Adam Ware. It's never even occurred to him to feel guilt. He lives his life, does his best, and doesn't apologize. Meeting him and learning this new way of approaching life has changed me for the better. (I wouldn't be surprised if many of you could relate to finding this trait in the men in your life ... I think guilt is part of the female DNA, especially the religious, ambitious female, and is less present in the male population at large.) Guilt, in my opinion, works best when it's got a short window of time. Feel guilty for sin, yes. But then make restitution and get on with it! That's when it's most effective for the betterment of the spiritual soul.

So, take it or leave it, the gospel according to Martha. Don't let your cleaning drag you down to a state of endless woe, yo! What doesn't motivate you when it comes to getting your house in order?

Chaos is cleaning during No TV week.

Labels are so awesome.  

In a fit of insanity, I decided to organize all of the kids toys (that's 4 of my goals) while the kids were awake in the middle of our "No TV" week.  Pure Chaos.  I also decided to finally add handles and a faucet to our play kitchen (the first bit of handyman work I've ever done).  When Shawn came home, our house looked like a tornado had hit.  The toys were all organized but the rooms were covered with "leftovers" from each toy station.  Ay ay ay.  But by 10pm, I had the house reclaimed (well, except for the dishes and vacuuming) and I am proud of myself.

You think this is a picture of the chaos from trying to organize.  Ha--This is what the room look liked before I even started pulling toys out.  

I know the faucet looks like a robot head from Star Wars but this was my third attempt at making a faucet from things we just had lying around.  

A little late to the game

I have been reading and taking it all in but not sharing, so watch out, here it comes!

If you know my husband at all (which, side note, I have been amused to notice lately that the only guys at church he knows are 60+ because he is in High Priest Group, poor guy, so you probably don't know my husband!) you would know that he never argues so try as I might to pick a fight he won't fight back. The only thing that has almost brought us to "blows" is cleaning. My husband HATES to clean. I mean all of it. He never even touched our first vacuum. Doesn't know where to find the toilet cleaner. Has never mopped the floors...

This came to a head a few years ago when we had more money than time (would that I could have that again...) and when I tried to divide up the cleaning responsibilities he told me that he would just hire out his half.   Except he wasn't joking. So when I was pregnant and working crazy hours and needing desperately to have the house clean, we hired a housekeeper. Between her and the nanny who ironed my sheets!! (which seemed crazy to me but she loved it and it looked awesome), we returned to marital bliss.

Fast forward to our move to Seattle and no housekeeper (or ironing nanny for that matter) I was a little concerned to take up the cleaning battle again but funny enough we have found common ground. Jamie makes the money and I clean the house. Yes, I know it sounds a little 1950's to some, but actually it works. Believe me, I am the most surprised of all.

Okay, so you endured with me through all of that and still I haven't given you my cleaning philosophy, I know, I know, paragraph five, sorry! So my cleaning philosophy is to go crazy every couple of weeks and just clean from top to bottom. I love the daily/weekly lists but someone mentioned needing to have everything clean at once and I am the same way. Never mind that it lasts 10 minutes (I usually clean at night so at least it will be clean for 8 whole hours!), when it is all clean at the same time, aahhh, bliss.

PS So my nanny was actually onto something. Although I have no plans to iron my sheets, EVER, the way she did it was to just plug the iron into an extension cord next to the bed and iron the sheets while they were on the bed. I realized that this would be a great way to do tablecloths so you don't get those annoying creases when the ironed part hits the ground, it works great!

PPS The only thing I ever iron is tablecloths. Don't know how you do it Z.

oh Baking Soda, I never knew how much I needed you

I've been using backing soda for so many cleaning tasks this last week: pee in carpet, pee on wooden floors, toilets, baths, sink, drain, and stove. Oh and apple cake and cookies. What do you use it for?

PS.

I found some gems yesterday while I was cleaning out my closet! It's like getting new clothes! Woot!

Let me explain...

Due to some of the comments on my previous post, I think some of you may have the wrong idea about my cleaning habits/personality.

First of all, my OCD is not completely inhibiting. I've dealt with it for so many years that I have a pretty good grasp on it. This is not something I am ok just taking a pill for so I've put in many hours studying, practicing, applying and tweaking some coping mechanisms. For example, since my house is clean every morning, after breakfast is eaten and cleaned up we usually head out of the house. Whether to explore our area, preschool, parks, play dates, library, etc. This way when we come home for lunch the house is still clean.

Secondly, I am NOT constantly cleaning all day, every day. I'm also NOT a germaphobe. Since my house gets picked up daily as I go, there isn't much to do generally (the most cleaning usually accompanies and precedes meals... sound familiar to any one else??) so it's pretty easy to keep it together.

Some things that I am currently working on, letting the dishes sit in the sink until after the kids are in bed, laying out the laundry to be folded during nap time or after bedtime, not cleaning up all toys before nap time and just waiting until before dinner, etc. (notice a pattern?) These might sound so easy, but not for me.

One thing though, I don't have a huge desire to change how I am, it's who I am. I do, however, use some techniques so it doesn't consume me.

The last subject I wanted to address is: guilt. When I said I feel guilty, my mom got really mad at me. I have nothing to feel guilty about (darn natural man). Not to toot my own horn, but I am an awesome mom. I sat last night watching my boys play Wii bowling and they were happy, fed, clean, laughing, dancing and generally awesome. Thats because of me! (and Braden :) My kids are thriving, smart, happy, fun and we do so many fun things together. Yes, when we color or do a craft at home I am constantly supervising and helping but still letting their creative juices and imaginations run free. Yes, I do a load or two of laundry every day and fold it every night but they look so nice in clean clothes. Basically, I don't feel that I or my family suffer from my condition, but still little feelings of guilt creep in here and there and this is just my lot in life, that I WILL overcome, although I don't think my cleaning habits will or should ever change.

Taylor, you will be happy to know I left the breakfast fixings out while I sat down and enjoyed breakfast with my boys this morning. And yes it was cleaned up immediately following, but still a big deal for me.

Well, I am going to get off the computer and play tennis with Mason.

The Evolution of Z's...Cleaning Philosophy?

Before this blog and this challenge, I can honestly say I never thought of my "cleaning philosophy." To be honest, I never had heard the term before, let alone take any time to consider what my "cleaning philosophy" might be, might want to be, or never will be.

My mother taught me how to clean. I just never really took to it. I have two younger sisters; she taught us to iron our workout clothes, our pajamas, and our jeans. She taught us to make our beds first thing in the morning. She taught us to sweep and vacuum the bathroom (mainly the one we used) before going to school when we were home; Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we started our days at the gym, running and lifting weights, eating breakfast on the way to school. She taught us that a meal should consist of a protein, a carb, and a veggie or fruit.

This, however, is NOT how I live my life.

Once I moved out, first to go was cleaning the bathroom every day. Then came ironing the jeans. Then the pajamas. Last was the workout clothes. (I still iron tees, tops, skirts, tablecloths...) Now that I think of it, perhaps first to go was making the bed...since you've seen it on my list for this challenge, you know I don't do a very good job of it. It's typically last on my priority list, and mainly gets done if I have time before we leave on a vacation or trip to visit family, just so the house has some order to it when we get home. I clean well when I get around to cleaning. It's the getting around to cleaning that I struggle with.

Working full time didn't contribute much to my cleaning habits. Moving here, I worked for Microsoft as a project manager for a global customer satisfaction survey administered twice a year. Microsoft likes to take whatever time you are willing to give them, and rewards you accordingly. Our project plan typically included scheduling weekends to accomplish various tasks. I managed to escape most of those, but long hours at the office were normal. (NOTE: Not every MS group works like this, or so I've heard.) I didn't really clean much, unless we had company over. I tried to keep clutter at bay, but that was about as far as things went.

Then, I was laid off while pregnant with Gabriel (won't go into that story here). I had GRAND plans for the time before Gabriel was born. None of them happened. I was SO happy to have time to myself and with Rich before the baby was born that my dreams of organizing the garage/closets/drawers/shelves went out the window. Our house was never a complete disaster, but my philosophy, if you can call it that, was to clean vigorously when I just couldn't take the clutter or mess any more and found that I was SO grumpy and annoyed that I had let things get into such a state of disarray. So, maybe once a month?

In the past 15 months since Gabriel's birth, I've had more of a desire to be a better housewife and organizer, but that has been a long process for me. Rich is home 24/7, and we tend to split things up pretty well, but I've found I'm the one that needs to set the tone for organization and cleanliness if I'm going to be happy, because he's much more laid back about it all than I am. My philosophy for awhile was, basically (and I am ashamed to admit this), "Why on earth doesn't Rich do something about this mess of (dishes/laundry/papers/toys/etc.)?!"

After a few months of that wonderfully ill-conceived philosophy, I had an epiphany. Instead of getting irritated that Rich wasn't cleaning, why don't I do it? Earth-shattering, I know. Instead of waiting for him to get clothes in the wash, I could either let him know there was a load ready or just toss it in myself (he does wash, I do the folding and ironing). Instead of grumbling about the dishes in the sink, I could take the few minutes they would require and rinse/wash/load the dishwasher (it's supposed to be that I unload it, and he loads it, but I haven't been doing well at my part, and he's been doing it all for a few years). (And today, the dishes are waiting while I boil potatoes and write this post.) Instead of griping about the toys on the floor, I could pick them up. In short, instead of griping about something that needed to be done and hadn't yet been done, I could just stop and DO IT. I stopped procrastinating and grumbling, and set up a mini-schedule. First, bathrooms get done once a week, Saturdays. If there's something that happens and I don't get to it, I don't stress about it, and either get it done Monday or just wait. When tossing dirty clothes, I try to toss them into two hampers - one for whites and towels, the other for colors. When one gets full enough to toss in the washer, in it goes! Before cooking (Rich does the majority, but when I'm the one in charge of dinner), I'll do dishes and clean the counters. Once a load of laundry is washed and dried, I do whatever folding and ironing needs to be done the same day. Before letting G out of his high chair, I try to do a quick sweep of crumbs and tossed chunks of food on the floor. Once a week, I try to vacuum. That doesn't happen as well as it should, but I try. Oh, and I try to get a chore done before crafting or laptop time, during G's nap. Most times, that's the ironing or folding laundry.

I'm nowhere near where some of you are with your schedules and lists (which I applaud!), but I'm finding what works for me, keeps me sane and with less stress, and so far, my "just do it if you see it needs to be done" philosophy with a dash of scheduled chores seems to be doing the trick. Maybe, someday, it will evolve into an actual philosophy. For now, I'm just happy to be fighting the procrastinator in me!

3:30 pm Confession

Just snapped back into reality. Been on the couch reading Pioneer Woman's novel/love story. Adele had been awake and probably crying for 5 minutes. Justin just texted to say he's coming home early. Wally due to wake up any minute...and the house is a mess!

Now Justin's level of cleanliness is different from mine, but I don't like to look like slob when he gets home or make him do the work. I'd rather he play with the kids. So on to cleaning and no reading til it is clean and kids are in bed...maybe.

ps. I am LOVING all your posts and comments. Look for an email tomorrow to get updates on items crossed off form your list and potential "cleaner helper" dates.

Why I Would Love to Be a Sister Wife

Have you ever seen the show Sister Wives? I think I'm messed up, or that TV show has completed manipulated me. I was actually thinking up this post idea during Sunday School today, until our teacher started talking about Jacob 2 & 3, and the sins of the people desiring concubines and polygamous relationships. Oops. Then the teacher sarcastically teased his wife, "Why in the world would anyone want 2 wives?!?" and another lady quickly took the words right out of my mouth, "To do the laundry, of course!"

I just started a new job last week (yay!) but my life just got 30 hours busier, but I'm okay with that. Needless to say, it has really got me thinking about how nice it would be to have just a little bit of help, because I am not trying to be Super-Woman keeping up with the same amount of housework as before.

I would love to be a sister wife because....

....I would come home from work to dinner on the table

....I could continue to work without so much guilt of being a working mother

....there's always laundry to be done

....because my sister wife would love mopping floors (or else!)

....I wouldn't have to arrange for child-care for Michael

....less RAKs for me!

Someday, when I'm filthy rich, rolling around in my dollar bills, I'll just hire a housekeeper.


PostScript-I have yet to do one thing on my list, but unbeknownst to him, Richard did! Thanks hun, you're the best.

Confessions...

*disclaimer-it's late and this is a gargled mess of thoughts thrown up on a blog post. My thoughts were not organized and I've never sat down to write this out before in my life (except my journal)...read on at your own risk*

So, first of all, I have really enjoyed reading everyone's cleaning "philosophies". I am seeing glimpses into your personalities that we don't often see because they happen when we are in our homes and nobody else is around. Our little secrets, if you will. I too, have a few secrets that I'm not always super open about because they are accompanied by massive guilt and embarrassment.

But we are friends...right? This is a tough subject for me and I debated not doing this challenge at all but then I thought... this could be really good for me so here goes.

I have major OCD with a focus on cleaning and organizing. To some, this is not a secret, they know me well and to others this may not surprise you if you know my personality and to others this may be a shock. With this said, here is my cleaning philosophy (not by choice):

EVERYTHING CLEAN, EVERY DAY.

Here's where I cringe. I literally CANNOT go to bed if a single dish is in the sink, piece of clothing is on the floor, towel is hung crookedly in the bathroom, or toy is left out etc. It drives Braden crazy but over the last 5 years he has come to terms and realized that if he helps me, I will be available to relax and cuddle sooner because I will not stop until all is done. I can't stop.

This is not a choice I have made and I am constantly working on it, ways to ease up and let some things slide. Some people may ask, why? Why would you want to change that? But I am constantly racked with guilt about how much time I spend cleaning rather than using some of those minutes to be on the floor rolling around with my kids, building forts, reading books to them, studying the gospel etc.

Also, I have a love/hate relationship with "to do" lists and chore charts and cleaning lists etc. I thrive on extreme organization and having a list with everything I need to do but I also hate to fail and when there is an unchecked item... well I can't deal with that. So this challenge has helped because I have a list of 20 things and 30 days to complete. I can do it!

I should probably clarify one thing: my house may be visually spotless meaning dishes are done, beds are made (yes even the crib), counters are clean and floors are cleared and vacuumed. But it by no means means that my toilets are clean, floors are mopped, and shelves are dusted. My OCD leans in the organization direction. So everything is always organized and clean, not disinfected.

Another reason I struggle with this is because being a homemaker was never really something I envisioned growing up. My liberal, feminist side fights my mothering, nurturing side daily. Of course there is no other place I would dream of being than with my kids (unless our situation called for it) and I do feel the extreme importance of raising, rearing, and nurturing my boys to be exceptional young men but I  often feel like I am losing myself in this role only to find my OCD heightened because THAT I have control over.

One last thing. (Ok, maybe I won't post this because I don't want my relationship to change with any of you). I don't judge. Ever. I wish I had it as together as you ladies but I don't. So cleaning is where I feel like I gain control over my life and "get by" in all other areas. Please don't ever think that when I am in your home I am judging. I am not. This is why I don't often share this with people because I have had people stop inviting me over. It's true. And painful.

With that said, here is what I've done from my list so far:
Items # 5, 9, and 12

Happy Sunday evening to you all.

PS- Taylor, you're my hero. Your confession of RAK almost made us swerve into oncoming traffic when I read it, screamed loudly with a sudden burst of laughter and scared Braden while he was driving. Hilarious!

So, this is what Amanda does.

What Taylor Does (or attempts to do).

Hi Girls,

Let me introduce you to how I attempt to manage my household cleaning duties.

First of all, some background.  I started out with daily cleaning goals like Martha.  Small things I do every day and one big task.  BUT, my life is too unpredictable and nothing makes me more grumpy than ruining a checklist by not crossing off the appropriate thing at the appropriate time.  So, if I missed one day I wasn't flexible like Martha who just does two the next day.  No, I would throw my hands up in the air and tell myself it was just a bad week and I would try again next Monday (since this tended to happen a lot on Mondays, things were getting pretty backlogged.)

So I made myself a weekly checklist with all of the jobs I think should be done weekly.  I actually have 4 versions of this and the jobs in bold are different because there are some jobs that just need to be done monthly.  Some days I check off 10 things and some days none but that wiggle room is built in because it is a weekly planning sheet.  I also do my meal planning there and write other random tasks for the week. (for some reason the check boxes didn't convert to google docs but each item has a check box).

This was working fine for a while but I realized I needed more structure in my day as well.  So . . . my daily checklist was born.  This has the tasks that really should be done every day (like scriptures, cleaning etc) as well as a tentative schedule.  I also pick 3 tasks that I want to do that day but no more than 3.  True some days I don't check things off, but since I threw the daily checklist away at the end of the day, the empty check marks don't make me want to give up.

And there you have it.  That is what I do.  And by do I mean I follow my checklists like 10% of the time.  But the weeks that I do it, things seem awesome which is why I keep trying.

Oh and if you were wondering what RAK stands for it means Random Act of Kindness which is code for doing service for my husband.  Oh, and "doing service for my husband" is code for sex.  Ha!  Someday when I am cool and the kids are older, my goal is to have 5 check boxes in front of that rather than 3.  :)

If you want the word documents I am happy to email them to you, just let me know.

One down

So I do my best, well lets just say the most, cleaning/housework when I'm about to get ready for bed. It causes me to stay up too late and for my house to remain fairly messy. I think this is because the first thing I do before I go to be is to scour the house looking for anything I or my husband have left around that could cause trouble once Hyrum gets up in the morning (he's starting to venture out around the house when he wakes instead of waking me first thing). In so doing I often find that I could manage to do a few dishes, clean a little here and clean a little there. Before you know it its 1am and I'm suuuuuper tired. That's what happened tonight. BUT I did most of my dishes AND I checked off one of the items on my list. I ordered new dish scrubbers and a thingy to hold/dry them in. I'm hoping this will motivate me to accomplish my goal to wash my dishes more often. Really, honestly? I'm getting sick of feeling like the first thing I need to say to people when they walk in my house is "Sorry our place is a mess, I'm not a good housekeeper." This usually makes them say something like "This is nothing, you should see our place" or "Who can keep a house clean when you have young kids." I appreciate the allowance but I would also like to feel like just once a week or so that if someone came over I could just let them in and say "Hi, how are you? Come on in and make yourself at home." Without having to clear a space on the couch for them to sit down.

Professional Homemaker

A few days ago I sent Justin a text thanking him for working (it's Spring Break but he decided to work for another pay check). His reply was something to the effect of "Oh I'm just doing my part to keep our family going. Yours is harder."

For some reason that text gave me this visual of two professionals working hard to run a family. I felt like a professional! Professionals are smart, know their job, and ... other things that don't transfer to the homemaker field--like paid, have a dress code, sick leave, commute, etc.

Anyway, I just have this desire to know my job better. So I'm excited to learn more of your cleaning tricks and wisdom.

Here's a long list of tricks to glimpse through. "Hair dryer as sticker remover" might be my favorite!
Enjoy!

My Cleaning Philosophy

In the nearly three years I've been a stay-at-home-mom/house cleaner/cook/family organizer, I think I've finally found a system that works for me. I call it: Not Always Clean, Not Always Dirty. I was verbalizing it a few months ago with Adam and that's when it clicked. The convo went like this:

Me: "So, I have been doing my '6 Things A Day' thing for awhile (more on that later), and it's working really well for me. But I just read on a blog (more on that later) about a girl who, apart from her daily cleaning routine that is similar to mine, she has one big chore she does everyday. That way the little stuff gets done and then all the big stuff gets done over time. But that means your house is never clean all at the same time."

Adam: "Yeah, but it's also never dirty all at the same time, either."

BOOM. Cleaning philosophy born. Not Always Clean, Not Always Dirty.

So, here are the six things I do everyday (from here).

1. Make the bed
2. Manage clutter
3. Sort the mail
4. Clean as you cook
5. Wipe up spills while they are fresh
6. Sweep the kitchen floor

Correction, I don't do these all everyday. I TRY to do them all everyday. The last three are the most important, then one, then two, then three. That's my order of importance. The kitchen is the place where I spend the most time, so it's most important to me to keep that clean. If I do nothing else during the day, if I'm on top of the dishes, the counters are wiped, and the floor is swept, I'm a happy lady.

And what are the big chores to do every day? Mine are things like mopping the kitchen floor, mopping the bathroom floor, scrubbing the tub, cleaning the bathroom mirror and counter, vacuuming, sweeping and mopping the landing, cleaning the microwave, etc. Correction: I actually don't do one big chore a day. I TRY to do one big chore a day. But it more often happens that one day I get three done, and another day I do zero. The motivation to clean has to hit me, and then I just bust out as many big chores as possible. So, again, my house is never all clean at once, but it's never all dirty at once either. And, so, getting frustrated or angry is futile, because I never expected it to stay clean in the first place. Like Z's quote: "it was clean for 10 minutes..." .... and that, to me, is better than never having been clean. And I have hope that, after it is dirtied, it will one day be clean again! My heart is bursting with hope just thinking about it.

Now for some links that I love regarding cleaning:

...Nevermind, some of my links aren't working until the blogger I want to link to is done revamping her blog design. More on that later.

But here is the link to the girl who gave me the idea for one big chore a day, plus more details about her cleaning routine including a printable. Ooooh! Exciting!

What about ya'll? What works for you? What doesn't work for you?

Clean is good; anger is not

So I just used a borrowed steam cleaner to spot clean our light gray carpets. I love it! All those spit-ups and muddy shoes and kitchen escapees--gone!

But I'm gearing myself up for when Justin brings the kids back home (he's on spring break) and Adele spits up and Wally escapes from the kitchen with his pb&j. I don't want to be frustrated.

I have memories of my poor mom, sighing in exasperation (she never raised her voice with us, ever)when we'd come in after she mopped the floor or just had the carpets professionally cleaned.

So how do you balance clean and perspective? Clean and peace?

Welcome!

I'm so glad and grateful all y'all are willing to play this external motivation game with me. Look around the blog a bit (ok, it'll take 3 seconds) and notice a few things: pictures, tally of items done, and links to each cleaner's list.

So what's the blog for? Motivation, information, celebration, and complaining. Please try to comment and/or post at least once a week during the challenge. I'd love to see ideas for cleaning certain areas, hear your cleaning philosophies and just chat about the scary things that might be under your fridge. We called those cockroaches in my last apartment. I've stepped up a bit in the world since then.

So get started on your list and get posting. Cheers.