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!