And then, the not so fun things… like cleaning. Oh come on, be honest. We ALL love having a fresh, clean, sparkling, spotless, perfect house but who likes to make it that way? Truthfully, I actually enjoy cleaning the house once I get started. But that is the problem: getting started. It is like getting up when the alarm clock sounds… hit that buzzer as many times as possible!
Some cleaning I do NOT enjoy even after I get started. I have 4 French Bulldogs and they never clean up after themselves! I also have a 9-year old daughter who would not dream of cleaning up her own mess without my constant prompting. But we will cover that later in another section called “Kids.”
All right, so admit that your house could be a LITTLE cleaner, a LITTLE more organized. Come on, you can say it. It will be like therapy to admit it so we can move on. Come on, SAY IT!!
I’ll just tell you a couple of things about me so you will feel safe to talk with me. I grew up in a poverty-stricken home that was not clean. As a young adult and into my early 30’s, I was a fanatic about cleaning and used every chemical that hit the market, searching for the one(s) that would eliminate all dirt and dust from my vicinity. After that, I was really involved in my career and cleaned house in “spurts” which is nice word for “sometimes.”
I never let the house get filthy or stinky, but I might leave the dishwasher loaded and just use it as a cupboard where some of my dishes were stored. I might have had a junk drawer or two. Still, I kept my house clean, just not sparkling every moment. And after a few days, I would feel guilty and have a cleaning spurt, where I CLEANED for hours and everything shined again.
Now, I will just go ahead and admit that I absolutely hate carpet. I hate vacuuming carpet. There is nothing about carpet that I like. I have always felt like carpet is dirty. Have you ever pulled up carpet to lay new flooring? Wow. For years now, I have had hardwood or Pergo flooring and every day when I sweep, I remember that I don’t like carpet. If you could see how much dirt sweeps up in one day, you would have to wonder where all that dirt would be if you had carpet. Surely you don’t think the vacuum cleaner is getting it all? Okay, enough of my soapbox and back to my story.
So in my 30’s I got married and had an immediate family with stepchildren and my firstborn within a year. Suddenly, cleaning was a never-ending part of my life. No matter what was up on the agenda for any given moment, something needed to be cleaned prior to or right after. There was no such thing as a series of days or even a series of minutes that my house was “clean.” Junk drawers? What a laugh. I used to feel guilty about unloaded dishwashers and junk drawers. HA!
I met myself all day long, running with sponges and cleansers hither and yon, back and forth. I did laundry every day all day and sometimes into the night. Dishes. I’m not even going to describe what that word included. I had gone from single woman to not-very-super Mom. My house was a wreck and I could never catch up with the cleaning. It was an awful feeling. It followed me around to other places. I would be at fun events and be thinking about what I needed to do when I got home.
And then, I just stopped worrying about it and learned to live in a “lived in” house. It was a really big transition for me. Eventually, I taught the girls to clean and learned to chill out a bit and things weren’t so consuming, but WOW, what a time that was.
In my 40’s, I had to go through a divorce and now, I am a single parent with my 9-year old daughter and our 4 French Bulldogs. I work a full-time job and have some church ministries I am involved with, plus I just bought a new house last year. So, my life is pretty busy. I am on the go a lot. As I mentioned, my dogs don’t clean up after themselves and seem to have no intention of ever doing so. My daughter is “in training” and does a good job trying to clean. But, she still sees nothing wrong with putting a tablecloth onto a table that is sticky. You know what I mean?
She knows Mom wouldn’t like it, but she really doesn’t relate to why.
So here we are. Working, schooling, living, learning, and trying to keep the house clean in the middle of everything. Sometimes it is tough to get everything finished. Any single moms out there? I never thought I would be a single parent; it just wasn’t on my list of things to be. I love being a parent and am blessed to have that honor, but let’s face the fact that going it alone can be… tough.
With all that said, cleaning house doesn’t need to be another hurdle for us. Having a dirty house would only cause stress to an already overloaded life. That would be problematic to say the least. So, I’ve had to come up with ways to keep the house clean and still manage to work, help with homework, cook, teach, spend time with my daughter, run errands, shop, manage finances, serve in church ministries, maintain family and friend relationships, and sleep somewhere in there. This list is nowhere near comprehensive, obviously. There is always more to do.
So cleaning is important for health and for my sanity, but sometimes does not make it to the number one spot for the moment. Sometimes I have to budget time. And speaking of budget, guess how much money I’ve spent on miracle cleaning techniques and products. So, some of the things I will present to you will be time-conscious and some of them will be money-conscious and some of them will be just great tips I’ve learned from trying so many things. You can use what works for you; I don’t plan to come by your house for inspection any time soon, so you’re safe.
I will be posting cleaning tips once a week in this section. Some of the things I will cover are:
Cleaning Tips vs. Cleaning Habits
Spot Checks
What Kinds of Cleansers Should be Used?
Secrets of Cleaning
Vinegar, Epsom Salt, Baking Soda, and other Helpful Solutions
Mixing Cleansers
Cleaning up Dog Areas
Budget Cleaning – Making Your Own Cleansers and Soaps
Homemade Air Fresheners
… and more!
I’m very excited about this section. Well, I’m excited about all the sections. But this one is a real eye-opener. Stay tuned… it’s gonna be fun.
Connie
