[House Cleaning- looking ahead!] March 24, 2011

To A Clean House!

Well, despite the fact that (or perhaps because of…) my house is currently destroyed and awaiting a layer of drywall, and, oh, yes, another wall torn out (ah!) I have decided to put together a plan for maintaining a clean house.

Although I was inspired by FlyLady, after looking through her “BabySteps” program, I decided that I would be better off creating my own.

So! Here I am, with my dirty house before me (but exciting plans to have a bigger living-room within the next two weeks!) and a plan forming in my head.

This is the way it works:

I will make a 3o day list. Each day will add a new “step” to my daily routine. We’ll start with this month and if it works well, I will continue to make monthly plans at the beginning of each.

What do I hope to accomplish?

I want to break my habit of: not cleaning, not cleaning, not cleaning… OH MY GOSH! MY HOUSE IS A DISASTER AND I CAN’T HANDLE ANOTHER MINUTE OF IT!!! I’M GOING CRAZY. STAY OUT OF MY WAY EVERYONE SO I CAN CLEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get the idea? Good.

April 2011

Day 1. Clear off and wash the counter. (I know, know, know that I always feel best when my pretty counter top is cleared and washed. It is the “center-piece” of my kitchen and I love, love, love it.)

Day 2. Put in contacts and put on a little make-up. (I always – and I do mean always – feel better and more productive when the glimpses I see in the mirror are not frumpy.)

Day 3. Wash the dishes. (Note to self: Leave dishes on counter until ready to wash them. Do not pile them in your amazing-extra-deep sink where they are hidden until they have multiplied from five to five hundred.)

Day 4. Make sure you are doing previous three things every day.

Day 5. Set timer for 2 minutes. CLEAR OFF CORNER CUPBOARD. (Although it is a natural “catch-all” I have already purchased enough containers/baskets that there should NOT EVER BE A PILE OF STUFF ON IT!)

Day 6. Go into bedroom: hang up at least five things. (I hate hangers. Hate, hate, hate them. But I hate things on my floor even more.)

Day 7. Set timer for 15 minutes. Sweep and “spot mop” floor. (I hate mopping so I am hoping that this will eliminate the need. J )

Day 8. Pick one room. Set timer for 5 minutes. Pick up. (I’m notoriously bad at just setting things down wherever. Ugh.)

Day 9. Empty all trash baskets. Pick 10 things to throw away. TAKE OUT TRASH. (I’m horrible at emptying the trash baskets. There are only four. I don’t know what my problem is. And, there are always more things that need to be thrown away that haven’t made it to the trash yet. Not to mention- it only takes five minutes to take the trash across the road- why do I feel the need to leave it for my husband to do?)

Day 10. Wash windows. (There are only like, five. Stop whining.)

Day 11. Get a rag. DUST THE LIVING ROOM. (Yes, I hate dusting. Always have. Still, there is no reason- whatsoever! That my living room windowsill should have dust all over it.)

Day 12. What is on top of the fridge? Should it be there? Do you need to dust it? (I’m short. I forget that there is stuff up there half the time.)

Day 13. Wash bathroom sink. Wipe and brush toilet. (Hopefully this has been done in the past thirteen days but regardless…do it again! J )

Day 14. Set timer for 5 minutes. Clean off the top of dresser. (This is very important! We keep all our receipts and tax things on our dresser. There are FILES for them. But they end up just piled there until… you know, next year.)

Day 15. Make bed. (I’m deciding to over-rule my husband. He’d rather the bed not be made. However! If the bed is made then I keep the room cleaner. Not sure why. It just is what it is.)

Day 16. Set timer for 5 minutes. Clean under bed. (Since our laundry is in our bedroom it is very easy for stray socks, underwear, bandanas, gloves, etc… to disappear under our bed.)

Day 17. Organize the kid’s toys/books. (They’re upstairs. Out of sight. Out of mind. But kind of embarrassing when you’re giving someone a tour of the house and you trip over them.)

Day 18. Wash – microwave, coffee pot, other appliances. (I rarely use the microwave but my husband does…so, I often am shocked when I open it and see the mess that has accumulated.)

Day 19. Go out to the vehicles. Get all pieces of clothing that got lost in them. Bring inside and put in laundry! (I can’t tell you how many times I “lose” things only to find out they got stuck in the trunk of the car!)

Day 20. Go through sock drawer. Do some need darning? Did you stuff things in there that don’t belong? Clean it out. Organize it. (We are very limited on space. I really need to keep at this because about once a month I think that I’m totally out of socks and then realize… no, they are just stuffed in the back where I can’t find them.)

Day 21. Sweep bathroom floor. Especially BEHIND THE DOOR. (See, the problem is that I only see behind the door while sitting on the toilet. And, well, I don’t keep a broom by the toilet.)

Day 22. Set timer for 5 minutes. Scrub tub. (I have one of those really cheap, incredibly annoying bathtubs. The problem with it? It doesn’t actually come clean. Like, the plastic discolors and you can’t fix it. Unfortunately, that has made me lazy. If you can’t completely clean it… why try? No more. Will scrub even if there are not noticeable differences. Clean is good.)

Day 23. Sweep cobwebs. (My house is over a hundred years old. It was a pigeon barn at one time. I get a lot of cobwebs.)

Day 24. Wash mirrors. (I have several throughout the house. Including a huge beautiful one in my living room!)

Day 25. Clean oven top. (Yes, this means that one must TAKE OFF GRATES AND PULL OUT THE CATCH-PANS AND SCRUB THEM!)

Day 26. Go back over list. Is there something that you’ve been forgetting to do that should be added back in? (I know myself well.)

Day 27. Plan dinner. (As in, get stuff out of the freezer if you need to!)

Day 28. Drink water. (Yes. You. DRINK.)

Day 29. I wasn’t kidding. DRINK WATER. (No excuses. Go buy a water-bottle if you have to.)

Day 30. Take a deep breath. Do a little dance around the living room. THEN GET YOUR REAR IN GEAR AND START ON NEXT MONTHS LIST!