Housework 101

Some time back, I drunkenly complained about keeping up with housework.

I think, finally, after 20 months of parenthood, I've found my groove.

My biggest problem was keeping the house neat enough to actually get to the cleaning portion of the program. Because, honestly, how can you vacuum if you can't see the carpet?

So now, every night before bath time, I go through the house with Monkey and pick up everything. All toys get put away so we can start the day fresh in the morning. This way, I can run through with the vacuum right after breakfast, I can! It takes me less than 10 minutes to go from one end of the house to the other.

Mornings are the best time of day for me to get any kind of cleaning done. I've still got energy from a night of sleep. And it doesn't interfere with Monkey's nap (and I get my couple hours of quiet Mommy time when I need them, too).

Every morning, it takes me less than a minute to make my bed. It's lovely to climb into a bed with straight sheets every night.

Anything Monkey can help with, I let her. I am no longer trying to work around her. I am working WITH her. She loves being Mommy's Little Helper, so I've been stupid to not do this earlier.

She wants to help dust? Here's a dust rag. Help wash the floor? Here you go. Have a rag. I just point her towards the spills on the cupboard doors and she wipes those up for me. And don't get me started on the vacuum. She LOVES the vacuum. I "chase" her around with it and when I finish, I let her play with the wand attachment so she can feel like she's helping (though after she sucked her cheek with it last night, I don't know that I'll be letting her use it with it actually running anymore - at least until she's a little older).

Another big problem I had was dishes. My sink was constantly full. By the time we've had dinner, my energy has sputtered out and it's just so much easier to go sit and play with T & Monkey before it's time for bed. Not anymore. The minute leftovers have been packed up and put into the fridge, I'm at the sink doing my dishes. T & Monkey get a little time together since they haven't seen each other all day, and I get a clean kitchen before bed.

It's the little things that make it easier. Having small routines are keeping me on track.

I've been managing this for 2 weeks now. I no longer feel stressed out about how my house looks or how clean it is. No more panic if someone knocks on the door unannounced because the house is a pig sty.

No more.

It feels fantastic!