I have often heard moms on Oprah and other television shows say how they were suprised at the amount of work involved with raising children. I've never related to that statement... unless it includes the clean-up! I knew that children would be a lot of work. I didn't realize how messy they'd be. And it's the same work over and over and over.... The kids grow and change but washing the dishes never becomes exciting. When I've complained, my husband has sometimes gently reminded me of how I wanted so badly to be a mommy. I, of course, say "Yes, a mommy. Not a janitor!"
Being an only child myself, I had no idea how messy it would be to have children! With all that I need to do and want to do, I certainly want to spend as little time as possible cleaning.
Maybe you relate?!? ;-)
The following are tips which I wish someone would have shared with me sooner. Alas, I had to figure them out on my own.
Steam Cleaners
I love my steam cleaner. Yes, it's more complicated than a cloth and elbow grease, but only slightly so. Here's why I love it:
blasts dirt of of crevices like around the toilet seat hinges in seconds
sterilizes surfaces in seconds
uses only water. No chemicals necessary which is 1) far healthier for your family, 2) cheaper and 3) doesn't attract more dirt unlike the petroleum residue from some chemical cleaners.
is portable with a strap to sling on my shoulder
does floors and windows better than I can and far more quickly because it's pressurized.
I bought mine at Canadian Tire on sale for just $106 + tax (regularly $170). Overstock also carries them, for all you Americans (just search "steam cleaner" and you'll see many models to choose from).
Develop a Timely System
Sidetracked Home Executives is a classic from whence The Flylady.com was born. An entertaining book, it will inspire you like you've never been inspired before to change your procrastinating, disorganized ways. I still remember the scene when one of the sisters had an organized friend over and said how she just didn't know how her friend "did it". Her friend pointed to all the tea bags piled by the sink and explained that if she had just taken an extra couple of seconds to put the tea bag in the garbage, there wouldn't be this big icky pile. The author had a lightbulb moment where, amusingly to me, she realized how simple that was.
The idea with the SHE program is to create colour-coded cue cards (say that 3 times fast!) based on jobs and how often they need to be done. There's a rotation schedule for the jobs. Then, all you have to do is complete your daily cue cards and stick with the program. No brain work necessary.
A very sensible system and a great read, I highly recommend it.
Other Quickie Cleaning Tips
Blast some "up" tunes, as I call them: songs that get you moving and happy. Some of my favourites are: Video Killed the Radio Star, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper, and You Can't Hurry Love by Diana Ross and the Supremes.
Call up a friend to take your mind off your work. If I'm on the phone, I am usually cleaning. Cleaning is so mindless for me that I can do it while being completely distracted by a conversation. This has become so routine for me that when on the phone for even a couple of minutes, without thinking, I get up and start tidying! I get off the phone and find that the place looks cleaner and I didn't even realize what I was doing! It's honestly automatic now.
Use diaper wipes, or flushable wipes, for small clean up jobs in the bathroom. If I have a lot of cleaning to do in the bathroom, like the walls and floor, etc, I use my steam cleaner. But usually I use wipes because I can throw them away and not have to rinse out all the yucky stuff and re-use my cloth. Cleaning wipes made for this purpose are far more expensive than a big bag of diaper wipes. Someone once tried to argue with me that diaper wipes are not as superior as say Lysol wipes because they don't disinfect. Well, I'm not a germaphobe. I don't worry about that last 3% of germs that may be left behind by not using toxic chemicals. I clean more often when I can just grab a flushable wipe that's on the back of the toilet and wipe under the seat or wipe the toothpaste residue from the counter left by my kids. And because it's so quick and easy...
... I give this bathroom cleaning job to my kids as a job to do around the house. It's SO important that kids learn to work before they are old enough to have an attitude about it. Work is a virtue infrequently talked about these days. I did not learn to work until I was an adult and having laziness as my natural inclination is a major handicap. So, I give easy jobs like this to my older kids, only aged 5 and 7. They are young enough to think it's fun, and old enough to do it regularly. I still do the bowl and tub cleaning. I just get them to clean the sink and mirrors, spots off of our hardwood floors and spots on the walls or cupboards. (More about kids cleaning below.)
Oxyclean has a detergent ball that is good for about 25 washes. Just put it in your washing machine and leave it there! Save time measuring. Sometimes I think those little shortcuts are mostly beneficial as a psychological boost. It doesn't matter how tedious the missing step, it's a missing step, nonetheless. So, instead of having a load of washing be, say, a 5-step process, it's now only 4 steps. It just feels good.
Keep all your cleaning products in one great tote. When you're doing some heavy duty cleaning of your whole house, you can just go from room to room with your tote.
Buy or make a multi-purpose cleaner. I'm of the opinion that baking soda does just about everything that I need it to do. Castile soap is also a great alternative, that you can find at a health food store. It's a natural, concentrated soap that you simply water down and put into squirt bottles. I went through a phase where it was all that I used for shampoo, too! (Be sure to smell different brands first because I bought a brand once that literally smelled like bile, when it should just smell like peppermint or whatever scent has been added. Don't remember which it was, sorry.)
Give Cleaning Jobs to the Kids
As said earlier, work is a part of life and kids are best to learn this at an early age. No one admires a lazy teenager. A lazy adult is even worse. If you're like me and you weren't taught to work at a young age, laziness is probably your natural inclination too. It's an unhappy place to be. We feel satisfied when we work and accomplish something. We gain character and experience. If you don't teach your kids to work, unless you are rich and willing to constantly bail them out, or they are geniuses, they will struggle once they get to university and live on their own.
So, what is the best way to go about giving kids chores? There are plenty of suggestions on tv and in magazines. Pick one that meshes with your personal style.
Are you super-organized? Make a chore chart! Teach them independance, responsibility and accountibility when you review their accomplishment at the end of the week.
Are you trying to teach your kids about money management? Give an allowance based on the chores that they complete.
Do you just want some extra help with as little whining as possible, in as short a time as possible?Do you have small kids or kids that you are homeschooling? Make a game out of it, awarding points for items that they pick up that are a certain colour, start with a certain letter or have them classify the items on a chart.
Are you relaxed, not very organized, or someone who just doesn't want to keep track of more things in your life? Why not do what I do and just create an understanding in your family that while the housework is mainly mom's job, (just because mom's at home more than anyone else), everyone has to help take care of their own home. I do a combination of the above suggestions. Mainly, I tell the children that they need to help out when asked. If they complain, I remind them why I am asking and why they need to help. I tell them that if they don't want to help out with small jobs when asked, I can make a big chart and they could have lots of work to do everyday instead. I make sure to ask them to help out in some way everyday. If there's a big job that I want done, like lots of tidying in our playroom, I make a points game for them or pay them a wage for the job.
I do, however, feel very strongly that work should not always be easy or fun for kids. They need to learn to do unpleasant things like work, independently. When they whine, "You alllllways ask us to do this and you never do!" I remind them of all the jobs that I do from which they are perfectly welcome to pick to trade with me: cooking supper, scrubbing pots, removing furniture slipcovers and washing, cleaning toilets, etc. And of course I tell them that they are utterly WRONG! [LOL.]
There are so many quotes about attitude. Just today on the radio, I heard a woman who was trying to conquer Stage Four cancer through chemotherapy say, "...the only difference between an obstacle and an adventure is your attitude."
Perhaps it would help to ask ourselves why we really feel compelled to clean. Is it so that you don't want your husband to think that you just read magazines all day? Or is it because a clean home gives you peace of mind?
The following are compelling reasons to keep your house clean and tidy, at least most of the time:
no tripping over items
find what you're looking for faster
be able to invite people over without stress or embarrassment
your kids can invite people over without embarrassment
a tidy home creates a tidy mind-- less obligations nagging at you at all times.
More importantly, you can create a haven that reflects how you feel about yourself and your family.
So, think about those whom you love the most as you clean up after them and fold their clothes.
Finally, remember what those seven dwarves said and "whistle while you work"!
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