Good Morning Everyone, an off topic question
 

I'm looking for some advice. I am a 32 year old mother of two and does anyone have any suggestions for getting motavated to clean a house. It is getting a little worse everyday. Any tips? I have never really been really good at housework, I do it well, but not enough. I don't do it and then get stressed when I do because there is so much to do. I would like to get the apartment in order before summer vacation so I can enjoy with my children and have an orderly house. :o

Thanks for listening,
Michelle

Heya Michelle, Yuck!! Cleaning house is not my favorite either. This is how I look at it though. Cleaning is great exercise! So, we all can use the exercise. My husband is in the Navy and deployed for a total of almost 8 months, so I have to be responsible for it all and the kids. :fr: If I could just get my kids to pick up after themselves it would be great but not very realistic for me to think they will. Hang in there. Work in your house cleaning as a part of your exercise program. If it has really piled up then pick one thing and do it one day and then the next day pick another. It will eventually all come together and then, like me, the next week you will have to start over and do it all again..lol. :stress: My problem is that there are just not enough hours in the day anymore. Between car pool, the baby, getting out and exercising, cooking dinner, etc. Make the best of it like I try to(sometimes that attitude helps and alot of times I still clean and cuss in my head.). :goodvibes You have a great day Michelle!

Hi Michelle,
I know this sounds kinds wierd, but if you do it in smaller spurts, it seems easier to clean the whole house. My mother used to be notorius for a filthy house. Now, she'll set a timer for 15 minutes, clean as much as possible in that 15, then rest for 10. She'll repeat this for several hours throught the day, and eventually the whole house is done. As for me, before I go to bed at night, I do a run through my house, and pick up all the toys, bottles, juice cups, and all other messes and put it all away as fast as possible. It usually takes about 15 mins, but when you get up in the AM, you dont have to worry about it! That REALLY helps me to keep clean. Good Luck! :goodluck:

Amy Jo, that is a good idea. Sometimes when I am watching TV..Which does not happen to much these days. But, I would get up and do stuff during the commercials. :) :) That way you are doing a little bit at a time also.

I still have problems with it myself, but it's helped since I did a self-enforced weekly task schedule.

Monday - Vacuum downstairs
Tuesday - clean upstairs bathrooms
Wednesday - clean downstairs bathroom
Thursday - Mop kitchen floor, clean refrigerator
Friday - lazy! I take it off.
Saturday - Clean Bedroom and vacuum upstairs.
Sunday - Laundry and special projects that I only do once a month (windows, touch up painting, dusting the moulding, etc.)

I still have the daily tasks like making my bed and putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, but those only take a few minutes and by breaking it down I'm not spending hours at a time on the cleaning like I used to.

Good luck!

Melissa

have you checked out flylady.com? she's famous <infamous?> around these parts for her combination of great tips PLUS endless nagging.

but one of her major points is JUST 5 MINUTES.

You know what I do? EARLY Saturday Morning.. Wake up, get rid of the DH for a bit(send him fishing, golfing etc.) CRANK UP THE MUSIC and clean/ dance around! I love music so much that hearing my favorite CD just gets me pumped. Before I know it my house is clean and I have exercised for the day.. Killed 2 birds with one stone! Sounds cheesy, but it works for me.

Hire a cleaning lady?

You crack me up Jill! lol :)

Thanks Everyone
 

I would love a cleaning service, but right know we are trying to pay down some debt (not alot, but some) and save some money so we can buy a house. I bought the flylady book about a year ago, but my house feel apart at Christmastime. I went through a bout of depression. My mom has been ill since Oct 2002 and my mom is my best friend, I love her dearly and my children, well take my feelings and multiply by ten. It's been a roller coaster of tiny victories and big scares. My grandpa is also ill now also with colon cancer and has about six months to live. My worries compounded with being messy person in the first place has result in a mess explosion. I want to create a safe, peaceful retreat for my family and teach my children to be "neat" in little ways, to make their lives a little easier. I was brought up to clean big, my mom cleaned big (spring cleaned every three months, cleaned everyday) I'm trying to re-train myself, I'm not my mom, clean a little bit. Thanks to everyone for their support.

Michelle