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Hello my name is Mandy and I'm cleaning challenged. Or maybe I'm just lazy. Probably a combination of both. Now I sit here and wonder if my newest handicap with cleaning is that I'm allergic to it, literally.
I hate to clean. I've made no secret of that notion here in the past. I do the minimal amount until company comes over. That is how I roll.
I have no problem keeping up with the dishes and laundry. Yet when it comes to dusting, mopping and surface wiping, I'd rather cook, bake and dirty up pans than make sure the countertops don't have any food remains or stains from the last time I chopped up vegetables.
This not a good way to be, especially when you have a toddler, a dog and a cat. I should do more cleaning. So I'm trying to take more steps into keeping a tidier house. But it seems like when I do, I feel sick afterwards -- sneezing, coughing, headache and sore throat. After I clean, I feel sick!
Therefore, right now as I type this, I feel quite crappy. After all, Saturday my husband and I spent nearly four hours of non-stop cleaning around our house. FOUR HOURS - No exaggeration. We vacuumed, mopped, scrubbed toilets, scoured the surfaces, dusted, wiped down the fridge, microwave, and so on and so on.
I know you're jealous, you don't have to utter a word. Who wouldn't want to spend a weekend doing nothing but cleaning only to have it be dirty again two days later?
We had an entire weekend of rain and stormy weather so really, there wasn't anything we could do outdoors so we spent all our time inside trying to make our place better. Kirk even began rearranging our furniture and switching out a few pieces we had not utilized yet.
By Saturday night, the itchy throat started. I drank a Mudslide hoping it would soothe it. No such luck. On Sunday I felt worse and today I'm just hideous. And cranky. I haven't exercised since Friday and I'm thinking of all the things I won't be able to accomplish this week because I'm sick from cleaning over the weekend~
Sure there is a chance that it's a coincidence that it happened just after I reinacted Cinderella for a day. Vivian had a runny nose recently too but nothing serious. We had a monsoon amount of rainfall that probably caused mold and fungi to resurface all around us. I'm trying to think up other possibilities too so that I don't end up on one of those reality cleaning intervention shows.
But the bottom line is that I view cleaning as a thankless, endless job. I don't get that sense of satisfaction that others get when they have a clean house. I sit there and look at my spotless floors just cringing over the first speck of dirt that lands on it. My tush can't even sit comfortably on a sparkling toilet because I know the shit will take over it soon enough, again literally. I enjoy it for a minute, an hour or a whole day if I'm lucky. After that things go downhill and I give up.
Perhaps it would go smoother if I didn't wait so long to do it all? I really need to do a better job at incorporating clean habits into my daily or weekly routine; that way, that I'm not performing a Mr. Clean Marathon on the weekends when I should be enjoying family time.
On a whim, I came up with some catchy ideas on how I could possibly do more cleaning several days out of the week --
Mop it Mondays - cleaning the floors in the house
Take out Tuesdays - take out the trash and anything lying around that hasn't been touched for a week.
Wipe down Wednesdays - surface cleaning and mirror wiping
Thursdays and Fridays could be off days!
Suck it Saturdays - vacuuming and dusting
Sunday - another off day OR a back up for Saturday if it doesn't get done then.
Sounds fun, right? Yeah, right. Until I actually have to do it. Then I will probably convert my list into firewood and a backyard bonfire. Sigh!
Ugh, I don't know how to do this better! My mom hired a housekeeper for most of my childhood so she's not the best role model for me. I don't like to clean but I know it's a part of life. And not everyone can afford to hire someone to do the dirty work for us.
How do some folks get so motivated to do cleaning? How I can prevent this allergy cycle from happening to me again?
How often do you clean? Every day? Once a week? Every other week? Once a month? When company comes over? Almost never? How do you tackle the tasks of cleaning? What chore do you hate doing the most?
While I wait for you to answer, I'll be dreaming of a fairy godmother to take me away. Right after I swallow this cold medicine tablet.
11 comments:
I usually do the heavy duty cleaning when company comes over. I try to keep up with the dishes as it drives me crazy to see dishes in the sink. But I'm a total slacker when it comes to laundry. The sad part of all this is that I live alone. If I can't stay on top of my own laundry and cleaning then how am I ever going to be a super mom & wife one day?
Also, I loathe dusting and vacuuming. I don't do them nearly enough.
lol good blog. I feel like I should go clean something now. Thanks for that! ha ha
I'm sure that you are allergic to dust--I know from experience, but since it never goes away, you (and I) will just have to buck up :(
anne
www.anniebakes.net
You may need to check the cleaning
products that you are using. Some of
that stuff cleans good, but can be
quite harmful on the sinuses. I
helped cleaned the tub once with
Simple Green worked great, but
soon after I had the scratchy
throat and sinus drip for days
after. You need good
ventilation when using some of
that stuff!!
Buddy
When I was younger, I used to make working fun. We'd do what we'd call a scramble. That meant, we'd turn on the timer and scramble as fast as we could to beat the timer. Sometimes, I'd put the timer to 10 minutes or less just to make it more fun. If we beat the timer, then we got to reward ourselves in some way like ice cream or something. The girls grew up looking forward to the sound of, "Let's do a scramble."
I used to follow a cleaning diva that I can't remember the name of (website totally slips my mind) where she teaches you to clean the faucets and wipe down things before you go to bed and then puts you on a cleaning schedule (like what you have) to make it more fun and less challenging. I'm not a cleaner but when it's gloomy, sometimes, I get the urge to clean the closets, pantries, etc. Hope you're allergic to cleaning so you have no other choice but to hire a housekeeper.
My Mom kept an immaculate house, so I learned from her. "Clean as you go along, and don't let it build up", she would say. So, your schedule is a good idea. I use Swifter dusters, which eliminates dust flying. And a Swifter mop, which makes mopping easy. And get Kirk to do the vacuuming. :)
okay, so i think i've mentioned it before, but splitting up the stuff for the week is exactly what i do, and i had to do it... with two kids, i get nothing done. (that's how I roll. lol.)
so, monday i do my room and the kids room, just general cleaning. tuesday is one bathroom (they only get done every other week). wednesday is laundry and so on. the two things i do every day is make my bed and do the dishes. so even if the whole house blows up, at least i know i have a place to stick my dirty dishes the next morning and a bed to sleep in that night.
don't sweat the small stuff!!!
I have to steal your schedule. I also keep up with the dishes and laundry, everything else...well, I'm working on it. Ha!
I do some sort of cleaning every day during the week. On the weekends I usually just make a big mess and let it sit there until MOnday.
I hate cleaning too, but have decided that it is easier for me to do a little at a time than one entire day of cleaning.
Hope you feel better soon!
The one task a day thing really does work. It breaks it down to a manageable amount and it doesn't seem so daunting. For me, today is taking out the trash day, since the garbage truck will come by tomorrow (a highlight of the week for Lil' Joe).
Dizzle and I tend to say "this place is disgusting" and then we just kind of start cleaning, and we do it as a team.
I suggest 1) that you put some music on and do it - or get in the habit of cleaning when you're on the phone. I've made it such a habit that now whenever anyone calls me I just automatically start cleaning. It's the ultimate multi-task, because once you've gotten off the phone you'll have had a nice conversation and it's like you've gotten everything done without really working.
2) Don't stress too much about it. As long as the mess doesn't stress you out, why should you care?
And 3) As SOON as Viv is old enough, get her involved. Too many parents don't think to assign real "chores," for a variety of reasons - because they don't want to deal with the whining, they don't think they'll do a good job, etc. But if you assign some chores and stick to it, you teach a little bit of discipline and responsibility AND your house is clean. Voila!
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