I cannot believe I am admitting this but it’s true. I hate cleaning. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. There is so much more I rather be doing than cleaning. But your girl loves a clean and organized house.
And I realized that I have to put the effort into making our space one that I love (aka clean) or accept the mess. If I want to walk into a room and feel good, then I have to keep a routine that keeps me less overwhelmed with household stuff. Which honestly is hard AF with two kiddos homeschooling, a pup, a hubby working, and me trying to be a blogger 😹 all at home at the same time.
Like my Mami would say, Buennnnoooo la cosa no esta facil. (that shit is not easy!!) But here are a few things that help make all a little doable. 1. A load of laundry a day! I usually look to see what we have the most of and do that load, yesterday it was whites, today its darks, tomorrow it’s lights and bed sheets on Fridays. I don’t want to have to do any laundry on the weekends But if I have to its not a days worth.
2. Water bottles for each of us at home & out means less dishes to clean/less waste. They can refill them as needed and everyone drinks more water! ( I aim for half our body weight in ounces of water (lets say you weigh 100 pounds you should drink about 50 ounces of water a day!)
3. One extra task a day. I keep a list of parts of the home I want to clean or organize and I tackle one a day, what I do will depend on how much time I have. Yesterday was cleaning our dishwasher while I made the girls lunch, today I swept the basement steps, and tomorrow I want to empty our baking cabinet and order some organizers. The list keeps things from slipping through the cracks and holds me accountable in doing them when I have time.
4. A weekly menu & goal list on my agenda! Writing out my plan for the week is a game changer, what we eat, what we are doing, what I want to do. and the menu (which includes breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks for all of us) this way we can grocery shop and stock our fridge which makes meal/snack time so much easier.
5. Keep up with the little things every day and let the family get involved! Washing dishes, cleaning off the counters, putting away toys as we go, vacuum and sweep once a day, fluff cushions and this way the house is not a hot mess. For keeping clutter away, I use my contain rule, I keep baskets in every room so I can put toys and books away in them for fast clean ups (I put things away everything in the baskets on Fridays). I also keep cleaning supplies in each bathroom so I can do quick wipe downs when I have a few extra minutes, game changer!
7. Schedule It. If this all overwhelms you try writing out all your household chores, and divide them into each day of the week like a schedule. This is something I did when I had Ami To help keep things in control. On days you have less time keep tasks smaller, on days you have more time tackle a bigger one. Splitting them up makes it doable andddddd writing them out holds you accountable! And don’t forget DELEGATE, as soon as its safe for us we will be having a biweekly deep clean, not done by me. We make sure to keep this in our budget. 😹
8. Never leave a room empty handed. This goes for going up the stairs too, my hands always have something in them that I am putting away. I actually make the girls do this too, put away 5 things before you leave this room may be written on my tomb stone because I say it so much!
9. Contain! Yup, hitting this one again because it’s a good one. Baskets, bins, plastic containers, and lazy Susans oh my.… Containing things you need to bring upstairs, in a basket on the steps, or a bin for mail before it makes it to your office, lazy susan for bottles on your counter, a tray for your soap and lotion or a bin for cleaning supplies in the cabinet (you get the idea) can keep ”stuff” from looking like a cluttered mess!
10. Have a place for everything. This sounds silly but even your can opener, slippers, tape and scissors should have a place. Look around at things that maybe are in the right room but look messy, it means it needs an actual place where it belongs, sometimes its a drawer organizer, others it’s a tray or many times it belongs in the place you’ll actually use it. Also if it doesn't have a home then its harder to put away and to find it when you need it!
I hope these are as helpful for you as they are for me! And cheers to a happier /cleaner/ more organized home for mama who hates cleaning.
xoxo
Natalie
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