Right after the honeymoon I started noticing the little piles Ryan was making around our home. A collection of gum, coins, and old receipts here; a stack of dirty socks there. It wasn’t a big deal. We all do it, right?
Eventually I would ask him to clean a certain pile up, and he would answer with the biggest excuse I had ever heard: “I’ll do it when my brain tells me to.”
WHAT?? WHEN IS THAT GOING TO BE?? WHO SAYS THAT?? (Clearly, I was the sweetest newlywed ever.)
Strangely, his “brain” would tell him to do it eventually.
After I had Trenton and was staying home full time, I would read blog posts or Real Simple articles offering yearly/monthly/weekly cleaning schedules. Because I seemed to think domestic nirvana was my ultimate quest, I mapped out my own cleaning schedule and valiantly tried to keep with it. It was never long before I was off track, and discouragement inevitably followed.
Slowly I found my unwittingly wise husband’s concept popping into my head more and more. I knew I *should* clean the bathrooms, but if I wasn’t in the mood, I started trusting that my brain would tell me to do it eventually. Interestingly, it would! (Thankfully, my mess-tolerating threshold is fairly low, so tasks don’t usually wait long.)
I’ve learned I am not the type to have one designated cleaning day a week. When I see Pinterest pins boasting that 15 minutes a day of cleaning can lead to a deep cleaned home all year long, I am happy for people that actually works for, but I no longer feel any pressure to be that way myself. It’s not me.
I do continual maintenance around the house. Don’t we all feel like the laundry, meal cleanup, and toy organization will never cease? But my deep cleaning comes in spurts. Without planning for it at all, I’ll find myself at home for a whole afternoon with the boys, so I whip those bathrooms and the kitchen floor into shape while the boys relax with Curious George. It works for us.
Time to spill it, ladies. Do you clean on a schedule? If so, I want to hear about what life is like on the other side. 🙂 If not, have you given yourself permission to just BE you? I hope so!
*Linked up with I Should be Mopping the Floor. How fitting!
*Linked up with cute Sarah at Dwell on Joy! Welcome to any Dwell on Joy readers! I will be passing on the Liebster Award soon to five new(ish) bloggers.
I clean on a schedule, but my kids are much older than yours. And I put WAY too much pressure on myself when they were as small as yours. You're a smart cookie for having figured this out so soon! Your newest follower!
I do nothing on schedule 🙂 I'm just not wired that way. I try to "clean as I go" or "don't make a mess to begin with" as my dad calls it. Then I do chores (vacuum, laundry, change sheets and so on) as the mood strikes me. Things get done this way too.
I hate being told to clean, and the idea of a cleaning day appeals to me about zero because it isn't flexible! I have a week calendar and assign myself one room or thing to clean each day with a few simple tasks. Granted, it doesn't include deep cleaning, but invariably I find myself with extra time and the motivation to deep clean anyway. That way I can do it in the morning, during nap, or after Henry goes to bed! I love the flexibility.
I wish I could get the rest of my family (mainly, the boys) on board with "don't make a mess to begin with"! Someday!
Flexibility all the way! And cleaning after the boys go to bed, or even during naps, is a rarity for me. I'm impressed!
I hate cleaning. I blame it on my childhood, because I feel like I was always cleaning! I usually only clean when I'm having people over. (So I try and purposely have people over so it makes me clean!) Or I'll clean about once a week, usually Fridays or Saturdays.
That's hilarious, Andrea.
And having people over is a surefire motivator for me too. 🙂
During my first year (or 2) of stay-at-home-momhood, I mopped every Tuesday afternoon. What?! I think that's NUTS now! I was trying so hard to be the domestic diva that I thought I should be.. But now I'm chill… My boss came over once and I apologized for the state of my office/playroom and she said "My father once told me 'If it's good enough for you, it's good enough for me.'" That really sunk in for me and I make no apologies anymore. I have a busy, busy household and I'm more proud of the time I spend with my kids than the time I spend cleaning. (But I DO make my kids clean daily! Haha!)
Yes, getting kids to clean is a whole 'nother post! I probably should have you guest post on that, in fact! I'm really just getting started with my kids, since they're little.
I really like that attitude – If it's good enough for you, it's good enough for me! I am going to adopt that, and I wish the whole world would too!
I don't clean on a schedule. With kids my life is so unpredictable, one more thing I "have to do" everyday would make me crazy. I clean up as I go. There are things I do everyday, like make beds, clean dishes, general picking up what is left out, but deep cleaning is something I do only when its absolutely needed. When I notice that my bathroom, or kitchen is getting messy I will really clean it. I vacuum when I can't stand looking at the little crumbs my kids scatter from day to day. So, I guess I'm more like your husband in the sense where I clean when my brain tells me to. I'm lucky I have such a small house, even when I deep clean, it doesn't take too much time.
Well I do not clean on a schedule, Its just Javi and I but i am surprised at how messy I will find our house (and I contribute to the mess.) And if I ever find myself overwhelmed, I write down what needs to be done and leave it somewhere Javi will see it and he will normally do several chores and check them off.
I only dream of cleaning on a schedule. I'm a recovering neat freak, currently unable to maintain my own standards of cleanliness due to two small people who christen all of my freshly swept spaces with new messes. In the battle between a spotless home and a loving heart, I choose my small people. Love wins.
Uh, I do clean on a schedule? I didn't think I would be the only one saying that!
I'm a little ocd that way, though. Schedule-wise, I mean.
My brain isn't as accomidating as yours, apparently. If I didn't set a schedule, it would NEVER get done :0)
But having a schedule helps me be more efficient. I have my routine down and can get four bathrooms (four bathrooms, two bedrooms? Doesn't make sense to me either), sink scoured, floors mopped and vacuumed in a little over an hour (if the boys are watching tv). I do other deep cleaning chores on a rotating basis. My cleaning day is Thursday and I try not to schedule other things that day so I can get it done.
Two reasons why scheduling is a good thing (for me):
1. I know before I go to bed what I will be doing, so I can wake up and get going before the mid-morning lazies get me.
2. When it's done I don't have to worry about it for a whole week! If I didn't schedule, I would just wander from room to room thinking that I should clean but never working up the energy to do so, thus stressing myself out and not even getting anything done.
Of course, I do give myself the freedom to skip a week if I need to- the weather is fabulous, someone is sick, I'm just not feeling it- but that is rare. I feel much better and happier after I've done my time- even if it doesn't stay clean for long!!! And since I usually start around 8:00 am, the weather is usually even better when I'm done!
I've gotta say, your comment could almost convince me to try a schedule again! haha
At this stage in my life, I think I'm just going to be grateful my brain usually does pull through for me. And surprisingly, I only stress about cleaning if someone important (like Ry's co-workers or out-of-town family) is coming. 🙂
Whenever you post you to-do lists on your Day in the Life posts, I am impressed! (and overwhelmed! 🙂
I've never thought of it in that way – "my brain telling me to" – but you're exactly right! Except I generalize this attitude to more than cleaning – things like organizing, getting to my mending pile, cooking food to freeze ahead. If I make myself do it when I'm not in the mood, I hate it. But if I wait for the mood to strike me, I enjoy it and everything gets done eventually 🙂
I just have to say that it is so cute that Javi will see you list and pitch in without you even asking! What a good husband!
Oh Erica…I echo you here! I wish I could clean on a schedule, I really do. Now, don't get me wrong, our house is GENERALLY clean all the time. One thing I have to do every night is pick up. I can't function the next day {see…the brain} starting out with things {aka toys} all over the place, so nightly picking up is both therapeutic and necessary for me. But the deeper tasks usually don't get completed until they NEED to – company is coming over, or the chair won't move in the kitchen because it's been fused onto the floor by unknown spill {well, not really, but !!!} Some of my best cleaning spurts are fueled by simply wiping off a spot on the bathroom mirror and suddenly before I know it, I'm scrubbing and disinfecting out the entire space! I love when that happens, and I'm sure my husband does too 🙂 Love this topic! Have a great rest of your weekend 🙂
I am the same way, all around! And I cannot relax until toys are put away at the end of the night!
My husband is the same way, so I can relate to this. I think having small kids is an influence this way too. Sometimes just picking things up is more than good enough.