In two days, The Grandma will come into town. She is doing an amazing favor for us and will be watching our precious little boys while the Husband and I are away for a few days next week. We will be without the kids. Since my last post, I think I'm getting more adjusted to the idea.
So now I'm cleaning (like that's new).
Lots of messes - more like messy piles. Of papers. Of books. Of toys. Of clothes. Of crumbs and debris from my baby spilling his Cheerios and Corn Pops all over the floor.
And then there's the cat food scattered around the cat bowl. As I walk by I keep stepping on those blasted dry food circles and demolishing them into crumbs - adding to the current crumbs.
If I had 24-48 hours at my disposable without interruptions, I would be good to go. Because I could focus only on cleaning my house and enjoy it. Because cleaning actually is therapeutic for me. I can just imagine how neat my beautiful hardwood floors would be sans crumbs after my precious hard work. Ahhh...
However I have 3 kiddos and one cat with constant needs and busy schedules (yes, the kids do) and so the cleaning becomes a side note to all the rest of that stuff. Though I really need it to be a focal point right now because The Grandma is coming in two days!
Have I already said that?
And funny, with all that the cat and the kids do, they leave messes that add to the messes that already exist. Or they replace the messes I just cleaned. Which makes me wonder - where's the progress? And almost, what's the point? Because this constant cleaning up of messes just makes me tired. Too tired to clean up the messes. And there they stay sometimes.
Last night, I ignored the messy piles and went to bed. After a long day, the zip is gone.
I know I should really be resigned to my fate of constantly cleaning messes. But there has to be another way, right? I'm not alone in feeling this way, right?
So here's hoping for a miracle. A nice, clean house with things in their place and little clutter all around, all done in record time.
Or for The Grandma to have a soft, understanding heart when she finds herself wading through a pile of Cheerios I missed or knocking over a pile of papers balancing precariously on one of our ledges.
I'm lucky, the latter is not that much of a miracle.
So now I'm cleaning (like that's new).
Lots of messes - more like messy piles. Of papers. Of books. Of toys. Of clothes. Of crumbs and debris from my baby spilling his Cheerios and Corn Pops all over the floor.
And then there's the cat food scattered around the cat bowl. As I walk by I keep stepping on those blasted dry food circles and demolishing them into crumbs - adding to the current crumbs.
If I had 24-48 hours at my disposable without interruptions, I would be good to go. Because I could focus only on cleaning my house and enjoy it. Because cleaning actually is therapeutic for me. I can just imagine how neat my beautiful hardwood floors would be sans crumbs after my precious hard work. Ahhh...
However I have 3 kiddos and one cat with constant needs and busy schedules (yes, the kids do) and so the cleaning becomes a side note to all the rest of that stuff. Though I really need it to be a focal point right now because The Grandma is coming in two days!
Have I already said that?
And funny, with all that the cat and the kids do, they leave messes that add to the messes that already exist. Or they replace the messes I just cleaned. Which makes me wonder - where's the progress? And almost, what's the point? Because this constant cleaning up of messes just makes me tired. Too tired to clean up the messes. And there they stay sometimes.
Last night, I ignored the messy piles and went to bed. After a long day, the zip is gone.
I know I should really be resigned to my fate of constantly cleaning messes. But there has to be another way, right? I'm not alone in feeling this way, right?
So here's hoping for a miracle. A nice, clean house with things in their place and little clutter all around, all done in record time.
Or for The Grandma to have a soft, understanding heart when she finds herself wading through a pile of Cheerios I missed or knocking over a pile of papers balancing precariously on one of our ledges.
I'm lucky, the latter is not that much of a miracle.
I feel for you! In an effort to help with the same problem, and of course to teach the boys good values and have positive reinforcement we have started giving them weekly chores. (Which I am not as consistent about as I would like). But I made a little chart, and they can earn up to 3 stars per day. 1 for no back-talking, 1 for making their beds and picking up their room (a daily chore) and then 1 for doing the assigned day's chore happily.
ReplyDeleteChristian cleans the main floor bathroom, he vacuums, he cleans the kitchen/dining room floor (after I sweep it) and he has to scoop poop. So he has a chore 4 days a week.
Pax wipes down the front of the oven and the front of the dishwasher, he cleans the sliding glass door (ALWAYS covered in hand-prints, dog face marks, etc), and I still need to teach him to empty the small trash can, but that's his other chore.
Brody helps me load clothes into the washing mashing, he helps move them from the washer to the dryer, and also sometimes helps to pull them out of the dryer. He also hands me most of the dishes when I'm unloading the dishwasher. These of course don't have assigned days of the week, he just helps whenever I do it. So every day, every other day.
I have to get back on track with the boys doing their chores regularly, but they can earn $1 a week for earing X amount of stars. They LOVE it and it really helps taken some burned off the cleaning that I have to do, and helps them realize all the effort it takes to keep things clean!
This is a very recent change for us but maybe it could work for you guys to? The only thing is the training in the beginning takes awhile, but they improve each week :)
Sorry for such a long comment. :P
-Claire
Hun if it's any consolation at all mine are much older and I still have the messes..
ReplyDeleteI just cleaned my house top to bottom yesterday it is immaculate!! from the ceiling to the baseboards! (((((cleaning vibes)))) <-- to help you on your way lol :)
ReplyDeleteI clean 2x a week...no more.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to waste time cleaning.
Clean toilets, wiped up sinks, dishes done and put away, laundry, beds made, floors swept. Good meals, good books...that is sufficient.