Sunday, June 26, 2011

31 days to clean update

So I totally missed out on updating about the 31 days to clean last weekend.  Sorry ya'll.  My family was sick.  Got the kids to the peds on Tuesday morning and all four had pink eye, nasty colds, and two had double ear infections.  I didn't feel so hot most of the week myself.

Needless to say sticking with the 31 days to clean schedule hasn't really happened this week.  I've still been trying my best but until Friday morning my living room was completely trashed.  Then I completely abandoned the 31 days to clean list and tackled the living room with my children because my dad and second mom and little sister were coming into town for two weeks and I wanted the living room clean if they came over to see us.  So we got the living room clean.

Now with the day to day set of challenges that I'm working with we start in the kitchen each morning cleaning up after breakfast.  I like this.  It works great for me when I stick with it.  Having my kitchen clean makes it easier for me to make fun foods or even crafts with my kids because I tend to clear the dining room table as part of my kitchen cleaning efforts.  It makes it easier for me to make dinner because I have clean counters to work with.  It's truly inspired and I wish I had thought of it sooner... or even at all really. 

I could share pictures here but really ya'll don't want/need to see the piles of dishes, soda cans (sore throats), and toys and clothes that currently lay about my house.

Another thing that I REALLY like about the 31 days to clean schedule is that we are told to take Sunday's off.  Now I will still have to make supper tonight because I didn't plan ahead well enough yesterday to avoid that altogether but for the most part I've been able to have a relaxing Sunday without the guilt because I know that first thing tomorrow I'll tackle the kitchen.  And soon after the kitchen I'll pick the living room back up.  One clean room inspires another.  I'm certainly not perfect and my house is still very much lived in, but most of the time I don't feel like I'm going to kill myself tripping over a shoe or a toy or a fill in the blank.... that someone left laying about on the floors.  My husband is just as guilty as the children and I have also been just as guilty as the lot of them myself.

Another thing not really 31 days related but something that I've been trying to do as a habit is to put away all the groceries right away when I get home instead of just lugging the bags into the middle of the kitchen floor and dropping them.  It's easier to do too when I have clean counters because then I tend to sit the bags on the counters and they are at eye level making it easier for me to put away faster. 

Overall I've been feeling much more at peace with myself over my cleaning habits.  Again, I'm not perfect, I still have a random folding table in my living room completely covered in stuff, and an entire couch covered in stuff.  My laundry room is still very difficult to walk through to the basement/back door.  But my kids have clean sheets, and we've hardly eaten out impulsively because I don't feel like cooking since I started this challenge.  I'm thrilled and thankful.

2 comments:

  1. I haven't started it yet. I think I may need another week of surgery recovery before I can really do it right. I am excited to get started though.

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  2. Mel - you better rest girl. No rush. The challenge will still be there.

    ReplyDelete