Cute enamelware bucket above available from Donkee House on Etsy
I’ve been thinking a lot of about housework today. You see, for the past few months, since our trying period with Sophie, once a week, I’ve had someone come and do a bit of housework. Paul suggested it just before Sophie ended up in hospital, when I was exhausted and frazzled. I was ever so grateful to him for being so understanding. Don’t get me wrong though, with little ones in the house, I am forever tidying up and cleaning each and every day, but the one and a half hour a week of help meant that I knew my floors were vacuumed and mopped, my bathrooms were clean and a spot of dusting had been done. However with things getting easier with Sophie now, such an expense has become money we could be saving and so as of next week, it’s back to me cleaning again. I’m still nutting out how and when I will do so but I’ll save that for another post. For now, I’m focusing on the small things I can do each day to make things appear tidier. Things that if I hopefully make a part of my daily routine, will actually get done… if only I could remember the following, keeping our house presentable would be so much more manageable…
• Wipe down Grace’s little table immediately after she’s eaten. The longer something like Weetbix sits there, the harder it is to remove and the more muscle is required.
• Fold the washing as soon as I bring it in off the line. I do this quite a bit, but on the occasion I bring it in basket after basket and dump it on the lounge, it makes it all the more difficult to sort through later and leads to unnecessary ironing.
• Make the bed as soon as I jump out of the shower and get dressed each morning. Often by this time Grace is up and desperate for breakfast which means I usually have to find a moment later in the day to sneak off and make it.
• Make it a weekly task to sort through the ‘clutter basket’ that sits on the end of our bench. I’ve been letting it pile up too much lately which makes it harder to file and leads to bills being misplaced.
Which task do you need to focus on doing to make staying on top of housework that little bit easier?
i totally understand the need to "get things done" ...otherwise they just sit there niggling at you.
ReplyDeletei'm a neat and tidy freak, so i have to make the bed everyday. especically now that i'm in the house most of the day.
the bottles...they have to be washed! i don't mind them sitting on the drying rack, but there's something about unwashed bottles (and now bowls and spoons) out on the counter that makes me cringe!
i'm the same as you with bringing in the washing and folding it straight away. i *hate* it if it's left and then squashed and needs to be ironed. grrrrr!
i read in some parenting or pregnancy book about taking 15 minutes at the end of the day before you go to bed to tidy things up...because with a newborn you won't be able to face a mess first thing in the morning. best advice i read/heard! even though olive isn't a newborn anymore, i still make sure everything is neat and tidy at the end of the day...for my sanity.
I am terrible with house work - and finding a cleaner is actually on my to-do list. I have however put a few things in place since Emily came along such as Thursday is vacuum day and i try and clean the bathroom when i am trying to get her to sleep and find myself in and out of her bedroom fifty million times (the bathroom is right next door). i also try and empty the drying rack before i go to bed so it looks nice and tidy the next morning. Small things - but they do make a difference. Good luck with the cleaning!!!
ReplyDeleteLike little miss olive said, 15 mins at the end of everyday sorting out the days mess makes the world of difference. I also make sure that when I leave the house in the morning all the beds are made and the washing up is done.. My number one tip would be get a good microfiber cloth and dry off the bathroom each night. It seriously takes 5 mins and the bathroom always looks clean and fresh. x
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ReplyDeletei'll be with you on folding the washing as soon as it comes - right now i have baskets of clothes sitting at the end of my bed most of which will have to be ironed now. good luck with your new housekeeping goals
ReplyDeleteI dread the day I have to give up my cleaner! Good luck with your list, hope you are able to stick to it. That's really the hardest part isn't it, getting into the routine of doing those things.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit of a 'dumper', as in, I just dump something wherever I am and don't put it away. So I need to focus on having a 10 minute tidy up each evening before bed so the piles of crap don't build up higher and higher and so I don't lose my bills too!
I've got a bit of a routine that I stick to with housework otherwise I would find it really difficult to keep on top of I think I got in the habit after watching my Mum stick to one day and just get it all done. The one thing that seems to get conveniently forgotten every Friday though is the dusting but today I was good and got it all done for a change:) xx
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Thanks a lot!
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