When my kids were young I had a tough time keeping my house clean. That is probably a law of nature....I think it relates to entropy or maybe chaos theory...anyway, now that my children are able to clean up after themselves and do chores by themselves, I have flattered myself that keeping my house clean was easy. Yeah, right.
Since breaking by wrist nearly 7 weeks ago I have been chagrined at how fuzzy around the edges my house has become. It's time to come up with a plan of action - seldom before have I had the urge to "spring clean" like I do now. Considering the fact that even when (and if) my cast come off next week my arm will still be fairly painful, I need a carefully considered plan of attack. Playing into my hands is the fact that Alex and Nathan have 1 1/2 weeks off of school - starting this Thursday. One or two rooms a day. We can do it.
Do you have a plan of attack? What works for you? What doesn't?
Trickery & Bribing. When asked my kids will tell people they don't have chores. But, Connor cleaned the inside of both cars, Lauren vacuumed and Tylor scrubbed out the garbage cans - no chores here. The bribery comes in when my kids want something - you get something (think playdate or treat) when _blank__ is done. When they come tell me it's done I ask, "Is it Mommy clean or your clean?" - it's getting less and less that I have to actually go check. It is a win/win situation with hardly any complaining.
ReplyDeleteAsk Tia for pointers. She has this wicked organized plan each Spring break that turns the whole house inside out.
ReplyDeleteAnyone want to start a progressive house cleaning service? Let's start at mine. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm in as long as I'm second.
ReplyDeleteShoot, the best I can hope for is a distant third...
ReplyDeleteSpring Break is Spring Cleaning for our family. For each non-Sabbath day we pick a room from a jar. Today are the bathrooms. Everything comes out, we do maintenance (touch up paint etc) & then a thorough cleaning from top down. We sort through everything that has come out & only put back what should go. We cleaned Ana's tiny 9x11 room & took 3 full kitchen bags to G Dub & 1 bag to garbage & got few bigger items. It is pretty again :)
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