Housekeeping Confession: Just Keeping It Real

I've never been much of a housekeeper. I try to pretend like I am, but really, it's just not in me to clean my house to spotless perfection every. single. day.

Don't get me wrong--I love having a clean house. When my house is clean, I'm more likely to take showers every day. I'm more likely to cook dinner every night without dragging my feet to do so. I'm more patient with my children because I'm not stressed out about the mess surrounding me. I tend to save money when my house is clean. How is that you ask? Well, when my house is clean, I want to stay home. When it's messy, I want to leave. Then I usually end up at the store spending money. My marriage is better because Kasey doesn't come home from work feeling like he now has to spend his precious free time washing the dishes. We can concentrate on spending time together because all the other chores are done.

In short, my life is better when my house is clean.

With this knowledge, you'd think it would be easy to keep my house clean. But it's not. It's amazing how many dishes a family of four can dirty in one day. Without a dishwasher, it's difficult to keep up on all those dishes. They usually get piled high until we are completely out of clean silverware, cups, bowls, and plates. Then I resort to washing only what I need to make the next meal. But since I don't want to wash a sink full of dishes before dinner, I end up making something easy--like grilled cheese sandwiches which only require a handful of dishes (especially if we eat on paper towels instead of plates).

My dirty kitchen carries over into other rooms of the apartment, which is easy to do when you only have 600 square feet of living space. The living room and bedrooms quickly become cluttered with toys and books and pictures from preschool. Soon we are clawing our way through the piles of laundry because the neighbors are using the communal washer and dryer for the third day in a row. And I don't even want to get into the toothpaste that one of the girls squeezed onto the bathroom counter 2 days ago that I don't have the energy to take care of with actual cleaner because I'm too stressed out about the mess in the rest of the house.

Whew! Does anyone else have this problem? Or are all of you completely anal Type A personalities when it comes to cleaning your house?

I was having this same conversation with a friend of mine a few weeks ago. I expressed my frustrations to her, these same ones I've just shared with you, and asked her how she kept her house so clean and organized all the time. I've never been to her house, even on a surprise visit, when it wasn't clean, with the exception of a few toys that her kids had out and were playing with.

She said she wasn't always this way. She grew up in a very messy house and took a lot of those messy habits with her when she got married. She noticed that her mother-in-law had an immaculate house. So she watched her one day to see how she kept things so cleanly and orderly. My friend said it came down to one simple thing: as her mother-in-law prepared meals, she either rinsed off or washed immediately the dish that she had just dirtied.

What! That's so easy! How could a simple act like this carry over to an entire house? That day I set a goal for myself. As I prepared meals, I would either rinse or wash that dish immediately rather than just adding it to the piles of dishes that already needed to be cleaned.

It's been 8 days now and I can tell you this--IT WORKS!!! The last time that my house was this clean for 8 days in a row was when I went on a 9-day vacation.

The first day was hard because I had to catch up on all the housework that had been neglected. But now, when I'm working in the kitchen, I wash the dishes as I go. I thought it might slow down my cooking, but it doesn't. When I'm doing a step that requires constant attention (like making gravy) I simply toss the dishes in a sink of soapy water. When dinner goes in the oven, I hurry and catch up on those dishes. Then when dinner is over, the only dishes I have to wash are the ones we ate on. It's an easy 5 minute job and my kitchen stays clean.

This simple thing has carried over into other parts of my house as well. Instead of stepping over a dirty shirt or an abandoned toy, I pick them up and put them in their places as I go. It takes an extra 30 seconds, and my house stays clean all day. It's easy to vacuum because there is rarely clutter on the floor. The girls are interested in their toys again because they are put away and forgotten instead of laying around as constant reminders of the toys they don't have, but want.

With all the time I've saved on worrying about cleaning the kitchen and living room, I've been able to keep up on cleaning the bathroom. (which I hate! hate! hate!) No more 3-day-old toothpaste blobs on my bathroom counter. Yippee!!

I've noticed other positive changes in my house in the last 8 days. Because I'm not spending a concentrated amount of time cleaning every day, I have more time for other projects I've been meaning to pursue: sorting through the girls' toys, rearranging my scrapbook stuff, cleaning out and organizing my linen closet and pantry, sorting through old clothes that don't fit since I started losing weight, reading or taking a nap without guilt. It's wonderful!

All those things I listed in the beginning of this post? They are happening, too.

I'm not saying my home is perfect. I still have small piles of loose papers here and there, and music that is still sitting out from the last time I went to play the piano. But I'm working on it.

The point is, one small act has allowed me to take my home back from the chaotic mess that is sometimes life and given me in return a haven where I love to be.