Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The vicious cycle of cleaning

I spent a better part of the last two days cleaning the house, not even deep cleaning or spring cleaning just "regular cleaning."  And before I am completely done I am certain I will have to start over again.  I just can't seem to keep up these days.  I think this happens every spring when we are outside more, more dirt is coming in the house and things just get left all around the house because we are outside so much longer with the kids. By the time the kids are in bed, it is such a job to start cleaning up! 

I don't mind cleaning.  Actually, I enjoy doing it most of the time.  What I do mind is cleaning only to have it dirty again within a matter of minutes.  This has probably been the hardest thing for me to adjust to since being home. I remember one time when I cleaned the entire house to a sparkle and we sat down to eat dinner and one of the girls spilt their entire cup of milk on the newly scrubbed floor! Oh I was furious inside, but I had to laugh a little.  I asked my husband "Why would God do this to me?" and before he could answer I said "I know, so that I would realize that it is just a dirty floor, it isn't the end of the world.  There are more important things." That incident also taught me another lesson.  After I clean the house and scrub the floors, we eat the next meal downstairs so that I am guaranteed a few hours of complete cleanliness.  I know it is probably a little crazy for me to ask the family to do that, but when you spend so much time on something you have to be able to enjoy all that hard work.  There are times that I do just let things go a little but then it all comes crashing down on me and I have to spend 2 days getting caught up again. 

I had a few people comment on previous blogs asking about cleaning products or what type of cleaning routine I follow.  And now I am asking all of you for input.  When I was working I cleaned the house just about every weekend and cleaned a little deeper about once a month.  Since I have been home full-time I feel like I clean a lot less.  The house is normally picked up and neat but not always "clean".  There are times that I think I almost need a cleaning service more now than when I worked outside of the home.  I think it is just the fact that I do the small cleaning projects all day long over and over again that I seem to forget about the other cleaning tasks I should do.  I do clean the floors, bathrooms, etc. about once a week but I feel like I hardly ever do the "deep" cleaning.

Here are a few questions for any of you that would like to leave input:

What is your cleaining routine? 
What products do you like/not like?
How often do you clean?
Any tips on how to keep things clean longer?
What tasks do you let your kids help with?
How often do you move furniture to clean behind, under, etc.?
Do you use cleaning "rags", wipes or paper towels?
Do you use gloves?
Do you vaccum then dust or the other way around?

3 comments:

Missy Budde said...

Amy, I feel the same way and my kids are only home for a few hours each day and they find away to always "undo" what I have done. I finally started using a cleaning service for the deep clean. While it is a luxury, it also allows me to just breathe. Coming home to a clean house is like Christmas morning!!

Wendy Irene said...

I feel the same way, the picking up cleaning on repeat several times a day! We tend to do more cleaning on the weekend when my husband is home, but not everything I would like to get done does. Totally would love a cleaning service for the same reasons, not that I mind cleaning just fitting it in. We probably move easy to move furniture once a month, and the hard stuff...hmmm? I use rage, wipes, and paper towels depending on my mood, and if I am feeling environmentally friendly :-) I like to wear gloves in the bathroom because that is my least favorite place to clean. Dusting, what's that?! Just kidding! I have so much trouble finding time to get to the dusting with all the spills. I like to think my little tiny air purifier helps with that :-)

Amy Van Beck said...

Missy I totally agree - just like Christmas morning. When we had Olivia and Izzie, Mike's mom asked what she could get us and I said a clean house. (she used to clean houses) So both times when we came home from the hospital it was spotless! It was the best baby present I could have asked for!

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