Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Juggling Life; Part II: Cleaning



8.07.12


Being a mom is a 24/7 responsibility. How our child is raised, what they learn, what they do, and how they act becomes our main priority. And in the meantime, often times, the other aspects of our lives are slacking. Cooking, cleaning, blogging, and hobbies. How do we make time? What works? This week I will talk about these 4 subjects, and talk about how each one is incorporated into my day to day life.

I know a lot of people say that when you have children that your house becomes a "zoo." A disaster. A toy zone. And although I can see glimpses of this from time to time... you will rarely find that at our house. In fact, it would take me a matter of a few minutes to make it even seem as though no child lives at our house {with the exception of the baby proofing}. This doesn't mean that E doesn't have a ridiculous amounts of toys. Doesn't mean that we don't let her play. It just means that we are particular about where the toys are at and how they are hidden.

We like organized chaos. We like our home to look like a home and not a kid zone. And we like E to have fun at the same time. In order to do so we have a toy box that blends great with our furniture. And we keep the rest of the bigger toys in that area. We have little places around the house, like bookshelves, that we will keep a few of her flashcards and books stored at. Places that make these things blend in all. Overall,  this helps in the "cleaning" and "organizing department."

As far as the real cleaning and such goes. We make it a habit to do this throughout the day. And I say we because husband helps a lot over the weekends and at night when he comes home from work. But for the most part its just me. Laundry gets done every day. Dishes are cleaned and put away by the end of the day. The home is picked up, things put back to where they belong, and overall by the time our heads hit the pillows, our home is in a picked up condition.

But the nitty gritty stuff like toilets, washing windows, and so forth? Well that, I have to confess, doesn't get done right awayall the time, and as often as it should. But it does. EventuallyBut needs to be done more.

And thus I have printed out a little printable to serve as a reminder. Things that I forget need my attention as well. Things that we all, as homeowners, need to be aware of.

I went through a lot of printables. Searched my little butt off. And this was the favorite one that I came across.
To be honest with you, a clean home for us is one of the most important things that we value in our lives. It makes us feel better and we are more productive and happier when our home is picked up.

However, I don't dwell on the big things. To me, as long as the kitchen is cleaned, the dishes are done, laundry is done, and the house is picked up? I am happy. We are happy.

And when we had more babies to the mix? We plan on continuing this practice... to the best of our abilities.

15 comments:

  1. It's so easy to skip over the things we don't think about. I started looking for a cleaning list a while back but couldn't find one that I really liked, but I love the one you found! Thanks for sharing it :D
    P.S. I love your Juggling Life posts!!

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  2. love the list! I am going to have to start doing something like that soon, our house is turning into a kids zone fast.

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  3. I love a clean, neat home as well. I agree that it makes us feel better. I've always wondered if it could/would continue after we have kids, and I'm glad to see that it IS possible. Thanks for sharing :)

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  4. I too have a similar list hung on my fridge. I don't understand when people say, "Messy House, Happy Child." Well can’t you have a clean home and happy child? I think so! Glad to see you do too! Having a clean home sets a great example to your child.

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  5. Thank you 100 times over for this. I am a very very neat person, and I've been stressing that my house will be a zoo once our baby is born. It is great to know that it doesn't have to be that way, and I'll definitely use that list!
    http://thegrassskirtblog.com

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  6. love this list! I need to start doing this as our house is turning into the kid zone

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  7. I try so so hard to keep up on everything. But I still get so overwhelmed. So i have to ask... do you ever sleep?? :P I say that jokingly, obviously. But I wonder how you do it all? I feel like I can't balance half the things I'm supposed to and Baby L isn't even born yet. :( i'm trying to stay as on-track and focused/organized as possible now in preparation tho.

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  8. Man...you sound just like me. I can't stand for stuff to be out of it's place. I've always made sure...if you move something...when your done with it...it goes back in it's place. I'm actually still in the process of teaching this to my husband. lol. Hopefully he'll get it eventually. :) In the meantime, I will always teach our children to pick up after themselves and put things back where they go when their done with it. It is a full time job every single day but I would go crazy if laundry wasn't done...dishes weren't washed and the bed wasn't made. :) It's nice to know I'm not crazy...or maybe I am!?! haha

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  9. I am the same way! My house has to be picked up by bedtime. I love that printable. Thanks for sharing:)

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  10. PERFECT PRINTABLE!! Now I will use that instead of handwriting one every time I clean! :) This pregnancy brain causes me to forget things I NEVER would otherwise!

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  11. New follower and I love this post and the list. I'll admit I'm very disorganized and its only gotten worse with kids but I really want to change that!!

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  12. i was the same as you when i only had one baby. it was a breeze to keep up with the house - a place for everything, and everything in its place. but in addition to my almost 4 year old, we now have an almost 6 month old baby and i am drowning!! i cannot keep up with this house and its actually depressing me. my baby needs me to hold him and that's pretty much all i do all day.

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  14. Hi!! Thank you so much for sharing our list with everyone!! We feel so honored! :) Check out our Etsy shop because we have TONS of awesome printables just like this... specifically for super cool families that simply want an organized home. We offered the Cleaning List for free on our blog for a while but it is now on sale in our shop too. Thanks again!

    http://www.etsy.com/shop/jitneysjourneys

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  15. I agree! A clean home makes me feel more at ease, more patient and ready to focus on playing with and enjoying my kids. Otherwise, I feel anxious and distracted. Thanks for this!

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