July 6, 2009

Life's too Short to clean the house



A Mother's unending battle with dust bunnies and little toys.

It was a lovely Saturday Morning. Perfect for a cup of Coffee. My dear daughter was fidgeting next to me while we sat in one of the comfy lounging sofa of a local Coffee house in Huntersville NC waiting for our drinks.

I glanced at the stack of papers and magazines strewn on the center table and started flipping through them when this flier blared right into my eyes!



"Life's too short to clean your own home"

Life speaking to me? As a mother, this is one of my great stressors. Self-admitted neat freak {blame this on my mother}, mess became my ultimate nemesis the day my daughter was born. Toys that comes in all sizes has found refuge in every nook and cranny of the house. Best of all, their favorite spot is the floor where I walk on. Each day is like "under the sea". Except that my sea is made up of toys, toys and dust bunnies!

So, Is life really short to clean your own home? I think it will be shorter if I don't. A messy house begets a messy life. Imagine your house full of clutter. How does that translate to being organized? Impossible!

But, I'd rather spend quality time with my daughter and husband than enslaving myself cleaning. Life is too short after all.

I've accepted that my battle with the messes will not cease anytime soon. My daughter is only 5 years old. I've got a long time ahead of me. So for now, here is what I do: {or not do anyway}

DO:
a) Place Catch basins - I have this big laundry basket stationed in the living room for the sole purpose of "catching" loose toys, books and whatchamacallits at the end of the day. Makes for less trips carrying collected stuffs back to the kiddos room.

b) Subtraction - Implement the power of subtraction. The rule is, if she wants to play with something else, she has to put away the previous one. It's still a work in progress but she's getting it. Less toys to deal with, less stress when it's time to clean.

c) Employ the help of an Elf - I've started teaching my daughter the "art of cleaning". Who else will help me but the one who creates the mess. Little help goes a long way. Start them early.

DO NOT:

Be a SOFTIE - you're not a paper product. You're the mother! My daughter knew that whenever she flutters her eyes and flash me that cute smile and say "please", she's in for instant victory! BUT I've learned my lesson (except my husband. He's still in training camp}.

Be the Role Model - For mess and clutter. What they see, is what they copy. I have enrolled my husband and his office in Bootcamp to fix this. AND you didn't hear this from me.

If all else fails, be BFF with the dust bunnies! I am. Then just snuck the toys under the couch, the coffee table or anywhere that's out of your sight!

Life is too short...

15 comments:

  1. these are great tips and very similar to the rules i enforced when my kids were little. i got my reward one day when my oldest came home from playing at a friend's house (they were about 6) and my daughter said to me in the car on the way home... "you know, mommy, you're right when you said toys are more fun when you have all the pieces!"

    i recommend cloth drawstring bags for puzzles and games with lots of little pieces...they are easy to make out of old clothes or whatever,...i still have a few lying around the house!

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  2. Wow I totally agree with everything you said!

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  3. im not sure if my comment got through... my puter went all hay wire for no reason i can figure out... but i totally agree with you!!!!

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  4. Love it! I'm right there with you, but sadly, "my" mess has become more of a problem than my daughter's =(

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  5. Sounds like a perfect tag line for house cleaning! Now when are you hiring a maid? hee hee.

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  6. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog!
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    Dawn

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  7. I love your post it's very much like what I feel c: we should teach them both (kid and hubby) but on the hubby part kya nga siguro tayo ang kalahati nila (better half hehehe) it's because tayo siguro ang gagawa nun :p

    I miss visiting here c:

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  8. ha ha on being BFF's with the dust bunnies!

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  9. Great insight. Cleaning can sometimes be quite a burden. It does make it easier if everybody helps.

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  10. hey thanks so much for coming by!! i'm always torn between time cleaning and time spent with the kids...it's such a fine line...but they're only young once, so more often than not, I find myself in a toy strewn house with some really happy kids =)

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  11. I struggle with this all of the time. I admit I am not a clean freak but toy overload drives me crazy!

    Thanks for a great post!

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  12. Awesome post! My twins are only a year old but LOVE to take all of the toys out and scatter them through the house.. once I pick them up and put them back.. they don't hesitate to take them back out! I'm sure it will only get worse.

    Will be keeping these rules in mind for the future!

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  13. I unfortunately am the complete opposite...house cleaning is the last on my list ALWAYS! To the point of stressing out whenever we have someone stop by unexpectedley . Don't you wish there was a happy medium?

    Have a great weekend!

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  14. Hi Maricris. Thanks for visiting.

    Ay naku yan ang lagi naming pinagtatalunan ng aking anak. Kapag clean up time na ng mga toys nya kung anu-ano na ang ibinibigay na dahilan, he would clean up but then, inaabot ng syam syam.

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