I Hate Housekeeping

Sshhh. . . don't tell anybody! Ha, ha. When people use the phrase "you could eat out of her toilet" I think to myself "big deal who wants to eat out of a toilet bowl anyway."

Housekeeping is the part of my domestic engineering job that I have struggled with my entire career. That and cooking and grocery shopping and . . . well I guess I had better stop there.

Anyway, as I finished up my Saturday housekeeping duties, I just felt led to share that I hate housekeeping! When I was childless, I could easily avoid it by reading or horseback riding or some other fun thing. But, now, considering my job description clearly reads "housekeeping" I can not avoid it any longer.

I have plugged along at a "need to do" pace for as long as I can. Awhile ago, hubby finally acquiesced in allowing me a cleaning lady. But, we finally reached a point where I felt it was a luxury for me and not a necessity. So, now half of the money I save by not having a cleaning lady goes to support a child in Ethiopia. Which makes my "sacrifice" a little easier to bare.

But, that still didn't/doesn't get my floors mopped. So, this summer I decided it was time to make a plan. Not some over reaching cleaning plan that I could never keep up with. But one I actually felt was doable.

I don't really use Flylady at the moment. Just too overwhelming to get started. But, I suppose, I do use some of her ideas. The kids help and over the summer they have been working on making a habit of their chores. Every morning NG is responsible for washing breakfast dishes and wiping down my bathroom. LM vacuums the floor around and wipes down the kitchen table. Boop sorts the day's laundry and empties garbage cans. EG is just responsible for getting dressed. With underwear.

On Thursdays, the girls vacuum and dust. For money chores, LM, once a week, cleans the windows and, theoretically Boop is suppose to clean the back porch. NG, every other week, cleans our wooden blinds and I am still working on something else for her. She, in the meantime is ironing every week to pay for jazz/tap class. Fifty cents a shirt, a dollar for a pair of pants, etc. When I was a little older than her, I would spend time during the summer ironing dress shirts for my stepdad and getting paid. I actually love to iron but it just doesn't get to the top of my to-do list often enough.

The only daily chore I do is laundry and of course cleaning up after meals etc. (And teach, of course.) I tried to work in other chores as well, but it never really seemed to work. I just had trouble getting done what needed to be done such as school and meals and tidying up etc.

The kids daily chores have to be done by the time we leave the house for afternoon activities (or 5 if we stay home.) Their rooms need to be clean, all schoolwork done and the living room picked up. (We want to have a relaxed and organized and less chaotic house for hubby to come home to.)

We do all our major chores on Saturdays. Cleaning bathrooms, mopping all the floors, washing kids sheets (ours are done on Tuesdays). I clean both baths, NG vacuums all the floors and LMdelights in mopping them. She even does the little bathroom floor on her hands and knees like her Grandma.

Major chores are pulled out of a major chore jar when time permits. Ha, ha! And also can be used a punishment for disobedience correction. (This one is a work in progress.) Actually, it all is a work in progress. The rubber hits the road come Monday when school starts and the time I felt I didn't have to do housework shrinks by about 2/3rds of the day!

Anyway, I hate housework. Glad my kids can help me with it, all the while gaining good life skills and hopefully a positive attitude toward cleaning toilet bowls. I know one thing that has really help me put housecleaning in perspective is, first, my husband deserves to have a clean and tidy house. He works very hard, so it is the least I can do for him. Also, I need to remember that whatever I do, I am doing for the glory of the Lord.

I believe God enjoys seeing me, us, taking care of where we live. And serving each other in this way. A desire for our school year is a home that is warm, inviting, friendly and ready to receive anyone at anytime. We are on a roll and I hope it continues. It is kind of nice have a relatively clean house . . . .