Hi everyone, well it’s Friday and, at least for me, it means put on your apron and comfortable clothes because a dirty apartment awaits…
I’ve been collecting several articles in my quest to QUENCH this terrible guilt for my new years resolution gone down the drain, remember that one…yeah the O-word (I’ll whisper it to you: organization)
and since cleaning is right up there in the unreachable shelf along with organization, I thought them to be interchangeable…jajajaaa yeah in my head they are
anyway people as I was saying I’ve been collecting articles and images and to my surprise there’s a whole lot of DIY-ing going on in the cleaning solutions department, but first things first…
Remember my post about the crazy hypothesis that how you confront clutter, and your STUFF in general, is a reflection of how you confront your feelings…click here to refresh your memory, well according to this article (#1)
What The Location Of Your Mess Says About You (And How To Fix It)
there is a correlation between MESS and PERSONALITY…who knew?! It seems that depending on where your clutter seems to collect is your TYPE OF PERSONALITY (oh, please do read it!!)…I had a hard time finding myself because if my husband wasn’t such a clean-control freak I’d have my stuff all over the place…but I found something that caught my eye:
” …messes composed of personalizing items … indicate a need by the people who control the space to remind themselves of who they are as a person.”
which in a way supports my theory,
HIDE YOUR STUFF=HIDE YOUR FEELINGS…STUFF LEFT AT SIGHT= THIS IS ME, WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET
of course, there comes a moment (and an amount) that has to be dealt with…and on that note I came across an article (click here to read #2) titled:
10 habits for a well-run home
1. MOM, wake up early. 5:30 am good enough?
2. MOM, go to bed early. Yikes, 10 pm and get up all groggy and 11pm and get up less groggy (pretty weird) of course by 4pm when we finish lunch, I can’t get up from my chair!
3. MOM, do some evening prep. May I say something?! I hate this, it’s like today started SINCE YESTERDAY…yeah, I know, sometimes we wish the day had a couple more hours but c’mon, those extra hours are for sleeping or for reading a chapter of your current book, for taking a stroll…NOT FOR DOING MORE HOUSEWORK, though I do appreciate the purpose of this, but I still can’t get myself to do it
4. MOM, institute meal planning. OMG, I wish I had that habit. I do very quickly put together 4 meals when I’m writing down my grocery list, so could that be considered meal planning, kind of?!
5. MOM, do one complete load of laundry a day. At first I thought: well, I almost do it daily, but I wasn’t considering the concept of complete as including FOLDING…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, folding…now that is ONE, of the three thing my husband helps me with on the weekends, he folds and puts away…whew! but when I do laundry during the week, I end up (procrastinating) folding late at night (that’s when I go to bed at 11)
6. MOM, get dishes COMPLETELY done in the evening. YAAAY, this I do. COMPLETELY: stove superbly well cleaned, counters shining, spotless BUT I DO NOT PUT THE DISHES AWAY…
7. MOM, give bathrooms a quick clean-up. Even writing it makes me cringe…damn it, I’m not the only one using them…anyway, for this very DIFFICULT aspect of keeping home tidy, I found this (another interesting read #3):
How To Keep Your Bathroom Clean In 5 Minutes A Day
8. MOM, have a place for everything…FAMILY MEMBERS put everything in its place! oh yes, I do agree, however I know that nice containers can be a bit expensive so leave those for open shelves and just use sturdy shoe boxes or less expensive baskets for under the sink, linen closets, closed cabinets…
9. FAMILY have a bedtime routine…the author of the article makes a very important note: REMEMBER YOU ARE THEIR MOTHER NOT THEIR MAID… children, I’m your mother, not your maid! there, I said it…we do this, but it’s not called a bedtime routine, it’s called YOUR DAD’S COMING HOME ANY MOMENT NOW AND YOU KNOW HOW HE GETS ROUTINE…and it’s like pushing the turbo button in my children, off they go with their schoolbags and toys
10. MOM, do not say YES immediately. I will use this in the NEW TOY realm…
How about it…QUITE DO-ABLE RIGHT?!
BUT, if all else fails…here’s another article (#4): HOW TO FAKE A CLEAN HOUSE from REAL SIMPLE!!!
IT TAKES YOU ON A FAKE CLEANING TOUR THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE…
OK, so here’s the weekend to give it a try… happy cleaning (can those words even be in the SAME sentence?!)
LINKS:
bathroom image used for 5 min. cleanup
http://www.granitetransformations.com/blog/2070/inspirational-modern-bathrooms/
article #1 http://www.shelterpop.com/2011/08/15/what-the-location-of-your-mess-says-about-you/1#comments
article #2 http://thestressedmom.com/2012/03/10-habits-for-a-well-run-home/
article #3 http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/keeping-your-bathroom-clean-in-5-minutes-a-day-171474
article #4 http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/cleaning/fake-clean-house-00000000032724/page2.html
ACT. REACT. or just THINK about it! 
You are so kind…”you make it enjoyable… and… keep it sensible” these words mean a lot to me! Thanks for appreciating my style…read you soon!
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I’m constantly on the look out for those articles that give us a fasttrack through house cleaning…I think we’re either born with a disposition for cleaning or we’re not…so these articles do come in handy at least as a reminder that it can be done fast, that we are allowed to have a life, that having a mess doesn’t necessarily mean we are a disaster in the rest of our habits and activities…it’s just a matter of saying, OK today I tackle my difficult messes but don’t expect this to happen every day and be OK with it! Do take a look at the articles they’ve got good tips (take it from a housecleaning hater) and thought provoking ideas…read you soon!
I’m pretty sure that cleaning is the bane of my existence, especially while I’m in school. It probably doesn’t help that my husband is a full time student too. Our room is in a constant state of destruction. I don’t even want to talk about doing dishes or laundry 🙂 Thanks for posting these articles, I may have to check a few of them out 😉