I'm a terrible housekeeper

There's no way to say this otherwise - I'm a terrible housekeeper.  I don't like to clean, I never took the time to learn how to clean properly and <gasp> I don't do it enough.

I’ll even dare to say I have messy tendencies.  Most of it stems from laziness, which I dread admitting, but it’s time for a change, and making this admission to family members, friends and strangers should keep me accountable from being messy/lazy right?

It’s a paradox...  I love being organized!  I love organization, and color coding, and bins to help keep things tidy and all that type of stuff… but then I get lazy and that leads to messy.

I miss the days where we could afford housekeepers to stop by every two weeks.  It was glorious.  Gone are those days unless we can find an affordable one; or better yet, I need to figure out this housekeeping thing.  Save me headaches, and money!

I have it pretty good.  Since my husband works from home, he takes care of the laundry, does the vacuuming and yard work.  He pitches in anywhere else he can.  I cook and clean the kitchen, clean the bathrooms and try to keep the rest of the house tidy.  Try… I fail a lot.

I’m tired of failing, and I want to teach my daughter how to keep a clean house, and I don’t want her to be living in a mess.  Granted I’ve seen a lot worse, and it’s been a huge eye opener.  I never want my house to get *that* bad.

So slowly, I’ve been trying to make intentional efforts to keep a cleaner house.  Because really, if I clean my stove the same night a mess is made, it’s a lot easier to clean than if I wait until the weekend.  It’s also not as time consuming because the spill is fresh.

I have made improvements since Samantha’s birth, and had similar habits when Preston was around.  I do the dishes every night.  Now most of the dishes go in the dishwasher, but I’ve never put any of Preston’s or Samantha’s things in the dishwasher.  For the first year, I probably went overboard and would boil Sami’s bottles clean, over and over again.  I did it so much the bottles started to turn yellow… at which point I realized I was going overboard.  In my mind, I wanted to be overly cautious.  We had been with Preston, but I didn’t boil his stuff every night and part of me wondered if that contributed to him passing away… and I know that’s crazy talk, but the mind of a bereaved parent will do that.  You tend to blame yourself when there’s nothing else to blame.

I wash Sami’s bottles, cups, plates, etc. every night by hand.  I have a pretty good system.  I wash them using a bottle brush and for the small components, a straw/nipple brush.  I used to rinse and place everything to dry and once, but now.. once it’s washed, not rinsed, I place the item in a little tub – you know the ones you get in hospital rooms?  Works great.  Once I’ve washed everything, I then rinse out the sink and start filling it with hot water and dump the contents of the tub in the sink to rinse everything.  As the water runs, I rinse out the cups/bottles and hang them to dry on a bottle rack.  Then, I shut the water and rinse the rest in the water that is in the sink.  And voila! What used to take me an hour and a half, takes me no more than 20 minutes.  If I have anything that doesn’t go in the dishwasher (thermal cups… I’ve put them in the dishwasher and ruined so many), I wash them with Sami’s things.

I then run my dishwasher.  I run it just about every night even if it isn’t completely full, and I empty it before I do the dishes the following day.  This has kept my sink from overfilling and keeps my kitchen from looking messy.

This year, we hosted Thanksgiving, with cooking assistance from my mother-in-law.  My in-laws were so wonderful and generous.  Before Thanksgiving, they hired housekeepers and I’ve decided that this is my clean slate.  I’ve said it before, after housekeepers have come by, but I hope I can make it a reality this time. 

I will make conscious efforts to keep my house clean. 

It’s been a week since they’ve been by, and I’ve not left any clothes on the floor of the master bedroom <highfive>. This is huge for me.  Don’t ask why it’s so difficult to place things in the laundry basket.  I don’t know either.. sheer laziness!

I’ve kept the stovetop clean.  I’ve wiped down the kitchen counters daily.  I cleaned the bathrooms over the weekend even though they had been cleaned only for a few days.

Hopefully I can keep it up… because it’s not something that comes naturally to me.  My next goal is to figure out how to efficiently dust without it taking 4 hours…