This might set off some of the neatniks out there…but I don’t deep clean my home every day, every week, not even every month. We also don’t live in filth and squalor.
I’ve just lowered the bar. Not to nothing…just to something that actually works for our real life.
It’s still stewardship of what I’ve been given. I’m just not chasing someone else’s standard of perfection anymore or trying to keep up with expectations set by people who don’t even step foot in my home.
For some, this might feel a little polarizing.
For others, it might be saying the quiet part out loud…so they can finally breathe.
Sure, I could mop our kitchen every week. But I could also just make it more fun and lower the friction of getting it done. Instead of hauling out mopping supplies, I spray the floor with our all-purpose cleaner and ‘skate’ around on towels. The kids loved doing this when they were younger. It’s basically a built-in excuse to do the twist, and it definitely helped get some wiggles out.
The bathroom, also known as the bane of my existence, gets the same treatment. Just with a little extra attention around the commode…if you know what I mean.
Laundry gets the ‘ho hum’ treatment too. We rarely sort it. I just toss in right-sized, similar fabric loads. Well… now my husband does most of it since he took over that task years ago. Every now and then the lighter colors go through a cycle with a little extra boost.
This has worked well for us, especially since the kids started doing their own laundry around age seven. It lowered the friction and made it easier for them to actually follow through.
Is it perfect? Nope. Do the clothes get washed? Yep.
Ironing? My daaahhling…I have no time for that. A quick spin in the dryer does wonders. For more stubborn wrinkles, I’ll toss in a damp washcloth or even an ice cube.
I’ve lowered the bar, not eliminated it.
Every now and then, things still need a little more attention. Not everything. Not all at once. Just the next thing. How do I keep track of it? A simple reminder on my phone calendar.
Shampooing the carpets is no longer an all-day Olympic event.
Now it looks more like this:
Wednesday I’ll shampoo the entryway. Thursday, I’ll shampoo the dining/living area. Friday, I’ll get our bedroom, and so on.
As I have bandwidth. As I have energy. As I have pockets of time.
Because life still be life-ing.
If I get it all done in one day, great. If not, I’m total okay with that too.