1. Room by room-like Mama taught me. Only, then the work was split among the four of us and I only ended up with one or two rooms. I probably use this way the most, but it has definite drawbacks. For instance if you aren't able to complete the entire house, your left with some spic-and-span rooms and some pig-sty rooms. One pig-sty room ruins the entire house.
2. Daycare clean--the daycare period was by far my shining star for housekeeping. People do not want to leave their children in a messy house, even if their's looks like a tornado went through. You have to keep everything tidy to please your parents and everything must be bleached to please your licensing agent. Following every meal, I swept, immediately cleared and washed dishes, put away food and disinfected tables, chairs and counter tops. Each day after naps, everyone--toddlers and up--put toys away, threw away trash, and followed me from room to room while I vacuumed and dusted. In the evening, I mopped and scrubbed toilets, my own children were not allowed to play inside the house, because they might mess it up before daycare. This method takes discipline and stamina. You must be satisfied with HAVING a clean house, not LIVING in it.
3. 10 Minutes To Clean--The kids and I love this method. We set the timer for 10 minutes and clean like crazy. When the timer stops, we're done with that room and reset the timer and attack the next room. I must resist the urge to continue with the few undone items left. Rules are rules, and if Mom is breaking them, chances are the children will clue in that they are actually working, not playing. The kids are all amazed at how clean the room is after "just 10 minutes." I really ham it up with comments like, "On your mark, get set, clean...." and "Two minutes and counting..." etc. If you use this method occasionally, you will have enthusiastic helpers like I did two Saturday's ago.
4. Lavern Clean-Named after the master's best friend's mother. Who, according to my sources, upon hearing that guests were expected, would pull out large hampers and begin filling them with clutter and mess. Dirty dishes, dirty clothes and all manner of household items were dumped in the hampers...fast. The full hampers went in a closet, and when the door was closed, PRESTO, clean house. I think the drawbacks to this method are obvious, but I've had to use it more times than I care to admit. So if you ever drop by the house on a few minutes notice...don't open any closets. Steer clear of the garage, too. You've been warned.
I'd love to hear your tricks.
3 comments:
Great post! I've tried the 10 minute method but just can't get it to work good for me. Maybe when Izzy is big enough to start helping. So I do the room by room and end up with a half clean house. The bad part is that it does tend to be the same half all the time...
Mine is more of a "Panic Clean". When I am having someone over I go crazy in the few rooms I think they will be in, ie: livingroom, downstairs bathroom, dining room, kitchen. The upstairs is OFF LIMITS, lol. In my panic clean I have parts of the 10 min. clean, where everyone flies around room to room, and the Lavern clean, get everything out of sight quickly! Housework is NOT one of my gifts :o( . It was before lupus, but since then, like so many other things, it has fallen at the way side. I've tried schedules, Flylady and various other things, all to no avail. So I guess for now, I'm stuck in Panic Clean mode. Just my two cents of honesty.
I try the room by room like Mama taught us, but like you I don't have enough efficient helpers at this point to make it do-able. I've tried the ten minute clean but my children wander around in circles or run panic-stricken for ten minutes and nothing looks any better at the end of it. I apparently need to "script" the 10 minute clean for them. Ugh.....
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