Happy Hubby House Rules Explained- Rule 3

Keep Your Home Clean!

Why do we wait so long for house cleaning? Why do we procrastinate the inevitable? Do we expect it to disappear? Or for the cleaning fairy to show up? Seriously, I wish she would show up… or Mary Poppins! Either one would be escorted directly to the largest mess at that moment.

Rabbit trail. Sorry. Think of your hubby. We know God made women emotional and men visual. That extends into every area of their lives. You think your messy house is driving YOU crazy?? Think of your husband whose eyes were made to appreciate symmetry and order and design. Think of where he works and the order there. (Sidenote: I know some men work in very messy cubicles because they have no idea about organization. But since I cleaned an office area in college, I also saw some of the men who had messy cubicles “living” in the conference room when it was unoccupied). If his work place has some sort of organization, then he comes home to YOUR house, does it make him feel more or less relaxed?

Also, every man has his pet peeves. Those areas of the house that he absolutely cannot stand to see a mess in. I have a friend whose bed MUST be made whenever there is no one sleeping in it. For my dad, it’s his gun storage. Every piece must be in a specific spot. For my hubby, it’s the kitchen counter. It simply MUST be clear. If legos are left out, he will be the one to step on them, so I guess that too… Find out what your hubby’s is, and be sure it’s the first thing you do in the morning, and the last before he arrives home from work.

OK, to begin this part… I had this system… three years ago? Or four? It worked beautifully. Why did I stop? Truthfully, I got lazy and discouraged and I quit. But before that, here’s what I did. Assign each task a day, and straighten every day. For me it was:

• Mondays- Weekend recovery and sheets washed (our weekend is crazy, so there’s always a disaster on Monday, no matter how clean it may have been at the beginning)
• Tuesdays- Bathrooms (boys. Four boys… I touch up through the week, but these are the big days).
• Wednesdays- Vacuuming and menu planning (Sales flyers come on Wednesday, and Thursday is payday)
• Thursday- Dusting or Fridge cleared and cleaned with shopping trip.
• Friday- Dusting and/or Kitchen (Depends on shopping week or not)

I have also cleaned by room. Bedrooms one day, Bathrooms, Living room, Kitchen. The only thing was, I would only vacuum all of them on one day. I hated taking it out twice. Wow, that sounds lazy. It just seemed stupid since it was already out.

Also, utilize your children. You are a team!! You work TOGETHER. To do the cleaning for them makes you automatically adversaries- they take it out, you have to put it back away. I will cover this more tomorrow with rule four.

Be consistent, and it will become a habit. It becomes routine. It makes your children feel safe. Momma’s not going to go into one of those crazy “let’s throw it all away and start over” moods today.

If your home is truly cluttered, I’ll make a separate post, then tag it back here. It really isn’t impossible! And once you start, it’s easier to continue. So start… off you go! Ok, self…. GO!!