If there’s one rule around here for the adults, it’s ‘you don’t go to bed without everything being tidy’. You fill the dishwasher, you wipe off the counters, you tidy the living room and make sure to get rid of the crap that ends up on the kitchen table.
Disclosure: I am a P&Gmom. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events and opportunities. The opinions on this blog are my own.
It’s a rule that makes my life easier. Waking up in the morning to a dishwasher that’s full of clean dishes, to a sink that’s been emptied and wiped, and to counters that have been cleaned - it’s just easier.
It’s more zen.
But lately, I’ve been tired. I’ve had the flu, and I’ve been rampant with excuses about the house being a bit messier than usual.
Letting my expectations slide though, for me, has been a sign of health - a sign of being ‘okay with the mess’ something that I wouldn’t have been fine with a couple of years ago. I wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep with the counters being cluttered, and dishes in the sink. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep until the homework and agendas were tucked away in backpacks, and with clothes on the living room floor.
It means that we’re enjoying more messy play, with water beads, with paint, with glitter glue, with glitter glue, with those messy things that I may have saved for ‘art class that’s not in my house’ in the past.
Once in a while, on weeks like these, it’s okay to go to bed with a messy house - it’s okay to ‘let it go’ for just a few days - mostly, I’m thankful that I’ve become okay with doing it.
Surrounded by a mess? Here’s how we keep things under control:
Getting rid of half of the stuff in our house, making it easier to manage, easier to tidy and easier to deep clean. Unsure where to start? Go with the things that don’t have a home, the things in your house that you’re constantly picking up, but never using - and the things that are always in your way. Start with one room at a time, if you’re not using it, toss it!
Find things that work: like including the kids the chore of using the Swiffer Wetjet to grab those messes that otherwise would have been there longer, getting stickier and harder to get off.
Finding products that make your life easier will change your cleaning life. The Wetjet is perfect for those times when you’re having friends over for dinner, and the floors could use a quick wipe, but you don’t want to pull out the steam mop.
It’s just a bonus that the kids fight over who gets to use it next.