cleaning

I have a confession to make. I haven't cleaned my house in over three years. It's true. Three years.


It's been cleaned, but not by me. Ever since Jonah was born, I've had a cleaning service that comes twice a month. It was what my brother and his wife did for us to help us after Jonah was born. And then, Matt and I just kept it going since we didn't have much time to clean. But lately I've been feeling like we need to cut some corners, and things have settled to a "norm" with Jonah. I've been able to push dressing change to every 36 to 48 hours instead of every 24, and things just seem a little more stable as of late.


All of that to say that our last cleaning appointment was last Thursday, and then I called and cancelled our service.


But I have another confession. I HATE to clean. I always have. I always get so overwhelmed, and I'm such a perfectionist, it takes me FOREVER. I see one thing to do and then it leads to another and another, and it takes me two hours just to do one bathroom. It's ridiculous. And then I get tired and bored and fed up, so I just quit and the house gets dirty, and the dread of the cleaning seriously gets me down.


SO...


I'm now using my friend Jen's (you know, the One Who Moved To Texas) cleaning system, adapted to my own house and schedule. She cleans around 30 minutes every day, and has a scheduled thing she does each day. You can read about her schedule HERE.


It's the only way for me. I cannot stand having to take an entire day or two (which would have to be Saturday and/or Sunday for us) to clean. I really want the weekends for resting and spending time with Matt and Jonah. And we try to take it easy on Sundays, after church, as much as we can.  So, I'm giving this a shot.


Without further ado, I present my cleaning schedule (subject to change, of course). :)

I've been at it for five days now, and so far I've stuck with it. Most days it's taken me 45 minutes to an hour but I'm hoping to move faster as I get my OCD/Control Freak/Perfectionism under control.


I have a monthly list too. Wanna see it? If you insist.


January – organize junk drawers, coat closet

February –  sort through boys’ clothes, organize their closets, donate clothes

March – clean all floors thoroughly, scrub baseboards, steam clean carpet

April – organize and clean garage (Matt), plant flowers, yard work (pine straw, weed and feed, flea treat)

May – plant garden, Jogging for Jonah

June – clean off deck and front porch, power wash outside of house, clean outside and inside of all windows

July – clean walls/touch up paint, clean out cars (Matt)

August – organize our closet, donate clothes

September - sort through boys’ clothes, organize their closets, donate clothes

October – clean all furniture/upholstery, clean small kitchen appliances, clean oven

November – go through all toys, rotate, reorganize, donate

December - ADVENT

I have to admit. The schedule/list making was WAY more fun than the cleaning has been. Just in case you were wondering, cleaning still sucks. BUT so far it has sucked way less. But I've only been at it for five days. After a three year break. So we'll see if it lasts. 

And today, I'm super giddy and excited to tell you all (much more giddy than is probably sane, actually), that these guys arrived.

My new Shark Navigator Vacuum and the "free" steam mop that came with it. I shall name them Herman and Elouise, and we shall be together forever . Forgive me for getting carried away... BUT...

The cleaning ladies vacuumed my carpet with their vacuum cleaner last Thursday. I vacuumed with my five year old Bissell yesterday. YESTERDAY. And when Herman got here tonight, Matt and I put him together, and I vacuumed just the green area rug in the living room. You know, the one I just vacuumed yesterday.

And I got this.

Eeeeeewwwww. That's totally gross, y'all. 

I think I'm in love with a purple super-suction cleaning machine. And if Jonah weren't already in bed, I might just have to vacuum the entire house tonight, just to rid myself of the disgusting filth left behind by other (inferior, clearly) vacuum cleaners. 

Hooray for Herman! And I'll let you know how it goes with Elouise. She's a mop with a cord, so that's got to be a good sign, right?

On another, much less ridiculous note, make sure you don't miss the post below this one about the "Jonah's Cure" painting. It's way more important (and not nearly as filthy) as this one.