Monday, 22 September 2008

• Housecleaning and the Rhythm of a Home

  I've been in my new place long enough to begin noticing the natural cleaning rhythm of this home. Every home has one. It begins surfacing within a week or two. A homemaker begins to notice how quickly furniture collects dust, how often the floors need to be mopped and so on.

  I thought living in the city would mean less housework but with 6 extra people (Son, DIL and 4 grandchildren) living in our home things get dirty much faster than it did when it was just Bapa and I. So, today I sat down and started making up housekeeping schedule for my daughter-in-love and I.

  My DIL and I have had quite a few talks about scheduling. She was raised in a home where they did their major housecleaning one day a week because her mother had a fulltime job. Scheduling seems very foreign to her. I remember the first time I left her a note she kind of raised her eyebrow.  Poor dear. I am trying to be gentle with her! She is such a good sport! 
  

  I wasn't always FOR scheduling. For years I cleaned my home according to my emotions. If I FELT like cleaning... I cleaned. If I didn't FEEL like cleaning then I didn't. The only thing that changed 'my schedule' was if I knew company was coming and then it was a mad dash to try and get things looking halfway clean. Cleaning by my emotions caused a lot of stress in my life and those in my family.

   My habits didn't change over night (and I still have a long way to go). I just worked on one area at a time.  Once that goal became a habit then I'd work on the next poor habit and so on. I read once to hook up a habit you're wanting to develop with one that was already developed. I remember making it my goal to not leave my bedroom until my bed was made and everything was straightened. Since I already spent time in the morning getting dressed I just hooked that new habit with an old one and practiced it until it became second nature.

  I have several TOOLS that really help me keep on track.

  1. Weekly Housekeeping Schedule: I post this on the fridge. I list what needs to be done WEEKLY . For instance, I do FLYLADY'S Houseblessing on Mondays, Wednesday is errand day, Friday is always yard day and wash the car day, etc.
  2. Planner: I list projects, appointments, honey-do's in this planner. I purchased it through an office supply store. It's called At-A-Glance. It has large spots for each day of the week to write so there is lots of room for long lists.  

  I was so undisciplined when I first started using Planners that it took quite a few years to develop a habit of continually using it for my daily checklist. I'm so glad the Lord helped me develop this habit because it's been a life saver more than once. I'll oftentimes take it to town on errand day. It helps me remember everything I need to do while I'm out.

  FLYLADY has also been another one of the great tools the Lord has brought my way to teach me how to keep my home in 'ministry' condition. My goal is not perfection but to have things neat enough that if company drops by I won't embarrass them or my family but can focus on ministering instead.

   

  So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
  1 Cor. 10:31 ESV
  
  
  

   

   

   

   

   

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