Monday, June 22, 2009

Some people I know say weird things like, "I love cleaning." Well, come have a grand time at my house then. I don't really mind it, and I like things to be clean, but I can think of lots of other things I'd rather do. Cleaning is just something to "get done" so I can get on to other things. (And not trip over stuff). But some days when it seems there is just too much to be done, I have to find motivation somehow. It probably stems from memories of my siblings and I "cleaning like a race car" as we listened to "We Built this City on Rock and Roll." I'm pretty sure my older sister came up with that one. And I still use a method my mom used to use all the time to put all 6 of us to work: make a list of all the jobs that need to be done, fold them up and put them in a bowl, draw a new job out of the bowl when you finish one. Only I'm usually the only one in on the "game" at our house right now. So now if I cheat and put "bathroom" back in the bowl for someone else, it doesn't work so good.
My favorite lately is the "5-minutes-per-room" method. It's a race against the timer to get the room done in 5 minutes, then when the timer beeps I go on to the next room. Some days that might mean I just get everything picked up, other times I can wipe down, dust, etc. Olivia will help with this one - she just changes it to "45 minutes of redecorating her room" and about 30 seconds of cleaning. But it makes the work seem more manageable when I have a time limit and won't have to be at it all day. Doesn't that sound exciting? Just makes you want to go clean.
And I used to make fun of my sister all the time for rolling a dice to see what meal she was going to make.
Does anyone else do anything this awesome?

6 comments:

Cailean said...

I love your new blog background! I live by the "10 minute rule" meaning 10 minutes of something is do-able and that goes for cleaning or scripture study etc. It works well when life is at its peak of crazy. But I LOVE your five minute rule even more!

Belkycita said...

Wow! I love your idea!!!
although I think I love cleaning so much because it is a stress reliever for me.
I do like the timer thing, I think I'll try that with the girls.
I don't do anything that cool, I actually don't do anything really cool:-(

Mindy said...

Sure beats staring at the mess and getting stressed like I do. Good idea.

Larissa said...

I was just joking about it being so awesome, if you didn't know. (:

Sara said...

You and I are on the same page. I like things to be clean, but I don't enjoy the process. I have a limit to how much I'll clean in each room. I have a daily list, and when the time is up in each room, I just leave it...DONE! Than at night, if I have any energy left....I'll do a five minute frenzy (as the good Fly Lady calls them). At least then the toys are ready for demolition in the morning ;)

Michelle Price said...

I knew it! No wonder I got stuck with the bathroom all the time, the rest of you were cheating.
I like your 5 minute idea. Lately I feel more like spending 0 minutes cleaning, but 5 might be better.
Something about "We built this city" just helps us clean faster. Maybe I can get that cd for you for christmas or something.