Housework and Me

[puppetmaker]

I hate cleaning but I love the results of cleaning. The catch-22 for me is that I don’t like other people cleaning for me because they put things in places that I don’t know and it can take me a long time to find something that I was going keep at hand. Also with all the craft stuff, it can be hard to tell what is junk and what is part of a project.

I read about people who clean their house pretty much every day and their homes are neat and organized to a pin. I look at magazines about Studios that are just lovely in their scope and cleanliness. I read the parent magazines about organizing with children in the house. I know most of the tricks in the book but I haven’t found that which will help my situation, which is a couple of collectors of stuff have careers that involve lots of stuff and they have kids who have stuff.

There is a lovely preschool TV show, which was one of Caroline’s favorites when she was a toddler, called Tiny Planets whose main characters, Bing and Bong, went from planet to planet exploring different concepts like colors and shapes. One of the planets they went to was the Planet of Stuff. Ariel commented upon seeing the episode, “That’s where we live, the planet of stuff.” And a lot of it is cool stuff we have collected over the years but it is still stuff.

Electronic books have helped us a lot. Having the books on an electronic platform is one less book that is physically going to come into the house. I am more reluctant about magazine subscriptions but am almost to the point where I am going to go there. But we still have the manuscripts and other materials that are needed for Peter to write the various projects. We still get comic books for various reasons. We still have paper coming in. We try to be good about getting out the paper we don’t need but we have a bunch of paper that we can’t get rid of by normal means (recycling it or tossing it out) because it has things that under the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) we promised to destroy rather than trash after we were done with it.

Then there is all my fabric, clay, tools, and other things that I use to make my art. I have cut way back on the fabric buying but there is a lot of stuff I have to be used. I now think carefully about what I am working with/on and if I have what I need already. If the answer is no, I try to buy just what I need for the project. Over the years I have gotten much better of estimating what I really need.

There are still things that need to be dusted and swept. Having cats doesn’t help since cat litter gets everywhere even after you think you have swept it all up. And then there is the flying fur problem.

So housework and I aren’t friends but we get along because we have to. I have learned over the years how to clean or create the illusion of clean so I feel better about the space around me.

So what clever tricks for cleaning or organizing would you like to share with me? I’m all ears.

I am grateful for things that are currently clean.

Comments

[millysdaughter.livejournal.com]

I like some of the Flylady ideas, but her "declutter" policies do not work for me. I need my stuff.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

That is, honestly, my problem with a lot of the organizational systems.

I need my stuff too. I worked hard for my stuff and it's my stuff doggonite.

Also the idea if you haven't looked at it in a year doesn't work for books or DVDS for me.

[millysdaughter.livejournal.com]

I have some projects planned for several years down the line. I need time to collect the stuff for doing these projects. I suppose if all you want to "create" is a paint-by-number kit from the local box-store-named-mart, you do not need to stockpile your supplies -- then her ideas would work.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Oh so YES!

I have a lot of a certain kind of fabric that I use for my pluzzie puppets (see icon) and it is not in wide spread distribution any more. I have a lot of it but I have also gone through a lot of it in puppet making.

[millysdaughter.livejournal.com]

And when you do find it in a store, you MUST grab it rightnow!
Even if you will not use it for three years.

[ecosopher.livejournal.com]

The fifteen minutes idea from Flylady was a good one for me. I had a plan to do my big cleaning once a week and then just clean the rest as it needed it but I find I rebel against such regimentation! Haha!

I'm trying to keep the kitchen table clean because that takes out a huge amount of stress... it means there's little for children to touch when they're at the table and that makes me more relaxed. I also figure that since I have three young children and will be adding a fourth before Christmas, it's OK if my house isn't spotless. At some point, it will be better :)

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

I have an insane landlady who makes surprises "visits" (read inspections) to my apartment with jam and cakes, and noses around.

It works for me, though I'm always tempted to lure her out to the balcony and push, hehe.

[trinalin.livejournal.com]

Can you shred the NDA stuff and then trash/recycle it? Or is that not destroyed enough?

You don't wanna see my place ATM...

[ghilledhu.livejournal.com]

How on earth does anyone clean their house every day?! I'm hard-pressed to do it every weekend! I suppose these are people who don't work two jobs.

Don't know if this will help, but here are a couple of things I do to keep my head above water:

*Make a "To Do" list, and cross off each task when you're done. This helps organize the work and keep it from becoming overwhelming - plus it's very satisfying to cross things off the list.

*Put on commercial TV. For large tasks this works very well to break them up - you can watch while the show or movie is on, then jump up and do bits of work during the commercials. This also helps keep me from feeling like I'm not having any fun on my weekends.

*Rotate large tasks that don't need to be done as frequently, rather than trying to do everything at once. So, one week will be "organize the office," the next will be "go through the piles of junk mail and sort/recycle," the next will be "tidy and vacuum room x that we don't really use."