A couple of weeks ago I wrote a bit about how meal planning helps foster peace in our home (and in my mind, honestly!). Around that time a good friend of mine had asked me how I manage life, in terms of managing housework, and I wrote her a lengthy email, but I think I can condense it into five basic tips.
But first I must say: I don't keep a "perfect" house. Although I love looking at photos of, say, Sophie Paterson interiors, that will never be my home for many reasons. I love living in a house that is unique and full of books, creative activities, projects, kitchen creations, etc. Do you know what? Books, creative activities, projects, and kitchen creations all edge us into messiness! So we have to develop habits to keep those messes under control, but I'm also not usually going to fret about a little mess here or there. Visual clutter drives me crazy, so I do try to keep it to a minimum. I consider my house "clean enough"--we function very well, we are happy, and when unexpected guests drop in, I'm not dying inside at how cluttered or dirty my home is. It's home! And it's lovely.
At various times in the past, I have had a "cleaning schedule" to keep (like vacuuming on Wednesdays, cleaning out the fridge on Tuesdays, etc.) but I no longer do that. It's a great idea, though, if you feel it will help you keep the house clean!
If you are like me and have secret clean freak tendencies that are in opposition with a comfortable family life, remember Proverbs 14:4: "Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox." We only have our "oxen" (children) for a limited amount of time in life. Before you know it, they'll be grown. Children and husbands are a blessing. I'd much rather have a home that needs constant tending and tidying than one that is perfectly clean but empty!
And one more caveat: if you have 3 kids under the age of 5 (actually, any kids under the age of 5!!), a newborn, a chronic health issue, a husband with cancer, or other extenuating, stressful circumstances, give yourself grace. Do the best you can do every day, keep things as simple as possible (this may deserve its own post) and make peace with the fact that you have done your job to the best of your ability. Loving your family is always more important than mopping the floors.
So here are my five tips for managing housework (with an optional bonus tip at the end):
1. Embrace routines. Routines bring order and predictability. The more habitual a task is, the easier it is to accomplish. (I talked a little about this here.) A simple morning routine helps pave the way for me: making the bed, quickly cleaning the bathroom, tidying up the basement bathroom (this means cleaning out the litter box), pet chores, tossing in a load of laundry if necessary, and cleaning the kitchen after breakfast. Sometimes I putter around tidying up too, if the house needs it. My evening routine is more streamlined, and mainly focused on cleaning the kitchen up completely every night, looking after the animals, and finishing up the laundry. Everyone's routines will be different, but establishing predictable routines is so helpful in managing housework.
2. Recruit children. I wrote about this in August, so I won't re-hash it all here, but I believe children are great helpers and can make maintaining a home much easier. My own children are champions at tidying. My daughter is a pro at pillow-plumping! They take care of pets and chickens, make their own beds, tidy and wipe down their bathroom, sometimes help in the kitchen, take out the trash, etc. I don't have a set chore schedule for them right now (other than the expectation of grooming and making beds in the morning). Instead, they help out where I ask, which works for us for now. But having a routine set of morning chores is a good idea. With encouragement and kindness, children can develop into really amazing helpers!
3. Chunk housekeeping tasks together. I do this a lot. It's very efficient! I used to try to space my housecleaning out over each day of the week, but as life has changed I've found that it's a bit easier for me to find a spare hour or two every few days to just clean whatever needs cleaning. This could be mopping, vacuuming, washing windows. I often clean out the fridge or freezer while I cook supper (I did this last night, in fact, and inventoried the things in our freezer, making little lists of meals we can make from food we already have over the coming weeks). While the soup simmers, I can take a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to my kitchen cabinets. When I feel like our dining area needs attention, I'll do a quick dust and change the tablecloth, maybe re-arrange plants. When we got our living room ready for the Christmas tree, I vacuumed the room thoroughly (we were moving furniture anyhow!) and did some dusting. Basically I try to look at the tasks that need to be done, and group like tasks together, to organize housework in a logical way that makes sense to my brain.
4. Simplify and tidy as much as possible. If you can stay on top of clutter, that's really most of the battle in housework. It's so much easier to run the vacuum, dust the surfaces, and wipe down the bathroom if there's not clutter everywhere to deal with first. Train yourself as much as you can to pick things up and put them away throughout the day. Reflexive tidying helps so much! (But don't become compulsive or rigid about it; clutter is sometimes a normal part of life.)
5. Remember the goal. What is your goal in housekeeping? Mine is to create a home that is comfortable, welcoming, orderly, cozy, and friendly; that serves as a place to develop our own unique, God-given interests and talents; and that is beautiful in its own way. My goal is not perfection. If I want to see perfection, I can google it, but I want to live in a place that is more relaxed and natural.
And finally, the bonus tip: If you are overwhelmed and have sufficient disposable income, hiring housekeeping help can be such a boon. I do not recommend this if your family lives paycheck-to-paycheck. But I *do* recommend it if you have sufficient room in the budget and if you're short on time. You don't need to use an expensive, professional cleaning service, either. I have two sweet previously-homeschooled girls who come to my house every other week and help me. Because they live with their parents and have few expenses, they charge much less than a franchised cleaning service would (yet still over double minimum wage!). They are very fast and efficient. I hired them almost two years ago during a particularly busy time, when I realized I needed to outsource something and couldn't outsource education, childcare, cooking, life management, budgeting, or gardening. But I could outsource a little bit of cleaning! (I struggled with this at first, but now I'm simply grateful to have their help.) During my husband's battle with cancer this year it has been especially helpful to have them coming every couple of weeks. They do not clean my whole house, but they do take care of some of the bigger jobs, and the children and I clean a lot and maintain things in between times. It's so helpful to me during this season of life.
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So those are my best tips on keeping house: embrace routines, recruit children (if you have some available! ;)), chunk tasks together, try to stay on top of clutter, and remember why you are doing this. And, if it works for your situation, consider outsourcing a few jobs.
And most of all, remember that where there are no oxen, the manger is clean. Embrace the oxen! They make life fruitful and happy and joyful, and are infinitely more important than a perfect home.
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