More Cleaning

I'm still kicking and screaming.  I don't want to clean.  I don't want to sort through our stuff.  I don't like getting rid of my things.  I like the dust bunnies.  Well, okay, maybe not that.  But I don't want to do the work to get rid of them.  

I am so far behind the cleaning schedule.  If you have been following Simple Mom's cleaning plan, you are way ahead of me.  I'm still stuck back at the living room stage.  The plan isn't hard.  It's not like she has made cleaning up unrealistic, I just can't seem to keep up.  I often wish that I could call my sister-in-law to clean it for me.  I know I could get my other sister-in-law here and she would delve in whole heartily.  But I think that's is why my house stays in a state of clutter.  I don't do the work myself.  I always have someone else help or do it for me.  I do not appreciate the work that has been done.  So I am being determined (some may call it stubborn), and am going to do this myself.  The kids did a great job helping me de-clutter.  Of course, with nine of us in the house, it didn't stay that way long.  But it is WAY better than what it was.  There is just something about having a clean flat surface that apparently demands stuff to be deposited upon it.  Oh well.  I can have it picked up every evening now, so that's what matters.  And it is something I do every day now.  So there is a lesson learned.  

I started on the living room.  I just can't seem to finish it.  It has been sorted and put away.  Heath was wonderful and went through the bookcase and we now have a box full of books to give away.  And I cleaned the blinds.  But that's it.  I still have to brush down the ceiling, the fan, somehow move the TV and clean the dust dune that has grown back there, move out all the couches, vacuum everything and dust all the frames and pictures.  Ugh.  That is usually what I like to do.  But I keep finding myself finding all kinds of other things to do.  Life is revving up right now and getting ready for the busiest summer we have ever had.  I have GOT to get this done!  And there is so much more to do.  Maybe that is what's wrong.  I think I'm being defeated before I ever begin.  Well, today is a busy day.  Life keeps going on despite me trying to shut it out so I can clean.  But tomorrow, there is nothing.  My goal is to finish the living room, bathrooms, and most of the kitchen.  I have always been a minimalist when it comes to the bathroom, and the kitchen cabinets I am actually pretty OCD.  So I'm expecting to just go into those two rooms and deep clean.  

Then we get to start the dreaded kid's rooms.  I think Nikki has the best idea.  Move the kids into different rooms.  What a great way to make sure everything is sorted, gone through, and found a purpose and place.  I doubt Heath goes for that here, who wants to take apart two different sets of bunk beds and a large full bed of the girls.  Oh well.  I'm actually looking forward to the rooms.  I am so tired of the mess.  Things don't have places anymore.  There are so many broken toys, out grown toys, and stuff they just don't want or play with anymore.  And I've decided that no child needs 20 t-shirts.  So, the clothes are going to be pared down.  The toys will have to be important to keep, and I may like going to their rooms again!  But I'm ahead of myself.  That is next weeks chore.  I don't know when my room will get done.  It's the scariest room of all.  It looks like a storage unit.  I am trying to appeal to Heath's OCD personality and get him to split the tasks with me.  I know, I know.  I said I was going to do this myself so I would be appreciative.   I'll argue the whole two becomes one on this one.  I really don't want to tackle our room.  It's just too overwhelming for me.  I need to start small, and that's like tackling Mt. Everest on your first hiking trip.

My progress isn't impressive, but I will keep trying.  You eat an elephant one bite at a time.  And maybe by the end of all this, I'll have developed new habits and changed my lifestyle of messiness.