My grandmother had a system for cleaning her house. Every day, she dusted, swept, and vacuumed the entire house, and wiped down all the bathrooms. And for every day of the week, she had a particular room she deep-cleaned. Her house, as you might imagine, was spotless. I'm realizing that, although my mother taught me how to clean, she didn't teach me how to keep house. I mean, I know how to dust and vacuum, wash the dishes, launder and iron clothes, etc., but I don't know how to create a system to keep on top of it. How often should I be wiping down baseboards? Washing curtains? Cleaning the oven? What are the tasks I don't even know I should be doing? My mother's house, while not as antiseptic as her mother-in-law's, was always neat and clean. But I rarely saw it become that way, because my mother did her housekeeping while we were at school, so I never internalized how it happened. My mother, reacting against the housework she herself had done as a child, mostly kept us away from regular chores, although when she went back to work we were occasionally called upon to scrub a tub or wield a dustrag. I'm not sure she did us any favors. I've looked at sites like FlyLady, but while I also need to reduce my clutter, I can do that without coaching. (And besides, the gender politics of that site make me want to BITE PEOPLE.) What I need is a good overview of housekeeping and how to create a good routine. Any ideas?
No, but if any come to you please pass them on to me!
Posted by: dale | July 15, 2008 at 09:47 PM