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01-10-2016, 09:42 PM | #1 |
Rose Trellis
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: home on the hill
Posts: 1,593
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I need some cleaning help...
...I never really learned to clean as a kid. When I lived on my own I did OK then I married and one dh and 5 kids later the house is exploding with the accumulated goods of 7 people, I don’t know how to tackle it and I don't know how to teach the kids to tackle it,
...I am very much a type 2. I have piles all over my kitchen where I need bare counter space so I have room to clean. Counters are my nemisis they collect stuff. ...I am sentimental. This came from so and so and it is hard to get rid of stuff.
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Wife to Dh since Sept. 2005 Mama to: dd1 - Sept. 2007 ds1 - June 2009 ds2 - April 2011 ds3 - October 2013 dd2 - November 2015 |
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01-10-2016, 10:25 PM | #2 |
Rose Garden
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: The Pacific South-West. You know, north of the Pacific North-West
Posts: 12,922
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
So, what have you tried?
For instance, have you tried building routines? Did it help? Have you looked at Flylady? Or decluttering like Marie Kondo? I mean, I think routines are the way to go, really, but you have to make sure that they're routines that work *for you*. Just using someone else's routine isn't really going to help, necessarily. |
01-11-2016, 12:06 AM | #3 |
Rose Garden
Why climb a mountain? Because it's there!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Selkirk Mountains
Posts: 52,860
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
There might be better books out there now but see if your library has, "Clutter Control: Your House on a Diet." The author gives a system for going through "stuff" and also addresses the emotional reasons for keeping things you don't need.
I don't really keep much, I love getting rid of things, but I still found the book helpful for times when I'm overwhelmed. One thing I do is that if something has sentimental value but no other purpose, I take a photo of it and then donate it. It's really worth it. "Stuff" generates so much stress. You will be so much happier when it's gone. |
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01-11-2016, 06:02 AM | #4 |
Moderator in Celebrations, Cloth Diapering & EC, Empty Arms, Prayer & Praise, and Swap n' Shop
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 27,024
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
Yes, decluttering is essential. Otherwise you spend your entire life cleaning but actually just moving the piles around from one place to another.
I've recently read "The Joy of Less" and also "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying up." Both were huge life changers for me. I highly recommend them.
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01-11-2016, 06:24 AM | #5 |
Rose Garden
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 5,922
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
If you cannot make yourself get rid of things, try at least boxing them and moving them to a garage, shed, etc. It does make it so you have to sort things out later, but sometimes giving yourself the distance of a box out of the house helps you be able to get rid of things in time.
I've begun keeping a big box for donation stuff so as I find stuff we don't need I can just toss it in. Those things won't make your whole cleaning life easy, but they help me a bit. |
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01-11-2016, 06:33 AM | #6 |
Rose Garden
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 26,473
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
Do you have a non-judgemental friend who IS good at it who can come and help you with a room at a time? Those kinds of people actually enjoy organizing and cleaning .I gather the key is taking piles and sorting - trash,give away or donate,keep.Then going back to the keep pile and gping thru again.Once you get decluttered can work on a basic cleaning system.What helps me that I learned from moms of very large families is to have the kids learn and takeover tasks they are especially good at or willing to do.Boys often like things like vacuuming and cleaning tub and showers and tile around them with long handled scrub brushes.You can have a sweeper or laundry helpers.Even very young kids can have very specific jobs like putting away clean silverware in drawer.Then if you have a chore time every day and put music on.
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01-11-2016, 02:51 PM | #7 | |
Rose Trellis
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: home on the hill
Posts: 1,593
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
...the other problem is toys. I have talked to my kids about letting stuff go but they just won't. I tried getting each of the kids their own toy boxes but some things just can't go in boxes, and I've tried assigning places to things but they won't stay there (or even try to put them there in the case of my dd1 and her bedroom of disaster) and with the new baby and the Christmas influx of toys I feel like I can't even walk across the floor sometimes and then this happens. We just don't have room for all the toys. But how can I teach my kids to clean if I don't know how?
---------- Post added at 02:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:46 PM ---------- Quote:
Decluttering is really hard for me. It might be useful later. I've gotten rid of a few things decluttering and then later regretted it and that has kinda scared me off further decluttering efforts.
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01-11-2016, 02:53 PM | #8 |
Rose Garden
Why climb a mountain? Because it's there!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Selkirk Mountains
Posts: 52,860
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
You may need to start with yourself and the adult things, then tackle the toys once you've started experiencing the freedom of having only what you actually use in your space.
With my kids, sometimes it's easy and other times I have to put my foot down. Anything broken goes. Anything that gets dumped out but not played (on a regular basis) with goes. They also know that if they refuse to pick up their toys and I have to do it, I get to choose where to put it-- that may be in a storage bin high up in the garage, it may be a donation bag. (I'm not referring to children who are too young to pick up and I do offer to help; I just refuse to be their maid.) |
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01-11-2016, 02:55 PM | #9 | |
Rose Trellis
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: home on the hill
Posts: 1,593
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
Quote:
I was working on tackling my kitchen and making headway before baby came but now that she's here it has exploded again and the counters are as bad as ever! If I keep up with the laundry, the nursing baby, the dishes, school stuff, the nursing baby (and you get the drift) that feels like a miracle...never mind the clutter. The problem being clutter males me grumpy and I need to deal with it... ...so I've ordered the books that are mentioned above, I need some inspiration. ...I threw out the stuffing from my old nursey pillow that died that was sitting on the counter
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Wife to Dh since Sept. 2005 Mama to: dd1 - Sept. 2007 ds1 - June 2009 ds2 - April 2011 ds3 - October 2013 dd2 - November 2015 Last edited by marigold; 01-11-2016 at 03:24 PM. |
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01-11-2016, 08:36 PM | #10 |
Rose Garden
My kid shoots laser beams from his hands
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,900
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
I highly recommend the house that cleans itself. It's about making your house for how you live instead of trying to change yourself (which rarely works) it's an easy read and there isn't an insistence on getting rid of everything you ever owned. It does call for some decluttering but it's not dramatic.
Last edited by Mother of Sons; 01-11-2016 at 08:46 PM. |
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01-11-2016, 08:42 PM | #11 | |
Rose Garden
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 5,922
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
Quote:
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01-11-2016, 08:45 PM | #12 |
Rose Garden
My kid shoots laser beams from his hands
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,900
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
Oh my goodness!! SOME DECLUTTERING! yikes!
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01-11-2016, 08:51 PM | #14 |
Rose Garden
Immerse your soul in love.
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Victoria, BC
Posts: 17,609
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
I really recommend Marie Kondo. I really like her because she helps declutter, but she GETS the personal attachment to things. She tells you how to systematically declutter. It's really helping me.
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01-11-2016, 10:12 PM | #15 | |
Rose Trellis
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: home on the hill
Posts: 1,593
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Re: I need some cleaning help...
Quote:
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Wife to Dh since Sept. 2005 Mama to: dd1 - Sept. 2007 ds1 - June 2009 ds2 - April 2011 ds3 - October 2013 dd2 - November 2015 |
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