My Attempts at Deslobification

Do you remember when I wrote about the housework schedule that I created for Joe and I?

It was ambitious.

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It was unrealistic.

While it is true that all those things should be done, there is not enough time in the day for us to each work, take care of our children, bathe, eat, and do all of that cleaning.

If we had a housekeeper or different priorities, maybe we could make it work.

Maybe not.

For a couple of months now, Joe and I have been purging the excess crap from our house and our lives. It's a daily struggle, and I don't know how to end the cycle.

We create clutter every day. No matter how much cleaning I do through the course of the day, my living room is still a wreck. My dining room floor is covered with gunk. The kitchen counter is covered with dishes (at least they're clean!), serving tools, small appliances, and cutting boards. My bathroom counter is a little better than this, but not much.

I don't know how to get rid of it.

I've been trying to use the Motivated Moms planner to tread water with the cleaning. It is really simple, and it gives me a few things to do every day. Most of the time, I can handle that.

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But the problem I have with the Motivated Moms planner is the constant state of clutter. I can't mop the kitchen on a Thursday because there's too much stuff to clear off of it first. To vacuum the living room, I'd have to spend an hour picking it up first.

It's not that I don't pick up and put things away. I do! I spend at least an hour every day picking up toys and books and putting them away.

I often think I have no hope of ever living in a clean, tidy house.

Just as I was beginning to believe that my cluttered, oppressive mess would plague me for the rest of my life, my friend Dana released an e-book called 28 Days to Hope for Your Home. She is the author of the popular blog A Slob Comes Clean, and she is an inspiration to me.

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I began to read. On page 10, I read something that knocked me off the couch. Well, not really, but almost.

Just so you know, this e-book isn't a method. Methods don't clean your house. You have to clean your house. This is simply a broken-down-to-the-very-basics-that-normal-people-seem-to-know-but-somehow-people-like-us-have-never-grasped instruction/encouragement book. This book is meant to guide you through the basic things that need to be done daily in your home. The things that will give you hope that real change is possible.

That! That is exactly how I feel about keeping a clean house. Other people seem to just know how to do it, and I have never understood how to do it.

I may not have fallen off the couch, but I did get teary-eyed.

I read on. By page 14, I knew that Dana was speaking directly to me, even though she didn't know it.

Here's something normal people wouldn't understand, but I'm giving you permission to spend an hour or so at [sweeping the kitchen floor]. The reality for a slob is that sweeping . . . isn't just sweeping. It's picking up napkins that got knocked off the table (last month) and the newspapers from (the past few) Sunday(s). It's putting away last week's groceries and throwing away the bags that they were still sitting in. It's gathering up the small and not-so-small toys and knocked-off-the-fridge alphabet magnets.

Didn't I just say that above? {I wrote that above before I ever read Dana's book. How much of a coincidence is that?!?}

I was starting to hyperventilate by page 23. Each day, there is more work to do!

You are probably reading with mouth agape, staring at your computer screen in disbelief that I could even think that. Of course there's more work to do. But really, that was an astounding realization for me.

I want Dana's book to give me hope for my house.

I want to host play dates.

I want to invite my mom friends to come over and have a cup of tea or a lunch.

I want to have a home I'm not ashamed of.

I want to have a home that doesn't make me feel like I'm drowning every time I look around.

I'm going to do 28 Days to Hope for Your Home (on sale for $4 through the end of February) and follow it up with my Motivated Moms planner. I'll let you know how it goes.

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