This past summer I was sitting around with a bunch of family and we were talking about house keeping-- I know that is weird, but we were all moms. I mentioned that I didn't go to bed until the kitchen was cleaned and the rest of the downstairs was picked up, swept, and vacuumed so I could wake up to a clean house. One person looked at me rather incredulously and with that "you are crazy" tone in her voice asked, "What is the point of having your house clean when everyone is sleeping?" I dumbly responded that I just like that 15 minutes in the morning of quiet in a clean house before dishes and food are brought out, toys are dumped and books and papers are taken off the shelves. However true the answer was, I have since realized there is another bigger more important reason-- Maintenance.
If we did not pick up the toys, books, papers, clean and wash and sweep the kitchen everyday our house would be unlivable within a few days. A family of 4 or 5 may be able to get away with only doing dishes every day and cleaning on Saturdays. That does not work for a family of 10. Just think of what your home looks like after your 2 or 3 children have played and then think of what it looks like after your 2 or3 children have played with their 5 friends. That is what our house looks like at about 3 o'clock everyday. So at 3 we clean the house and at 8 or 9, we clean the house again. When I go to bed, the living room is cleaned and vacuumed, the kitchen is clean, and the upstairs has been picked up. Since all of our stuff and all of our mess makers are tucked nicely away for the night, our little house can have a break. And we are keeping our mess under control.
Now it is true that I have had a not going to bed until the house is cleaned policy since Ruth was 5 months old. It really wasn't that necessary then. Still, I am grateful that I made that policy early in my marriage because it has made maintaining a home for 10 much easier.
I have one more disclaimer. When, Ruth was 5 months old, a mother of 8 children came to our relief society to talk to us about keeping a nice house. She mentioned that every night once the Temple was closed, the Temple got dusted, and vacuumed, and wiped down. I think that is where I got the idea to begin with, and I still think it was a good idea.
4 comments:
I hear you! Things are just different in a house full of children than they are in a house with just a few. We don't live on the coast but you would swear a hurricane hits our house every afternoon...LOL! Maintenance is essential.
*Sigh* that makes me tired. I think if I vacuumed my house every day I would cry. BUT I totally 100% see how it's worth it. Like most things about having a large family (I imagine) it's totally worth it, but exhausting sometimes.
I kinda do the same....the family and living rooms get picked up every night and the dishes are done as needed (really only every other night since we're not a very big family and David's rarely home for dinner....). I just have a hard time enjoying the time between my kids going to bed and me going to bed if the house is still a disaster zone! =)
well seeing as how I'm part of the family group, I imagine I was there for this conversation but I don't remember it. However...I also can totally see myself saying that. haha. Sorry if I did or if it made you feel bad. I don't remember.
that being said, I think that I do much MUCH better the next day when I have cleaned up our house before I go to bed. It's depressing waking up to a messy house. It makes my "to-do-list" much longer. SO I, too, have started cleaning up every night before bed. I don't always vacuum at night, but wipe the kitchen down, put all the toys away, straighten the bathroom, etc. Our small apt. makes it a fairly easy job. :o)
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