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Are
You Choosing a Dirty House?
By: Jill Cooper
Sometimes, we create our own cleaning and organizing problems
when we refuse to change old habits and try something different.
Often our habits create stress and steal valuable time, without
really improving out lives. If we can identify and change these
obsolete habits, we can make life a lot more pleasant for
ourselves. Here are some examples from people I know of habits
that created more trouble than they solved. After you read
through them, think about the areas in your own life where you
feel overwhelmed. Would it help to change your thinking in that
area and change the way you do something?
A woman with four children under the age of six decides she
wants beige carpet throughout her house. She then spends the
next few years nagging her family to be careful. A portion of
every day is spent cleaning spots off the carpet. Then she
complains to a friend that her husband and children are slobs
because they make a mess of her carpet every day.
The reality is that her family is unusually careful when it
comes to making messes and if she had a twill type darker carpet
with a small pattern you wouldn’t be able to see any spots.
A friend of my daughter’s was complaining about how many loads
of wash she had to do every day for her small family. When my
daughter suggested that she have her family wear the same pair
of jeans a second time if they were clean, her friend became
angry at the very thought.
The reality is that if clothes still appear clean and don’t
smell, there is no harm in wearing them again. I have never
heard of anyone dying or getting some exotic disease from
wearing their jeans a second or third time or even for a week,
but I have known of children who have been needlessly mistreated
by grumpy, angry and overworked moms.
Do you insist that everyone get a clean towel every time he
takes a bath? Why? Assign each person a towel and have him use
it two or three times. When you get out of the bath, your body
has just been scrubbed down and cleaned (we hope!). You’re
getting less dirt and germs on that towel than you are on the
sheets that you have slept on for a week or more.
One interesting observation about people who are obsessive about
one use washing: It’s not really about the dirt. I have noticed
that women who insist on washing everything after one use often
allow their children to wear their winter coats and tennis shoes
until they are so grungy that you aren’t sure what color they
once were.
We knew a woman whose children would come in from their swimming
pool every day all summer long and drip pool water on her good
hardwood floors. Each time it happened (several times a day),
she would scold them and then mop up the floor. The bathroom
where the children changed out of their swim suits was against
an exterior wall right next to the back yard patio. The reality
was that for a small amount of money-- which this family could
easily afford, she could have put a door leading from the pool
to the tiled bathroom, but she refused to have it done because
she insisted that they learn not to walk inside while dripping.
In case you think I exclude my own habits, I too have had this
problem. I used to iron everything. With my first child, I even
ironed my baby’s little t-shirts and pajamas. When my second
baby came, he had very bad colic followed by pneumonia. (It took
many weeks and four pediatricians to find out what was wrong.) I
had walking pneumonia for three months, but I was still trying
to iron everything. There were days I would only get up long
enough to take care of the kids and then would collapse on the
floor because I didn’t have the strength to make it to bed.
Well, one day a little light bulb went off in my head-- Maybe I
should stop ironing (at least for this season in my life). Duh!
Don’t get me wrong-- If having beige or white carpet inspires
you to clean, puts a song in your hear and gives you warm
fuzzies then by all means choose the beige carpet. Carpet your
walls if it makes you feel that good. The same goes with the
laundry. If it fills your heart with pride to see your children
in freshly washed clothes, then let them change their clothes
every hour.
The easiest way to keep your sanity is to reduce the things you
do to the simplest process that gets the job done. If you want
to be especially picky about one thing and you don’t mind
spending the extra time, go ahead and do it. Just don’t neglect
maintaining your home by becoming obsessed with it and, most
importantly, do not blame your family for the extra work it
causes you. It is not fair to them for you to take your anger
out on them because you choose to do more work than necessary.
There is a verse in the Bible that says “Every wise woman builds
her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own
hands.” (Proverbs 14:1) Measure everything you say and do by
asking yourself this question: “Is it going to be for the good
of my family and build it up or is it just the way I want things
done even if it tears down my family?”
Here are some quick tips to start saving time and energy by
changing habits:
* If clothes are clean, hang them up and wear them again.
* Spot clean clothes - If they have just one dirty spot, take a
wash rag and wash it off. Then wear it again.
* Let each family member use one towel per week.
* When remodeling or replacing items, get things that will make
cleaning easier. Get carpet that will conceal dirt. Don’t put in
tile -- The grout is horrible to clean.
* Put down inexpensive throw rugs under tables if a vinyl floor
is not possible in the dining area.
* Allow the family to eat only at the table to avoid food messes
in the rest of the house.
* Make toddlers wear a bib or oversized t-shirt when eating.
* Serve only light colored drinks if you have light colored
carpet such as white grape juice, lemonade and of course water.
* Don’t overdo when buying clothes. A four week supply of
clothes isn’t necessary for every member of the family. Ten days
worth of clothing is plenty for most people. Unless you work
outside the home, five dresses for church, two pairs of jeans,
two pairs of dress pants and some blouses are more than enough.
* Buy clothes that don’t need to be taken to the dry cleaners.
* Don’t clean if it doesn’t need it. Who says you have to vacuum
everything every week? For a seldom used room like a guest room,
don’t waste time vacuuming it every week.
* Don’t dust until you see dust.
* If there is something that continually frustrates you, fix it.
If you can’t find you keys, hang them by the door. Put them
there as soon as you walk in and you will know right where they
are when you leave. If the door knob doesn’t work properly, fix
it. Sometimes we think that we are too busy to take care of
these things, but eventually the hassle of working around
something exceeds the time necessary to fix it. I once heard
someone refer to this as being “too busy driving to stop for
gas”.
Article Source: http://www.thewahmshack.com/articledirectory
About The Author:
Jill Cooper is the author of Dining On A Dime Cookbook. For more
free tips and recipes visit her web site at
www.LivingOnADime.com/. Jill raised 2 teenagers on $500 a month
after becoming disabled with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
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