Housework Can Be Fun!

Housework Is Fun?????

How many of you ENJOY! housework? I know there are some out there who really relish scrubbing the toilet, vacuuming the rugs, washing the floor – and whew, even dusting! 

 I am not one of them. Oh, yes, I do enjoy the clean house I have after the day of scrubbing, bending, pushing, lifting, etc. But it is so short lived!!!! No sooner does a week pass, and it has to be done all over again. What’s up with that? But there you have it – housework is never ending.  So, to my way of thinking – if you can’t make it go away (at least not for very long before the dust bunnies start attacking) – then have fun with it.   One way I have helped my clients to have fun is to use their imagination. One client decided that she wanted to be the “Cleaning Fairy.” In order to personify her image, she donned wings and a wand. She took a photo of herself and titled it “The Cleaning Fairy.” Her small daughter thought this was great fun and wanted to join in. She wore her smaller size set of wings and went about helping her Mom with housecleaning. The Cleaning Fairy changed my client’s entire outlook on cleaning.   Another way to make housework a little more tolerable is to separate the house into parts. I had another client that this worked very well for. She took her house and divided it into days. The living room was Monday, the kitchen was Tuesday, the bathroom was Wednesday, etc. In this way she did not feel she had the entire house to clean in one day. This way she broke it into parts so that it was easier to tackle.   

Still another client found a way to make housework more fun. She used her Asian culture to separate the house into parts associated with the day of the week. This is what she sent me.

•  Sunday (sun) I need to clean up the mess from Saturday, so I vacuum and straighten up. I also plan meals for a coming week and go grocery shopping.
• Monday (moon) This is an open day. So, if I see something that bothers me I will do it. But, if I don't do anything extra, I don't have to feel guilty.
• Tuesday (fire) Since it's fire day, I scrub down the kitchen.
• Wednesday (water) I clean the bathrooms and wash clothes.
• Thursday (wood) On wood day I sweep, vacuum and dust and polish the furniture.
• Friday (metal, gold, money) This is a good day to take care of bills, balancing the check book, and keeping track of the budget – anything money related.
• Saturday (dirt, earth) This is the day I work in the garden, take care of the indoor plants. 

 The point is, housework does not need to be a chore. It can be made into something fun. Put on music and dance as you vacuum. Sing, listen to your MP3 player or CD, talk to your sister that you haven’t talked to in 3 weeks. The only thing that is standing between you and a clean house is your dread of cleaning and lack of imagination.   

A site that can really help with keeping yourself organized is Flylady.com. 

 

Just think how happy you will be when you house is organized and clean!