The Challenge Begins
Have you ever met someone that loved to clean house? I have too. Unfortunately for my family, I’m not one of them. Over the years, there have been many areas where my shortcomings have come to the light of day. One major area of need for improvement is in my housekeeping activities.
My house is overwhelmed with clutter. There is no surface that is safe. Not even the living room chairs are safe from being piled so full of stuff that you can not sit down without moving things. There are worse, I’m sure. They are just few and far between. Eventually, enough is enough.
That is where I find myself now. I have tried to do it on my own. I have even tried to recruit my boys into helping me. I dare not even think of asking my dear sweet husband. His method of cleaning it would be to back a dump truck to the back door and start throwing. Hmmm… Don’t think so. Yes, I have too much stuff, but I may need some of it at least.
So before my husband decides to take it on his own and use his vacation time to clear away the clutter, I am putting on my working clothes and issuing myself a challenge. A clean house in 30 days is my goal. You get to come along with me for the roller coaster ride.
The first thing I need is a plan. My plan is to get the house so clean and so organized that I can clean it in 30 minutes per day. Yes, you heard me right. 30 minutes is the time limit that I am selecting to attempt. Will I succeed? Who knows? I got to meet the 30 day challenge first. In order to meet that, I have to set myself smaller goals that I can see some measure of success to keep my motivation up.
This is a major undertaking for me. I do not allow anyone in my house. It is too messy. It is small and is currently holding enough stuff for at least three homes this size. With a square footage of 1280, you know that there can’t be much room for walking with that much extra clutter around. It has three bedrooms, two baths, living room, kitchen, and laundry room. When I try to take a look around to come up with a plan, I get too overwhelmed to even think about a plan.
As I tackle each room, I will post my plan of attack, my schedule, and my accomplishments as well as my failures. I am morbidly obese so don’t expect miracles. I have to take it slowly and build up as I go. If I see that I can not meet the thirty day challenge on my own, I may assign additional chores to my boys. They have fallen into my bad habits so they need a wake up call too. They are supposed to keep their rooms clean and do their bathroom. They don’t always do what they are told. They are teenagers after all. My ultimate goal would be to get their rooms clean and for them keep it up, but honestly, they should do that for themselves, right? Yeah, I’m dreaming big today!
So, don’t expect before and after pictures. Just expect honest truth and ideas of how to get a clean house in 30 days and how to keep it clean in 30 minutes a day. Are you ready to join me in a challenge?