Friday, July 16, 2010

Cleanliness is next to...

Kyle and I are clean people.  Well, okay--Kyle is an exceptionally clean person and his good habits have rubbed off on me, although I was a pretty clean person before we got married.  And our house has been pretty clean ever since, just not spotless.

We realized that having a baby/toddler in our little apartment will certainly double/triple the mess, and we were not okay with that!  THEREFORE we have taken steps to ensure the cleanliness of our home in the future.  Before, we were clean.  Now we are FREAKISHLY clean.  We have enacted a zero tolerance policy when it comes to our house and car.  Chester has been spotless on the inside for a good two months now (no Sonic cups and Taco Bell bags), and it makes us happy every time we get in the car.  Our apartment has been really clean since we started this when I got home from California, so a little over two weeks.  It makes us SO HAPPY.  No dishes in the sink, no mail on the counter, no random junk in the living room, no clothes strewn about our bedroom.  We figure that now, when our mess doubles with a baby around, it will be much easier to manage because of our starting point.

Now, when we "clean" the house, we get straight to the vacuuming/dusting/real stuff, not just moving crap around.  When people come over unexpectedly, it's no big deal, because we're ready for them.  Messes stress me out.  I love waking up and going to sleep in a clean house--it is so relaxing.  I figure this will last another three months, and then we'll have a baby and all bets are off.  That is also true for many, many things that I haven't yet thought of probably.

6 comments:

TheMoncurs said...

A. I love the new blog layout

B. It is SO MUCH EASIER to keep on top of the cleaning than to let it go and then try to catch up one a week or whenever. You are doing it the right way, my friend.

Karen said...

Enjoy it while it lasts!

Jules AF said...

I wish I were a naturally clean person.

Jennifer Ricks said...

Yes, I am a nerd, but my favorite thing about a freakishly clean house (which doesn't happen every day) is walking through it at night (trips to the bathroom/kitchen for a drink, etc.) and feeling so much peace. Aahhh. I think it's something about nighttime shadows NOT being able to multiply on clutter that isn't there.

Unknown said...

From what we've experienced so far, babies don't create too much mess, they just reduce our desire to keep up with messes. It's true that babies will pull stuff out of place or move their toys all over the room, but those are simple messes to handle if you have an instinctive place for everything. So the real key is to have the habit firmly in place. When were messy, the baby messes are a pain, when we are tidy, baby messes are easy. At least that's my experience 10 months in.

Katy said...

I can't imagine Chester without Sonic cups and Taco Bell bags! Does he get lonely at night?