Picking It Up
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Homemaking on Thursday, February 25, 2010 10:51 PM
In today’s podcast, I mentioned that I’m trying a suggestion from Lisa’s new book The Handbook for Catholic Moms: keeping my house fairly tidy during the day.
Bryan and I work together to make sure that our house is orderly before we go to bed every night, and I also attempt to have the place decently tidy when he gets home from work. But putting extra effort into keeping the house in order during the day often seemed pointless to me, because I was the only one who would benefit.
My sister lives with us, but she is very messy herself and doesn’t seem to mind squalor at all. My children are the ones who make the mess, but they’re oblivious to it once it is made, and will play happily for hours on a floor carpeted with toys. I myself am much happier in a orderly environment, but it felt like too much work to tidy and re-tidy all day long, just to have the kids make a mess again. Especially when my little guy started crawling and I suddenly had two mobile mess-makers on my hands, I was neglecting the house during the day. I figured: I still tidy it up at night! Why waste the effort?
I thought I was doing it so I’d have more time for other household tasks like laundry. Oddly, though, the untidier my house was, the more time I spent sitting on the floor staring at the wall while my kids played around me. It wasn’t conserving energy. It was just getting me down.
Then while reading Lisa’s book I came across this: “If you are employed full time within your own home, take pride in your work environment. Realizing that little ones may make housekeeping a challenge, living and working in a relatively clean home environment will help you ward off depression and frustration.” (page 91)
It was like a lightbulb went off! (A lightbulb in a lamp that, frankly, needed to be dusted.) Keeping my house orderly during the day isn’t a waste of energy or something I do only for myself. It’s an investment in my own happiness and productivity and, by extension, in my family’s happiness.
So about a week ago started what I’m calling the Tidy House Experiment. It’s not one of my official Lenten resolutions, but it coincided nicely with the other disciplines of Lent. I’m trying my best to keep my house tidy during the day. If I have three free minutes while the children are occupied, I use it to pick up toys off the floor instead of running downstairs to switch the laundry. When naptime comes around, I concentrate first on getting things back in order. Once the house is neat again, I can use the rest of the time to tackle any larger tasks that need doing.
(Sometimes, I’ll admit, the task that needs doing during naptime involves a book and a cup of tea.)
I’m only a week in, but my new experiment seems to be working! My tidy work environment energizes me, so I’m still managing to accomplish the same amount of stuff. Even better, being in a relatively orderly house all day makes me so happy that every day feels like a good day. My husband has remarked on how cheerful I am at the end of each day!
If you struggle with house tidiness during the day, and also (like me) with your morale and productivity, I invite you to join the Tidy House Experiment with me! You might be pleasantly surprised by the results.
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