2.5 Hours to a Clean Home with a Movie, Meditation, & Love!

Housework does not take forever; and today I found out that in less than three hours I was able to do the bulk of my Thursday cleaning schedule. 

This morning I put on the 1968 Dick Van Dyke musical ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ while doing housework; it’s a favorite feel-good movie of mine.

The movie runs 2hrs 25min, and when it was ending I was finishing up with my Thursday morning routine; it was perfect timing.

I didn’t rush, but moved at a good pace; I stopped when needed and had sips from my morning drink (a superfood powder drink mix I have every morning). 

This is what I got done in 2.5 hours today:

• Descaled tea kettle
• Washed morning dishes (by hand)
• Refilled Berkey water filter
• Emptied household wastebaskets (three)
• Pet the cats & put food/water out
• Made bed & refreshed blanket in dryer
• Vacuumed entire house (1,000 square feet)
• Refreshed bathmats & toilet toppers in dryer + lint rolled
• Deep-cleaned bathrooms (2 bathrooms: one full, one half)
• Mopped bathrooms & kitchen
• Changed towels in bathrooms & kitchen (+ dish cloth & sponge)
• Wiped down hand steamer, steam mop & vacuum

I know from experience that hourly housekeepers who have a schedule to keep can get more done than I did in the same amount of time, but I’m not competing with an hourly housekeeper at a job and the only thing on my schedule is taking care of my home.

• Since I’m in my home, I believe in taking my time within reason and being as comfortable as possible while doing housework; being comfortable and taking time actually helps me move faster than being uncomfortable and running against a clock in my head.

Since I have all week to clean my home, I manage my time throughout the week with my daily housework schedule by doing certain tasks each day; that way I'm not loaded down with too much housework at a time, nor am I burning myself out; I want time to relax in my clean home, not just clean all day, and my housework schedule affords me time for what I want.

• Another thing that has helped me with housework over the years along with my schedule is viewing it as a form of meditation, which means I don't rush like I'm out of control; I take time to focus on what I do with controlled thoughtful movements, so that I move smoothly between tasks and pay attention to the finer details so that little things aren’t overlooked. 

I also put love into what I do, and when I rush I don’t like it because it makes me feel as if I’m brushing over my special housework ingredient that only I can add as a housewife -- love!

Kim's Rude Awakenings: Cleaning a Messy Home with The Edwards Family

 

One of my favorite episodes, The Edwards Family! 

Kim's Rude Awakenings Series Outline: Queen of clean Kim Woodburn along with lifestyle expert Mike Chalut visit some of Canada's messiest families and help them bring order back into their homes.

Episode Outline: Kim and Mike visit the cluttered home of the Edwards who have a messy secret in their attic. Family includes mom Alexandra, dad Greg, and their three daughters Samantha, Shannon, and Evangeline, plus pets.

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When I get questions/comments/complaints about housework being hard work, I imagine some women are living in homes like the Edwards family that are out of control, which makes work harder than it has to be. 

The solution? A rude awakening to grow up and take control of the home like an adult who is in charge. 

In this episode Kim times the woman of the house as she unloads the dishwasher, because the woman thinks it takes her a half hour. 

By timing her Kim proves it only takes a few minutes when the task is tackled in a timely manner instead of dragging it out in agony.

Watching this episode is where I got the idea to pay attention to how long it takes me to do tasks because housework really doesn’t take forever, and procrastinating takes longer than doing.

Other helpful tips & demonstrations in this episode:

• When it comes to motivating kids to help around the house, assign specific tasks and keep them simple.
• Kim demonstrates making a bed with children.
• Mike demonstrates spraying smelly shoes with fabric spray.
• Recyclables go in separate bins based on recycling requirements (glass, metal, paper, plastic, etc.).
• Kim demonstrates and explains how to get kids involved with recycling.
• Having too much stuff can accidentally lead to treasured items getting thrown away.
• Focus on one task at a time.
• How to steam clean a microwave with lemon and water.
• Mike demonstrates using candles and plug-in fragrance to freshen the air when pets leave smells in a house.

Find links to all Season 1 episodes on my blog sidebar!

What About Childless Housewives? Life Lessons from a GenX Housewife

The majority of what I read about housewives has to do with mothers who are housewives, which I am not.

On social media, housewife groups are usually filled with moms, and there are also groups for moms in general; and I am not a mom.

So, what about the overlooked demographic of married women who stay home and don’t have kids? 

Do I not get to have a voice because I am the minority? 

Of course I have a voice, and so do numerous other women who are happy at home in a family of two. 

The challenge to me is that the majority of housewives are moms and tend to crowd out the minority of childless housewives.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t get to have a say in how I see my role as a housewife just because I’m different from the rest. Does it?

While some moms get annoyed that I write about being a housewife without kids, I too get annoyed when reading about housewives who have kids, because I can’t relate; and I’m in search of something that lets me know I’m not alone as a childless housewife.

That's why I think the minority of childless housewives are just as deserving to have a voice as the majority of housewives with children, and I question if it's needed more since it's not as common as being a mom.

For the women who point out I don’t have kids and can’t understand what it’s like to have children as a housewife, they’re not telling me anything I haven't heard before and don’t already know. 

What they don’t understand, though, is what it's like to live as a childless housewife always; not just under the age of 30, but over the age of 40 when some women my age are becoming grandmothers. 

What housewives with children also don't understand is that I don’t write for them. In a world where mothers are a target audience, they are not my target audience.

I write for myself (not for money) and to share my experiences with anyone who wants to read what I write.

I write in the hopes of reaching other housewives who take care of their husbands and homes sans children, so that they can find something to relate to instead of being overlooked.  

I also write to reach girls and women so that they know it's okay to be a childless housewife, whether it's a choice or because of medical reasons. 

I don't feel bad for not having kids; it's society and other people who try to make me feel bad for choosing a different path -- maybe because it's a path they didn't know was an option, because no one ever told them. 

Having kids is what is expected of women; it is the accepted practice and the status quo.

Having kids doesn't necessarily mean there is more love in a family just because there are more people; and not having kids in my family of two doesn't mean there is less love or no love in our family because of it.

That is why I put my voice out there as a childless housewife; because that is my life experience, because I don’t think I’m alone, because I'm part of an overlooked demographic, and because it's not the amount of people but the amount of love that makes a family. 

What do you like most about not having kids?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

Discipline Makes the Difference: Housework Secrets & Tips from a GenX Housewife

"I Don’t Need Motivation to do Housework. I Have Discipline."

My housework secret: I don’t wake up motivated to do housework. I wake up disciplined to do housework!

In fact, I go to bed knowing what needs to be done the next day, so that when I wake up I have my plan in place.

This is where my housework diary comes in handy so that I don’t have to remember everything, I just have to refer to my diary.

Even on days when I’m not at my best, I have disciplined myself to get a minimum amount of work done every day, and I can take care of what gets missed the following day.

I don’t waste time waiting for motivation (or caffeine) to kick in, and I don't procrastinate by scrolling social media feeds seeking out inspiration.

That only prolongs the work, because it takes away from time I can be doing housework.

I’d rather tackle housework with discipline and without rushing, and be done with it so I can relax in a clean home. 

Discipline is a muscle that has to be exercised every day; it is also a mindset that makes the physical work easier when my mind knows what needs to get done --- housework! 

How to become Disciplined about Housework and Make it a Habit:

1. Create a list of housework tasks to accomplish every day.

2. Do the tasks on the list every day. 

• If a day gets missed, then get back on it the next day. 
• The longer housework goes without getting done, the harder it is to start again; the fewer days that are missed, the easier it is to keep going.

3. Continue to do housework tasks every day for a month, then two months, and up to a year.

• During this time improve on the list by adding more tasks, adjusting frequency of tasks as needed, and getting faster at the tasks. 
• For example, here is the first month I started my housework diary in April of 2020 and here is my housework diary for the month of April 2021 a year later; in that time I added more tasks, adjusted frequency as needed, and got faster. If I can do it, others can do it too!

4. When the new year starts, pat yourself on the back for a year of accomplishing housework tasks, and keep going!

The more housework is done, the more it becomes a habit to the point that discipline and habit take over where motivation dies off. 

A year from now you will be glad you started today!

Have a housework question?

Leave it in a comment!