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Join me for February new housekeeping habit challenge

2K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  zakdat 
#1 ·
Hi household warriors,
I had a great time with the January Housekeeping Habit Challenge and I don't want to stop.
Please join me here to keep motivated and help fight clutter and mess. Figure out what is causing you the most stress in your household, and pick just one manageable chore that you'd like to do more frequently.
The rules are as follows:
1) the chore has to be doable/reasonable so that you set yourself up for success (no "I will polish all the bathroom tiles with a toothbrush daily" please),
2) come here and update frequently so that we can all share together in our quest for world domi... err... cleaner less stressful life.

The chore doesn't have to be done daily either, it's ok to have a every 2 days or similar schedules, just add the "day off" smiley, which brings me to the last rule. 3) gratuitous use of smilies is encouraged - we have so many funny smilies on MDC I never get to use.
orngbiggrin.gif


So without further ado here is my challenge. I have a 1 yo and 3 explosively shedding border collies. I also have muddy backyard and perpetually shedding pine trees all around. So every time anyone goes in and out of the house tree needles get in and dog hair gets on everything. My floors need help! And did I mentioned we have beige carpet that we can't replace just yet (I hate carpet!).
Recently I learned about and bought a new steam mop to help with the never ending battle floor dirt. My goal for february is to alternate in rotation vacuuming the carpets and steam cleaning the linoleum and tile. I will have 3 chores - vacuuming upstairs bedrooms, vacuuming downstairs, and mopping - this gives me a nice 3 day rotation.

My smiley list key

om.gif
task done (aaahh...)
bag.gif
I procrastinated
whistling.gif
I really wanted to by couldn't (see
bag.gif
)
moon.gif
I'm taking a well deserved day off.

And.... drum roll
drum.gif
, day 1!

inthet.gif
starting with a LAME - I'm in bed with a stomach flu (thank you daycare!) and have no energy whatsoever. I will start tomorrow (hopefully)
 
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#2 ·
Ill join but I warn you I will be here and gone a bunch. Im due this weekend :) My hubby will be doing the daily stuff so Im trying to keep it small and simple (he has to go back to work when the baby is 10 days old so he will be working, helping with our older two and helping around the house). Goals:

- keep updated with the laundry

- clean kitchen/dining room table at the end of the night

- general pick up, basically going to bed without the house looking like a disaster!

thumb.gif
Got it done (either I did, DH did or we did it together)

innocent.gif
Could have but didn't for some reason (generally exhausted or laziness)

dizzy.gif
Baby/girls kept me from it and it didn't get done

love.gif
Something extra got done

stork-boy.gif
Hospital, taking some time to heal/recover

Feb 2nd (Yesterday)
thumb.gif
love.gif


Feb 3rd (Today)
thumb.gif
love.gif
 
#3 ·
Thanks for starting a new month! It was a nice challenge for me to see if I could create a new habit or 2 last month. I think I did pretty well with my 2 tasks too. I think I missed 2-3 days of making sure the living room was picked up for my dh before he walked through the door. I still need to work on making sure the kitchen is picked up and the sink is empty and shiny before going to bed. I want to implement a rule that if I cook then I get help cleaning up, at least dh can clear the table after the kids take their dishes to the counter.

This months new habit is: Making the bed everyday and keeping the top of my dresser cleaned off.

I didn't use smilies last month to show when I accomplished something but I think I will this month for some fun!

joy.gif
I accomplished my goal!!!

irked.gif
Didn't accomplish my goal.

jumpers.gif
Accomplished an extra chore in that room!!

champagne.gif
Heres to a new month, new goals/habits and clean homes!!
 
#4 ·
1st day of the new goal for myself:
joy.gif
and my dresser top was already cleaned off since I did that yesterday. The room could be tidied up and I will probably get that done before my dh gets home or at least before bed.

joy.gif
I accomplished my goal!!!

irked.gif
Didn't accomplish my goal.

jumpers.gif
Accomplished an extra chore in that room!!
 
#5 ·
Deleting this post! My apologies, I wasn't reading so I wouldn't run out of child-free cleaning time, but I did anyway. While nursing her I did read and realized that this really probably wasn't the appropriate place to wage my battle on my house. I will start a different thread for that.
shy.gif
 
#6 ·
Yay, welcome to the challenge mamas. Glad to have you share in the fun.
I'm still lame - felt a little better yesterday and went to work but collapsed from exhaustion halfway through. so day 2
bag.gif

Day 3 my house got cleaned today (we broke down and started doing house cleaning twice a month after I got my new job) so I'm instead doing laundry. I'm going to give that a
om.gif
and a
moon.gif
(not that I deserve a day off but I got one anyways)
 
#7 ·
I'll join again. I did well at the beginning of January and only had 4
bag.gif
but then I got tired at night and didn't get the dishes done and then I just got lazy I think and let them sit for a few nights.
redface.gif
The worst room in my house is my kitchen. It's just so tiny that if everything doesn't have a place and is put away it gets really hard to be in there. I often have to take one thing out to get something else out. It's been decluttered as much as possible, it's just to small for what I need. When I move it will be easier to keep clean and organized. My next thing is laundry, so that's the habit I'll add this month. I have coin op laundry in the basement and don't mind washing and drying, it's the folding and putting away that I get lazy with. Right now I have a pile of clothes sitting on my dresser that needs to be put away. The top drawer is stuffed with clothes that never got folded or that was nice and neat and got messed up when I couldn't find something.

My new goals:

dishes.gif
done each night before bed and the stove and counter wiped.

wash.gif
done twice a week washed. dried and folded right after it comes upstairs!

Key:

thumb.gif
Got it ALL done
thumbsup.gif
Got both habits done ALL week
bag.gif
Didn't do the dishes or laundry
oops.gif
Got some of it done (maybe I left the pots to soak or only folded the clothes and didn't put them away)
 
#8 ·
I was able to accomplish my goal this morning! The bed was made and looked great. My kids thought it was great too b/c they all piled on with their blankets and we snuggled together! So nice!

For today:
joy.gif


I had a busy afternoon so nothing else got done. The kitchen was cleaned up before heading out of the house too.

joy.gif
I accomplished my goal!!!

irked.gif
Didn't accomplish my goal.

jumpers.gif
Accomplished an extra chore in that room!!
 
#9 ·
Updating for the last few days.. Baby was born on Friday and we came home today from the hospital. Im totally and absolutely exhausted but luckily the house is being taken care of for the most part. Im going to go lay down and nurse/sleep for the next few days to recover.

Feb 2nd (Yesterday)
thumb.gif
love.gif


Feb 3rd (Today)
thumb.gif
love.gif


Feb 4th
stork-boy.gif


Feb 5th
stork-boy.gif


Feb 6th
stork-boy.gif


thumb.gif
Got it done (either I did, DH did or we did it together)

innocent.gif
Could have but didn't for some reason (generally exhausted or laziness)

dizzy.gif
Baby/girls kept me from it and it didn't get done

love.gif
Something extra got done

stork-boy.gif
Hospital, taking some time to heal/recover
 
#10 ·
OK I didn't join in January, but just read through this thread and have decided this could really help me out, so I would like to join in too although it's nearly a week in.
orngbiggrin.gif


It has occurred to me that although I have been keeping up with the main cleaning, I am not going below the surface to the horribly congested cupboards/closets in this house. At the moment they are chock a block with stuff which I have been literally scared to move, lest it all fall on my head. To really make more progress I need to make a goal of:

make a daily habit of spending time decluttering part of a cupboard.

whistling.gif
Had good intentions but life got in the way for some reason, did maybe a little.

thumb.gif
Got a fair bit done

jumpers.gif
Got a STACK done

Sheepish.gif
Didn't even try today

Feb 6th:
thumb.gif
 
#11 ·
I did horribly this weekend! Tomorrow is a new day, right
wink1.gif


I wanted to share with you all that my counselor thought that me coming on here and making these goals/habits and sharing them with you was a great thing! I am seeing a counselor b/c I am needing some direction in my life as a mom and wife while caring for a home. She has been awesome and thinks this is great
thumb.gif


Day 3 & 4:

irked.gif


joy.gif
I accomplished my goal!!!

irked.gif
Didn't accomplish my goal.

jumpers.gif
Accomplished an extra chore in that room!!
 
#14 ·
Okimom congratulations on your baby boy!!! Enjoy nursing and resting and bonding and come back to us when you're ready!
joy.gif
joy.gif
joy.gif
joy.gif
joy.gif

Welcome little one!
love.gif


Welcome Clutterwarrior! I NEED to clean out my cupboards (especially in the kitchen). Maybe I'll make it my March challenge (although I've been trying to keep motivated with the 2011 in 2011 thread)

AFM
Day 4
bag.gif
- I totally procrastinated
Day 5
bag.gif
, well actually it was more
whistling.gif
DH came down with the stomach flu and DS had a weird day of not sleeping and becoming very tired and clingy
But...
Day 6
om.gif
I actually got 2 chores done, steamed the kitchen and vacuumed the downstairs. So I made up for slacking on Day 5
Day 7
om.gif
- vacuumed the bedroom tonight and now I have to work (big deadline tomorrow) BOOO

My smiley list key

om.gif
task done (aaahh...)
bag.gif
I procrastinated
whistling.gif
I really wanted to by couldn't (see
bag.gif
)
moon.gif
I'm taking a well deserved day off.
 
#16 ·
My update for my habit:

Day 6:

joy.gif
Nothing else special happened but I did get my kitchen floor swept and mopped!

Day 7:

irked.gif
Didn't make the bed. My kids had parents day out but I came home and made a meal for a family with a new baby so that took up my time and then the kids were home and we focused on cleaning the living room so it looked nice for daddy.

My smiley key:

joy.gif
I accomplished my goal!!!

irked.gif
Didn't accomplish my goal.

jumpers.gif
Accomplished an extra chore in that room!!
 
#17 ·
What steam mop did you buy? I think I have seen that on TV is it any good and worth the money?

Quote:
Originally Posted by marinak1977 View Post

Hi household warriors,
I had a great time with the January Housekeeping Habit Challenge and I don't want to stop.
Please join me here to keep motivated and help fight clutter and mess. Figure out what is causing you the most stress in your household, and pick just one manageable chore that you'd like to do more frequently.
The rules are as follows:
1) the chore has to be doable/reasonable so that you set yourself up for success (no "I will polish all the bathroom tiles with a toothbrush daily" please),
2) come here and update frequently so that we can all share together in our quest for world domi... err... cleaner less stressful life.

The chore doesn't have to be done daily either, it's ok to have a every 2 days or similar schedules, just add the "day off" smiley, which brings me to the last rule. 3) gratuitous use of smilies is encouraged - we have so many funny smilies on MDC I never get to use.
orngbiggrin.gif


So without further ado here is my challenge. I have a 1 yo and 3 explosively shedding border collies. I also have muddy backyard and perpetually shedding pine trees all around. So every time anyone goes in and out of the house tree needles get in and dog hair gets on everything. My floors need help! And did I mentioned we have beige carpet that we can't replace just yet (I hate carpet!).
Recently I learned about and bought a new steam mop to help with the never ending battle floor dirt. My goal for february is to alternate in rotation vacuuming the carpets and steam cleaning the linoleum and tile. I will have 3 chores - vacuuming upstairs bedrooms, vacuuming downstairs, and mopping - this gives me a nice 3 day rotation.

My smiley list key

om.gif
task done (aaahh...)
bag.gif
I procrastinated
whistling.gif
I really wanted to by couldn't (see
bag.gif
)
moon.gif
I'm taking a well deserved day off.

And.... drum roll
drum.gif
, day 1!

inthet.gif
starting with a LAME - I'm in bed with a stomach flu (thank you daycare!) and have no energy whatsoever. I will start tomorrow (hopefully)
 
#19 ·
Hi Ladies! I just found this thread and would like to join.

I am a SAHM to an 8 year old ds and a 1 year old dd.

My problem with housekeeping is mainly laziness.

My goal for this month is to clean for an hour each day. Just one hour. In that hour I can usually get the kitchen done, sweep the floors in the living area, tidy up dd's toys, make the bed, and do a load of laundry. (not in that order, lol)

I have some other mini goals, such as hanging up clothes right away instead of throwing them on the cedar chest in the bedroom, and deep cleaning most of the house once a week. Decluttering one area a day would be good, but I haven't kept that up as well as I've wanted to.

So, for now, I'd like to stick to my daily goal of an hour a day, and work up from there. It's funny, I challenged myself to do this about a week and half ago and have stuck to it so far! I came here to look for a thread, and am glad I found it.
smile.gif
 
#21 ·
I'm coming back to update - I've been not perfect but much better, getting something done many nights with a few
bag.gif
days. Then last week I was so tired I would fall asleep with DS and not get much done. I'm getting back in the saddle this week.
orngbiggrin.gif

The mop I have the envirosteam by eureka and I love it. It's really easy and fast to use and came highly recommended on Amazon. It can heat the steam to 220 degrees so it actually sanitizes and not just blows warm water over the floor.
Tonight I'm planning to vacuum downstairs. Hopefully it will happen.
 
#22 ·
Joining! My biggest challenge is the diningroom counter. It seems to be the perfect place to catch clutter - out of the way, nice long surface, perfect for papers, dishes, slippers, crafting supplies, books, and anything else that was left anywhere in the main living areas. The worst thing is that this counter is visible from the main entrance, so when ANYONE steps into the house they see the counter. Getting the counter under control would make me feel much better.

duh.gif
- it got away from me

clap.gif
- I conqured it for the day

Wow - three border collies. I can just imagine the fur. We have one german shepard X doberman, and she's the 'Pigpen' of dogs - where she walks, fur falls.
 
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