Day Four--Organized Cleaning Supplies

Today challenges me. Still under the weather from a Christmas cold and playing catch-up from the holidays, I waffle back and forth among several potential tasks and try not to succumb to the temptation of just bagging the whole dang project. It's Tuesday, and already I'm seeing all the little things--stray socks, dirty dishes, toy cars, baskets full of Eden's many collections that "collect" anywhere but up in her room--creep in around the house, adding up to chaos and potential catastrophe. My schedule is in place. I know what I should be doing, but somehow I can't pull myself together. I can feel it in me--the desire to ignore it all, stick a frozen pizza in the oven, put my feet up on the couch and play angry birds for the next hour. Well, I'm not going to give in! I'm not going to let it all fall apart at this point, (although, now that I think about it, the frozen pizza idea is really not a bad one tonight.)

So, I picked something fairly simple to organize today, based on an inexpensive purchase I made at Target. Cheap towels and washcloths were made even cheaper by being clearanced at 50% off. I bought a set of 4 hand towels and 12 wash cloths for $3. They're not the kind of plush towels I like to use in the bathroom, but terry cloth makes great cleaning cloths as they soak up moisture really well. I put them in a basket with several microfiber cloths that I use for dusting and I now have a whole bunch of new "rags" ready for cleaning in the new year.

After I finished that, I figured I ought to get the whole job done, so I got out all my cleaners and made sure they were all full and in good condition. I make most of my own cleaners, so I also made sure they were labelled correctly and the bottles in working order. With children in the house, I prefer using cleaning products such as baking soda, white vinegar, and plain ol' dish soap, so the cleaners are pretty safe and chemical-free. My favorite all-purpose cleaner is warm water and 1-2 T. dish soap. (I also add 8-10 drops of an anti-bacterial essential oil, such as tea tree oil.) The dish soap is diluted enough, so that it doesn't foam up, but still has the wonderful degreasing powers it is meant to have. I use it every day on my counters, quick spills on the floor, smudges on the wall, and a quick spritz on dirty dishes makes them easier to scour before loading in the dishwasher.

I keep all of my weekly cleaning supplies in a caddy in my laundry room. I would LOVE to be at the point of keeping a small stash in every bathroom, but with young kids--one in particular who loves to spritz things--I'm not quite there. I have very limited space, so my caddy is small and I try to keep to using basic cleaners.

I also made sure my kids cleaning supplies were in order. A while ago, as I was researching better ways of getting my kids to do their jobs, I came across an idea that really made sense to me. One lady said that kids take more responsibility for their chores when they have their own set of tools. So I tried it. I went out and bought each of my kids a plastic bucket at the dollar store. We filled it with their own spray bottle (they get to make their own "potion" which they love,) a sponge, rubber gloves, a scrubby brush, and a rag. I was amazed at the immediate results. They actually enjoyed chore time after dinner. My son was busy spritzing away and wiping down the kitchen table. My daughter was busy spritzing away and wiping down the little bathroom (I had to touch it up a bit afterward, but, hey, it got done!) Afterwards, I gave them each a reward sticker and they got to decorate their bucket with it. Voila! Clean table and bathroom and about 15 minutes of relative peace.

So, cleaning supplies are organized and ready to go...(when I actually get around to cleaning something...ha ha ha.) It was relatively easy, but, hey, it had to be done. And hopefully by choosing a simple task, I've saved up a bit of energy to pick myself up off this chair and go get that pizza in the oven now. Here's to a more challenging task tomorrow...