Does your house look different on "company" days than it does on "regular" days? If so, you're not alone. I don't know how many times my kids would ask me why we were cleaning up - was company coming? And that would make me sad because I was teaching them that other people were more important than they were in terms of keeping the house clean.
I used to really hate those CFC days. I would get so anxious when I knew someone was going to be coming over. I would feel like they were going to see my house in a negative light and I would spend all my time running around frantically cleaning up because I was so worried I would be embarrassed about my house. I would not only set aside anything else I had going on, but I was force my family to do the same and yell at them if I felt they weren't doing it "right". It was really horrible and as much as I love to spend time with other people, I would really dread it when they wanted to come over to my house. I would usually try to plan events so we would go out or go to someone else's house instead and only have people over when it really couldn't be avoided. What a sad way to live.
Now that I've made some changes, I love to have company over. I usually still need to do a bit of tidying up, but it's not a big major day-long process like it used to be. I can usually spend from 5 to 15 minutes on each room instead of an hour or more. Also, I've learned to adjust my attitude. I don't feel like my self-worth is tied up so much in the state of my house. If someone drops by and catches me on a bad day and the house is a bit messy, I don't freak out.
And more importantly, I don't apologize. That always seems kind of insecure to me when someone gets all flustered and starts making excuses for why the house is messy. It is what it is, but I can't worry about what someone else is thinking or how they're going to react. That is up to them and me making a big deal over how the house looks is just going to make it worse.
I think it's nice when we can give our families the gift of a clean house. It's great to have that for your friends, but your family spends a lot more time there and if they can enjoy that CFC feeling on a regular basis, that's a good benefit for them. Being in a clean space is more peaceful and relaxing, and also leads your family to want to help you more and keep their own areas cleaner. I was reading this post the other day on Unclutterer where they've done all these studies where even a tiny bit of clutter breeds more clutter. So by providing your family with a clutter-free environment, you are helping them to develop good clutter habits that will serve them well later in life.
Flylady has a great saying - "Housework done incorrectly still blesses your family". I interpret this to mean that we don't have to be perfect, we just have to get off our little fannies and do our best for our families.
I used to really hate those CFC days. I would get so anxious when I knew someone was going to be coming over. I would feel like they were going to see my house in a negative light and I would spend all my time running around frantically cleaning up because I was so worried I would be embarrassed about my house. I would not only set aside anything else I had going on, but I was force my family to do the same and yell at them if I felt they weren't doing it "right". It was really horrible and as much as I love to spend time with other people, I would really dread it when they wanted to come over to my house. I would usually try to plan events so we would go out or go to someone else's house instead and only have people over when it really couldn't be avoided. What a sad way to live.
Now that I've made some changes, I love to have company over. I usually still need to do a bit of tidying up, but it's not a big major day-long process like it used to be. I can usually spend from 5 to 15 minutes on each room instead of an hour or more. Also, I've learned to adjust my attitude. I don't feel like my self-worth is tied up so much in the state of my house. If someone drops by and catches me on a bad day and the house is a bit messy, I don't freak out.
And more importantly, I don't apologize. That always seems kind of insecure to me when someone gets all flustered and starts making excuses for why the house is messy. It is what it is, but I can't worry about what someone else is thinking or how they're going to react. That is up to them and me making a big deal over how the house looks is just going to make it worse.
I think it's nice when we can give our families the gift of a clean house. It's great to have that for your friends, but your family spends a lot more time there and if they can enjoy that CFC feeling on a regular basis, that's a good benefit for them. Being in a clean space is more peaceful and relaxing, and also leads your family to want to help you more and keep their own areas cleaner. I was reading this post the other day on Unclutterer where they've done all these studies where even a tiny bit of clutter breeds more clutter. So by providing your family with a clutter-free environment, you are helping them to develop good clutter habits that will serve them well later in life.
Flylady has a great saying - "Housework done incorrectly still blesses your family". I interpret this to mean that we don't have to be perfect, we just have to get off our little fannies and do our best for our families.
1 comment:
I love organization. Probably because in my former-messy days I just did not have a clue as to how to keep a neat home. Company coming over was cause for panic.
You are right to begin with cleaning routines because you really do need to establish some specific habits from the beginning. As a person begins to get their home in order these habits will keep their home in order as they move from one room to another.
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