Well, its full on Mud Season here. I don't know if other parts of the country experience this blissful time of year when the snow is melting but the ground is still frozen so the runoff gathers in every possible nook and cranny turning all unpaved ground into a big dirty sponge, but that is what its like here right now. The moisture is great and I'll take this over howling wind and subzero temps any day (except maybe Christmas).
What Mud Season means for us is a lot of extra dirt tracked into the house and a ton of wet filthy laundry. That said, I decided yesterday that I didn't want to spend my whole day off while the kids were at school cleaning house. So I figured I'd try this whole speed cleaning thing that's all the rage on Pinterest. So, I set a timer, started in one room and worked my way through the house.
I started in the kitchen. Its the entry point of the house and gets the dirtiest on a daily basis. I set the timer for 15 minutes, filled a sink full of hot soapy water and got started. Here's the thing. The dishwasher was full of clean dishes from the night before. So, before I could start cleaning up the morning's mess, I had to put away all the clean dishes. I also had just come in from the chicken coop and had a dozen fresh eggs to clean and box up. By some miracle, I managed to get almost completely done when the timer went off. Except the floor. I was really praying nobody stopped by unannounced at this point because it looked like I could plant crops on that floor.
Next was the dining room. Easy peasy. In fact, I had extra time in there. I went through all the rooms except the bathroom, because it needs a good deep clean. Shoes and clothes aren't the only filthy things around here during the aforementioned Mud Season. And we have hard water. Great combo.
So, anyway, after going through all the rooms but one, allowing 15 minutes each for folding and putting and putting away laundry, I was sweaty and my house did look pretty good.
I enjoyed it for approximately 20 minutes until it was time to leave and pick up kids from school.
Now, a mere 24 hours later...
There are 3 loads of laundry to be folded, wet rugs in the bathroom, unmade beds, dirt tracks in the kitchen and more dirty dishes.
And I ask myself, what's the point?
The point is that I can't stand a mess. And I like to have a plan. This speed cleaning thing probably works better when you're not trying to catch up on a whole weekend's worth of housework and laundry. It probably also works better when there's not 30 pounds of dried caked mud on things. Overall, it was a success and I'd do it again. It was nice to focus on one room at a time and not run around like I have the worst case of ADD in the world.
I could probably beat the pants off of my cleaning time today. But, I'm not going through the whole house again. I really need to get at the bathroom before people start to think they've mistakenly landed in a sketchy gas station. Besides, the rest of the house is still much cleaner than it was yesterday. Good enough for now.
If you'd like to read more about "the plan" here's a link to the blog I got it from. She has lots of other great ideas by the way. Living Well Spending Less Blog
