Recently, I mentioned one late night where I stayed up cleaning after my family had gone to bed. Inspired by that success, I was prompted to continue that habit – only not so late and before my hubby went to bed. 😉
I have to say that I’ve developed a habit of cleaning in the kitchen (mainly, but sometimes the living room and bathroom) in the evenings after my children are in bed, after a short time of unwinding and surfing the internet and while listening to a sermon on podcast or some worship music (or sometimes a missed tv episode) via our Mac on the kitchen counter.
And? I like it. It works.
It’s quiet, it’s peaceful (the Mac doesn’t count – what matters is that the KIDS are QUIET,) and I’m at my most productive. Most nights I stick to this and I can definitely tell a difference in my work load and ability to keep up with it the next day. When I miss a night or two, I can REALLY tell how much worse it is!
Each evening I’ll run the dishwasher, wash hand dishes that have collected, wipe down the sink, counters and stove, sweep etc. Sometimes I may mop or clean out the refrigerator, or some other larger, less frequent project. Each morning, I’m able to get started on breakfast without any hindrances.
Sure, you could wash a hand dish immediately as soon as it’s dirty, wipe the counters down frequently throughout the day, mop during naptime – and not have to spend an hour at the end of the day. With small children and homeschooling, that isn’t really practical for me right now. Not only that, I’ve coming to enjoy that time spent at the end of the day. Just me and God, a quiet house, and (when I’m done) a clean kitchen.
I don’t like the cleaning part – but I sure do like standing back and viewing the results when I’m done. A clean space makes me smile.
Definitely agree with you — don’t like the cleaning, but love the end result. And I’m a night owl, so I prefer to do stuff at night too. Unfortunately, I’m married to a morning person who prefers I go to bed early with him. A dilemma.
Visit Lisa @ put-it-on-the-list at http://put-it-on-the-list.blogspot.com and read: I’ve Been Meme-ing to Do This
I try to do the same thing each night… my dad and I were just talking today about how my granny (his mom) never went to bed with her kitchen dirty. he says that she use to say HER mother told her that “if nothing else, you should always clean your kitchen at night because you never know if something will happen and people will be in that kitchen”. makes sense, no? i never remember seeing my granny’s kitchen a mess…she never had a dishwasher either. I wish i would have learned some housekeeping skills from her as an adult… Read more »