31 Days to Clean...Day Three

You can find all previous "31 Days to Clean" posts here!

Today is my seventh day of working through the book 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way. It's really been a helpful book! Although I made a decision to focus on the Mary challenges, rather than both the Mary challenges and the Martha challenges. I have bigger fish to fry during this month off of school; namely, a couple of big household projects, as well as studying different ways of saving money on grocery shopping. So my focus really needs to be on those things right now.


One last thing about this book: I think this would be a great book to re-read every single month. At the very least, it would be a good way to stay motivated and stay focused on the goal of a clean and organized home. And if you're a person who needs (or prefers) to have someone else telling you what cleaning task you should be doing that day, this would be great for that. I already have cleaning routines written out for all various scenarios (daily, weekly, monthly, twice yearly, etc.), so I don't necessarily need the cleaning task assignments each day, but what I do need, and have been getting from this book, is motivation to work on better time management skills.


Ok, so here's what I have failed to post in the past week! I'll post each day separately.


Day Three


Today's Mary Challenge:


Ask your family what makes them feel the most loved when it comes for you caring for your home - ask them to be specific so that you can begin (or continue) to give life to your domain.


This question was met by blank stares. When I pushed my nephew to try to think of something (anything!), he gave me a classic answer: "When you tend to my every need." haha!


Although the asking of the question went nowhere fast, after putting some thought into it, I was able to come up with some ideas, based on my own observations. If your family can't answer this question, don't be discouraged! You probably know your family members well enough to at least take at least an educated guess. 


My own educated guesses: I can tell that my husband is happiest when he has clean clothes, his own food supply (he is something of a health fanatic and doesn't eat with the rest of us), and a clean cooking area. So if I were to answer this question for him, I would say that he feels most loved when his laundry has been kept up, the groceries have been purchased on a regular basis, the dishes are kept up, and the sink/stove area is uncluttered.


I can tell that my brother-in-law is happiest when the kids and I do things to make things easier or a little more relaxing for him. He feels a large amount of stress when he is running around trying to get ready in the mornings, or any time when he feels like his hands are full and/or feels crowded and/or feels like he's running late... whether it's him getting ready for work, or ready to go to bed. So if I were to answer this question for him, I would say that he feels most loved when the house is picked up, and his family is helping him to accomplish things that are stressful to him. For instance, making his lunch for him the night before, getting his lunch out in the morning and gathering the things that he needs to take to work that day, and making sure that there's no clutter, etc that would cause him unnecessary stress as he tries to get ready in time.


And as for the kids, I think it's pretty basic. They are most happy when we stay on a good cleaning schedule, because when we keep on a good schedule, it allows us to have free time. :) As opposed to falling into the trap that I so easily fall into... I start working on a big project. The house falls down around me. The kids and I then have to work for two days straight on cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, and everything else that has been neglected, and then we all start feeling like we haven't had any down time in months! So if I were to answer this question for them, I would say that they feel most loved when I am feeling good about the state of the house, and when we aren't having to run ourselves ragged trying to get caught back up.


Today's Martha Challenge - Kitchen:
Dust tops of refrigerator, cabinets, and shelves. Clean and shine the outsides of drawers and cabinets.