It has been a process for me to enjoy doing household chores. From cleaning, laundry, organizing and beyond, I haven’t always been thrilled with doing chores around the house...until I decided to change my perspective and view these duties as something I would choose to be thankful for.
As a stay at home mom, my main job and attention is of course to my daughter, but my other full-time job is keeping the household a functioning machine. It takes lots of effort, organization and the drive to keep a home clean and tidy. It wasn’t until I decided to view my household responsibilities as a privilege and not a drag that I discovered some simple secrets to household happiness.
Secret #1: Have Cleaning Supplies In Each Bathroom
Having cleaning supplies in each bathroom has been a real game changer for my cleaning routine. I understand that for some this may seem like overkill, but for me, it takes the headache and effort out of having to transport the bucket of supplies from each bathroom (call me lazy, but I would recommend this if you have multiple full baths in your home!).
We have three full bathrooms in our house…the master, one downstairs and one upstairs, so having cleaning supplies for each bathroom just seemed to make sense. I clean each bathroom once a week, but on different days. The more consistently you clean your bathrooms the less gross they get, and the faster the cleaning process goes. I find a lot of pride in having a clean home and have decided to view scrubbing toilets and Windexing the mirrors as something to be thankful for.
God has given me so many things to be thankful for, and cleaning the house he has blessed us with is not something I will overlook. Knowing that I am creating a clean space for my family and friends to enjoy brings me happiness and allows me to change my poor attitude into gratitude. Below is a picture of my cleaning supplies for each bathroom and my cleaning routine.
1. I start with toilet bowl cleaner in the toilet
2. While that settles, I use the Softscrub and clean the sink and faucet
3. Next, I Windex the mirrors
4. Dust the light fixtures and the grooves around the bottom of the toilet
4. Next, I scrub the bathtub with Softscrub
5. My final step is the toilet. Scrub the bowl and wipe down the rest of the toilet with Clorox wipes.
**This whole process literally takes me 10 minutes!
Secret #2: Make The Bed Every Day
Who actually makes their bed every day!? We do! But it hasn’t always been this way. I thought it was so stupid to make your bed knowing that it would just get messed up again at the end of the day.
But guess what?
I had to choose to change my attitude about this as well, and view it as my first accomplishment of the day…and now I LOVE crawling into my nicely made bed at the end of the day. If you’re anything like me and think that making your bed is a waste of time, I urge you to do it for a week.
Every morning when you get out of bed, make it right then and there! Not only will you feel accomplished, but it will set you up for success the rest of your day!
Secret #3: Clean Up The Kitchen Before You Go To Bed
Maybe you already clean your kitchen before you go to bed, and if you do, WAY TO GO! Not only does the smell of dinner the next morning drive me nuts, but having dirty dishes to welcome me in the morning is the last thing I want with my morning cup o’ jo.
Again, this takes a lot of gusto, effort, and the right attitude to want to clean the kitchen after working all day long, but I promise it is worth it. You are setting yourself up for success for tomorrow and ending your day with pride of accomplishing another task.
Much like with cleaning the bathrooms, cleaning my kitchen has become an act of gratitude and thankfulness. Call me crazy but if you choose to view loading the dishwasher and wiping the counters as a gift and not an annoyance, it will bleed into other areas of your life.
Just saying!
Secret #4: Do One Load Of Laundry A Day
Laundry used to be my greatest fight. I would start the load but never follow through with completing it. The only explanation I have for this is laziness. My attitude about laundry changed when we finally got our own machines and honestly when I had a baby.
There have been seasons of our marriage when we didn’t have a washer or dryer, so we were stuck with taking trips to the laundromat. I vowed that once we had our own machines I would choose to be thankful that I get to stay in the comfort of my own home while I fold my delicates (haha). Once we had our daughter my attitude shifted as well.
When it was just Alex and I we could fend for ourselves, but nowadays I have a little kid who counts on me for clean clothes, bath towels, and bedding, so if I choose to be lazy about laundry I am doing a disservice to everyone in the family (including me and my yoga pants!)
Whatever the load of laundry may be, I do one load a day. Somedays its towels, and some days its only Millie’s clothes, honestly, it doesn’t really matter as long as I do one a day it elevates the exhaustion of “laundry day” and keeps the piles of clothes at bay! If you’re overwhelmed by the piles of clothes and are looking for a new way to win the laundry battle, I encourage you to try washing one load a day!
Household Happiness Is Possible
Maybe you’re reading this and think my recommendations are good in theory but not for you, that’s okay! Maybe you have a way of creating household happiness for your own family and its working for you, and if that’s the case more power to you mama, and please share your secrets!
But if you are anything like me and struggle with having a bad attitude toward household chores, I encourage you to try these simple secrets and more importantly examine your attitude.
Now that I am raising kiddos and I am responsible for creating hardworking and grateful people, it really causes me to look introspectively and make sure that the simple tasks of life are viewed as a privilege and completed with a thankful heart and not seen as a drag.
If you got something out of these tips, then go ahead and check out my other blog on some fast, cost-effective meal-times!
Abby is a Mom and an amazing team member of Baja Baby. She lives in Colorado with her husband Alex, their beautiful daughter Amelia Grace, baby boy Amos Lee and Maple the dog. You can find Abby on Instagram by clicking here.
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