The Clean Machine

As most of you who know me can attest, I hate cleaning. Let's face it few of us actually enjoy it. The main problem with being a stay at home mum now is that I have to look at my messy house all day, every day.

So after a little while of not working I realised that I had to organise myself or I would go crazy. I did what any modern housewife would do in my situation and whipped out my smart phone and googled "how to clean" and "how to organise." Obviously I found a lot of websites on the subject and spent a little too much time drooling over beautifully organised and labelled cabinets that cost waaaaaay too much for a single income family. I tried a few different cleaning plans but realised that too much structure drives me just as crazy as chaos does! After a lot of trial and error I have learned these things:

• I don't have to do everything at once
• I need to cut myself some slack. I won't have time to enjoy my house if all I do is clean all day
• Take regular breaks
• It's okay to mow half the lawn one day and then the other half the next day, it's a big lawn!
• Even doing the smallest bit of housework is better than doing nothing at all
• If I feel like cleaning out an entire room or cupboard, that's okay too
• My crazy kids enjoy "helping" me clean, so just go with it
• My friends are awesome and listen to me whine about lack of motivation on the phone and encourage me to get off my butt
• It's okay if my house doesn't look magazine perfect, it looks like my family actually live here and enjoy it

Okay, so my methods aren't daily cleaning plans but they are working for me. How do you guys keep up with housework?

PS. After much research on the internet, if you are not sure how to clean something, the answer is probably "use white vinegar"