Calling it quits on Cleaning House!

What is it with every time my husband and I clean it never gets clean enough? There is always something I think I could make better, or a certain way I feel I need to organize it. Everyone knows that you always dust and scrub walls and shelves before sweeping, moping, or vacuuming the floor. Well, except my husband Shawn.

He thinks picking up everything off the floor and shoving them on the shelves is organized. That changing all the trash in house, keeping the dishes clean, and changing the litter box every now and then keeps a house clean, but I beg to differ.

Next thing I know he called it quits on cleaning house!

Now to show you exactly what happens on cleaning day I have written them down for you to read. There are eleven things I think need to get done before the house is fully clean!

1.) Take everything off of the shelves, inspect ceilings, dust shelves thoroughly and place objects back on the shelves in an organize fashion, and to me that means all the books need to be in order and no, a book number one cannot be placed after book ten of the Darren Shan series Cirque du Freak.

2.) All electronics must be moved and cleaned under before setting them back in place. Then they must be wiped down and all the wires reattached if they had to be removed in the first place. All surge protectors counts in this step. I refuse to let dust settle on them for too long. Also, all DVDs and computer games must be wiped and placed back in there proper place. Meaning just because you picked it off the floor and cleaned doesn't mean it stays on the floor.

3.) Couches must be moved around, vacuumed or swept under depending on the floor, then placed back and thoroughly wiped down as well. If there are any covers on the couches it is best to just throw them in to be washed.

4.) Now we are down to floor level and this is when i always go back up to the walls with a damp cloth, not soaked, damp. It is just to get that top layer of anything. Run the cloth over pictures, awards, and any other wall hangers.

5.) Now you can officially work on the floors. Can all the litter boxes, though they really should have been moved outside before the cleaning began, best not to have a cat running around sniffing all the chemicals. You can finally spray a floor cleaner and begin to vacuum or mop.

That was just the living room, and hallway at my house.

6.) Then the bathrooms. I always wipe the walls and counters restock things like paper towels and toilet paper, because I am the only one that does it I fear. Though I think it is funny when you hear that little voice calling your name from the bathroom out of desperation for a little help. I have been tempted to go for a walk, but I'm not that mean. Also, don't forget to replace the hand towel.

7.) Next I scrub the shower and the bathtub. I put my arm muscles to good use. Don't forget to get the bottom of the toilet and some place Shawn seems to not under exists, is that rim in the toilet bowl. He is too funny about forgetting that.

8.) Once all the hard work is out of the way work on the floor. Now, we have two bathrooms and a kitchen that we need to mop so I always do the kitchen last so the bathroom floor has time to dry while I'm working on other things. Bathrooms are very important apparently.

9.) Now day one I kicked Shawn out of the kitchen because nothing was ever right. The first thing I do is organize all the shelves and clean around things. Inspect the dishes, because sometimes Aki, my cat, will force her way into the cabinets and I need to clean hair out of a bowl. We're working on that with her. Don't forget to wipe the walls and to make Shawn feel important I have him working on the windows.

10.) Do whatever dishes need to be done, drain the sink and clean both sinks out, wipe the counter and the table, then looked to the floor. It’s time for another good mopping and a caution sign for all of those not aware that the floor is slippery. Not really, but I wish I did have a caution sign.

11.) The last rooms I work on are the bedrooms. Repeat steps 1-5, but subtract the litter boxes, electronics, and add making the bed and putting clothes away.

See that wasn't so hard! Okay, now that I have written it all down that really does seem a little extreme, but it gets the job done.

B. Franklin