How I Trick My Husband Into Thinking I Cleaned (when I didn't).
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My husband will call and tell me he's on the way home from work. I look around the house and it's a disaster. There are a few things I do around the house that make the house look clean even though I didn't get a chance to REALLY clean.
How I Trick My Husband Into Thinking I Cleaned
Change the table cloth. I keep a table cloth on our table so the kids won't damage the wood. It only takes one meal to get messy but I like to leave it on for a day or 2. Just changing this makes the entire area look clean. Now there are no crumbs or spaghetti stains from last night.
Make the bed. When your bed is made your room looks clean. You don't even have to do anything else. It will already look better.
Go through the mail. The mail at our house can pile up very fast. If I miss a day I feel like it is all over the house. Just going through it everyday will keep that clutter off the desk or counters.
Clean out the kitchen sink. It is so easy to let the dishes pile up when you are busy. I just throw everything in the dishwasher and wash the pots and pans. Once it's empty, rinse out the bottom and run the disposal.
Remove junk from the counter. It takes about 2 minutes to do this at my house. There always seems to be sunglasses, hats, pencils, homework, and snacks laying all over. Getting that put away does not take long and makes a HUGE difference. Below is a picture of my kitchen counter. It is right when you walk in from the garage and the first thing you see. It's so nice to have this area clutter free when you walk in.
Pick stuff off the living room floor. Just getting the little toys off the floor can make the living room look clean. I keep a bag on my stair that I put everything that needs to go up. That way the stairs are not cluttered either and I don't have to keep running up and down. I clean out the bag every couple of days.
Bonus- If I have time I run the vacuum in the middle of the floor. (This is the vacuum I have.) Seeing the lines from the vacuum cleaner make you think CLEAN!
I love this quote!
Great tips! I am fascinated at how cleaning off my counters gives the illusion that the whole kitchen and dining room are clean!
The sink being clean makes the biggest difference in my kitchen. I love your ideas! Thanks for linking up to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party. I have pinned your post to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Board.
I guess my only question about your post is what is your definition of clean? Are you talking full on dust, sweep, mop, vacuum, laundry and dishes, no speck of dust? Because exactly what you explained is how I clean all the time. Sure I will do deep cleaning now and then, but this is my day to day cleaning.
Yes, to me cleaning is mopping the floor, disinfecting the counters, scrubbing the toilets and bathtubs, dusting and wiping finger prints off the glass doors, all that fun stuff. Sometimes my house needs a good cleaning but what I listed in the post are things I do that take about 10 minutes, but make the house look good without having to do major stuff.
That's hilarious. I too do this. Also, I took a wet wipe (Clorox, one) and wipe the counter. My kitchen is done.
i do all my cleaning after I put the kids to bed because it's easier that way and my husband don't normally get home till 12am,
I just leave it for him to do. 😉
This is too funny. My friend sent this link to me because I always tell her how I do the same thing 5 mins before he gets home. The one trick that I love is the bag at the foot of the stairs. I do the same thing, but I took 3 bike baskets, put their names on them and attached them to our bannister. I make the kids clear them out everyday, (yeah right, every day that I remind them 18 times!). I hate cleaning with an absolute passion, thanks for more ideas to help me keep my ruse going! LOL
One of my favorites is having a landing space for items that will be leaving the room near the door of that room. So when I'm in a room or spot cleaning, I put all the departing items together there. That way I stay on task with whatever I'm doing in a room, then pick up all the departures as I leave.
Oh my God! I do the same. For bathrooms, I have Lydol wipes 😉 Although I give the house one clean once a week but this is good for daily. This feels "good cheating" 🙂
I too do so those things lol however at least once a week I really don't do anything! I am a stay at home mom but I'm lucky enough to have a hubby who is completely understanding (at least to my face he is lol). I think it's good for husband's to see what a huge mess a home can get with kids home and what kind of mess my schooler kids seem
Make within 10 minutes of being home. I do this so that he knows what kind of mess I take care of, in other words so he can appreciate my cleaning when I do it!!! Lol 😉
Let's face it though like I exile explain to him my job/cleaning is around the clock. We own our own business and he works very hard and I'm lucky enough to stay home with my children, but as a stay at home mom I clean all day from the time I get up to the time I go to bed. And from his mouth, he knows he'd hate to work doing the same thing EVERY single day 7 days a week, so he always insists that I skip a day or even two of cleaning because he knows how hard it is to keep a perfect looking home with 6 children. We stay at home mom's so work hard, and deserve a break every now and then!!!!
It seems like every time I take the time to really clean, it get's dirtier faster. As soon as I mop, someone spills a glass of milk!