So, have you looked at your calendar recently and freaked out? I have. How is it that Christmas comes faster every year? I'm still getting my feet under me as we roll out the new school year and my calendar tells me it's time to roll out the Christmas decor. How did it happen?
Whether I'm ready for it or not, Christmas is coming. My kids are quick to remind me that there are only 40 days left (!?!). I learned a long time ago that the secret to a peaceful, joy-filled Christmas was planning. If I plan things well, everything gets done without me becoming so exhausted. My attitude sets the atmosphere of our home, so it is vitally important that I be rested enough through the holidays that I don't become overwhelmed, frenzied or irritable (oh, I know that has never happened to you. But now you know why you hear your neighbors bicker during the holidays). With that in mind, I have been playing a little game of "catch-up" this week. I have been planning all the special meals that I will need to provide, scheduling my Christmas shopping days, beginning my Christmas gift lists, delegating the children's wish lists to them (complete with a deadline that falls just prior to my shopping days), and planning out the daily special activities that I will do with my kids during their holiday break (more on that in another post).
But what about our home? We have a system that keeps our home fairly clean and "company-ready" *most* of the time (just don't drop by in the middle of a school day, because we have school supplies scattered hither and yon. Our house looks like the school fairy had a crash landing on our kitchen table. But it's usually all tidy again by dinner time.) Sometimes life hits, though, and the house needs a "spring-cleaning" before we dare invite anyone inside.
If we are extra busy with the holiday festivities AND our house needs help, is it possible to handle both without exhausting ourselves and morphing into the Scrooge? Here is my 5 Week Emergency House Cleaning Plan to get the house spiffy and still manage to have some holiday fun time AND snooze time. If you start next week, your house will be gleaming and shiny just in time for Christmas.
Each week you have different Deep Cleaning Focus Areas. Just do your regular maintenance cleaning and add the focus areas for the week. When you work on the focus areas for the week, step back and look at the area as if you were a guest. Pay attention to detail. Clean light fixtures, baseboards, etc. for that area, as well as the obvious things. Get rid of unnecessary clutter in the area. If you maintain what you've done in previous weeks, everything will be gleaming in 5 weeks AND you won't be exhausted from staying up half the night trying to do it all at once. It's gonna be a good Christmas!
