Housecleaning

Okay, yes. I am, yet again, dodging that edit. However! I am removing one of the last halfway-decent excuses, so just bear with me while I blog quickly. Then you can chase me with squid as needed.

I’ve been working to move my family onto the Flylady system for housecleaning, because even if we only do a little, that little will still get done more often than is happening now. We’re going in fits and starts, but we’re moving. Yay us.

As I work on the house, though, I think about how I used to never have a clue how to clean up, even if I noticed a mess. My mom was one of those who just wanted it done, so when it was time to clean she’d chase us kids outside, out from underfoot, and do it.

I actually learned to look around while working at Taco Bell. One of my co-workers was an expert at keeping the employees busy (which may not seem a great thing for the employees until you realize that if they don’t have work to do, they get sent home early and take a hit in the paycheck.) I asked him how he did it once, and he looked surprised.

“Just find things to clean,” he told me, and showed me how the procedures manual had details for how often the line should be cleaned, how long different foods could be kept and at what temperature, but made no mention of things like when to clean the vents in the storeroom or when to wash the garbage cans.

!!? Garbage cans get dirty? Vents should be cleaned?

Jim was a day manager and I a night one, so for months after that, I’d ask when I came in what I should try to get done that night. And Jim would look around and point something out to me, and if we had a quiet night, at least one person would get more hours than she would have otherwise, and that thing would get done.

Eventually, of course, I learned to look for myself, but it took me Flylady to learn how to do something about it. Now I can generally notice when things need some attention, and find a way involving not too much work and very little pressure to get it done.

Because really. Who needs housecleaning worries on top of everything else we deal with anymore?