My Mom’s guide to Crisis Cleaning for Company
You’ve got company coming in a few days and a tornado just blew through your house. You walk into a room with the intention of cleaning and are met with discouragement.
“I’ll never finish” you say to yourself.
You shuffle around lethargically, and pick up a few things here and there.
Five minutes before your company arrives, you are grabbing up piles of stuff and throwing them into your bedroom, closet, or guest room. You shut the door behind you and hope than no one dares to peek.
Later, when the company leaves and you dare to peek into the room. You are faced with a mountain of stuff, but it has grown and multiplied like mold on year old bread.
Instead of dealing with the mess now, you close the door, and pretend it’s not there. Out of sight out of mind…
…until you invite company over again.
Today is the time to rewrite your story. This Christmas, clean your house for company without shoving the mess into the spare bedroom. Here’s the plan of attack.
Write a To-Do List.
Preparing for company begins with a to-do list. This is a “Get the house company ready” to do list, not an “Every house project we should have done in the last 6 months” to do list. If you are planning a crisis cleaning, you do not have time to paint anything, don’t plan any major home renovations.
Macro Clean, don’t Micro Clean
My mom coined the terms Macro-cleaning and Micro-cleaning when I was little. She would send me to clean my room, and I would pull out all the books on the bookshelf and organize them alphabetically, but completely ignore the piles of clothes and toys littered across the floor.
At the end of the day, I had an incredibly neat…bookshelf. Every book was alphabetized and pushed back even with the front of the shelves.
Let’s face it, if your bookshelf isn’t organized, your company probably wont notice. Put your energy into the big jobs, and if you have time, you can alphabetize your bookshelf.
Walk in your front door and pretend like you are company.
I’m going to admit that I am easily distractable. (OOH!…shiney metal object) When I clean for too long, I start to lose focus on the big picture. After a while, I find myself micro-cleaning. When I catch myself alphabetizing the bookshelf, it’s time to walk in the front door and pretend I’m company seeing this room for the first time.
I step outside and knock on my own door before letting myself in. Once inside, I gain a new perspective on what I need to clean still.
If the Beds are made and the dishes are washed, the house is clean.
This is actually my Great Grandma’s cleaning advice, but the point is your house doesn’t have to be perfect to be company ready. Do the best you can in the time you have, and then open your heart and your home to envelope your family and friends in the warmth of love.
photos: General Wesc CC-By, adulau CC-By-SA, rainy city CC-By-ND, wnorrix CC-By
Tags: Cleaning, Hospitality, Party prep
December 17th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
“If the beds are made and the dishes are washed . . .” if only I could get my husband to agree to these terms ;).
One other tip: Don’t wait until company is coming to clean like company is coming. Usually, by then, it’s too late!
December 18th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Your family also deserves better treatment than company. or just as good anyways. Right now, our house is so small that I could clean all day and then by the next morning, you couldn’t tell I had done anything. Sigh.