Mess Begets Mess

I have a new best friend.  I don't know where she lives or even if she uses her real name, but I love her.  She has changed my life.  I met her on youtube.  Melissa Maker is her name (fake? don't know, don't care).  I heard about her, I think, on the radio and made a note on my phone to check her channel out later.  Am I ever glad I did.

Her youtube channel is dedicated to teach others on how to clean their homes.  She's written a book called Clean My Space and has probably millions of subscribers (I have no idea!).  I have given seminars myself on how to manage your home and have even touched on how to clean your house, to some extent, but not because I'm an expert cleaner.  It was more because I know how moms struggle to organize their kids and time to get it all done.  I am, in fact, not an expert cleaner.  I have always wanted a clean home and have always admired the clean homes I come across, but have never achieved the deep cleanliness I want.  With the large family we have and with all that we do, it seemed virtually impossible to do.  But no more!

I made a decision last week to re-instill the zone cleaning idea where each week of the month a zone of the house gets 100% attention and we deep clean, declutter, and then keep it clean FOREVER.  I had let the house go over the summer because of the vines.  It got messy.  Really messy.  I could barely get food in the fridge, let alone food on the table, or clothes in the dryer, or on the line, due to the crazy schedule we kept.  But then Fall hit.  The vines are sleeping now, whew, (like a newborn crying baby who finally is quiet!) and we don't even know what to do with ourselves!  That's when I thought, "Now's a great time to get the house back in order!"

Back to Melissa, my new best friend.  Zone 1 is the kitchen.  I turned on her channel and searched for a kitchen video.  There were many.  The kids and I (I forced them initially - now they love them!) watched them all.  "How to declutter a kitchen", "How to clean a kitchen", "Top 10 things to throw out", "Kitchen Routines"....it was hard to stop.  She's addictive.  I was so compelled to get my kids to watch them as I knew I wanted them to have clean homes and good routines in their own lives.  I was amazed to see them riveted to the screen.  They loved her!  My daughter ran upstairs with a broom and started on her own room (she had also just watched the one on decluttering bedrooms!).  The videos are all 1-10 minutes in length and she is fun and easy to watch with her upbeat attitude and voice.

So, we got to work.  The kids were unbelievably excited.  At least the younger 4.  The older four were gone most of the weekend, but I had the younger 4 entirely on-board.  I should have taken a before picture of the kitchen and then an after picture.  My kitchen now looks amazing.  We started by taking everything out of all the cupboards, one at a time, and decluttered by throwing out or giving away all the things that were broken, unused, etc.  By the end of the day, I had an entire laundry basket full of give away items that I've had since my wedding that I have NEVER used.  I couldn't bear to get rid of them because of sentimental reasons.  But it made my kitchen so cluttered and I had no cupboard space for what I really used.

Then we made our own all-purpose spray, Melissa's recipe...awesome...which my kids loved, and each of us got a paper towel or cloth or sponge, and went to work, vacuuming out the drawers and cupboards, and then wiping them down or vacuuming them all.  Transformation begin!  This took us 3 days to do.  There was a lot of decluttering and cleaning, more than I realized. 

I even moved my oven and cleaned behind it as well as the sides that had so many awful drips down the side.  I then watched her "How to clean the oven racks" video and voila!  My oven racks and the inside of my oven now also look brand new and spotless!  My husband actually said something about "relentlessly cleaning" this weekend.  You have to love it when your husband thinks you're cleaning too much?!

Everyone was out last night.  That was when I put on the finishing touches on the kitchen.  When they all got home and walked in, mouths were on the floor.  It looks clean, smells clean, feels clean.  It looks awesome!!!!!  My oldest is probably my most organized and loves a tidy space.  I've always felt bad that I kind of stunk at it.  It just does not come naturally to me.  She was the happiest.  "I love it, Mom!"  That made me so happy.

We have a few drawers left today and then we move on to the next space - the mudroom/bathroom/hall for Zone 2.  Then we will finish the whole house ultimately and, here is the key word.....MAINTAIN.....That is my  new goal.  I use her phrase all the time, which I've tried to explain to them before, but somehow, because it came from my new best friend, Melissa, they are listening to HER, "Mess begets Mess".  Well, I won't be offended that they would rather hear it from her.  At least they are finally on board!

On Friday we prayed for our kitchen!  We actually asked God to help us be good stewards.  Now that we see the results of our hard work, we actually feel like God really helped us.  I told them the verse that says, "God is a God of order, not of disorder."  It makes all of us feel better.  My other son said, "Mom!  I feel like we have a new house!"  Yes!  It does feel that way! 

I was so charged up about cleaning, that I started on the bathroom, too.  We watched a video on tubs and tiles and went at it.  I also have a new bathtub, which I also love so much!!  I've gone a little over the top, I admit it.  I may have to see if Melissa will give me a small fee for my great ratings on her!  I sound like I work for her!!!

Today, we'll have breakfast, we'll read the Bible together, and then, yes, oh yes, we'll watch another Melissa video to encourage us to clean another area well.  I have always longed for cleaning ladies.  I've always wished I could achieve the deeper clean and thought it was unachievable with a large family.  I was ok with just tidy, and that was ok when the kids were younger, but now I want more and the kids are ready for it, too.  I don't think I need cleaning ladies anymore.  I have my own little crew and they actually like doing it. 

So yes, I love Melissa and you should, too.