I am constantly looking for excuses. I’m good at it too. I can always rationalize putting off the things I just don’t want to do.

Last night my father-in-law was here. The kids went to bed, and so it was time to wipe down the bathroom counters and toilets. The first excuse that came to mind was that I wouldn’t be a good hostess if I cleaned bathrooms while he was here. I got over that one. It truly only takes a minute or two per bathroom, so he didn’t even notice. My next rationalization was to not do the half-bath which is in the office/guest room. I’m not sure how that was logical, but it seemed so. That was an excuse that almost got the best of me. I actually decided at one point not to do it. But then I did, because part of this whole process is me not making excuses anymore.

And boy was I glad I did. Before we had gone out to eat, we had done the potty call for the kids. I’m assuming one of the boys ran in there and closed his eyes while he went. There was pee everywhere. All over the back of the seat. On the floor behind the toilet, and in those side spots where it always seems to collect. Grrr. But I wiped it up. I took care of it before it dried and became a bigger problem.

This helped me grasp the daily wipe-down concept. Some days the toilets and counters probably don’t need to be wiped. Most days though, they do. Even if it’s just for the sake of a teeny tiny tinkle-sprinkle. Or a few drips from the handsoap. Or some of hubby’s shaving cream. All of those things add up in a week (or three, or four) to bigtime mess, which requires me to spend a designated hour and a half cleaning all of the bathrooms. Then I put it off and off because I don’t have that much time.

I don’t have the tub/shower cleaning figured out at this point. I’m assuming that that will be a weekly task, which I haven’t even started thinking about. But overall, my bathrooms look clean everyday now. I like that.

Today I:

Made bed.

Cleaned kitchen.

Swept kitchen.

Did 5 minute walk-through. (This included stripping the sheets off of the guest bed, something I generally put off until the next guest is coming.)

Wiped down the bathrooms last night.

Checked bathrooms for clutter.