What does "clean yourself out of a room" mean?
A job well done.
A friend mentioned that she wasn’t sure what “cleaning yourself out of a room” means!
Whether you’re deep cleaning or just blitzing, when you’re done, stick the trash bag, laundry basket with items that don’t belong, vacuum, dusters, mops, broom, and all detritus just outside of the room.
Stop.
Look back into it.
Here are some messages the room will send you; your results might vary, depending on where you are, how quickly you have to work, and when the last time you really looked was.
“There! Good job.”
“You did tidy those books on the coffee table, and they do look neat, but you need a child to go in there and put that one stack in the kids’ bookcase.”
“We could use new sofa throw pillows — that would perk things up.”
“ Send a child in to windex the lower part of those windows.”
“You forgot that glass on the mantle.”
“Good enough for government work.”
“Now you see the matchbox cars under that chair.”
“Oops, plants need watering!”
“That’s pretty!”
Then distribute all the things you’ve taken out to their proper places!
Teach your children to work themselves out of a room and then turn and look at it (you can say “look at it through my eyes”), when cleaning something is their responsibility.
You are aiming actually to reach the goal of making it nice and reasonably clean — to the level you’ve decided on — not just blindly, subserviently doing a chore.
This is the key to contentment with housekeeping.
Lepikko Cottage (Lepikon torppa), Pielavesi, Finland. (Birthplace of the 10th president of Finland.)
The School for Housewives brings you short, practical, and thoughtful messages to inspire you to make your home. For the longer version:
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As with everything here at the SFH, the best thing is for you to take what I’m saying — ideas that come from my experience of 45 years of marriage and raising seven children — and apply them to your situation with discernment, prudence, and confidence — and a sense of humor!
Ha ha, my favorite thing to say is "It's not perfect, but it's better than it was."
“...Look at it through my eyes...” Uh-oh. When he hears that, the poor child probably knows he will never be done cleaning! But I can understand how much that would work. It would save from a lot of yelling. 🤣🤣