Quick Clean for a Happy Husband

Every man deserves to come home to a well organized, clean, and happy home. In large part this is the responsibility of the house wife. Despite the tone of the day, or events that may lead up to that joyous hour when the bread-winner returns from work, the house should be prepared for his welcome.

At least one half hour prior to the anticipated homecoming hour (longer if more substantial messes have occured throughout the house) a woman ought to walk briskly about the house filling her arms with misplaced items on her journey from room to room. To not pass by any item that is misplaced without picking it up if you still have space in your arms. You will therefore maximize the time that you are moving about and the travel from one area of the house to the next. If the size of the home requires more carrying capacity, carry a larger basket on one arm so that you are able to pick up more items with your free hand.

Having your home previously organized into small yet tidy compartments will aid in a speedy clean up. Every nook should have a purpose. There ought not to be a 'junk drawer' which spawns lazy clean up by shoving items that have a real place into an unseen yet messy hiding place. If an item does not have a place, nor a purpose, it ought to be thrown out or re-purposed.

If you have small children, do not neglect their need to be near you while being entertained. Create several small nooks with a few toys and books perhaps in a basket or empty cupboard that can be accessed by the children in whatever room you fequently occupy througout the day. The small areas are quickly cleaned up since there are not many toys in any one place and you can clear the area before moving on to the next space. Do not move to the next area if you are done with a task in one place without cleaning the area up completely, both the children's toys and your workspace.

Dishes are easily done in the moment they are created. Piling dishes in the sink only encourages more piling. The food will only solidify on the dinnerware and your job to clean them increase. In cases of pans or baking dishes it is often wise to leave them to soak with warm water and a bit of soap for aproximately an hour to soften the hard deposits and thus making it easier to clean.

Plan the meal that you intend to cook for the day first thing in the day (if not previous to that day) so that you may prepare items that may need thawing or rising. Make sure that you plan your days activities to allow your the preparation time needed for your planned meal so that they end of the preparation and cleanup will coiencide with the arrival of the man of the house.

If it occasions that your children need to eat before your husband arrives home, if he works late, feed them tidily, spending the precious time you have with them in training them good eating habits. Sit with them while they eat if possible so they are accustomed to eating as a family at a dinner setting instead of being served. Each child should be taught to clear their own place after permission is granted to leave the table. Providing permission creates a structure that will help to avoid touch-and-go dinners in the future. Save your appitite in large measure to eat with your husband when he returns. If you need some food to sustain you until arrival, do not gorge yourself but only eat what will tide you until his arrival.

An attentive housewife should prepare her day in order to enable a meal time with her husband at the end (or beginning if that is the only occasion) of each day. When husband and wife eat together, sitting at a dinner table (no couch dinner, and certainly no TV platters!), they may review their feelings and create the connected atmosphere of the home once again as both father and mother are to interact with the children for the rest of the evening.

The combined family meal will be cleaned up quickly and cooperatively as each member of the family contributes in some way. Even small children may be given an broom and encouraged to sweep the crumbs from under the chairs. Older children can clear plats to the sink and beverages to the fridge. Parents should direct and contribute to the meal clean up as well. Both man and wife should do dishes, wash down tables and properly store left over food. As the job is completed together the whole family can then retire to an evening activity.

Primarily the atomosphere that is set with a clean and calm home prior to the arrival of the husband will contribute greatly to the course of the evening. It is less likely for a husband to carry workplace frustrations into the home if he has nothing there to remind him of frustration (a clean floor does not likely make one curse whereas a misplaced toy may bring about a tyraid).