Cleaning for the Sabbath

[prov31craftymom]

What is your routine for having a clean house by Sabbath? Also any tips for doing it with small children?

I can't just mop on a certain day, or vacuum, dust, laundry...etc...because it seems like right after I do it, I just have to do it again.

[TenderLovingWillow]

Thanks P31CM. I am interested in this too. My house was fairly clean on Sunday, and Monday I got the rest of it done. Yesterday I was gone most of the day, and today it looks like a tornado exploded in here. :(

[tazmom]

I do the best I can and remember that the dirt will still be there a day later. Making sure laundry is done enough no one will be without important clothes and that dishes are mostly done is my priority, the rest can wait.

[prov31craftymom]

I do the best I can and remember that the dirt will still be there a day later. Making sure laundry is done enough no one will be without important clothes and that dishes are mostly done is my priority, the rest can wait.

But if I take that mentality, then my house will never be clean. It will always be waiting for next week. I also find that it's not very relaxing if the house is dirty.

[ArmsOfLove]

How are you defining dirty? I had to get to a place where I realized that poorly done was still done, and if poorly done was the best I could do (based on time, circumstances, reality, etc) then that was enough :heart

There is no Biblical expectation that your home will be showroom for the Sabbath :no Only that you will cease your work for that day :amen

I'm a fan of doing X on a certain day and then knowing that it was done. Of course it will get dirty again--we clean it so that doesn't build up :)

[tazmom]

:shrug3 If I take the mentality that I must Clean All The Things every Thursday/Friday, I'm not going to enjoy my life.

I like the idea that Sabbath rest is about realizing that the world keeps turning and working without our efforts. God is so awesome that he created the world and he will keep it running whether my house is spotless or not.


If you're looking for tips for last minute... Running a load of laundry on Friday morning with socks, underwear, and anything else people need asap, prep a meal that will keep in the fridge like pasta salad or throw a meal in the crock pot, have a basket in the living room to throw the toys in to keep them out of the way and you can put all the stuff away on Saturday night or Sunday.

What mess to prioritize will depend on the person living in it. What areas would inhibit your ability to rest and focus on God and family? Maybe we can brainstorm those things for you. :)

[ArmsOfLove]

Yes, for instance, I cannot relax in a messy room, so I need the living room picked up and clean. Not a room that is generally a play-in room, and I don't even care if it's moved to the family room, yk? Just get the living room picked up.

And I don't like filth, so I need the kitchen and dining room clean. I'm not totally in charge of that area atm so sometimes I have to endure more mess than I would prefer, but I try to make sure nothing is left that would stink :doh But I frantically and quickly last minute clean so I'm not going for spotless. And when that happens I outline what needs to be done after the Sabbath so we're on top of the room again ;)

[prov31craftymom]

I think my biggest areas are floors, laundry and dishes.

TLW and I were talking and she has the same problem with the floors. I can mop in the morning, and by the same night I need to mop again. Or I can pick up everything and within five minutes my toddler has thrown stuff all over the floors again.

I really would like to have everything done, so that for one day, I have nothing to do. So for one day, I can rest and spend time with my family and not have to worry about things being crazy.

[tazmom]

:hug Your oldest is the same age as my youngest. Life will be crazy for a few more years. It will get easier.

Until then, will your dh take over some of your jobs for the day so you can rest? What about spot cleaning spills and leaving the rest for Saturday evening? Toy basket is my only idea for those. :think Special paper plates for the Sabbath so there's no need to do dishes.

[ArmsOfLove]

Let me also put it this way . . . if we spill something on Sabbath, we wipe it up. With a toddler, I would have a basket in the room and not at all consider tossing toys in the basket, rather than stepping or tripping on them, to be work.

Exceptions have always been made for caring for children. They don't wait well and they have immediate needs.

I would look at it more like getting the official work done. For instance, I would not mop on Sabbath--even if I would wipe up spilled juice. I wouldn't vaccuum, but I would move/basket toys in the middle of the room, etc.

[TenderLovingWillow]

This thread is helpful. I have been so frustrated that since we started observing the Sabbath, my house is *never* all done on Saturday morning. :doh

I really would just love to have a clean and tidy house. :shifty it's hard to know what's realistic with babies in the house. :/

[Llee]

We use paper plates all weekend, even when we have company. That cuts down on a lot of dishes. We mop up spills. Things look nice, rather than being in-depth clean. Unless dh is vacuuming. He can't just vacuum the middle of the floor, but does everything.

I've got laundry going right now. Will pick up all the books in the house and put away. Girls will pick up all toys and put away and we'll only bring out the blocks. Will finish rest of grocery shopping tomorrow morning. Keeps us out of the house and less clean-up. ;)

I have a standard meal I prepare on Friday nights and Saturday nights, so I don't have to worry about waht to make. We are at church potlucks 3/4 of the month, so I have the ingredients for lemon cheesecake at hand at all times.

:think

I try to do most of the in-depth cleaning on other days, so that I don't stress as much on preparation day. And :shifty scheduling a playdate at our house on Friday makes the house a lot cleaner for Sabbath than on weeks I don't have a playdate at our house.

[GlacierLily]

We use Friday as a preparation day :) I believe that it is a preparation day for yearly (as in feast day Sabbaths and the weekly one too!)

Mark 15:42 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+15%3A42&version=ESV) ESV / 12 helpful votes
And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

:heart

I'll comeback with details if you want! I'm sooooooo tired right now :yawn.

[prov31craftymom]

I think what it comes down to is, I'm a really cruddy house keeper. :bag Things might be okay for the weekend, if I would just get my butt in gear the rest of the week.

[Llee]

Let go of the guilt and help set yourself up for success. Dh and I have been married for over 8 years now and it was just 2 months ago that I stopped being paralyzed by a stack of dirty dishes. So for 8 years, he's gone in and done the dishes when I'm stuck, so that I can get unstuck and continue cleaning the kitchen.

So for 8 years, I've had to set myself up for success by asking him to do it. And now I'm trying to set myself up for success by not letting too many dishes stack up at once. :shifty

What is one thing you could do to set yourself up for success?

[mamajane]

I think what it comes down to is, I'm a really cruddy house keeper. :bag
I think that if you mop one or more times per day on a regular basis, you are definitely an above average housekeeper. :yes
You also seem to be one with above average expectations. :hug

[tazmom]

Having only littles is HARD! Really really hard! When my kids were that age my house was a sty. Dh would come home from work, throw the toys toward the walls so we wouldn't trip over them and then do all the dishes for me. Keeping all the little people fed, changed, and alive was all I could manage. If someone had suggested I have a tidy house for a day, I would've told them they are welcome to come over and clean it for me. If someone told me I should do it every week, I would've said some inappropriate for GCM words.

Like Loralee said, let go of the guilt! You do what you can do. Spending time with and enjoying your children is more important than cleaning the house. If you're mopping on a regular basis, you're doing better than most of us.

[Llee]

Oh, another tip. Vacuum the kitchen rather than sweep it. Much faster and more efficient. :shifty

[tazmom]

Oh, another tip. Vacuum the kitchen rather than sweep it. Much faster and more efficient. :shifty

I totally do that! I have a floor attachment that gets into all the spots the dirt collects.

[saturnfire16]

I set aside every Friday afternoon for Sabbath prep cleaning. I prioritize things, so that if something comes up or I'm just exhausted, at least the most important things are done. Picking up clutter/toys, dishes, vacuuming if needed and a load of laundry are all part of my nightly clean up routine anyway. So I just do those like normal, except I do them before dinner. That way we have dinner and then the Sabbath starts, especially as we move into winter when the sun is going down earlier. We often to dinner at the park and stay late. That way we don't mess up the house that evening and wake up to a clean house on Saturday. Dinner is EASY- like smoothies or watermelon and pbj.

So besides the normal daily cleaning stuff, easy dinner and going out in the evening, the things I do on Friday afternoon are: clean the bathroom, dust (I include wiping down the frige, cupboards, etc in this), and if I have time and energy I will sweep the porch, clean the sliding glass door, and get all the laundry put away.

It's usually the only day of the week that I make use of the 5 minute challenges here, because it helps keep me motivated when I'm tired.

To me, it's SO worth it to wake up Saturday morning to a clean house. It allows me to actually relax. I cannot relax if I wake up and try to make breakfast, but have to wash a pan to do that and then try to do yoga and have to shove things aside to lay down my mat and then try to sit and read a book and have to clear off the couch. :sick

Then on Saturday, I leave pretty much everything. I will put the dishes in the sink, but not do them. I will pick up nasty things like trash, diapers, etc, but not toys or clothes.

Sunday morning I wake up twitching at the mess, because it looks like I haven't cleaned for a week, but it's worth it to have that one day of not doing anything.

ETA: I totally agree that it shouldn't be a guilt thing. It's not Biblically commanded and not necessary for anyone other than yourself IF you WANT to do it. For me, it's neccessary, because it allows me to relax. Also, if I don't clean really well on Friday and THEN don't clean at all on Sunday, I would spend all day Sunday cleaning and being really snappy and mean to my family. It's not pretty.

[prov31craftymom]

I do not mop everyday :no I'm saying I would have to if I wanted it clean for the weekend. My DH actually mops for me. :heart (everything is tile but the two bedrooms).

Right now I am trying to make our bed every morning and fold and put away laundry right away. The bed I am good at. The laundry goes in waves. All it takes is one busy day of wash dry and run and it all piles up. (Like right now.)

[Llee]

Oooh, laundry. It never ends. I'm all for nudist colonies some weeks. :yes

Would you be all right with having a box in each room you can toss things into on your prep day?

[tazmom]

I think we're looking at the Sabbath differently. I don't believe it's supposed to be a big end of week push to finish up and clean everything so we can end the week with everything cleaned. I think some minor prep should be done so we don't have to be naked, but I feel like we end the week with rest so we're physically prepared to start the week of cleaning etc with energy and rejuvenation.

I don't clean to prepare for Sabbath. I rest on the Sabbath to prepare for cleaning all week. Does that make sense? I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't ignore the mess for 24 hours, leave the house and spend the day at the park or zoo or something maybe. :think

[prov31craftymom]

I thought about a box in each room. I've done laundry baskets in the past, but DS thinks that they are full, just so he dump them right back out.

Tazmom, I like your perspective. I think that's what I'm trying to get to. Being able to rest so that I have the energy to get going again, but that doesn't seem to happen. For awhile I was getting all cleaning done and doing nothing on Sunday, but the house would be so destroyed come Monday morning, that after awhile I couldn't handle it anymore. We don't use paper plates, because we can't afford to, but I think I'm going to buy some just for Sunday.

That will be my goal for now, fix a meal on Saturday to eat on Sunday, and use paper/plastic products all day. Then other than sippy cups, I won't have any dishes.

[tazmom]

If I tried to have a Sunday Sabbath, I would have a lot more difficulty making it work. Saturday Sabbath allows my dh to be home to help clean up the aftermath on Sunday.

[mamajane]

I
I don't clean to prepare for Sabbath. I rest on the Sabbath to prepare for cleaning all week. Does that make sense?
That makes so much sense! Thank you for putting it into words so succinctly. :heart

[Ima LeShalosh]

I only read a few of the replies...but this is the system that I found over the years to work the best for our family.

Sabbath is a 6 day preparation. Now, I realize that because we keep Shomer, there are added things to my list that a non-shomer home would have to do. Sunday we clean from the insane mess the Sabbath brought. Monday and Tuesday we just follow the regular routine..laundry, vacuuming and kitchen are cleaned daily for those 6 days. Wed is the middle of the week, so I do a kind of mock prep day. That means we mop the floor, clean both bathrooms, clean all the bedrooms, etc. A lot of time I will not focus on laundry on that day so we can get a good handle on dirt so that it is not so bad when Prep Day comes. Thursday is a normal routine day...laundry, vacuum, kitchen. Then Friday hits and we start early...baking bread, preparing the meals for both days, cleaning the kitchen, preparing for Shomer, cleaning the rooms, bathrooms, final vacuuming, mopping, laundry.... Once the candles are lit on Friday night, the works is done. If something was forgotten..oh well, Sabbath can live without it.:shrug3

The middle of the week pretend Prep Day is what has helped me HUGELY with not feeling like I was going to loose my mind on Prep Day!

[saturnfire16]

I think we're looking at the Sabbath differently. I don't believe it's supposed to be a big end of week push to finish up and clean everything so we can end the week with everything cleaned. I think some minor prep should be done so we don't have to be naked, but I feel like we end the week with rest so we're physically prepared to start the week of cleaning etc with energy and rejuvenation.

I don't clean to prepare for Sabbath. I rest on the Sabbath to prepare for cleaning all week. Does that make sense? I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't ignore the mess for 24 hours, leave the house and spend the day at the park or zoo or something maybe. :think

To the bolded, I agree. :yes I think we agree on what the Sabbath is, but have different ways of achieving that goal. I clean all week long and the rest and rejuvenation on the Sabbath does make that possible. I *also* feel more rested and rejuvenated on the Sabbath if I come into it with the house more than just the normal daily clean, but really truly clean. It also helps the transition back to the week go smoother on Sunday if I'm only cleaning from Saturday's mess not the whole week's mess. For me, it's really awful to have a lovely Sabbath and then wake up Sunday morning snapping at my kids and husband because the house is such a total disaster I feel like I can't breath.

I don't have the option of spending the whole day away from home, nor would it be restful for me. :shrug3 We used to go to our home fellowship group, but that was only a few hours. It's going to be winter here soon and too cold for the park. We don't have a zoo here, but if we did, that would cost money and we don't spend money on the Sabbath.

---------- Post added at 12:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 AM ----------

Another thought- God worked and THEN rested. The Sabbath is the end of the week, not the beginning. I'm not saying your way is wrong and mine is right :no, because of course it's all circular. The days flow together and Saturday is as much the day before Sunday as it is the day after Friday. :lol Just thinking out loud here. Different things will work for different personalities. :yes