Modern Need for Cleaning Routine

Years ago the cleaning pendulum was stuck way over on the side of rigid routine. If gardening, canning, drying, and smoking food were not done, you weren’t inconvenienced, you starved. The entire work week revolved around the day of rest: Saturday’s baking and Saturday night baths were in preparation for Sunday. Monday wash day took advantage of the renewed energy from Sunday’s rest for one of the most grueling chores, the laundry. Every time we throw a clothes in the washer, we should thank the Lord for indoor plumbing and running water. Seriously.

Thanks to modern appliances, the urgency for rigid routine has faded, but the wisdom of designed routine has never become obsolete. Now, we live in an age where the pendulum has swung dramatically to the other extreme. In today’s world entire households barely hold together with the crisis response system. No food—run to the store. No more clean underwear—run a load of wash. Can’t find the winter coat—clean only enough of the hall closet to unearth it.

This is clearly NOT the biblical work ethic for doing all things decently and in order. Neither does it pass on to the next generation a viable system of well-practiced skills, broad experience, or developed habits to help them produce a smooth running household that helps family ministry rather than hinders it.

It is not unusual to meet women with young children who now regret long years of careless attention to home systems. They have faced expensive repairs after neglecting routine upkeep of mechanical maids. They cannot coordinate cleaning and cooking with other important priorities. They are unable to teach children to do consistently or well tasks they can only perform haphazardly themselves.  Even if they want to change, they have no mentor, no accountability, no supernatural enlightenment, and an already full life with their own young apprentices who need the very habits and skills they do not yet have for themselves.

Happily, the skills for actual cleaning are neither complex nor intricate to learn. Learning how to dovetail tasks, performing with efficient effectiveness, investing adequate time to building a workable system and intentionally practicing consistency present challenges that can be conquered.

True, a commitment to habitual, conscientious and consistent  practice is needed to move from the toddling trials of novice cleaners to mastering seamlessly meshed tasks. That however, is true of almost every other area of expertise from playing an instrument, being a good athlete, or learning a new job. The difference is that most of us view those tasks as worth the effort to gain the expertise. With maintaining a living or work space, we act like the subject is so very mundane and mindless, that anyone could instantly be efficient and coordinated whenever they might choose to apply themselves–and honestly, who would choose?

But instant expertise is not the reality. But neither do we need to hire a cleaning coach or pay for private cleaning lessons. Cleaning is an area in which we can apprentice ourselves (and our children) to success, by using books, online sources, and friends for teachers. It also means we need to be tough, insightful bosses to ourselves when we plan and evaluate our work, and engaged, diligent servants for ourselves when we do our work. Up to the challenge?