finding ways that work

I usually like to rely on tradition to help me figure out how to do things. This makes sense in homemaking, as it is, indeed, a nearly "lost" art. Traditional skills are having to be re-learned and are experiencing a bit of a revival. I like the old ways, but they do not always work for me. Here are two things I do very very differently!

I do my floors first. traditionally you work around the room, from top to bottom but I just can't do it. If my floor is cluttered with toys and littered with crumbs and scraps of paper, I start to loose my focus. So I clean my floors first, and vacuum or mop too! this really makes me feel satisfied and boosts my enthusiasm to clean the rest of the room.

I also work in sections. Usually, when sweeping and mopping one would do all the sweeping first then the mopping. Our kitchen is quite small, and I have too much in it! I find it is more effective to first move everything out that i can (usually the table and chairs) , then sweep, mop and dry the first section. I move the furniture back and then commence on the next portion. The trick is to sweep a bigger section than you plan to mop, so you don't get crumbs in your mop water, or mop water in your crumbs! I do use a rag to scrub my floors, and I often get the walls and baseboards as I go. I dry with a used bath-towel. Drying is important as my little ones often run thru and slip on the puddles!

I think the best way to go about tradition, is to find what still holds wisdom and value and work with that. the rest you can adjust to your own personal needs.