Ideally a marriage is a partnership in every sense of the word. A husband and wife should work together to keep a household running smoothly. However, who should do what is often a big source of conflict in most households.

Women usually get the job of taking care of the kids and keeping the house clean while their husbands work. But unlike several decades ago, wives and mothers usually have to hold down a job as well, in order for a family to make ends meet financially. It can be very difficult and stressful to juggle all of these things ourselves. Getting your husband to help around the house can make our jobs easier and less stressful.

1. If you need help with something specific, ask. Most husbands are willing to do specific tasks when we have our hands full and they don’t. If possible, ask him to do something that he enjoys, or at least doesn’t openly hate to do.
2. Offer to help him with his projects. If you are willing to help him clean his car or do the yard work, he will surely appreciate it. Then he might be more likely to offer to help you out when you are working around the house.
3. Find tasks that you can do together or alongside each other. This will allow the two of you to spend time together while also getting something done. And the pleasure of your company might make an undesirable chore more palatable.
4. If you prefer a more structured approach, assign specific chores to everyone in the house. You could make a chart that tells which chores everyone is to be in charge of. Consulting with your husband when doing this is crucial. If he is included in the decision making process, he will be more willing to follow along.
5. Talk about how your day went. Husbands often don’t realize how much their wives do in one day, and this can lead them to believe that we should accomplish more than we do. Filling them in on all of the things we have to contend with could evoke some sympathy, possibly even inspiring them to volunteer their assistance.
6. Give lots of praise when your husband does help around the house for positive reinforcement. Nitpicking about the things he did wrong will only make him less willing to help. While it’s acceptable to offer some constructive criticism, it is essential to find something positive to say as well.
7. Reward your husband for pitching in, we’ll leave it up to you to determine an appropriate reward. I’m sure you can come up with something good!

Getting your husband to help around the house may be effortless, or it may require a lot of coaxing. By letting him know how hard you work to trying to get everything done and asking him to do specific things rather than expecting him to know what to do on his own, you can often get some willing assistance. And the end result will be a neater, cleaner home and a happier you.

Are you living in clutter and chaos? Try this fifteen minute pickup trick to control clutter, simplify your life and banish chaos in your home. It’s common to feel that the biggest challenge to cleaning up is the sheer magnitude of the task in front of you. Is “So much mess, so little time” your motto? Do you ask yourself, “Where do I begin?”

Busy Mom living in chaos

This is where the fifteen minute pickup trick comes in. A fifteen minute pickup is simply fifteen minutes of time that’s spent focusing on tidying up a place of your choosing. It can be a particular room or area in your house, or it could be the entire house. Here’s what you do, set a timer and get to work until the timer goes off. Then you stop and consider yourself done. You’ll probably discover that stopping is just as important as the starting. The reason for this, is no matter how busy or overwhelmed you are, you can always find time to do something for fifteen minutes. But if you feel that fifteen minutes is going to drag into a half-hour or more, then you’re not going to want to get started. You’ll find this is also true with your children and spouse. They may be happy to help out for a limited amount of time, but may resist helping in the first place because they fear the work will take too long.

The best place to start is with one general fifteen minute pickup per day. Set a regular time that fits your schedule, or maybe when you are freshest! If you have children, a good time is in the evening, just before you begin getting them ready for bed, as it provides a transition from play to bedtime, and it’s time to put the toys away. Get the entire family involved. If your child gets distracted, gently remind him or her to pick something up. You’ll be totally amazed by how your home can go from looking like a tornado ripped through it to being basically orderly after just fifteen minutes of everyone working together.

The first time you do this, you’ll most likely just be getting stuff off the floor and into the general vicinity of where they belong. However, if you keep at it every day, you will start finding time to do some sorting and be able to put things away in a more organized manner. You might even have time to do some quick vacuuming. You’ll find that each day, you’re able to clean a little deeper before that timer goes off!

Once you have gotten into the habit of doing one general fifteen minute pickup a day, you can add one or two more at different times of the day to focus on specific rooms or areas of your home that need more attention. For example, a fifteen minute cleanup of your kitchen counter can do wonders. The main thing is to institute these pickups gradually enough so that you can be consistent and get into the habit of doing them. Won’t it be nice to watch your house get clean fifteen minutes at a time, and know that you hardly spent any time at it at all? Then, you can focus your time and energy on the more fun aspects of living!

This real man’s guide to cleaning is designed to help you master the basics, make a cleaning attack plan and get the work done as quickly and easily as possible. You’ll find this routine helpful if you are just learning the ropes or even if you are an old hand at cleaning the house.

Your Cleaning Attack Plan

You decide how you want to do this either one day a week or by splitting the tasks up and doing some each day. Start by making your cleaning attack plan. If you have a spouse, roommate and or family you might want to sit down and draw up your attack plan together, that way you can divide the work load. Depending upon your housing situation your weekly cleaning chores should only take 2 to 5 hours per week, the bigger your home the longer it will take.

Your cleaning uniform should be old comfortable clothes, you might get dirty and sweaty because cleaning house is hard work.

How To Clean The House Guide

The Kitchen
If you cook, and frugal men know cooking for themselves is far more economical that eating out. Not to mention much healthier too.

Daily Tasks: Clean as you go, fill the sink with hot soapy water and wash tools, pots etc. as you use them, or put them in the dish washer. Umm, and don’t put that knife you just used away without giving it a quick rinse and wipe first. Wiping the counter tops and stove top deals with crumbs, spatters and spills before they get a chance to petrify. Sweep the floor, put out the trash and run the dishwasher if needed.

Weekly Tasks: Wipe down the exterior of kitchen appliances and cupboards. Sweep and wash the floor.

The Bathroom
Daily Tasks: Clean the bathroom in the morning or evening after your shower. It just needs a quick wipe to keep it looking half decent.

Weekly Tasks: Use a spray and wipe bathroom cleaner to clean the tub, shower stall and sink. Give the toilet bowl a good scrub with a brush and some toilet bowl cleanser. Don’t forget to wipe down the outside surfaces too. Yes, you need to clean it, sorry it’s not self cleaning! Clean the mirror. Empty the trash. Sweep and mop the floor, make sure to get behind and around the toilet well.

The Bedroom
Daily Tasks: Make your bed as soon as you get up. A fitted sheet and a duvet or comforter is the quickest and easiest way deal with it. Pick up your dirty clothes and put them in a laundry hamper or basket.

Weekly Tasks: Clean the mirror. Vacuum the carpet. Dust the dresser, night stand etc. with an old T-shirt cut in half. Change the sheets.

The Living room, Dining Room, and Family Room
Daily Tasks: Once a day or every evening before you head off to bed, take a tour around the house and pick up and put things away, magazines, dishes, clothes, shoes.

A tidy home looks cleaner than a cluttered one so get into the habit of putting things away. This means your dirty clothes belong in the laundry hamper not on the floor, and dirty dishes need to go in the sink or the dishwasher, they don’t belong on the coffee table.

Weekly Tasks: Dust the furniture with an old T-shirt cut in half. Vacuum the carpet. Sort and dispose of old newspapers and magazines.

Other weekly house hold chores. Grocery shopping, it’s not really house work but you might need to do it. Laundry, if you changed your sheets you need to wash them plus the clothing you wore and the towels you used this week!

Once a month or so… you’ll probably need to do the following:
Clean out the refrigerator, discard any unknown items and wipe the interior with a damp cloth. Change or empty the vacuum cleaner bag. Wipe down doors and around light switches where finger prints and hand prints appear. Look up, way up, do you see any cob webs? Remove them with a clean broom or duster.

Once or twice a year you’ll really should do these:
Wash the ceilings and walls. Clean all the windows inside and out. Move large appliances, and furniture and clean behind and underneath them.

Create a check list of your cleaning tasks and post it some where handy so you don’t miss doing anything. You may find somethings need cleaning more often and others you can let slide a bit longer. Ultimately it’s up to you and your personal standards. If you are comfortable and you won’t be embarrassed by the condition of your home if unexpected guests drop in your mission is accomplished.

More House Cleaning help:

• Find out what the basic cleaning products and tools you’ll need.
• Learn to conquer clutter and live more organized, with these practical tips to help you and your family get and stay organized.
• Simplify your life with one Multi-purpose Environmentally Friendly Cleaner.

I’m very excited to announce, the Homemaker Helpers site is getting a face lift, actually the entire site will be move to word press and redesigned. Not only will we look better but it will be easier for you to navigate around. It will also be easier for our authors to post their articles which is even more good news for you!

Thank you to all our wonderful and loyal subscribers, you’ll want to watch you inbox for a link to download our free All Natural Cleaning Guide. Cleaning your home shouldn’t be a chore… it should be an experience! Stay tuned and we’ll let you know as soon as we are ready for the unveiling.

You’ve put it off long enough, and it’s time to clean the refrigerator! Since you have the time and the patience; let’s give you some quick refrigerator cleaning tips to hurry along the process.

• Take everything out of the refrigerator, I prefer to do one shelf at a time so I can quickly and easily put items back in the same spot.
• Throw away any outdated cans, jars and plastic bottles.
• Take out the vegetable bins; wash and dry.
• Use a wet cloth to clean the shelving and the inside of the door. You may want to add some baking soda to the wash water.
• Put the bins back, and sprinkle a bit of baking soda in each if you like.
• Put back whatever items you have left.
• Place an opened box of baking soda towards the back top shelf.
• Wipe down the exterior of the refrigerator; top sides and doors.

You’re done! That was easy enough, right? Well that’s because you have been cleaning it religiously every month. Alas, there are some refrigerators which have not been so lucky, and cleaning will require more time.

To keep your refrigerator clean so that a simple once-over is required, here are some additional tips to follow.

• Use tin foil under your milk cartons to prevent leaking.
• Use food containers to store your leftovers.
• Change the box of baking soda every three months.
• Set the temperature to the manufacturer’s recommendation.
• Try not to accumulate more than two items. Check certain items before buying them. Oftentimes, we buy too much of one item, and it just stays in the refrigerator for months on end.
• Keep your vegetables in zip lock bags or better yet re-usable plastic containers to maintain their freshness.
• Line the bins with paper towel or something similar to absorb moisture and spills.
• If’ it’s not a frost free model defrost your freezer at least once a month. Don’t forget to place a box of baking soda in there as well.

By following these simple tips, your next cleaning will be easier and faster and you’ll feel like a lazy man.

How often do you vacuum your lovable pooch? Yes, you read right, my darling dog was a rescue and her previous owner would vacuum her.

It is a hoot to see her scamper over to me when I bring the portable vacuum out. The first time she did this I didn’t know what to make of it. She would lie on her side waiting for me to start. When, I figured out what she was wanting, I open the hose to release some of the suction, put on the furniture attachment so not to injury her. This has become a routine with us every time I vacuum.

The advantages I have found are two fold, for the dog she is more comfortable less scratching and her bedding is cleaner. She is not sneezing from the loose hair and dirt in her coat.

For me it is having a home with a lot less dog hair and less dust. This has prompted me to vacuum and clean her bedding on a regular basis, not just when I can’t stand it anymore.

I have found we still have those not so wonderful days when she runs through the mud puddles with glee and arrives at the door looking like a dog that has been dipped in chocolate. My cure for that is giving her a bath with Watkins Botanical Pet Shampoo, I love the ingredients of aloe vera, lemon oil and vitamin E, and it leaves her coat shiny and smelling great, not like wet dog, yuck.

Mary Ellen

Associate #364297