Merry Christmas!
Whoa.... it's time to deck the halls, flock the tree, torch up the Yule log and roll out the welcome! Ho, ho, ho, it's the hap, hap, happiest time of the year! It's also the busiest. DO NOT PANIC! Christmas is a good thing. In all your busyness, take a minute to look at all of the beautiful colored lights and give thanks for your sense of sight. Listen to the sacred music of the season and be glad that you can hear. Smell the cinnamon and nutmeg and fresh cut greens and be happy your nose works. Taste the eggnog and be grateful for your tongue. Instead of dragging your kid through the crowded mall in a cranky effort to get him to Santa's lap, savor the moment. Actually feel the touch of God as you're holding that dear little hand. It's Christmas and everything is all right!
Now guess what... we have a special gift for you. Money can't buy it, you probably don't already have it, you might not give it to yourself but you really need it! We give you permission to bag up all your piles, hide all the bags in the garage and decorate over the dirt! For the month of December, there will be no more detail cleaning. The key word for holiday housework is SLIPSHOD. Slipshod cleaning, for those of you who don't subscribe to the monthly Pam & Peggy Keeping in Touch tapes, is our "lick and a promise," "hit the hot spot," running through the house leaving the impression of cleanliness method of cleaning.
Once a week, pretend you work for a cheap motel chain and you get paid by the number of rooms you can "make-up" in two hours. The rooms have to look and smell good enough so that if you were checking into the motel yourself, you wouldn't have to call the front desk and complain or write a bad report on the "how did we do" deal. Slipshod the whole house weekly; front to back, top to bottom and vacuum your way out of each room. Don't clean it unless it's either and eyesore or an embarrassment. Use products that you like to smell. You can slipshod alone or with a significant other. Alone, you'll only need one cleaning caddy (with another, you'll need a duplicate caddy with the same products... glass/surface cleaner, furniture polish, scouring powder, etc.) sponges and odd socks on each hand (one wet for getting smudges, the other dry for buffing).
Granted, there will be pockets of filth that slipshodding won't address. Only detailing will and that can wait until after the New Year. In January, we'll help you de-junk in zones and then we'll attack the pockets and clean them out. You might want to drop the hint that you want our Bound to Be Organized video with a packet of fillers for your personal day planner. Just a hint, but that gift would benefit the whole family. Even if you aren't on the program, you can still take advantage of weekly slipshodding. If you'll like to get on a better track in 1999 and have next Christmas run more smoothly, give us a call. In the meantime, blow off the rest of December and slipshod your way through the holidays with peace of mind!
Merry Christmas,
Pam and Peggy