We need a little grit in our house, you know?
Like, the boys literally kept falling. They're
running. Yeah. Yeah. I think they fell like seven
times in that first, like, hour of them coming
home. They need grippy socks. It's like, oh,
man, this is not working out. Welcome back to
Keep It Good. I'm your host, Emily. And I'm your
host, Carly. So today's episode is all about
the game you will never win. What game are we
speaking of? That would be keeping your damn
house clean. It's a never ending cycle. That
is so true. So what is, like, what do you do?
What's your... Well, I do all the things and
then it lasts for about 15 minutes until the
kids come home like Tasmanian devils. You know,
I could spend all day cleaning just for it to
look like I didn't spend all day cleaning. But
do you do that? Like, do you actually clean your
house all in one day? Oh, yeah. Yep. If I'm off
from work, I mean, I don't go, like, deep clean,
you know, windows and scrubbing the floor and
all that, but, yeah, I can get it all done in
a solid day. What do you... Do you have, like,
a special routine? Um... Yeah, my routine is
freaking chaos. I have absolutely no routine
at all. It is ADHD at its finest. And I am all
over the place. It's insane. I mean, are you
like that? Or do you go room by room? First of
all, do you put music on? It depends. If I'm
by myself, then yes. But I'm upstairs, downstairs,
this room, that room. It's just like... music
from our Alexa or something, but no, I'm a complete
shit show cleaner. Like, it's crazy. I set the
mood for myself. I will throw on some Creedence
Clearwater and light myself a good incense, and
then I just hit the town running. I start basically,
you know, get a load of laundry in, so that's
like... I'm all about multitasking. I'm very
big on that, so... Yes. That's right off the
bat. If I can get like... four or five loads
done throughout my whole cleaning process. Like
that's cool. But yeah, I'll start with all surfaces,
bathrooms, and then last, I'll vacuum. But like
I said, it lasts for a good, I don't know, 20
minutes of like pure bliss. And I'm like, oh,
this is a lovely, lovely home. No, everybody
leave. We're leaving the house. Everybody get
out. Nobody move. Yeah, no, I am like, do you
go room by room though? Like, how do you do it?
For vacuuming? Yes. Do you? No. I would love,
love to finish a room and then on to the next
area. This is me. I'll start, let's just say
I'm starting in the kitchen. Same thing though.
I always start laundry because that takes a while,
right? So something's happening. I like to think
that I am good at multitasking, but I am terrible.
I'm like by the seam of my pants with everything
I do. But say I'm in the kitchen. and I'm like
spraying down the countertops. Now I've moved
over to like where the sink is and I'm like,
oh, let me put the cup in the dishwasher. Now
I'm in the dishwasher. Then I realized that something
has dripped. So now I'm wiping the drip that
I see on the cabinet. And then on the floor,
I see a headband. So now I'm putting the headband
where all the girls' like hair stuff is. But
then, you know, grabbing something that I see
on that table and now I'm upstairs in the bathroom.
So now I'm cleaning a toilet. And then you have
like a cleaning house scavenger hunt sounds like
it's insane It's and I think like as I'm doing
it, I'm like I'm getting so much done, but I'm
really not I'm all over the house. Yeah, like
no one room is ever fully cleaned. Oh my god
It's just it's it's insane and I'm sure there's
other people like me, but I wish I was more methodical
I am just not I am all over the place then I'm
folding laundry then I'm like it's it's insane
Well, it's hard to, like, I'm not totally methodical.
I'm typically just very much with my vacuuming.
I don't know why, but it's like, I have a specific
outline of how I vacuum my house. You know, like
I'll start in the hallway, the living room, then
the front room, the dining room, then I go around
to my kitchen. Like, I've tried doing it in a
different order, and it's like I'm cleaning someone
else's house. Like, the angle's all wrong. vacuum
doesn't, you know, work the same way. Like, I
just feel like I'm on vacation and I'm cleaning
someone else's house, and I'm like, what? This
is so weird. Well, maybe that's kind of fun.
Maybe you should be on vacation. Maybe someone
else's house. But I don't want to clean on vacation.
Yeah, that's true. That's true. Yeah, no. Like,
it's just the vacuuming. Like, it's very, I don't
know, it's weird. I can't do it any other way.
It just doesn't work. I can't be the only one
who thinks like that. No, I'm sure there's...
the two different, like, sides of it. I'm just
a scatter. I'm a freaking disaster when it comes
to it. But in the end, it does all get done,
but yeah. In the end, everything is done except
for the laundry. All the loads that I just spent
all day, like, by the time I'm done, they're
just... They live in the laundry basket. And,
you know, maybe one day, like, three days later,
I'll get around to putting them away. But I just
hate laundry. I hate it. It's my number one chore
that I've never been a fan of. I just, there's,
it's just never ending. It's a constant. No,
I feel you there. I do, I used to be really good
and I would do a load a day and then fold at
night once the kids were asleep. But as the kids
have gotten older and we've gotten busier all
week long, I do do the laundry. But then our
guest room, has become just full of clean clothes
through the week. And basically on Sundays is
when I fold, which also ends up taking me hours.
I try to do some if I can during the week, but
it's just how it is. It's been like that for
probably the past two years. So that's just what
I do. I don't understand like how we go through
so much clothes, you know, like I did catch my
kids, like they were lazy and they didn't want
to put away the clothes. So they threw it in
the dirty laundry. And I was like, it didn't
take me a while. until I caught on and I was
like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Why are these clothes
folded? I'm like, we're not playing this game.
Absolutely not, no. We're not adding a whole
other level to the cleaning fiasco as it is.
So, I mean, we've kind of gotten my kids clothes.
I have organized like so good. I organize my
kids more than I organize myself. My closets,
forget it. You'll be finding... an ice skate,
and then a tampon, and then, you know, there's
no organization there. It's got tax papers, like...
Yeah. Well, you have a huge walk -in closet,
and so I think that's part of it. When you have
more space, too, it's probably... It becomes
the perfect hiding spot to all the random stuff.
Right. So I'm, like, searching. I'm like, I know
I have a gray tank top. I know it. I feel like
it's over here. I saw it next to the ice gate
last week, so I got up. I remember vividly, and
then, you know, it's like horrible, but my kids
are, I have them so organized. I wish I was my
kid, honestly, but one thing we did start was
like every Sunday, because the mornings are crazy
trying to get to school. I bought this organizer
at Walmart that you hang in the closet, and every
Sunday I do the boys' clothes. They fold it.
I taught them how to fold it with like, do you
remember going to the mall and like Abercrombie
or something, and they would have those folding,
it's like a paddle, but it was like, it looked
like a - Yeah, oh yeah. I worked at Eblen's for
two. I know how to fold a shirt on a paddle.
Yeah, so I give them a magazine or a book, right,
and I taught them how to do it where you like
fold it over, flip it, and then it looks like
JCPenney's. They think it's a game, so they love
folding their clothes now. I'm like, oh, lucky
you. Ooh, that's a good idea. Yeah, it's fun.
And so then on Sundays, we lay out Monday through
Friday, school clothes, after school sports clothes,
all of it. So it's ready. We're done. And it's
literally so much better in the mornings because
we're like, we've already discussed it. We already
know what we're... Because before it was like,
oh my God, my kid, I love him. He's so cute.
But he would come down with like a button up
shirt with a tie and like... I'm like, honey,
no. And it would be like, nothing matches, you
know? Like, he has no sense of, like, anything
matching. Or my other kid will be just, he'll
throw on anything. He looks like a bum. You know?
I'm like, no. Like, can we meet somewhere in
the middle, guys? Like, do they ever change their
mind? Like, with what they had picked out for
Wednesday? No. See, I'm lucky they're, well,
no. I can't say that because something will come
up. like this morning actually, we had our outfit
laid out and my little guy was like, well, so
-and -so said that he was gonna wear this sweatshirt
today and I have the same one, so we're gonna
match. And so I'm gonna wear this instead. And
it's like, okay. Right, of course. I don't really
care. Pick your battles, right? Yeah. But for
the most part, it's just so much better and easier
in the morning just by doing that one thing.
It was a game changer this school year, for sure.
That's a really good tip. I love that. I'm gonna
have to... I'm gonna have to do that, because
that is one of our battles most mornings. And
I let my little one dress like she's, she, you
would die of what she had on today, but I don't
care. It is just a battle with the girls, so
it would probably be easier. I don't know if
they would stick to it, but it's probably worth
a shot. Yeah. I could see girls being a little
bit more picky, because for the most part, I
let them pick it out, and then I'll go through
and find Komet and be like, no, buddy, this...
It's a lot of green going on with this outfit.
You know, it's like head to toe. I'm like, you
have 50 shades of green right now? No. So we'll
mix it up. Do you have organizers in your drawers?
In my bathroom, yes, for like my hair elastics
and stuff, but not... No, I mean, you saw my
closet. It's a complete mess. I don't have like
a dresser. Yeah, so that, we do that. And I started
that when the kids were little. I didn't really
have that in my drawers, but I do now for...
you know, socks, bras, underwear, and things
like that, but especially their stuff because
it's so tiny. When they were babies, I bought
like these collapsible kind of organizers so
you could like section things off. And that was
super helpful. So I brought that into my clothes
somewhat. But we just did that, too, with all
the kids' stuff, like for their bathrooms. And
we have this table in our family room that we
used to keep diapers and wipes and things like
that in, but now has become all the girls' stuff,
like sunglasses, hair elastics, headbands. Oh,
that's a good idea. Just the girly stuff that
they want, like, to do right before we're heading
out the door. Smart. And you want to know that
there's stuff in there. But we bought, you know,
little plastic cheap $2 things at Target to just
kind of keep them organized. And we do that,
too, in, like, our finished basement or our playroom
with baskets, which I think a lot of families
do. because you're not going to keep everything
super organized, but the baskets make it look
clean, right? So you can just dump all the stuff
in there. And that's been super helpful, especially
with the small stuff, or even just like all the
dolls, you know? That you stuff them in this
nice basket, and you can't even see them. It's
perfect. Yeah. Oh, no, I loved the baskets when
we had the playroom. I just switched our playroom
to that yoga reiki room. because it was the first
room in the house. It was literally always covered
with Legos, things like it was a constant everyday
fight. And ever since, we have not thought about
that room. Imagine that. Right. But I let them
kind of have a portion of the closet in that
room where we have a big tote with all their
toys. And then I keep like three down in the
basement and I kind of cycle them out. Because,
you know, all of a sudden, you haven't played
with this toy in seven months, and it's brand
new when we pull up the tote, you know, and they're,
like, more engaged with it versus it just hangs
out on the floor. Yeah, absolutely. Scattered.
What about, like, I wipe down things all the
time. The high touch points, like, I'm a little
bit of a germaphobe, so I got to keep shit clean.
You would think I'd be a germaphobe being a nurse,
but I'm not. I'm, like, you know, I'm quite the
opposite, really. I mean, I... I don't know.
It's just, I feel like it builds your immune
system. Totally. You know? I understand that
too. I just, I can't do it. I know. Like we have
like the stomach bug going around in the house.
Like yeah, I'll definitely up my game. But for
the most part, I just kind of wipe down the counter
and the kitchen table. And that's it. Like I
don't do the touch points. I clean my bathroom.
Otherwise we're just like roughing it here. That's
like the one thing that I have like a plan with
when I'm wiping down all those things, like the
doorknobs and the kitchen cabinet handles and
all that. Like I do have a method to my madness,
but otherwise my cleaning situation is like,
ooh, to be a fly on the wall. I must look like
a nut, an absolute nut. I mean, that's funny
that you're like that on the inside, but like
when I go out to do yard work, yeah, there's
no, there's no method to my madness. And so I'm
constantly like, I'll make a pile and then I'm
dragging that pile over to the other ones and
then I see all these weeds in this area so then
I start this one and then I go over and oh this
needs to get pulled out and then you know Steve
will come home and be like oh like there's like
17 different piles all over my yard. See if I
help outside I definitely don't bounce around
so that is weird. I'm crazy inside but outside
I'm not. I become one with the squirrels outside.
I'm just like all over the place. I'm running
with them. Yeah. Frolicking. On to the next,
boys. Let's go. Does Steve help you like inside
with stuff? Like how do you guys separate? So
we are an unstoppable team together with everything
in life. We just tag team everything. So the
one thing that is designated to him, which I
just needed it off my plate in the mornings,
is He wakes up really early before me and he
makes his lunch for work. So he'll just make
the kids lunch while he's making his. And let
me tell you, I mean, I think I fell more in love
with him for him doing that. But yeah, he took
that over and like every once in a while, you
know, I'll do it. And for the most part, he mows
the lawn. And I just longingly look at him from
the window, like, can we switch? Can you teach
me how to ride that? Because it looks more enjoyable
than... You look like you're having fun while
I'm in here yelling. Yeah, I think the same thing.
They're writing and listening to music or a podcast
or something amazing. Yeah, right? They're living
their best life. Just some personal time out
there. Yeah, in that lawnmower. Looks pretty
fun. Maybe we'll learn something new this summer,
and we can start mowing the lawn. We're going
to be mowing the lawn. Yeah, I like that. That'll
be a new task to learn this summer. Yeah, I'll
be like, hey, bud, you go clean the toilet, and
I'm going to hop on that and just take an hour
ride. I'll be like in the neighbor's yard. Like,
it'll just be bad news. I probably shouldn't
even be in the tunnel. Just practicing my lines.
That's the thing. My husband would not let me
because, like, Oh yeah. I feel like he treats
it like a baseball, like a professional baseball
field. I would be nuts. It's an art project.
Yeah, totally. Totally. Yeah, men in their lawn
can't come anywhere near it. Yeah, it's like
a carpet. It's really nice, actually, I have
to say. He does a good job. But he's more the
outdoor guy. I do more of the indoor stuff. It's
just kind of how it's been. And honestly, I'm
really not good at the outdoor stuff, so I'd
rather not anyway. Love I mean most of the time
in the summer. We're all outside. Yeah, cuz there's
just so much to do and like So my house really
doesn't get too clean in the summer, you know,
I'd rather spend all my day in the garden then
Dusting yeah. Oh, I feel you but one thing I
did get that helps I have a lot of windows and
they're weird windows. They like crank out You
know, so it's like it opens. I don't know the
casement windows or however you name it But so
it's kind of a hassle to clean with like Windex
and all that. So my neighbor sells Norwex. I
think I'm saying it right. Yeah, I know what
you're talking about. So it's basically two cloths,
right? And you just wet this one cloth that's
like your designated wet cloth and you wipe the
window and then you dry it with the other one.
And it's literally cleaner than I've ever seen
in my life. And it takes no time at all. It's
so easy to use. I was like, wow, this is... I'm
not like a big, I don't know, I just don't like
order a lot of stuff like that, you know, like
Pampered Chef and like all these things. Like,
yeah, I'll get like one little thing when I go
to a party. But this, I was like, I will order
75 of these because in case they ever cancel
this product, I'm gonna be heartbroken. Like
this is a really cool thing. So it essentially
is like a windex. You can use that in mirrors.
Oh, yeah, everything. But you're literally just
wetting this cloth. Okay. And it's not like,
you know those microfiber cloths? I can't even
touch it. Oh my god, me either. That really tells
you if you have dry skin. Oh god, I could feel
it right now. I'm just gonna shiver. Same. I
can't. I need to put on a glove to use those
things. It's like instant ick. I don't know.
So gross. But it's not like that. So I can touch
it, thankfully. I might need to try it. Yeah,
next time she does anything, I'll let you know.
Have you ever, um... Like, speaking of deep cleaning,
when the boys were little, my husband was pretty
thoughtful, and he, like, got me, like, a gift
card to, like, this, um, cleaning service, right?
Mm -hmm. It was for Mother's Day, and he was
like, I just want to take off, you know, some
of your chores for, like, the month of, you know,
May or whatever. And it really intensified my
OCD because I came home, and I was like, oh,
this is... This is not okay. I was like walking
around rearranging everything. Like I didn't
know that I was so particular, but I guess I
am. How things are like laid out and spaced and
like set to an angle or not set to an angle.
So that was like, whoa. And then the reason why
we stopped, like I could get over that part,
but the reason we stopped was my boys kept falling
because the floors were so clean. Oh, she was
so good at her job that my floors were too clean.
Like, we need a little grit in our house, you
know? Like, the boys literally kept falling.
They're running. Yeah. Yeah. I think they fell,
like, seven times in that first, like, hour of
them coming home. And I was like, it's like,
oh, man, this is not working out. Well, and we
do have some help at our house, too, with that.
We do have, you know, a cleaning woman who comes,
and it's amazing. But I am... like cleaning like
a mad lady before she comes. Yeah, same. And
sometimes, you know, I'll message her. I'm like,
oh, yeah, don't go in the playroom. But, and
it really just helps keep it like status quo.
And my husband, I have busy jobs and you know,
just the help of it. It started when I was pregnant
because I had really bad hip problems. And as
I got further along, it was just, you know, a
nice little help. And we love her very much,
but there's still a lot to do even with her coming.
It doesn't come every week, but. It is a nice
help, I highly recommend it. Maybe I could try
it again and just be like, don't wash the floors.
I'll do the floors because I like to vacuum very
methodically. Yes, kind of therapeutic for me,
vacuuming. Yeah, oh it is. When you can scrub
down the house, it's very therapeutic. Yeah,
but like having her come in, I was like legit
cleaning my house to have her come and clean
my house. No, I know. But that's so common because...
other people who have, you know, shared with
me that they have someone, they're like, oh,
sorry, I'm late. I was cleaning my house because
the cleaning service, you know, everyone's the
same. It's funny. Yeah. It's just what it is.
It's just part of it. It's like an oxymoron,
you know? It is. It really is, for sure. What
about like, I know that you stage your home.
Oh, I love it. Like cleaning it in a different
way. That's like a different kind of cleaning,
right? Yes. Mystical clean. Yeah, the magical
mystical clean. Yeah, I sage it. I light incense.
I do simmer pots. It's I feel like cleaning the
energy in your home is Sometimes more important
than cleaning the dust off the mantle, you know,
it's like oh It's just opening the windows even
just and I just think of like letting in all
the positivity and Letting go of all the negativity,
you know, yeah cuz um, yeah, everyone loves a
good Fresh air right in the house. I love opening
the windows. You're just taking it to another
level Yeah, I've never done so I'm curious put
a little intention into it next time, you know
is everything I do is with intention to bring
about positivity or abundance Prosperity like
whatever I I do like cinnamon on the first of
the month. Do you do that or have you ever heard
of that? No What are you doing with cinnamon?
Oh, all right Next first of the month, I read
that when you open the front door and you blow
cinnamon into your house, with your, you know,
you just pour a little bit into your palm and
you just put into the intention like, please
bring me prosperity, good health, abundance.
Like you just want like a good, good vibe for
the upcoming month. Then you blow the cinnamon
into your home and you let it sit for 24 hours.
Like you don't vacuum. And I've been doing it
for like the past two years. Like I love it.
Cinnamon is really good luck. I burn a lot of
sage or palo santo, santo, however you say it.
And I also have like these little chimes, which
I had bought to cleanse the energy that was just
kind of like sitting stagnant. But I also use
it in my reiki now, because it breaks up the
energy in your body too. At least I think I like
to believe in all the weird stuff. I like it.
But it's fun, but simmer pots is like, oh, I
love, I love. But as we recently learned, you
can't forget about the simmer pot. You cannot
forget about the simmer pot. Yeah, don't forget.
Because you have to keep adding water, right?
I mean, that's basically. Yes. Yeah. So it evaporates.
We got together last week and I had my simmer
pot going and I totally forgot about it. And
I had like burnt oranges to my pan. that literally
took me three days to get out from the pan, and
my house smelled like burnt oranges. So I didn't
really bring in the prosperity and abundance
that I was hoping for. Well, I didn't mind the
smell. I thought it was okay. You were not happy
with it, but I came in, I was like, oh my God,
what is that smell? I was like, shit, I have
a simmer pot. Well, honestly, that was my fault
too, because I put the water in it, and I probably
didn't, like, we had filled it up, and then I
probably didn't put enough. But lesson learned.
Now I know when I ever do a simmer pot, lots
of water. Remember the pot. Remember that the
pot is burning. But the simmer pot is so fun
because you can do all different types. I gave
away simmer pots for Christmas gift in like mason
jars and it was like cinnamon sticks and thyme
and cranberries and bay leaf. Like you can just
look up different recipes and they all bring
different little, you know. Just intention to
your life. Yeah, I love those. And I love, I
don't know, just the idea. Whatever. It's the
placebo effect. I'm all for the placebo effect.
Yeah, I agree. Yeah. Why not? Believe in something.
Yeah. Well, at my salon, too, my husband and
I purchased it four years ago. We had moved from
a rental property and decided to buy after COVID.
And there was just some weird happenings going
on there. coming back to the stage and Palisanto
and stuff and Carly took our group of friends
to this really cool spot near us and they saw
like crystals and all that kind of stuff and
I was telling the woman who owns the shop I'm
like some of my staff thinks that this building
is haunted or they hear things or like you know
this machine goes off in this room but no one's
even upstairs or whatever the deal was so that
was kind of cool too because she gave me some
good ideas with like crystals and keeping them
near our front door so when people walk in because
it's just there's so much energy in different
people right we have people in and out all day
um and that was kind of cool so do you know much
about the crystal stuff because i do not i just
got what she said to get and we really don't
feel like we have any of that right oh yeah i
love crystals i have like a few scattered around
my house but i don't really know like all the
meanings to them but Every time I go to Florida
or to the Bell and Raven, that's the store that
we went to. It's like my favorite store. I'll
always look at the crystals and get like, oh,
this one means positivity. Boop, I'm bringing
you home. I don't know, I'm just very superstitious,
I guess, with just wanting to surround myself
with positivity and just good fortune and good
health and whatever. One year, my in -laws were
like, what do you guys want for Christmas? And
instead of asking for like the typical whatever,
I was going to this shaman after COVID. And there
was, she's just really cool. And like, it was
like going to a therapist, but not really like,
you know, I was able to kind of let go a lot
of what I experienced during COVID. And, and
she was just incredible. And so I, she offers
like house energy clearings and all this stuff.
So I said, I would love for Karen to come to
my house and do like an energy cleaning. And
this was just a few years ago. And so my mother
-in -law got me that for Christmas. And I was
like, you would have thought I won the lottery
when I opened that. I was so excited. She came
to my house. She taught me all the tricks with
like the chiming. I had never done that before,
but energy can be stored in your walls. And like,
you know, so she She just helped me think of
different ways to kind of rearrange my son's
room, to help with his sleep, and she did a blessing
on her house, and it was just so cool. That's
really neat. I just love things like that. Well,
it's just showing that there's different ways
to clean. There's like the physical cleaning
of getting dirt off, but then there's the energy
clearing, too. We spend so much time in our home,
and I think that's a really... I never really
thought about it like that. And... I'm going
to implement the cinnamon for sure. That'll be
my first try. We'll do cinnamon on the first.
Cinnamon and some simmer pot. I love it. Because
you think of all you see is the physical clutter,
but there is so much other clutter that's just
in your air. I don't know. I just love the idea
of, it's Wednesday. I'm going to sage the shit
out of this house, and we're going to have a
fantastic week. Yeah, I love that. It just keeps
me kind of like up B and the kids love it. You
know, I'll give them the chimes and they'll walk
around the house and just make a lot of noise.
It's basically just noise to break up the stagnant
energy and like bring about movement. But yeah,
it's just that never ending game. Yeah, it is.
That was a perfect thing. It is true. It is a
game. You have to like psych yourself up. Yeah.
I think if you're just mentally prepared going
in that Your house will only be cleaned for like
the 20 minutes before your kids get home. So
enjoy it. Make yourself a cup of coffee. Sit
and just relish in it and enjoy it. And then
just be okay with it, you know, falling apart
again, I guess. Well, I think that's all for
today. I hope, yeah, just try the cinnamon the
next first of the month. Maybe do a little magic
in your kitchen and try a little simmer pot and
bring a little positivity and prosperity, abundance,
good health, fresh energy. Try all the things
instead of just dusting. I love that. Well, the
quote for this week is, this house was clean
yesterday. We're sorry you missed it. This is
unknown to you, but I think that's the perfect
way. Absolutely. Yeah, I love it because it's
so true, right? yeah well anyway we hope you
guys have a good week and as usual keep it good