Christmas And Cleaning – And Why It Works

Wait, what?! Cleaning on Christmas? Isn’t that the time of the year when you are supposed to put your feet on the couch, make yourself a hot cup of cappuccino, and enjoy a well-earned rest? I must have lost my mind! 

And yet, I have found, to my surprise, that those two things work surprisingly well. You must be thinking that I am something of a Grinch and don’t like the holidays. While I admit that I am not into the whole festive bruhaha, giving and receiving gifts and gathering the entire family around the table is a pretty special occasion.

The Two Types Of Christmas Cleaning

So how does cleaning fit into the picture? First, I will have to define the two types of Christmas cleaning and how you can approach them most effectively. Of course, there is the inevitable post-dinner doing of the dishes, sweeping the food leftovers, and dealing with the occasional stain or two. On Boxing Day, you will have a lot of gift wrapping flying all over the floor, and God knows what else – depending on the presents. While these chores are tiresome and time-consuming, they are also mundane, and you should be able to deal with them in a couple of hours. Moreover, unless you are celebrating in someone else’s house, they are inevitable – so no matter how much you detest them, put your big-girl pants on and get to work.

The second type of Christmas cleaning, however, is more interesting and will be the main topic of this post. It is the kind of housekeeping tour de force that you usually do in the spring or whenever you get the inspiration for it. I am talking about a thorough and detailed cleaning of as many rooms in the house as you can get your hands on – the more, the better.

Why Cleaning During The Holidays Works For My Family

Before I go on, I must admit a couple of peculiar points concerning my family. First, what is the point of cleaning around Christmas if you throw a big New Years party, you may ask? Well, we rarely celebrate New Year’s Eve at home – we either go to my husband’s or my parents’ house and have a nice meal with a few family friends and close relatives, or we decide to book a guest house with a couple of other families, and we leave London. 

Second, the idea of doing anything related to housekeeping around the Holidays if you have small kids in the household is ludicrous. It is the most special time of the year for young children, and you do not want to miss the chance to spend every minute you can spare with them. However, my kids are already teenagers, and the least appealing prospect is to spend the whole day with their inquisitive mom. Gosh, even convincing them to sit still and without their phones during the Christmas Eve meal is a tremendous feat! They are usually out with their friends or in the living room, plugged into their smartphone world of social media and games. 

Cleaning Tour de Force – Roll Up The Sleeves

So I have the whole house for myself – my husband tactfully retreats in the living-room, and spends most of the day in front of the telly (fine by me). Since it’s Christmas and there is not much else to do, putting the place in order sounds like a decent enough job. Think about it – the gift buying is over, the cacophony of preparing the Christmas meal is behind you, and most of your friends have some other plans for the day. Besides, when will you have so much free time and lack other duties again? 

Now that you have set your mind on the job, do not waver or procrastinate. It would be a good idea to make sure nothing surprising would spring out of the open – like your sister dropping by for a quick visit. Clean quickly and decisively, and use as much of your initial energy before it wears off. My tip is to start from the most challenging room in the house – in my case, it is the bathroom. I do not believe in making lists of tasks – as if I do not know my home well enough so that I need a reminder of what to clean.

If all this sounds like an unbearable hassle and the most abhorring way to spend Christmas, I will give you the perfect alternative. A good friend of mine who lives in Fulham mentioned a great deal she found on the Internet. Apparently, a local company has come up with a special one-off house cleaning holiday deal that offers some excellent discounts. What can I say – some people will always look for the easy way out, LOL!