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Check out that sparkling floor

When we first decided to sell our house, I told my husband we needed to move out and live in an apartment while the house was on the market. After all, with today's conditions, who knows how long it would take to sell, and with two small kids, how could we possibly keep the house in show condition?

Well, then we looked at the cost of temporary housing - near my office, close to $2,000 a month! There's no way we could afford that plus continue to pay our mortgage. And I also felt like it would be really unfair to The Boy - we'd have to change schools, of course, but it's possible that we'd rent a place in a different school district from where we will eventually buy. It would be really uncool to make the poor kid change schools twice. I feel bad enough that we have to leave his wonderful school near our current home.

So we're living in a staged home. Our real estate agent had a professional stager come in and tell us how to move our furniture around, what pictures on the wall to remove, how to organize our pots and pans cabinets, and what items are allowed to live on the bathroom sink. (Hint: the only useful thing is soap in a fancy container. Everything else either looks pretty or smells pretty.)

And I have to say, it's not that bad. Now, I know as a mom who works outside the home, it's somewhat easier to keep the house clean. After all, no one is in it for eight to ten hours a day. But still, I've learned a few things in the past few weeks that are worth sharing.

First, how to handle the mornings? Well, I get up before the kids and shower and get ready (or my hubby does, depending on whose turn it is to exercise in the morning). I make my bed, put my pajamas away, and sort any dirty clothes into color-coded laundry baskets in the laundry room. The staging professional made me clean off my sink, so all my stuff - lotions, sprays, hairbrush, toothbrush, etc are all in drawers or under the sink - neatly put away. I take out what I need and I put it back in the same place. It's so simple, but I never imagined living like that before! I also take my washcloth and wipe out the sink before I toss that in a laundry room basket, too.

Then I wake the kids. I always lay out The Girl's clothes the night before (so we argue then, instead of in the morning), and each kid dresses him/herself. While they're dressing, I make their beds. The Boy sometimes helps, but he's still a little sloppy so I usually have to re-do it. They each put their dirty clothes and pajamas in the baskets in the laundry room and they each brush their hair and teeth. I supervise, then send them downstairs to start breakfast.

Again, I make sure all their things are put away in the bathroom and the sinks are wiped out. This really only takes a minute. Then I join them downstairs.

Inevitably, because they're kids, there are bits of shredded wheat on my rug and spilled milk on my glass kitchen table. They do use placemats, but stuff gets all over the place anyway. I eat quickly, usually standing up, and if I ran the dishwasher the night before I empty it. When the kids are done, they put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher. The Boy gets out the vacuum and cleans up his shredded wheat. Apparently this is somewhat fun for my easily-entertained seven-year-old, and I love the help. I pull out the glass cleaner and paper towels and quickly wash the table. I make sure everything is put away, then I turn the smooth jazz station on my stereo (apparently houses aren't supposed to be silent when people come to look at them? I'd rather hear nothing than smooth jazz, but that's just me) and get the kids into the car.

I think it's added maybe 10 minutes to our normal morning routine. And you know, it's totally and completely worth it. I love the feeling of walking into a clean house after a long or stressful day. It's one less thing to worry about. It allows me to focus on helping The Boy with his homework or playing a game or something with both kids before bedtime, instead of running around frantic to clean and do laundry (which I have been doing pretty much daily; one load washed, folded, and put away - that's less stress too, because everyone always has something clean to wear).

At night, I still cook. I just spend the few minutes extra to make sure ALL the dishes get washed or put in the washing machine, and I wipe down the stovetop and counters. I can barely remember why I didn't always do this before - just lazy, I guess.

Hubby John and I used to joke about making our bed right before we get into it at night - but it's so peaceful and calming to retire to a clean bedroom with a made bed. Honestly, it makes me feel like I have more time in my day, not less, since at the end of the day I really feel like my work is done. I finished my software development work for the day, I finished my parenting since the kids are in bed, my house is clean, and I have time left to cuddle with my hubby and talk about our days.

So I'm thinking that even when we move and we don't live in a house that NEEDS to be clean all of the time, we should make it our practice anyway. And boy do I want that professional stager to come help me decorate my new house when we move; I had no idea my place with its kid-friendly furniture and artwork could look so good with just a few elegant touches!