Happy & Healthy

My mother's cleaning lessons

About a week ago, we went to Paris for a week with my mother. That meant two hotel rooms. One for us and one for grandma, and the daughters would divide themselves over our rooms depending on their mood. Well. That was clear. You had to be with ‘omie’.

When I left our room in the morning, it seemed as if Freek Vonk had brought all his dinosaurs to life at night and let them run wild in our little Parisian room. When I arrived at my mother's room 319, everything was perfectly arranged. Even though she had three wild girls staying over. The bed was made, nothing was lying around the room, and the bathroom looked as if the lady from room service had just popped in for an extra service.

Which was not the case. My mother is simply the neatest person on earth. I share some of her lessons. Honestly, you will never be as perfect as she is (after 43 years in her presence, I still haven't managed that), but you might learn a little something.

1. Tidy is neat

My mother immediately rolls up her sleeves. While we drink coffee, she can easily tackle that laundry basket. Or clean out her toiletry bag. Or quickly go through that pile of mail and immediately throw away the junk mail. Without it being uncomfortable, you know. She just does it.

2. Gone is gone

My mother (and my father, by the way) are from the throwaway & co. company. Empty bottles are immediately disposed of while they take the kids to school. And the old paper too. Things you don't want to forget, you take a picture of, but otherwise, off it goes. What you don't feel, you don't miss.

3. Appearance is everything

When my mother takes off her cardigan, she will not wear it inside out over her arm in one motion. With some people, you see seams and a label. With my mother, you don't. It takes the same effort, but it looks just a bit neater. And thus less messy. That's why she also quickly brushes her hair and puts on lipstick while waiting at the red light. And she throws away socks with holes. And worn-out underwear. Off it goes.

”Even a jar of jam did not make it to our Sunday breakfast table”

4. Do it now

Immediately load the dishwasher, then it's done. And wipe the countertop. Quick quick. You can also keep talking while doing that.

5. Everything in a bowl

Ketchup bottles and jars of mayonnaise are a no-go in the Mobach household. Even a jar of jam did not make it to our Sunday breakfast table. You served some in a nice bowl and placed a silver spoon next to it. That way, you couldn't tell that the jam was secretly from a B-brand, because that's how my mother is.

6. A bedspread!

That's really an Eureka moment. Buy a bedspread. My mother's bedroom is always at a five-star level. Why? Because she folds her bed perfectly straight to air it out and then closes it again with a bedspread. This way, everything looks perfectly straight and tightly arranged. Just buy a somewhat stylish bedspread, okay, not one of those fluffy ones that some women also buy toilet seat holders (they really exist).

7. Like with like

My mother categorizes everything. She has a basket with all her hairdryer accessories. And hairdryer and mousse and rollers and brushes; the whole shebang is neatly in a little box. And that is then placed at the bottom of her spotless closet.

8. Do a little bit at a time

My mother just occasionally takes a drawer and goes through it. Her underwear drawer, my children's closet... She doesn't procrastinate and divides her tasks into manageable bites of household work, making the job always seem easier.

And you know what? It becomes addictive, so before you know it, your house is spick and span. Forget Martha Stewart, here is Pleuny Mobach.