Don't be a hater.

When I'm hatin' housework more than usual, here are a few things I do:

• If I absolutely feel like I cannot do laundry, that it will scar me psychically, I just do a load of towels. Lord knows we always have plenty of towels in the hamper, and they're the easiest to do.


• Set a timer, and clean for just 15 minutes. I think I got this one from the FlyLady. I joined FlyLady for about 2 days, before I realized, judging from the 18 thousand emails in my in box that I had joined a cult, or a pyramid scheme, or something. Strangely having to empty my mailbox 12 times a day, did not help me feel less overwhelmed about keeping my house clean. The FlyLady is a great system, I'm sure, but I need simple and low key. Systems make me both rebellious and discouraged.
  


• Have a cleaning party. Write some chores on slips of paper. Buy some balloons. Stick the slips of paper in the balloons, and either blow them up, or fill them with helium. Take turns with family members popping balloons. Pop a balloon, and then everybody has to go do that chore together. Put on some music, dance and sing while you do it. When your done with that chore, give each other a cheer and a high five, make a toast with some lemonade, then do the next chore. This works really well on days when you have a lot of cleaning, and NO motivation.