The holidays are here, and that brings ALL the feels. For me, it’s a time to reflect on all that I’m grateful for, and to see the joy in the ‘small’ things – not dwell in the overwhelm of the to-do lists. Let’s take a minute to refresh our minds with the important things this holiday season.

As a mom, I often dread the long holiday to-do list.

But, when the kids ask me what my favorite part of the holidays is, it’s this, watching them all savor in the moments and the details that go into the to-dos, spending time together, and seeing their faces light up. It’s the innocence of our 13-year-old who asks how the tree is doing when I pick him up from school (as if it’s a real person), watching him take such care with the tree, and having so much appreciation for the time together with family. This is what makes me happy.

In case you don’t know me, I’m Ashley, the founder, and owner of AMK. My family and I live, work, and play in Eau Claire. We are a blended family with 5 boys. Ages 14, 13, 8, 2, and 7 months.

Many people often ask if my house is immaculately clean since I own a cleaning company.

Absolutely not! With five young boys, my house is probably dirtier than most.

With that, I can finally say I am not ashamed that my house is on AMK’s weekly cleaning schedule! I am so proud of it.

For many years I felt like, ‘Who am I to think I need or deserve weekly services? But over time, I’ve found that it’s more about what we value and what we want to spend our time doing. I know how short life is, and I’d rather hand off the cleaning chores to someone else so I can receive more time with my loved ones.

I may be biased, but I fully believe our team at AMK is THE best, and having our team clean is one of the key ingredients for our family functioning in our busy lives (and keeping my fiancé and me out of relationship counseling! 😉 )

On the days when the AMK schedule is busy, my house is the first one to be pulled if a client needs my spot (and you can usually tell if you come to my house and see the extra messes – because we depend so much on that service.)

Our clients deserve their cleanings first so that they can make the most of their family time.

After all, it’s because of them that my family is allowed to be and do the things that we do. I am so grateful that we get to serve so many amazing people in the Chippewa Valley.

Having help with cleaning is more than just a convenience. It’s the difference between being able to spend time with the kids after dinner or putting our feet up at the end of the day and catching up with each other.

Family is so important to us, and we want to extend that to our staff and our clients. Each Black Friday, we give our residential cleaning staff off for a Family First PTO Day. We started this in memory of my father, who passed away after the holiday four years ago.

Because our cleaning got pushed off the list, I kept my youngest three kiddos busy cleaning after hosting our family Thanksgiving.

Trust me; it’s not always easy to convince them to help out with cleaning. Minutes prior, complete chaos and messes were being made. The 2-year-old had emptied the cabinet of diapers and strewn them all over the living room.

Our 13-year-old wanted the Christmas decor up, and the 2-year-old wanted to see and touch everything!

Our 8-year-old wanted to make slime, and the infant rolled around, following everyone.

So, my message today is simply life is short.

Make memories.

Let messes be messes and spend time together. That is what is important for the holiday season.

Try to get the family involved when possible and when that doesn’t happen, delegate the cleaning!

Whether you’re looking for a cleaning company or an individual, feel free to reach out to us for help. We will certainly assist if we can, and if not, we will make sure to refer and connect you to the right fitting industry professionals in the Chippewa Valley.

We wish you nothing but peace, love, and joy this Holiday Season!