Falling Into A Routine
While I may be nesting, which proves a very effective way of temporarily getting my house clean, it is exactly that: temporary. I am in desperate need of a system that will help me to fall into a cleaning routine. When I was a kid, my three older siblings and I would clean the kitchen every night after dinner, which included washing, drying and putting away dishes, cleaning all of the counter tops and everything that sits on them, and sweeping the floors. On Saturdays, we would have “thorough chores” that included changing the sheets, dusting, moving furniture to vacuum carpeted floors, sweeping and mopping (on hands and knees) hard floors, scrubbing bathrooms from ceiling to floor with bleach to get up any mold that may have started growing and any other intense chores that needed to be done. All before 10:00 am when my mother woke up.
While that system definitely worked, especially with 3-4 people tackling all of the work together, as an adult, I resent the idea of waking up early especially on a Saturday. Furthermore, I detest washing dishes. It’s the single worst chore ever but the practical side of me is disgusted by the clutter and dirt build up when I’m not nesting. I recognize that this is a genuine danger for a baby to be around. Choking hazards, hard floors that should be mopped more often to prevent germ build up, and the dishes, oh the dishes! I have anywhere between six and eleven weeks to get into a cleaning habit before this baby gets here, and I may have found a system that works.
While perusing Pinterest, I found a graphic that had the following cleaning schedule: Mounds Monday (laundry day), Toilet Tuesday (bathroom day), Window Wednesday (windows and bedroom days), Thirsty Thursday (water plants and kitchen day), Flooring Friday (clean all of the floors). I’m going to give it a try this week and see how my house looks on Saturday. With any luck, this will be a manageable way to keep some semblance of order in my house without being constantly overwhelmed by the amount of work that is always there to be done. I am adding one small modification to the “Clean Routine” I found on Pinterest: Daily Dishes.
What’s your cleaning schedule look like? Is it a little bit every day, or an intense once a week project? How do you manage to keep your home clean with a baby to take care of too?
I do a 15 minute a day cleaning and its really worked out. I used to do a huge clean once every other week but it takes 3 hours or so (we have a pretty small house) but still, finding 3 hours was difficult. I started to think that it would be near impossible with an infant and toddler so I needed something else. I linked to the schedule in one of my first posts – Overwhelmed by Eating Clean. I modified it a bit for me – I do both bathrooms on one day instead of taking out those supplies twice during the week. I moved the kitchen day to Wednesday because we usually eat out on Wednesday anyways since we go to church that night and I like to clean the kitchen on a day when I am not going to turn around and cook in it! Try it out – I really like it and it does seem to keep my house cleaner for longer.
Thanks for the idea! I Have been really busy this week and missed one bathroom and Wednesday worth of chores, so I’m giving myself one more week on the Pinterest idea, then I may have to try out your 15 minutes a day schedule.
This seems to be an issue that most women face. We cleaned one way when we were children but find that as an adult (and woman of the house) we need a different routine. I like flylady.com and her ideas about doing a little at a time so as not to get overwhelmed. I have re-worked her plan to fit our lifestyle but I’m still a work in progress. However, with that said, I have an anti-clutter mentality and a strong urge for all surfaces to be clear…at times this creates issues with 4 little ones in the house.
You have a beautiful home, if I haven’t said it before. And I’m always shocked to see four boys running around and your house still looks so beautiful. Thanks for that website suggestion. I’m checking it out now.