I have always been an avid reader, even as a child. In the book, Little House in the Big Woods, written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, there was a routine that her family followed that went something like this:
Wash on Monday
Iron on Tuesday
Mend on Wednesday
Market on Thursday
Clean on Friday
Bake on Saturday
Rest on Sunday
While I do not follow the schedule above, I have found that having assigned tasks to each day makes it much easier to get more accomplished in the week, including maintaining my house. Our house currently averages just over 1,700 square feet and has four (4) bedrooms and two (2) bathrooms. I think that this makes it about average. What may not be so "average" is that it is currently in a state of renovation. This means that the dust and dirt from the second floor can slip through the cracks and settle onto the first floor. When our renovation is done, someday (sigh), I am sure my cleaning routine will change. In the meantime, here is how I have my days assigned.
Sunday
Every Sunday, I try to clean the whole house. What this basically entails is vacuuming every room (Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Downstairs Bath, Upstairs Bath, Hallway, Boy's Bedroom, Girls' Bedroom, and the Master Bedroom) followed by mopping with Pine Sol and cleaning the two bathrooms, plus doing all the laundry. In order to vacuum, each room is quickly straightened up and the floors cleared. I move strategically from one room to the next. Once all the rooms on the first floor are picked up, I then vacuum. After putting the vacuum away, I pour toilet bowl cleaner in the toilet and let that sit while I mop. The first few times I did this, I had to change the water after every room, but now that I do this routine twice a week, I can use the same bucket of water for the entire floor.
While I am working on the first floor, the three youngest children are upstairs doing their morning chores: getting dressed, making their beds, cleaning up their rooms, brushing their teeth, and taking all the dirty laundry downstairs to the basement. The children are also responsible for stripping all the bathrooms of their fuzzy rugs and toilet seat covers. All of the dirty laundry must be downstairs before I start to mop. If it is the first Sunday of the month, they are also required to strip all the bedding to be washed.
Once I have finished mopping the first floor, I quickly wipe down the bathroom mirror, sink, cabinet, and clean the toilet. Then I move upstairs.
My morning routine is basically the same as the kids. Once I am done with my chores, I then vacuum the master bedroom and the hallway to the kids' rooms. They are responsible for vacuuming their own floors. I then finish the hallway and the bathroom. Just like when cleaning downstairs, I throw the toilet bowl cleaner in the toilet and then begin mopping all the floors with Pine Sol. While I am mopping upstairs, the kids head back downstairs for family time and helping with the laundry. After I am done mopping all the rooms but the bathroom, I stop mopping long enough to clean the bathroom just like I did downstairs. Then I mop the bathroom and put everything away.
As for the laundry, I just keep switching loads (or having the kids help) until all the laundry is done. Each person has their own laundry basket that I put the clean, folded clothes in and they are responsible for putting them away and bringing me back the empty basket.
Monday
Monday is usually spent in the Kitchen. I divided my kitchen up into four areas and I focus on cleaning one area each week of the month. Week one is focused on the refrigerator and the surrounding counter and cupboards; week two I tackle the island including the cabinets; week three I focus on the sink, under the sink and the cabinets between the sink and the stove; and finally, in week four I focus on the stove and any remaining counters and cabinets. Most weeks, this just means wiping down splatters on the doors and cleaning the appliances and canisters. My cupboards do not get too messed up with the exception of one lazy susan and one cupboard - both of which are used to hold food. The rest of the time is spent reviewing recipes, updating my meal plan, working on freeze ahead meals, baking, etc.
Tuesday
My husband owns his own business and I also have my own part in the business. Plus we have the usual paperwork and bills that every family gets. Tuesday is now my office day. All week long we throw the mail, work orders, invoices, and all papers into a basket labelled "PROCESS". On Tuesday, I clean out this basket and do whatever needs to be done with each piece of paper. If I have to enter information into the computer, once "processed", I put the paperwork in the "ENTER" basket. Once everything is done in the "process" basket, I then move onto the "enter" basket. Once that is done, my "office work" is done for the day.
Wednesday
For lack of a better description, Wednesday is my maintenance or deep cleaning day. Similar to the kitchen, I have assigned rooms to be cleaned to certain weeks of the month: week one I focus on the Living Room and Dining Room; week two is the Master Bedroom; week three is the kids' bedrooms; and week for is my sewing room (which is the fourth bedroom of the house). When it is a particular room's week, I dust, wash windows, clean glass, clean furniture, or do other type of deep cleaning, depending on the room's unique characteristics. This process ensures that each room of the house is cleaned at least once a month. Which is good enough for me.
Thursday
Thursday is my day to work on whatever projects I want to work on. This can range from a project on the house to working on a larger project for a client to making clothes or sewing a quilt. It's my day to do what I want to do - around homeschooling, of course. And making meals and all the other wonderful responsibilities a wife and mother has.Friday
My Fridays are an exact replica of my Sundays. This is because I do not do any cleaning during the Sabbath and so I want the house cleaned up. I do the cleaning on Sundays too since by Sunday, the house is a mess by my standards. It just happens to work that way for me.
I do have a few tips and tricks that make this routine a little easier. First off, I have a separate vacuum for each level of the house. This saves a lot of time and energy since I do not have to lug the vacuum up and down stairs. Secondly, I hate cleaning the toilet. Let's face it...it is just the most disgusting thing in the house in my opinion. By cleaning it twice a week, my toilet never seems to look dirty and so I don't get grossed out cleaning it. Missing just one cleaning of the toilet and it gets gross. And then I don't want to clean it. So I do it twice a week, even if it looks clean. Thirdly, I try to shop only once a month - that means I don't need a market day on the schedule. But if I do have to go shopping or schedule any appointments, we usually schedule them for early in the morning if my husband is going with me or mid afternoon if he is not. Fourth, if you have wood floors with cracks in them like mine do, area rugs can become a real time saver. I used to have to spend hours with the little pointed attachment to clean all the food and junk out of the cracks. It seemed to take forever. Throwing down a bunch of area rugs to the highest traffic areas meant that I could just quickly vacuum over the whole area with the regular vacuum head. Awesome! Saved me over an hour each vacuuming day! Fifth, the adage of "less is more" is true. The less stuff that you have to clean and dust, the more free time you will have. I try to keep my decorations simple, purposeful, and easy to clean. While collections can be nice, they can also be high maintenance - literally. Finally, when I first implemented this schedule, I set a time limit and got as much done as I could within my set time limit. Now, my cleaning on Sundays and Fridays, except for laundry, takes about three hours total at the most. Some days, we are done in two. It just depends on how motivated, cooperative, and "helpful" the kids are.
Take a look at your house and carefully consider what schedule will work for you. Pay attention to how long it takes you to do your daily routine and then determine if there are ways that you can become more efficient. You just might be amazed at how much you can get done! We are usually done with the daily chores between 9:00 and 11:00, depending on the day - leaving plenty of time for school, projects, and appointments.
Blessings be upon you.
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