I have been asked a couple of times how I get it all done. I try really hard to keep a clean house, although we all know life can be unpredictable, which means sometimes a clean house just needs to take a backseat to everything else. Last year at this time I was wondering how I was going to live in a house that we would have to vacate within two hours and it would have to be presentable to potential buyers. My mom helped me come up with a fantastic plan that I have adapted to fit my new life on the Ponderosa. I call it the work smarter not harder plan. Here it is.
Monday - This is my free day, everyone deserves one. This is the day that I don't have to take the oldest to preschool, and I don't care if we all stay in our jammies all day long (it usually doesn't happen, but it's fun when it does). I try not to schedule anything this day and use it as a catch up/get ahead day for housework. If I don't want to do anything on this day, I don't. I also meal plan and make my grocery list on Mondays. It relaxes me, it's one of my favorite things to do and I can catch up on DVR while I do it.
Tuesday - I do the boys laundry, iron, and do the grocery shopping on Tuesdays. I have about two and half hours to kill in Omaha while Noah's at preschool and it really doesn't make much sense for me to go back home in between drop off and pick up. If I have other errands to run in Omaha I take care of them at this time. Frankly it's easier for me, I only have one boy with me and he doesn't mind all the running.
Wednesday - This is my favorite day, bathroom cleaning day. No joke. I love to clean the bathrooms, don't tell my husband though. I really enjoy a clean bathroom and I can sanitize the heck out of it. Nothing is better to me than walking into a freshly clean bathroom. We have four now and I start at the top and work my way down. Every bathroom has it's own set of cleaning supplies, excessive maybe, but I really hate carrying cleaning products around the house, especially toilet brushes. I also do our laundry on Wednesdays.
Thursday - Dusting Day! This is a fun day, if I wait until the oldest is home, he likes to help me dust and that means less work for me. I typically just dust lightly and then once a month do a deep cleaning and dusting of the blinds. This is also the day a collect garbage around the house, which means cleaning out the refridgerators and freezers.
Friday - Floor Cleaning Day is my least favorite day of the week. I really hate vacuuming. But this is the day I do all the vacuuming, mopping of tile and cleaning the hardwood floors. I run a vacuum regularly around the kitchen floor so it doesn't become overwhelming.
Saturday - Do our laundry again and take care of any other odds and ends that need to be tended to.
I really only spend around an hour a day cleaning. The rest of the time is dedicated to projects, cooking and playing with my boys. I love the schedule as it is now, but I know things will change once we start Kindergarten and the youngest starts preschool next year. I also make it a habit to straighten the house every evening after the boys are in bed and clean the kitchen every day. Like I said before, life happens and sometimes I let things go a day if the boys need me or if I really don't feel well, but all in all it's really not difficult to keep up with this schedule. Thanks again mom for the great ideas.