I've been laid up with a head cold the past couple of days, which gave me time to think about more blog posts and possible how to's :) Today, I want to share my journey to cleanliness. I'm not a clean freak by any means, but as I've gotten older and the more kids I have and the more square footage I've acquired, the more obsessed with cleanliness I've become. I've gone through many different cleaning schedules and ideas and finally found something I could stick with and modify easily for my family. I will tell you that my family is LAZY and need a lot of help and motivation to get anything done. So, I think that this has been a life saver for me. The schedule is pretty self explanatory and she goes through what she does herself but here is my take, you can also check out my board on Organization on Pinterest if you need more ideas:
We take an hour a day to do the different chores, except for laundry which is an all day thing. We usually have an hour break after lunch and then we start the hour of cleaning after that, with this schedule I ensure that my kids aren't burned out and neither am I. Again you need to create the schedule that works for you. My husband helps by finishing whatever didn't get done in that hour after dinner and post-dinner cleanup is done.
She mentions to alternate floors in your house, which I find very helpful as well. We cleanup the first floor twice in a 4 week period, then alternating the other weeks from upstairs and basement levels. This keeps it from being overwhelming and it makes sure that not one level takes all my attention.
I always make it point to STOP at the hour, knowing my limits and sticking to something keeps it from becoming an overwhelming priority. Let me make this clear, cleaning is NOT my priority and if you are homeschooling and have multiple kids and activities to get to, it shouldn't be yours either. Cleaning is something we do to take care of the house that God has provided for us, but I try not to get wrapped up in what didn't get done. Cleaning should not take precedence over time with God, time with kids and time with your husband. So when the timer goes off, put the sponges DOWN! :)
I hope this helps with your quest for cleanliness in your home and as always.....
Go get them ladies!
I like your floor by week. I may try that for a bit. What worked great for me, especially post-babies and a smaller house was to have rooms assigned to a day. For instance, Wednesdays were kitchen days so I did what needed done in there. The most-needed job gets done and I did more as I was able but if I didn't, I didn't and that was ok. I saved it until next week.
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