Cleaning Schedule

Thought I would share something that has seriously changed my life over the past few week(s). This is plural week (s) b/c I wanted to make sure it was something that would stick and that was really helping me before I shared this little tidbit of information :)

Since I'm home with Briggs now, I've been getting a little overwhelmed with all the things there are to do. I'm not sure if it's because we are making bigger messes since we are home more or what...but I've been trying to figure out a system.

My momma raised me (that sounds pretty country..huh)...to clean house when I was growing up, but we would usually clean the WHOLE house on Saturdays. That worked for us then, but having a 10 month old...that's not the greatest system for me these days. I mean... who has a whole day to clean their house?

I started a CLEANING SCHEDULE...so I pretty much do one big thing a day and some laundry. I even posted it on the refrigerator so if I forget... or someone wants to help take something off my list...or just b/c I'm so excited about my new system, I want to look at it everyday...



I even thought out what works best for me on what day, so here is my schedule:

Monday: Floors...vacuum, sweep, mop
Tuesday: grocery shopping
Wednesday: Clean bathrooms
Thursday: change and wash sheets on all beds
Friday: Dust, sterilize bottles and pacifiers, clean out high chair...
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: cut coupons

At least 1-2 loads of laundry a day

Tuesday and Thursday are the mornings Briggs has Mother's Day Out. I'm usually out of the house while he is there, so I try to keep my in-house chore to a minimum so I'm not setting myself up for failure.

I keep a basket stocked with all my cleaning products, which makes it easy to move everything around with me while I'm cleaning.


And I thought I would share a few of my favorite cleaning products...

• Kaboom...I haven't found anything that works better in a shower that has soap scum

• Mr. Clean Magic Eraser...these things are AWESOME!...they work so much better than any rag or sponge. You barely have to press down when you use it and it wipes away the dirt...like MAGIC :)
  

And these are a necessity...I use Lysol wipes for many purposes in our house...disinfect baby toys, wipe over the counters quickly and my favorite is to wipe over the bathrooms in between cleanings.


So the secret to my sanity has been figuring out a schedule that works for our family. This is just a guide/goal for each day. If I don't get something done, no stress...I just try to catch up with it the next day.

The first thing I do every single morning when I get up...make my bed and put on my tennis shoes. It helps me get the day started off on the right foot and I'm ready to get to work.

I usually load the washing machine with a load of clothes the night before. The next morning I add detergent and hit start so it's washing while Briggs and I eat breakfast. Then I try to get my chore done for the day before or during his first nap. That way I have the rest of the day to do things with Briggs and I don't feel like I'm living in filth :)

I do maintenance jobs as needed..like sweep the kitchen floor, vacuum high traffic areas, wipe over the bathroom counter...
And there area few things I do every day that I didn't feel were necessary to add to the chores board...dishes, wash bottles, clean kitchen counter tops, cook supper, balance the check book, answer emails, pay bills, pick up toys, exercise, water the garden (I could go on and on...hints why I just kept my list to one main cleaning job a day)...

Hope this helps somebody out there. I know it has really helped me manage things at home so much better...what's the saying.."If momma ain't happy, nobody's happy..."well, momma is MUCH happier with this new system :)