Resolution Update!

My New Year's resolution for this year was to be able to stay on top of my housework. I started that resolution three weeks ago and I'd like to report that it's going very well! As of today I have accomplished every chore on my to do list every day. I know you're wondering how I have managed to do that in conjunction with taxiing kids around, shopping, cooking, and all the millions of other demands on a stay-at-home mom. Well, I'm going to tell you. :)

First I decided to define what a clean house meant to me.  Everyone has their own definition of clean and so I decided that my cleaning schedule would have to focus on my own personal definition or I'd never feel satisfied with my effort. To me a clean house is everything put in it's place, no crumbs on the floor, and it is germ-free (or as close to it as I can get with my ankle-biters). With those things in mind I first made a list of all the basic chores that need to be done in my house. Every house is different of course but here's my list to be used as an example:

• Clean bathrooms-Monday
• Laundry- Monday-Friday
• Dusting/Polishing furniture- Thursday
• Sweeping- Monday-Friday
• Vacuuming main floor- Tuesday
• Vacuuming basement- Every 2nd Tuesday
• Vacuuming upstairs- Every 3rd Tuesday
• Clean kitchen- Wednesday
• Straightening main floor- Tuesday
• Straightening basement- Every 3rd Thursday 
• Straightening upstairs- Every 2nd Thursday
• Mopping hardwoods- Every 1st Wednesday

Once I had the list complete I strategically assigned a day of the week to each task. I don't like to waste my Saturdays cleaning so I stuck with Mon-Fri. When I say strategically I mean I assigned chores based on the amount of time I have each day as some days are busier than others. I also made sure to assign bathrooms to Mondays because they are the things I hate cleaning most and I just wanted to get them over with! I also tried to be realistic knowing that while I am in charge of the house, my kids are my most important charge and I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible which is why I made the chores I deemed to be a lower priority monthly instead of weekly.

Finally I got out a calendar. Mine is our family calendar that we use to keep track of birthdays. It doesn't need to be anything fancy or if you'd rather you can keep track of things on a computer. I'm a list girl myself which is why I chose the old-fashioned way.

I made each chore be a different color so I could make sure I wasn't missing anything. This calendar is now hanging in my kitchen where I pass by it a hundred times a day and have to read it. No excuses! You might have noticed that I didn't assign any chores to Friday (except a laundry chore) and that was purposeful. We all have special projects that need to be done and I'm no exception to that. On Fridays I work on those extra things such as cleaning out the refrigerator, boxing up clothes my kids have outgrown, cleaning out a closet, etc. Make a list of those somewhere too so you can add to it as needed.

Having all my chores mapped out for the year has been so helpful! It is really forcing me to be accountable to my list and it feels great to have a clean house again. The best part is that I am only cleaning for the morning and so I still have plenty of time to spend with my kids and do other things. I suggest you conquer the hardest task first thing in the morning while you're still energized. For example, on bathroom days I try my hardest to get both full baths on the top level cleaned before I have to take my daughter to kindergarten. These two are the dirtiest and require the most attention. The other two I can get done while my baby is around because there are more things to occupy her attention. Yesterday I was literally down to the last couple of minutes trying to complete my two bathrooms and was running around like a crazy person. I got them both done with seconds to spare, however, and I felt proud!

I know, I know, who cares if I get two bathrooms cleaned before school? Well, you know what? I do. I like to set goals for myself and work on improving each day. My house is clean. My kids are happy. My stress-levels are down.

And I feel great. :)

Airing Out My Dirty Laundry

A dear friend of mine once told me that she had attended a women's meeting once where the teacher was advising the women on housework. My friend is a number of years older than me so I'm guessing this meeting happened sometime in the 1960's. So many things have changed since then regarding the roles of men and women in the home but the advice my friend shared was true then and is true now.

Here it is: "There are two chores you must keep on top of and they are laundry and dishes. You can easily sweep up four days worth of crumbs from under the table or dust after two weeks instead of one. If you don't keep up with dishes and laundry however, they will take over the house."

Boy, ain't it the truth? The purpose of this post is to tell you how I stay on top of my laundry. You should already know that I do my laundry throughout the week instead of on one day. One load a day really helps and I can often get that load washed, dried, folded, and put away in the same day. Try it. It works!

Here's some more things to consider:

• Don't wash clothes every time you wear them unless it's absolutely necessary. There are six people in my family. If I washed everything every time it was worn I'd be up to my ears, literally, in clothes. Instead I only wash clothes for myself, my husband, and my two older girls as needed. If there are no visible stains or smells on the clothing, then they go back in the closets. Doing my laundry in this fashion allows me to only need to wash three of the loads every other week. Nice, huh? Of course this can't apply to all loads. I still wash underwear after each use (duh) and I also wash the clothes my baby and my little boy wear because they are still little enough that they get their clothes dirty daily.
• Less laundering means clothes last longer and SAVES YOU MONEY! Who doesn't want to save money? I know I do. Plus, I have three girls. Once my oldest outgrows something it gets passed on to the next and so on. Considering how much clothes cost these days I want my clothes to last as long as possible.
• No more separate red loads. A while ago I stopped separating red clothes out of my loads, gasp! I also wash the occasional pair of jeans with my kids' loads. Because I discovered color catcher sheets by Shout things turn out fine. They work well and there's one less load of laundry needing my attention. Try them!
• Train your kids! My older two girls are 9 and 6 respectively. On the weeks that their laundry gets washed it's their job to fold and put away their clothes. Sure they grumble but I don't care. My four-year-old son also puts away his underwear and socks. He's well on his way to putting it all away too. If you do everything for your kids you'll be doing them no favors in the long run. Kids need to realize all the work that goes into running a household and laundry is a great way to start. When I was 9 my older sister and I were in charge of doing all the laundry meaning: we sorted, washed, dried, folded, and put away the laundry for the entire family while our parents worked. My kids don't know how good they have it! :)

These few simple tips will allow you to let go of your dirty laundry too and you can use the extra time you'll suddenly have to treat yourself to some chocolate. Just save some for me! ;)

2012 Resolution: Cleaning More=Less Stress

Okay, okay, so I don't have homework to do but you get my point!

Two kids ago, I used to be pretty darn amazing at keeping my house clean. The bathrooms were cleaned once a week, my floors were always mopped, the beds were made everyday, the garbage was never overflowing, and all the laundry was folded, and put away the same day it was washed. Ahh, my glory days!

Four years later I've added two more kids to the mix and live in a house nearly double the size of the house we lived in with two kids. Add to that my youngest being a very clingy child and I've suddenly found myself woefully behind on my housework. It's not that I don't want to keep my house clean because that couldn't be farther from the truth.  It's just that somehow, everything has gotten out of balance and it's driving me crazy! I look around at my dirty floors and scummy toilets and I do not feel at peace. I feel anxiety and that's not a good way to be.

My floors are rarely mopped, the bathrooms only get cleaned when I noticed scum growing in the toilets and the bed? Well, let's just say that I only make it when I notice my husband has pulled all the sheets over to one side and so I quickly tuck everything back in right before I go to bed. In my defense, however, my house may not be clean but it is organized. Organizing is my my favorite pastime after all. Cleaning? Not so much.

I'm hoping this year that I will get back on track. I knew I needed help when a friend of mine who cleans houses for a living asked me if I'd like her to clean my house every week. Apparently I have complained a little too much to her about how difficult it is for me to keep up on my housework. Her offer was tempting for sure but I know I am capable of keeping my house maintained on my own. After all, my labor is free. Someone else is not!

So here's how I've decided to do it. I've decided to make a list of chores that need to be done and dole them out to the days of the week. When I only had two kids I did this and it worked well. For example: Every Monday I will clean the bathrooms, every Tuesday do the dusting and vacuuming, etc. Laundry is already working fine. Click here if you want to see how I do laundry. :)

Easy, I can do that. Now comes the tricky part; Finding the extra time in my already full day to add necessary cleaning. To make that happen I plan to shower at night instead of in the morning before I take my daughter to kindergarten and my son to preschool. I was already letting the baby watch an Elmo movie during that time so I could shower in privacy so that should work out well. While my kids are playing and the baby's preoccupied with Elmo I can get my chores started.

I'm going to try it. I'll get started on my list right away and begin implementing my plan tomorrow. I guess all I needed was a little organization.

Wait did I just say organization? Hey! I'm good at that! :)