Lately it feels like I am a cleaning lady 24/7. Whenever I turn around I need to dust or vacuum or clean the floor and I do laundry everyday. I know that I am not dusting and vacuuming everyday (although I am doing laundry on a daily basis – spit up and #2 on baby clothes can’t wait!), but it feels like it. So I need to figure out a new plan that helps me get the house clean without feeling like I am doing it all of the time.
Unfortunately, staying home with Anna (or teaching for that matter) does not allow us to afford a weekly cleaning lady, so that cleaning lady is me. I have no problem with this because I love having a clean house, but it does get monotonous.
So I have decided to make myself a cleaning schedule. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this before now! I love schedules! If something is on the calendar or “the list” I love doing it and crossing it off. I am the person who writes shower on their to-do list just so I can cross it off. I even write things down I have already done to make myself feel more accomplished.
So in an attempt to make me feel like a more accomplished person – here is the schedule I created.
Daily:
- Anna’s laundry every time I need to – so probably daily, especially when she starts eating real food!
- make dinner
- Dishes – all day….
- washing the kitchen floor – it’s white tile – don’t ever get a white kitchen floor unless you want to wash it every day
Monday:
- laundry for B and I – from the weekend
- change sheets and towels
- vacuuming the house
Tuesday
- dusting the house – including the molding ( 🙁 )
- clean kitchen cupboards and stove top
Wednesday
- clean tup and sinks in bathrooms
- clean bathroom floors and mirrors
- clean toliets
- laundry for the weekend
- clean our fridge and wipe clean
- menu plan for next week
Brady and I are good about sharing household chores.
He is charge of :
- garbage
- recycle
- bills
- yard
- deck
- fixing anything random (this includes adding batteries to Anna’s toys – which you have unscrew to add)
We have a list system worked out too. Either of us (but mostly me) can add things we want to get done to the list.
For example:
- refilling the extra propane tank for the grill,
- cleaning the ceiling fan in the kitchen
- going through our socks and getting rid of old ones
Then we work on the list when we have time or on the weekends. This way – I don’t have to keep repeating myself about things I want to get done and Brady can just look and see what I want done and not have to guess.
I realized after being married for a short time that boys see things differently than girls. I couldn’t understand why he “couldn’t see” that the insides of our vents were dusty or cords to our Wii and DVD player were all tangled up. Then I realized that he didn’t care about these little details. He said he would be more than happy to fix them or clean them, but he was not going to “see” them. This is how the list was born.
How do chores at your house work? Do you split them 50/50 or do you each do certain things?
I am always up for suggestions!!
I am going to need to make a schedule for myself too. Especially now. At 35 weeks pregnant, I just can’t do a marathon cleaning spree. I love to devote an entire day and get the whole house in shape, but I don’t have the stamina for that right now, so I need to break it up. Luckily, my husband is more than willing t help….but like your’s, he doesn’t see what needs to be done, so I have to ask.
List-making is the best 🙂 And I couldn’t agree more with your warnings on white tile in the kitchen–I have no idea what we were thinking when we planned that in our kitchen, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone!
It’s so funny looking at Brady’s list, too–it’s almost identical to Adam’s!
Very smart my friend. And I love lists too. I really miss having a giant white board, like I did at work.