Cleaning/Household Schedule

I'll be the first to admit that I am not as consistent as I would like with my cleaning schedule. Something (anything) happen and throws me off for a couple of days and I feel like I'm playing catch-up for a month! My plan was in definite need of some tweaking, so I sat down last week and just got it done.

I tried following those "pre-made" plans we see online, but they just didn't work for us. Here are some guidelines I used when creating my own:

*Start with a list of all the tasks that need to be completed (and I mean all!) daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, and yearly.

*Then, next to each task, write how often you think it needs to be done. This varies for everyone- perhaps you only want to scrub weekly, but Ms. Suzie homemaker up the street does it everyday.

*With your daily chores, what time of day is most fitting for each task? I load the dishwasher 3 times/day (after every meal), make beds in the morning, sweep and tidy after lunch, and usually wash at least one load of laundry- I throw it in the wash after breakfast, throw it in the dryer after school, and fold it during quiet time.

*Decide if there are particular days that are the most practical for certain tasks- I like to clean out the fridge on Sundays because Monday is garbage day, I plan next week's meals on Thursday because that's when the fliers arrive, I plan next week's school week on Friday because that week is still fresh in my mind. Fill in the rest of the weekly tasks.

*Calculate at how many monthly, seasonally, and yearly tasks will need to be completed per week to finish it, and then fill them in.

*If you are designating chores for your children, now is a great time to decide what goes to whom.

Mine ended up something like this:

Daily
-Dishes.
-Sweep and shake out mats.
-Tidy.
-Laundry.
-Make beds.

Monday
-Take out trash.
-Diaper Laundry.
-Vacuum carpets and furniture.

Tuesday
-Wash bedding.
-Deep clean bathrooms.
-Scrub.

Wednesday
-Diaper laundry.
-Clean bedroom.
-Monthly task.
-Budget.

Thursday
-Vacuum carpets.
-Bi-weekly task.
-Dust.
-Meal plan.

Friday
-Diaper laundry.
-Touch-up bathroom.
-Scrub.
-Homeschool planning.

Saturday
-Seasonal task (once/month).
-Yearly task.

Sunday
-Clean out fridge.

Bi-weekly
*Week 1 and 3- Drop off recyclables.
*Week 2 and 4- Wash windows and mirrors.

Monthly
*Week 1- Clean coffee pot.
*Week 2- Deep clean kid's rooms.
*Week 3- Clean craft area.
*Week 4- Spot wash walls.

Seasonal
*Month 1 (Jan, April, July, Oct):
              -Wash curtains.
              -Take bottles to redemption center.
              -Wash cupboards.

*Month 2 (Feb, May, Aug, Nov):
             -Wash walls, doors, and trim.

*Month 3 (Mar, June, Sept, and Dec):
             -Sort kid's clothes and clean light fixtures.

Yearly
*Purge closets and storage areas.

(Note, there are a few things not on my list that may be on yours, such as yard work since hubby takes care of those for me.)


Without a schedule like this, I'm not sure my house would survive!

Organizing

I realized after my second child was born that I had to get more organized, and after out third came along it became even more obvious. Our decision to homeschool and our fourth child on the way just reinforced that fact. I'm naturally a planner, but I'm not an organizer. I know, it doesn't sound possible, but it is. Trust me. I always start out with big plans and lots of lists, but I'm not always as quick to organize a way to get it done. I need a system, or several smaller systems, in place to help me out.

The biggest help for me are:
Lesson plan sheets (I printed mine from here)
Meal Plans (here)
Cleaning Schedule
Goal pages
Weekly Journal
Pinterest! (and yes, I might be an addict!)

All of this is put into my homeschool planner (which is just a 3 ring binder with dividers), before I started homeschooling it was my household binder, but I didn't want to have to worry about keeping up with two separate binders! It also has pages for Unit Study ideas, craft ideas, library logs, reading lists, field trip ideas and logs, and monthly calendar pages.

I'm hoping that by keeping all of this in one place will make the end of the year portfolios much easier!

More on meal planning here.

My favourite kind of laundry!

Diaper Laundry! Every time I look out the window and see fluff on the clothesline, I can't help but smile! By far my favourite chore!