I am a grown adult and like many out there I have struggled to keep a clean home. After being a stay-at-home wife and mother for nearly 10 years you would think I would have my act together which is laughable. Stay-at-home wives or mothers should all get awards for the work that they do even on their worse days. Really any parent should. There are no days off and the skills that you develop and bring to the table are over qualifying for many workplace jobs.
But that does not mean that sometimes we are self-doubting and feeling down that our efforts are not seen. One of the tasks that seem to do that the most for us is keeping up with the housework. Over the last year with lockdowns and restricting us to being at home all day long has only added to the workload in some cases.
I have terrible indoor allergies. With everyone being home so much, creating more dirt and dust along with stirring it up more, I have been miserable, to say the least. To add to the buildup of cleaning, it is difficult to do so with virtual learning going on and having to encourage a quiet learning environment for my easily distracted second-grade child. All with a too eager to help and be included three-year-old.
But through creativity and inspiration, I believe I have finally found a solution to all! Like I mentioned before I have an easily distracted child at home that I was at my wit’s end with. Trying to keep him on task was difficult. Finding solutions to help him with his focus, I, in turn, have found a way to do so for myself.
Enter lists! I know it seems kind of silly. Believe me, I thought it was too, but cleaning things as I noticed that they have not been cleaned in a while and ignoring some important things was leading to health problems and concerns for myself. With the sideways looks everyone gives and gets if someone sneezes or coughs being in public was getting hard. So, like just about anyone else does nowadays I searched Pinterest. Not for allergy remedies because I have already tried those but how to keep a clean home.
Now of course feel free to edit this schedule as you need to for yourself and your lifestyle by all means. I surely did to work around my children’s soccer schedule and family time together but here’s my schedule.
Daily Tasks: Make beds, do dishes, and straighten up. For the rest I try to go off the instructions below.
Mondays: Master Bedroom Day • dust • clean mirrors • clean fan • vacuum/sweep • declutter (no more than 10 mins) • laundry—bedding. After roaring and ripping all weekend whether at home or out on the go it feels good to reset the bedroom and have a clean fresh start to the week.
Tuesdays: Bathrooms Day • clean showers and tubs • clean toilet • clean sink, counter, and faucet • clean mirror • sweep and mop floors • restock toiletries • laundry—towels. Often times we host family or friends on the weekend so the bathroom needs a little cleaning up after.
Wednesdays: Kitchen Day • clean out refrigerator • wipe down counters • wipe down the table and chairs • sweep and mop floors • laundry—whites. Trying to reduce our footprint, we try to use as many reusable items as we can such as cleaning the floors with washable reusable floor pads and using bar rags to wipe everything down.
Thursdays: Living Room Day • dust • clean tv • refresh fabrics • sweep/vacuum floors • declutter (again no more than 10 mins) • laundry—lights. At this point, the weekend is starting to creep up on us again and even if we don’t host company it’s nice to enjoy the weekend in a clean area.
Fridays: Alternates • Week 1: all appliances • Week 2: kitchen cabinets (go ahead and throw out those mix match Tupperware lids. You don’t need them!) • Week 3: windows • Week 4: baseboards • laundry—darks. These are the little things that often get ignored the most that make a big difference!
Saturday: Outside • clean up car • straighten up garage • sweep walkways • yard work • laundry—catch up. Depending on your weekend plans don’t feel guilty if some of these fall by the wayside especially in cooler months or rainy days. But a little effort goes a long way into making your home one of the best in the neighborhood.
Of course, all of these are just suggestions and there are always places for improvement. I understand many work on top of taking care of the home. If you are having a busier day or week than usual and can’t get to everything you shouldn’t feel guilty. The point is to manage your time easier where you can. The hands-on tasks are meant to take away from as little of your well-spent time as possible. Other than switching around laundry try to keep your tasks down to less than an hour for everything. Also, get the whole family involved. Find ways to make it a game and make it fun. If you can turn on your old school jams and rock out!
