Weekly Housework and Errand Routine

I find that if I don't keep up with housework daily and errands weekly, it throws me off making me feel unaccomplished, overwhelmed, and frustrated. Over the past year of being a stay-at-home mom, I have slowly come into a weekly routine.

Please note that when I use the word "clean" it means cleaning all surfaces, vacuuming , mopping floors, dusting, mirrors, etc. When I use the word "tidy" it means wiping off coutnertops, picking up toys, no dishes in the sink, putting away anything that should be put away, etc.

My weekly routine goes something like this:

Monday--I stay home and usually do not go anywhere. I clean the kitchen, breakfast nook, dining room, and living room areas (basically the main living areas that are most used). If my son is having a good nap or the day is going well, sometimes I can get Tuesday's cleaning jobs done as well. Generally this takes me about two to three hours.

Tuesday--I clean the entry, laundry/mud room, and main floor bathroom. This usually takes me about 20 to 30 minutes. I run errands this day according to my to-do list, which is created/updated on Sunday or Monday.

Wednesday--I tackle paperwork (i.e. filing, invoices, receipts, etc.) for our small business and tidy our home office. The time it takes to do this really varies based on the time of the month. This is our trash day as well (we do not get curbside trash service where we live so I have to bring the trash/recycling to the refuse station). I finish any errands not completed on Tuesday.

Thursday--I clean the two bathrooms upstairs, clean and/or tidy the boys' bedrooms and our bedroom. I vacuum the entire top floor. Sometimes I have to finish this on Friday. Generally this takes about one to two hours.

Friday--I am usually catching up on anything not checked off my to-do list.

Saturday and Sunday are generally my "days off" meaning I just tidy the house and spend time with my family. If I was not able to take the trash/recycling out on Wednesday, I can do it either of these days. This is usually my husband's job, but if he is away working, then I do it.

Life happens and sometimes my routine gets thrown off, truthfully it happens just about every week! So for example, if my Monday cleaning doesn't get done, I just tidy and clean the Monday stuff the next week. I try not to stress out about it!

Generally every other week, I move the furniture in our main living area to vacuum and mop (if needed) underneath it. I only do this because we have hardwood floors and this is where the dust settles! If you have carpet, you would not have to do this!

*****One key area I would like to point out, is every night before I go to bed, I spend about five to 15 minutes tidying up the mainfloor. I feel refreshed in the morning when there are no dishes in the sink from the night before and the toys are not laying around everywhere!*****

Creating a routine that has room for "life" is key for me when staying organized and on top of things in my household! Then housework doesn't seem to build up! If this happens it is because we are really busy, and in that case, I just start up the next week.

When you create your own routine, you will need to decide which day you can tackle your cleaning chores. For example, if you work a typical Monday through Friday job, you may have to do your cleaning on the weekends and save weekdays for tidying and spending time with family. If you have children, they can definitely be helping out with these tasks saving you a lot of time. Husbands can also help out with things! I will tackle that subject in another post as I have had lots of inquiries on how to get husbands more involved!! In my household, we have the belief that we are a family unit. We help each other out with cleaning, errands, and yardwork. We work together to get it done faster in return giving us more time with each other for play! Since I am a stay-at-home mom and my husband works a great deal away from home, I generally am doing most, if not all, the cleaning and household chores.

2010 Resolutions

As the new year is upon us, I am like most people, I have a few New Year's resolutions. The first one is to be more organized! That one might be a surprise to some as I am the one writing about being organized. However, wearing so many "hats" leaves me with little time.

Before becoming a mother, I was "neat freak." Everything always had to be clean, tidy, and organized! When I moved to Canada permanently, I was essentially "moving in" with my husband permanently as well. That meant that my step-son, who was eight years old at the time, stayed with us often. As most eight year olds, they are messy eaters at times! It drove me nuts! I was constantly vacuuming up the crumbs behind him. My in-laws laughed at me and told me to "get used to it." I didn't think it was going to be "that bad" having a baby around. Well, as my baby is approaching one year in a few days, he is the one making a MUCH BIGGER mess that the eight year ever could! I have had to learn to relax a little bit on my squeaky clean regime. Thus, this has taken a tole on my organized home!

One area that has gotten disorderly and is driving me crazy is the closets! Two closets being of particular concern, the master bedroom closet and the baby's room closet. In our master bedroom closet, the stacks of clothes are hardly neat anymore, there are hangers on the floor, laundry piles up quickly, clothes that need to be donated, and I have maternity and post-maternity clothes in a pile in the corner. It has gotten out of control!

The baby's room closet is a mess partly because of him digging in there for toys that I have already put away. I have a habit of finding amazing deals on things, so I have toys that he is still too young for which are piled on the shelf in the closet. Now there is way too much on the shelf! The floor in his closet is covered with books, old and new toys, a baby swing, an exersaucer, and so much more! It is a huge mess! I can't find anything!

A few other areas that are making me nuts are the dresser drawers. Again, my baby is partly to blame for this one! He is in the habit of taking everything out of them and throwing them onto the floor. Need less to say, his dresser drawers are no longer full of perfectly-folded, neat piles of clothing. In the master bedroom, the same problem is happening in our dresser drawers. I must say this one is my fault, probably because I am putting things away in a hurried manner.

So as 2010 is upon us, I will be taking some "before" pics of these areas and some "after" pics when I am finished. I intend on keeping these areas as neat as possible! In my defense, I organized our home when we moved into it a year and a half ago. It has stayed neat and organized up until probably November of 2009. I think part of the disorganization may be due to the holidays and being even more busy than normal! That may be just my excuse, but I am going to stick with it!