Before we moved back into our house the girls and I had a family
meeting to discuss a number of things in relation to that decision. One of those things was housekeeping and the
fact that I am not the main, nor do I want to be the only one who does the
majority of the housekeeping. With that
in mind we developed a schedule for a fair division of responsibilities.
Pick Up After Ourselves
We try to clean up after ourselves throughout the day but things
do get missed or forgotten about.
Paramount to our success is developing the habit of doing a walk-through
of the entire house before we go to bed at night and make sure we have put away
everything that belongs to us.
Make Your Bed - Everyday
It is amazing to me how much nicer a bedroom appears simply by
making the bed. I make my bed, honestly,
98% of the time in some form or another.
Sometimes I only have time to give the covers a quick flick to toss them
back in place but at least I make the effort.
Mostly though, I make my bed as soon as I get up, complete with shams
and throw pillows. It feels better to
walk in the room when the bed is made and I actually think it feels better when
I crawl in it at night too.
Clean As You Go
I find this to be very beneficial to tidy up in the bathroom as we
get ready to start our day and every time we cook or bake something in the
kitchen.
Work Together
It is not one person's responsibility do stuff. We are a team and we work together, whether
it is fixing dinner and cleaning up afterward, doing laundry, mowing the lawn,
etc.
Develop a Schedule
A schedule helps us to rotate certain chores so things don't pile
up and we consistently stay up on things.
I made ours in Excel so I can modify it as we need to.
This is what our schedule looks like:
Sunday
|
After School
|
|||||||||||
Change Bedding
|
||||||||||||
Laundry
|
Feed/Water Cats
|
|||||||||||
Vacuum & Dust Upstairs
|
Feed/Water Chickens
|
|||||||||||
Empty Lunchboxes - Ice Packs Into Freezer
|
||||||||||||
Monday
|
Homework
|
|||||||||||
Sweep Front Porch & Sidewalk
|
Help With Dinner & Chores
|
|||||||||||
Clean Upstairs Bathroom
|
||||||||||||
Tuesday
|
Remember:
|
|||||||||||
Sweep/Mop Tile Floors
|
||||||||||||
Vacuum/Dust Downstairs
|
Put Jackets & Shoes Away
|
|||||||||||
Hang Up Backpacks & Lunchboxes
|
||||||||||||
Clean Up After Yourselves
|
||||||||||||
Wednesday
|
Don't Answer Phone/Door For Strangers
|
|||||||||||
Empty Trashcans & Litter Box
|
||||||||||||
Trash/Recycle Bin to Curb
|
||||||||||||
Laundry
|
||||||||||||
Thursday
|
||||||||||||
Clean Downstairs Bathroom
|
||||||||||||
Wipe Down Cupboards & Appliances
|
||||||||||||
Friday
|
||||||||||||
No Chores
|
||||||||||||
Saturday
|
||||||||||||
Yardwork
|
||||||||||||
Auto Care
|
||||||||||||
Mounted on the side of the refrigerator with or menu plan we all
know what is expected and needs to be done.
We keep it as simple as possible so our chores no longer consume our
days and our house is always neat and tidy.
Sounds nice and it's great your girls help you out. Everything in the house is my responsibility, everything outside (yard, vehicles) is the husbands pretty much. The husband has never been good at cleaning anything up, but is supposed to help me with a massive cleaning and from then on, I would be in charge of keeping the house up since I no longer work. Yes, I know some people would find that so sexist, but that is what I desire. I want to be home to raise my child, cook for my family, keep a clean house. I believe I was born in the wrong era :-)
ReplyDeleteAnyways, once we get the house completely clean I intend to make a schedule like that.
In your situation I'd feel like you do, sexist or not. I'd love to be able to stay home and spend my days gardening and keeping up my house. Guess that's what retirement is for. :)
DeleteOne would think living in a small house (696 sq ft) it would be easy to keep it clean. Ha, physically it's clean but if something is out of place, (toys) it looks like a tornado came thru.
ReplyDeleteI have a "mental" chores list that is very flexible. However there are some things I will not budge on such as beds are made as soon as we get up, toys are put away at bedtime and no dirty dishes in the sink when I go to bed.
Thanks for sharing your housekeeping ideas with us.
Vanessa B
Our house is small too and I know what you mean. It takes very little for it to look messy. Noting like a good project in the works to wipe the place out.
DeleteDiscussing over whose turn it is to clean what or when is a good household strategy. This way, the house chores will be equally divided among you and the girls. Also, setting up house rules like "clean as you go" and "make your bed everyday" will surely help to maintain the cleanliness of your home, and at the same time, will help you minimize the time you have to spend cleaning the house. Kudos to your parenting! :-)
ReplyDeleteFrank George @ Dutch Hollow Supplies