As far as my plan to "do less" in 2014...check! I nailed that this week.
Back to the super sweet, handmade, adorable dolls my sister is making.
Here's a little peek...
She will custom make a precious friend for your child to love. You can find more information here.
Please go take a look at these cutie pie dolls and help me spread the word by "liking" KNIT KNACK PADDY CRAFT ON FACEBOOK. Thank you!!
The last time I posted I shared with you my cleaning schedule. I told you I would explain how I do my cleaning around our homeschooling. It's not a big revelation and I don't have a special creative formula. This is just how I do things and for us, for now, it works (most of the time).
I pick one thing to work on each day because I no longer have time to clean the entire house all at once. I focus on one area of our home and aim to get that clean. If I get anything extra done it's a bonus!
I'll take you through the week...
Monday is bathroom cleaning. We typically do school work until some time between two and four in the afternoon. Dinner is scheduled for six. After school and before dinner, while the children are playing, I will clean the bathrooms. We have 2 1/2 baths and by cleaning them lightly each day the deep clean doesn't take very long. There are many Mondays when my oldest son and my honey help with this chore and we get it done in record time.
On Tuesday I clean the kitchen. This is a big chore but I work on it throughout the day. While the kids are eating either breakfast or lunch I will run a sink full of hot soapy water and clean out the refrigerator while chatting with them. I throw out the old stuff and wipe down the shelves. I wipe off the exterior too. I can usually finish the fridge in the same time it takes them to eat their meal. During other little calm spots in the day I will go into the kitchen and do 5 - 10 minute jobs. I can wipe counters, or sweep, or dust the spice shelf, or shake out rugs, or a number of other things in those little windows of time. After we finish up school for the day I will do whatever work is remaining. I move the small appliances off the counters and wash them well. I clean the microwave, and the stove, and the dishwasher. I wipe down the outside of all the cabinets and I clear out the hot-spot of mail that collects on the counter. Once every couple of months I run the self clean on the oven. By the end of Tuesday I have the kitchen cleaned.
Wednesday I clean glass. I use paper towels and a 1/3 white vinegar, 2/3 water mix. I clean our front and back doors and the mirrors all over the house. If I have time before the kids get up I will try to get a few things cleaned first thing in the morning. I'll do a few more while the kids are playing in the afternoon. I don't clean much glass after dark because I can't see it as well. On days we are pressed for time I will give each of the kids a different place to clean after school and we will work together quickly. I try to do a few windows here and there too but it doesn't always happen. The front and back door are a must because they are covered in doggy nose prints and little hand prints and other UFOs.
Thursdays are when we dust and vacuum and everyone chips in on this. We take one hour mid morning and divide up into different rooms. Every boy has a dusting rag and works on the room they are assigned to. The little girls are each given a rag also and they crawl all around the house doing baseboards. We play music and act silly. In the afternoon we take another little chunk of time and vacuum. Only one person can vacuum at a time but he/she will usually have a partner to move stuff and put it back. It feels so good when we get this job done. By doing these jobs each week things never get too terrible.
On Friday mornings the kids know if it is their Friday to strip their bed. I remind them, of course. As soon as they get up, those whose day it is, strip off their sheets, comforter, pillow cases and pillow shams. They pile it all in the laundry room. The morning starts off with one overwhelming pile but as we work on it all day long we whittle it down. By bedtime a bunch of beds have clean sheets and the huge pile of sheets and blankets has disappeared. The next Friday we do all the other beds. We flip flop every other week. I put a load of laundry in before breakfast. We get it in the dryer as soon as the washer stops. I immediately start the next load and we just stay right on it between spelling tests and history quizzes, etc. (I make good use of my timers on Fridays.)
At one point I didn't think I could ever get used to cleaning this way. Now I prefer it. For many years I had a cleaning day. I cleaned the entire house, top to bottom, on one special day of the week. I didn't think I could ever accept breaking up the cleaning over several days. I believed the house would never feel completely clean all at once. Over time, as our family grew and our homeschooling became more involved, circumstances forced me to start breaking up my cleaning day a little bit. I eventually got to the point where I preferred to clean the way I do now. This method enables me to keep the house more or less clean all the time. The cleaning jobs don't take gigantic amounts of time because the cleaning is done in a cycle. If I have to miss a day (or two or three like this week) it's no big deal because I know I will get to it the next week when that day rolls around. If we have special plans I can double up on something or eliminate something and get it next time. If you are homeschooling and you're having trouble figuring out when to clean house try breaking your cleaning into five parts and do a little bit each day. There are all kinds of ways you can do it. I hope this helps.
Have a warm and cozy weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment