I am in a special Season of life right now. You can read all about it here. I used to have it somewhat under control. I didn't realize this in my previous Season. The one with only one child, who was potty trained and communicated with words, not various cries.
Not that I can distinguish between them. I just go down the list.
hungry? wet? poopy? spit up all over yourself? want to be held? don't want to be held? too tired? not tired enough? brother's being too loud? tired of your swing, bouncy seat, cradle, bed???????? YIKES!
My house is a disaster zone. Things are everywhere. I go to bed at night and they are in their place and then twelve seconds after I wake up, they are not. But, I can say, my house it sanitary.
Before having Scut, my precious, cuddle-bug...I worked out a system for myself. It wasn't what I had always done, but I stuck with it long enough to find that it worked. It worked when I was WAY too pregnant, and it has worked for me for the past 5 weeks. My strategy, keeping my home clean all along so it never gets to that "What is growing in my bathroom???" stage.
Sounds too easy? Well, it may not work for you, and it may not work for me in a couple months :)
The first two weeks I did this system required much deeper cleaning. Then after that, it was just upkeep.
Monday: Clean my KITCHEN. This includes whatever needs to be done on top of the daily stuff, such as the dishwasher, counter wipe down, and sweeping the floors.
Honestly, after the first two weeks, I got to where I could do this in 30 minutes, when uninterrupted. Like I get 30 min uninterrupted now. Hey I still get it done at some point.
Tuesday: Clean my BATHROOMS. I have a secret weapon for these! They are called Clorox Wipes. I keep a container in each bathroom, on the counter. I splurged on these before having the baby but have been finding them either FREE or dirt cheap. Keeping these clean has eliminated my past habit of ignoring the bathrooms because they were sooo bad. Denial is unhealthy, I know!
Wednesday: Clean my FLOORS. This includes mopping the kitchen if it was left undone, bathroom floors, hardwoods, and vacuuming.
Thursday: DUSTING is disgusting, but it has to be done. This includes our bedroom and living area. I don't dust the kiddos rooms every week. I also change and wash our bed linens.
Friday: De-clutter the house and do any something on my never ending To Do List. (example: change out pictures in frames so that we have some pictures of our second child in the house)
Here's what I love about this method. If I don't get to clean the kitchen on Monday because of a doctor's appointment, last minute play date, or its just a crazy kind of day, I simply get it done the next Monday. It is not going to kill me or any of us for the kitchen to only get cleaned every two weeks.
Also, if I only have a few minutes to squeeze in some cleaning, this method gives me a focus. Usually, once I go five minutes, I find that I really have more time than that.
1 comment:
Jess, I LOVE that method. My mom used that when she was at home with her young kids and she always encouraged me to give it a try (hmmm...I wonder if she was trying to tell me something???) I have used it off and on all through the years and when things get particularly chaotic it is always my backup plan. At least I know something is getting done, sometime! haha. I think it is time to start that plan again because things are looking pretty, uh.... "rustic" around here.
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