I don't have much motivation to clean. Unless we're having company or going out of town, cleaning the entire house is just not my idea of a good time. However, as a stay-at-home Mom, cleaning is now my JOB. And I tend to take my jobs very seriously.Now, don't get me wrong. Just because I'm the one that stays at home, I don't feel like it's my responsibility to do ALL the cleaning. Jake actually likes to clean more than I do (really, he hates messes more than I do), so he does his fair share of cleaning. Maybe more than his fair share.
But now that I'm fully recovered from delivery, and now that the holidays are behind us, and now that Jake is back in school, I'm really starting to focus more on my home responsibilities.
Usually when I think of cleaning, I'm overwhelmed by it (same applies to exercising), so I do nothing. Well now, I've set up a chore schedule for myself, so I only need to do a little bit each day. Every weekday is assigned to a different room - Kitchen, Family Room, Nursery, etc. So each day I know that if I clean just that one room, by the end of the week, all the rooms in the house will have been cleaned. Now, by the end of the week, not all the rooms in the house will have stayed clean, but at least the mess is less than a week old, and is manageable. Also, if I clean the family room on Tuesday, it's easier to just pick up the small messes throughout the week to keep it clean.
Other chores are also spread out throughout the month - Mondays I alternate between cleaning bathrooms and dusting, sweeping on Wednesdays, and I only mop and file once a month.
I put all these chores on our calendar to remind me what I need to do each day. I also made a list of the "as needed" chores, such as weeding and laundry, so that I remember them. And, I made a list of projects I'd like to complete, such as organizing the hall closet. I think I'll assign one Saturday a month to work on projects.
Anyway, it works for me. It (1) helps me to feel better about cleaning the house and (2) reminds me to do the not-so-frequent chores, like mopping.
Maybe once I get really going on it, I can add an exercise chart.
3 comments:
I had an organized chart like that once... Now that I have 7 kids my chart flew out the window. My poor house... :(
NOw I see that we are truly kindred spirits, I feel the exact same way about cleaning and exercise. My husband also probably does more than his share of cleaning (yesterday he did all the laundry). I would really benefit from a chart like that.
ooh, i like your new blog. it is very pretty.
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