farewell cleaning lady

minimalistmommy@gmail.com — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:01:14 GMT

Oh I remember the good old days when I was young and had lots of money to blow on a regular cleaning lady. By no means did this replace the need to clean between visits but once ever two weeks I returned home from work to the smell of Pine Sol and spotless floors. There is something about this that lifts your spirits and makes you feel like you have got it together. Fast forward 6 years and I marvel how a three foot toddler and a 20 lb baby could cause a home to implode in a matter of minutes but sure enough by the end of the day I find myself standing amongst piles of clothes (still baffles me as to why this happens) and tip toeing around neck breaking dinky cars. I shutter to think of the amount of work that lies ahead in order to bring the house to a presentable level...only to be destroyed again in 12 hours when the kids descend upon it.

My usual cleaning routine pre-kids consisted of a Saturday morning run through. If I left all of the cleaning for one particular day, no human nor animal would be able to pass through the mountains of food under the high chairs and dirty laundry piled near the stairs. I came up with a system that worked for me and although I don't always get that "whole house" clean feel, I can keep the house in decent shape at all times. My system consists of a daily schedule in which certain tasks are done every day and others are done on alternating days. I have this list posted in plain view on my fridge and can easily reference this throughout my day. The basic items such as sweep and empty dishwasher are no brainers and I faithfully do them along with breathing but others such as white loads on a certain day and scrubbing the downstairs bath as opposed to the upstairs are laid out for certain times. Those easily forgotten tasks like cleaning the microwave and cooktop as well as wiping down certain windows, mirrors and light switches are listed out for my often forgetful mind to remember. This method also makes me accountable and I love the idea of lists and the feeling of accomplishment I get when I am able to cross them off.

I have attached a copy of my cleaning schedule. Take some time to think of your routine and mark down some chores you do either on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. In no time you will be doing this without referencing the list but you may also add some small jobs that you may have forgotten about.

My cleaning schedule is as follows

*MONDAY*	*TUESDAY*	*WEDNESDAY*	*THURSDAY*	*FRIDAY*	*SATURDAY*	*SUNDAY*
empty dishwasher	empty dishwasher	empty dishwasher	empty dishwasher	empty dishwasher	empty dishwasher	empty dishwasher
Sweep	Sweep	Sweep	Sweep	Sweep	Vacuum	Sweep
Wipe down baths	deep clean upstairs bath	Wipe down baths	Wipe down baths	Wipe down baths	Deep clean downstairs bath	Wipe down baths
cooktop	water plants	clean under sink cupboard	clean windows	wipe switch covers	mop	deep clean high chairs
microwave	dark load	clean out fridge	misc load of laundry	wipe phone	shake out rugs	deep clean playroom
cupboard fronts		deep clean kids aka bath		wipe remotes	deep clean kids. aka bath	laundry - lights
deep clean kids		take out trash and compost			dust
					clean Sheldon's cage

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farewell cleaning lady