Just
Keeping Up!
As
a mom of 3 little ones I struggle sometimes just keeping up with the
day to day tasks of running my home. Add homeschooling on top of
everything else and it is overwhelming sometimes! Luckily a few
years ago I got in the habit of a cleaning
routine. I used to be OCD (ok, I still am a little) and felt
that I had to have everything in order all the time. This feeling
sucked the joy out of being a mom to my kids. I realized something
had to give, and that is when my cleaning routine was born.
Anytime
you have a big task it is easier to split it up into smaller pieces.
Your home is no different! If you feel you need to clean the whole
house everyday it is SO easy to get overwhelmed. So, look at your
house as a big job that the Lord has given you, and then break it
down into smaller pieces.
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Daily
Upkeep
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Dishes,
sweep, make bed, general household duties
|
|
Monday
|
Bathrooms:
Wash the floor, empty garbage, scrub toilets, sink, and bathtub.
Monthly:
Wash off cabinets, scrub baseboards
Laundry:
Jeans and Colors
|
|
Tuesday
|
Bedrooms:
Dust, Vacuum floors, clean windows (rotate each week)
Laundry:
Girls clothes
|
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Wednesday
|
Kitchen:
Clean out fridge, clean microwave, clean windows,
Mop
kitchen, dining room and living room
Laundry:
White clothes, white towels
|
|
Thursday
|
Make
Grocery list, clip coupons, check store ads for price matches
Dining
room: Wipe off legs of table, clean windows and curtains
(bi-weekly)
Laundry:
Colored Towels and Delicates
|
|
Friday
|
Dust
living room, clean and mop playroom
Laundry:
Daniel and sheets/bedding
Vacuum
rugs and couch
|
|
Saturday
|
Catch
up on things that may not have got done through the week.
Work
outside.
Mop
living areas
Laundry:
2 loads of “catch up” laundry
|
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Sunday
|
Enjoy
your family, rest!
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Now,
I can’t take all the credit for this routine. I have tweaked it
through the years, and after finding Time
Warp Wife, tweaked it some more. It has been a huge help to me,
and for the most part has stayed the way it is currently for over a
year.
Now,
on paper it may look like a lot but it is really not. When I get up
(normally an hour before the kids 6-6:30 ish) I start out with my
Bible time. This is MY time, and if I do not get this it affects my
whole day. Then I spend some time writing/blogging. When the kids
get up we start our chores together. I feed them breakfast while
they are doing
their chores, and I clean my kitchen, put away dishes, sort or
start laundry…you get the idea. These are my daily chores. They get
done in the morning, and sporadically throughout the day as needed.
The extra chores like dusting, vacuuming, bathrooms, I do not have a
“set” time to do those. Some days it may be in the evenings, some
days in the mornings or while the baby is napping. I do them as I get
to them. And some days…they don’t get done at all!
If
you are struggling with keeping up, talk to your husband about what
matters most to him. For mine it is wrinkled clothes, and a clean
kitchen. So I make sure those are #1 on the priority list. I don’t
make these #1 because he is a tyrant, but because he is my husband
and I love him. I want him to be proud of our home, and be happy with
the way I am taking care of it and our children. Your husband’s may
be different. But talking to him may help you put your priorities in
order and give you some perspective about what can be put off until
there is more time.
While
I do think keeping a clean home is important I also believe that as
moms of little ones we have to give ourselves grace. There are going
to be days things don’t get done. As long as we have done our jobs
to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) then we can give ourselves
this grace. We need to make sure we are saying YES to the things
that matter, like our kids, not a drama on TV that we probably
shouldn’t be watching. So there will be days that we said YES to a
messy project, and NO to cleaning the toilet. There will be days that
we said YES to a teething baby, and NO to dusting the bookshelves.
This is okay! Our home is our sanctuary and we do need to take care
of it to the best of our ability but our little ones are only going
to be little for a while. So make sure to also take the time to enjoy
them!
Guest
post by Misty @ Mimi’s
House
Posts
I enjoyed this post, and connecting to Mimi's House. Thanks for sharing and giving us the encouragement we need to keep at the job!