I am a rather scatter-brained disorganized person by nature--so do not read these posts and get lofty ideas about how orderly my mind is. I organize my days to survive. If I just cleaned when I felt like it my house would look like the proverbial pig-sty.
Having said that I promised yesterday that I would tell you how I clean a room. This concept is not original to me--I worked for a housecleaning service for several months many years ago and I learned it from them
I have added my own little quirks to it, but the basic concept is not mine.
When I clean a room I take all my supplies into the room. Usually this includes a dust rag, Windex, and vacuum cleaner. (My dust rag is a microfiber rag that I dampen with a little water--I have a son with severe allergies so I avoid dusting sprays)
I start by emptying the trash can--if there is one in the room. Then I start to the left of the door and work my way around the perimeter of the room in a clockwise direction tidying and dusting. When I have completed a full rotation around the room I wash all the mirrors, and vacuum the entire room. If the room has linoleum I sweep and then wet mop.
I try to continually tidy the house all week long. I borrowed an idea from Raising Arrows and recently began incorporating 15 minute pick up time late in the afternoon. We turn on some energetic music and everyone cleans up like mad. This makes the house look nice when Daddy gets home.
Another coping strategy that I use is to put something away every time I walk through a room. For example if I'm headed for the bathroom and I notice that the Ora-Gel is sitting on the kitchen counter from a late night teething session I grab it and take it with me to the medicine cupboard.
I've found that with this cleaning schedule I can accomplish my chores in about an hour per day. This means that if I have a busier day with Doctors appointments etc--I can still finish my work for the day either before I leave in the morning or after I return. It also means that if I have fussy children I can get it done during nap time.
Keeping an orderly house is a continual work-in-progress for me and if you stop by to visit me unannounced you may find my counters covered with dishes and toys and dirty laundry on the floor. It just means that a busy family lives here.
I'd love to hear from some of you. How do you accomplish your weekly cleaning? What works for you?
You probably know from reading my newsletters--I don't clean! My children do, because they are old enough. Of course, I have to do some spots every so often, to correct children-style cleaning! Having the children do it started about 3 years ago when I had a miscarriage that laid me up for a few months. We do live with a slightly lower standard of cleanliness than I would like; maybe someday I'll have time to really do a thorough cleaning!
ReplyDeleteEmma-Something I probably should have mentioned in my post is that a good part of the tasks are done with a great deal of help from my children. Some of the jobs they do independently!! Children's help is a great resource in keeping the home--and it's perfect on the job training for them!!
ReplyDeleteI shoot to clean for a half hour everyday (except for weekends). I use an "Everyday Cleaning Concept" (on my blog) in which I tackle two rooms per day and then a special project (like washing walls, cleaning ceiling fans, etc.). We also enlist our children to help us with evening pick-up time so, by the time the kids are in bed, our house is tidy. It helps my husband and I relax at night and makes it easier to start the next day in a clutter-free house.
ReplyDeleteI agree!! A tidy house makes getting up the next day MUCH easier.
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