The Work of My Week

I currently have two young children who are with me at home all the time, one dog, one cat, and one fish...and an excellent husband.  Here's my weekly housekeeping routine! (It does tend to change from season to season.)

Monday: Laundry.  Quick-dust main room (living, dining). Vacuum first floor.  Wipe down inside of fridge.  Mop kitchen floor.  Prepare for Tuesday's outings.  Bath, face mask, manicure. 

Tuesday: Marketing and errands.  Windexing.*  Write letters/thank-you notes.

Wednesday: Laundry.  Tidy up basement. Vacuum and mop basement and dust one area. Clean basement bathroom. Paperwork (filing, to-do list, correspondence).  Prepare for Thursday's outings. 

Thursday: Change sheets on all beds. Clean the children's bathroom. Pick up children's rooms and quick-dust one of them.  Sweep off and tidy deck, patio and porch.  Bath, face mask, manicure, pedicure if needed. 

Friday: Laundry. Quick-dust our bedroom. Vacuum first floor. Projects! Lesson and menu plans. 

Saturday: Wash work clothes and church clothes, if needed. Prepare food for Sunday, if desired.  Set out clothes and prepare for Sunday breakfast. 

Sunday: Wash makeup brushes, water houseplants, wipe down fridge exterior and oil cutting boards.**

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*Windexing means I choose one door or window to clean each week. This saves me from having to do all the windows at once--an overwhelming task. 

**I save my very favorite tasks for Sunday.  I typically don't really do much in the way of housework on Sunday, but I consider these chores 'fun' so they are my Sunday treats. 

Every month or so I scrub down the outside of the kitchen cabinets and do other little random tasks like wiping down doors and doorknobs, wiping down the stairwell, et cetera. I don't assign a schedule to these tasks...I just try to hit them when I can. 

The beauty of having a routine is that it is liberating! If you skip a day you know that next week you'll get back to it; conversely, you can easily turn off the cleaning switch when that day's tasks are done.

And I'm not a perfectionist; I'm very comfortable with "good enough." The Flylady is right--housework done imperfectly is still a blessing.  So do what you can and don't stress!