Prior to reading through the book Feminine Appeal I was incredibly disorganized in the way I ran my day. I found myself struggling at the end of the day (like an hour before my hubby got home) running around, picking up, flinging the vaccuum through the house, tossing a quick dinner on the stove and getting frusterated when the kiddos got in my way.
I was talking with my friend Kelly about it and she was telling me how she does a little cleaning every day (according to her list) and she makes sure she is done every day by the time her kiddos pop off of the bus. That way she is freed up to be a mom to them, she isn't thinking about what she has to do before her hubby gets home. She can be a fun, engaged mom.
At first I was thinking, I don't think I could clean a little every day. I like to deep clean one time a week to make sure that at least one day a week my whole house smells and looks clean. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that this was worth giving a try. So for the past 3 weeks I have abided by a daily schedule that looks like this:
Monday
Laundry
Mop Floors
Vacuum
Exercise
Shower and bathe Piper
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Do Homework
Go to park
Tuesday
Laundry
Dust house
Clean bathrooms
Exercise
Shower
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Play outside
Wednesday
Laundry (include sheets)
Change Sheets
Clean out fridge
Vacuum house
Meal plan
Make grocery list
Shower & bathe Piper
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Go to park
Thursday
Laundry
Clean bathrooms
Exercise
Shower
Grocery shop
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Do homework
Pay bills
Friday
Laundry
Vacuum House
Dust house
Exercise
Shower & bathe Piper
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Go to park
Saturday
Laundry include sheets
Change sheets
Now this may look a little extreme that I have to add things like "shower" to my to do list, but these are things I will put off if they are not on my list! During the week as things pop up I add them to my list. For instance on my to do list today was also to make 2 weeks worth of frozen sandwhiches for my hubbys lunch, research a hat to make for T's hat day at school wednesday & run to the naturopath.
cleaning a little every day works out really well for me, I really like it actually and I find it is super easy to clean the bathrooms when I do it twice a week. I am generally done with all of my chores and showered by 10:30 am. Tristan gets home at 11:30 and I am free to be a mom, not tied to 600 chores I "have" to get done before 4:15 with John gets home!
What do you do make your daily chores more simple and free you up to be a more patient & attentive mom?
Sweet Amy, I think that you are feeling the frustrations of most every stay at home mom (and those that work too!)
ReplyDeleteI have tried SO many "cleaning and organizing plans" over the years as a mom and now Mimi (Grandma who watches grandkids 3+ days a week) My favorite that I have used recently is from flylady.com.(Free downloads) They even have reminders you can have emailed to you! I also used the Sidetacked Home Exectutive books (Hilarious sisters from the NW!) that were a great help when I was a young mom. But there was a lot of "prep work" with 3x5 cards that rotated from day to day and month to month, quarter to quarter. Once you got it all put together is was GREAT. It really helped keep track of doing those things that you don't need to do every week or even every month.
Trying to deal with the cleaning issues along with the diet issues and the mom/wife kid/husband issues can feel overwhelming some days! Give yourself a break. You just can't "do it all" with out burning out (speaking from experience). Your kids care alot more that you spend time with them than that your kitchen floor is always clean or all the laundry is done(is it EVER?) Making very reasonable expectations can take off some of the pressure and when more gets done it is a bonus! :o)Don't be disouraged I think for most women it is a constant struggle..... forever
Best wishes for finding a happy balance!