Thursday, November 6, 2008

Cleaning The Jen Way

So I have had a lot of friends ask me how I keep my house so clean with 2 little boys. Let's first of all be honest my house is not spotless and it's never as clean as I want it to be. But I love spending time with my boys and am not willing to cut my special time with them. I am a schedule person as most of you know so I schedule time to clean.
On Mondays:
Laundry usually 1-2 loads. I try to do a load of clothes and a load of towels, bathroom rugs, or sheets.
Vacuum the living room, family room, and hallways.
Wipe down and sweep the kitchen
On Tuesdays:
Wipe down and sweep the kitchen
Vacuum the living room, family room, and hallways
Wipe down the kid's bathroom
On Wednesdays:
Laundry usually 1-2 loads. I try to do a load of clothes and a load of towels, bathroom rugs, or sheets.
Vacuum the living room, family room, and hallways
Wipe down and sweep the kitchen
On Thursdays:
Wipe down and sweep the kitchen
Mop the kitchen and bathroom floors
Clean the bathrooms
On Fridays:
Vacuum the kid's rooms and the master bedroom
Vacuum the living room, family room, and hallways
Wipe down and sweep the kitchen
Dust
On Saturdays and Sundays:
No cleaning it is family time
Now some might be wondering when I do these things. Here is how I do it.
1)I have the boys help in anyway that they can; we have light clean ups whenever we leave the house, before we eat lunch, right before nap time, and before bedtime. They clean up their toys and do it well. We sing the clean up song and pick up. I have all the toy bins labeled and both boys know exactly where each toy goes. We always watch sing-a-longs or Bible movies before bed time so the boys don't have to clean up right before bed. Connor knows the longer it takes to clean up the less time he gets to watch "his show".
2)After mealtimes the boys clean up their plates and bring them to me, I always clean dishes immediately and load the dishwasher. I don't put dishes in the sink. When I unload the dishwasher both boys help me put dishes away.
3)Connor helps wipe down the boy's table. And I quickly spray down and wipe the counter tops. This happens twice a day at least.
4)Right after lunch the boys take off to find more toys to throw around the room. I have about 15 minutes to clean without distraction and do just that. I throw the washed load in the dryer, sweep the kitchen floor or mop, clean the bathrooms, or whatever chore I have scheduled.
5) I always vacuum 20 minutes or so before nap time, while the boys are cleaning up. Bryce loves to help me vacuum so he walks with me and holds the cord or pushes the on and off button for me.
6) After my daily nap I always have time to finish anything I didn't get to, yup although I love the schedule if we are having too much fun playing a game, cleaning is put off until later. I also always fold laundry during this time.
Wow that really does look like a lot, but it is not. I am being honest when I say we are talking about 10-15 min of cleaning and another 10 minutes of vacuuming. Well there's the secret to my success. Enjoy and have fun cleaning.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love cleaning, it's theraputic. Sure wish I had your vacuum though! Since vacuuming and dishes are my least favorite I have Justin do it sometimes. I love doing laundry and cleaning the bathrooms. I have a sickness.

Shannon said...

You make me afraid to live in Texas since our house is never as clean as yours... Your blogs entertain me... Your a gifted writer...

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