How does everyone spread out there house cleaning during the week. I just cant seem to figure out a good plan. I feel like all I ever do is clean and I don't have time for anything else. Any suggestions are welcome.
I know I'm kind of a nerd but I am very scheduled. I do laundry on Tuesday's, Thursday's, and Saturday's. I clean my house on Wednesdays (mop, kitchen, bathrooms, dust, and vacuum). I go grocery shopping on Thursdays' (sometimes Wednesdays). It's a never-ending battle but I seem to do better with keeping a schedule.
You're sounding a bit like a friend of mine a few years ago... she was a stay at home mom and had her entire identity and self worth wrapped up in her kids' success, and how perfect the house was (she even put signs on a just-cleaned bathroom saying "don't use till Thurs" so it would stay clean!)
My best advice is to relax a bit and don't worry so much about a perfectly clean house - make sure you spend plenty of time with your kids and schedule cleaning around that. The two oldest should be able to start helping you, too - my kids started doing dishes around 5 and we didn't even have a dishwasher. They can dust, put away clothes, sweep the floor, sort laundry. A lot of this will require you helping them, but it can be fun mommy time too!
And make sure you schedule in some time for you, too! If mom's not happy, nobody's happy.
Boy can I ever identify! I really struggle with this too. It's really hard.
I finally got 3x5 cards and a recipe box to put them in. I made dividers for daily tasks and wrote each one on a card (for example unload dishwasher, take garbage out, start daily laundry, make beds, tidy the clutter in each room, make dinner). I made a divider for each day of the week where I divided weekly tasks into one or two each day (plan menu/groc list, pay bills, vacuum/sweep, clean bathrooms, clean kitchen, grocery shop). Then I made a divider for each month of the year for things that need to be done monthly or less (vac/scrub furniture, clean windows, walls, base boards, wash rugs, scrub fridge/freezer etc). It has helped.
When I don't follow it I'm getting better at saying, "Oh well!!" And when I do I congratulate myself. It's tidying up clutter that really helps a room feel clean. It's not that important or reasonable to expect a house with kids to pass a white glove test. Kids are only little a short time & you just have to let some things go a little longer between cleanings sometimes.
Once in a while I hire someone to come in and just get everything done at once. It gives me time to get a few deep cleaning jobs done instead of spending all my time on the regular stuff.
Getting to bed earlier so I can get up BEFORE the kids REALLY helps (when I can do it). This time of really small kids is such a challenge time wise. Do whatever it takes to enjoy your kids and get the basics done. Maybe let yourself do housework for one hour each day and that's IT. During that hour get as much done as you can. Prioritize big time. Good luck finding a balance.
go to flylady.net and get her flying lessons. She helps you develop a routine using Baby steps.
I really have to break it up to get it all done. Mondays I dust and vacuum the living room areas. Tuesday I dust and vacuum the bedrooms. Wednesdays I mop all floors. Thursdays I clean the toilets and sinks. Fridays I clean the tubs and showers. Saturdays I give the kitchen a good cleaning and then wipe down base boards and doorknobs. That's the only way my whole house gets clean in a week.. and my house is small too!
