Way back when, when I was single and had my first apartment I would work all week and clean for about an hour on the weekends. Dusting, vacuuming, and straightening a 800 sq ft apartment was pretty easy. Then I grew up a bit and bought a house that was 1500 sq ft. Still easy enough to clean on a Saturday. Then it happened.......I had a baby. Oh my, I became obsessive about cleaning. Just the thought of my baby touching something dirty and putting it in his mouth made me very uneasy. Still the first few weeks home I was managing pretty well. I would clean when he was napping and in his swing. Then I went back to work. I left early in the morning and wouldn't return until dinner time. I would come home nurse my baby, make dinner, give Adam a bath, nurse him again before bed and flop dead tired on the bed myself. The weekends would come and go, and I managed to clean the bathrooms and kitchen and perhaps run the vacuum, but I wasn't happy with my whole house not being super clean.
So I turned to my mom for help and she gave me the idea of a cleaning schedule. My mom cleaned professionally for many many years. She had as many as six banks a night she would have to clean by herself. She shared with me that you can't do everything all in one night. So if you give yourself a schedule and stick to it, by the end of the week everything has been addressed. So, the next day I wrote out a schedule that I could stick to ( I even laminated it). I assigned myself one or two rooms a day to straighten, dust and clean the floors. When that room was done, so was I. It was tempting to go ahead to the next room just because I had time, but I stopped. By the end of the week, my whole house was sparkling. I found this left me extra time for Adam and myself, and I wasn't overwhelmed or too tired. The other thing I realized, my house was actually cleaner than if I did it in one day, because I wasn't cutting corners to get done.
Now that I have moved into a 2200 sq ft house and two kids later, my schedule has changed a bit. I have to clean a couple more rooms in one day, but it all still gets done. I never worry if someone just drops by, because my house is clean and picked up. So here's a sample of a schedule that works for me. You can tweak it to fit your household, but give it a try, and you'll be surprised how easy cleaning your house can be.
Monday: Dust, vacuum, dry mop, living room & family room
Tuesday: Clean downstairs bathroom and Florida room (vacuum and mop)
Wednesday: Clean upstairs bathroom and vacuum, dust, change sheets for master bedroom
Thursday: Mop kitchen floors and clean on top of fridge, freezer, remove everything off counter tops and sanitize
Friday: Vacuum, dust and change sheets for both boys rooms
Saturday: Dust, vacuum, dry mop dining room
Sunday: RELAX!!!!
As far as laundry, to stay on top of things I do about a load a day. Everyday I pick up toys, but I also have the boys help with clean up to teach them about chores. Adam also helps to strip his bedsheets and Brandon will dust the baseboards for me in his room. I do a quick wipe down of kitchen counters and stove top everyday, but on Thursday it's a more in depth cleaning.
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