Night Elf Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 What daily household jobs do you do to keep your home looking somewhat tidy? What daily/weekly cleaning do you do that keeps any part of your home from getting downright filthy? (thinking mostly of kitchen and bathrooms) I'm trying to make a list of things my family can help me with to keep the house from getting really dirty when I'm going through a "down" period with my bipolar disorder. My moods whether "down" or "up" usually last anywhere between a couple of days and a couple of weeks. Going 2 weeks or more without good decent housecleaning really stresses us all out. My DH does the laundry, cleans the kitchen, and cooks. He prefers when I help him, but he's adapted to doing at least those things when I cannot help. All other housework is left undone until I'm in an "up" mood. This is really not working well for us anymore. I've never liked having chore charts for any of us. I prefer a general list of things that the family can just check off. DH is great about assigning jobs when we need the kids to do things but nothing is regular enough for us to have official chore charts. My DH and I feel very overwhelmed with the current lack of a system. But honestly, we're just not good at routines. Well, my ds12 with Aspergers is very good with routines, but the rest of us not so much. Is there help for us? :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impish Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Have you tried flylady at all? Even adapting her system can be very helpful...ie setting the timer for 15 mins and working like mad. Something I really ought to do myself, come to think of it :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda in VT Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Have you looked at Motivated Moms? I think it's $8 for the PDF for the year. Just print out each week's page at the beginning of the week and check things off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin's Mom Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 I would recommend flylady also. She has list on her site that you might be able to adapt to your needs. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathy in IL Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 We have simple basic routines that cover the basics. Each family member is assigned a couple things to do in the morning, before each meal, and before bedtime. It keeps things flowing and doesn't feel like it takes up too much time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msjones Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Of course there's help for you! ;) We all need systems that suit our individual families. You just haven't developed yours yet. I started with Flylady's list and adjusted it for us. I bet it would work for you, too. The 'daily' work around here includes: Make all beds. Do 1 load of laundry (from start to finish -- including putting it away). Wipe down all kitchen counters. Clean kitchen sink and leave it empty (requires doing dishes). Wipe down bathrooms and 'swish' out toilets. (This is Flylady's 'swish and swipe.') Tidy public areas (I try to do a 15 min Flylady 'room rescue' in the living room/school area.) Sweep eating/cooking areas. Run the dishwasher. This keeps the place livable, and none of these things is really too much work. My kids do the bathrooms, beds, sweeping. I also add the Flylady 'Kelly's Missions' on most days. You can find those on her web site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon H in IL Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 I keep things pretty tidy, thanks to following FlyLady's system for quite a while. I don't use it any more because I feel as if I've served my apprenticeship and can do it alone now. (Thank you FlyLady!) Here's what I do every day: - wash a load of lights and darks from beginning to put away (actually this is more like every other day, but it's going to vary by family) - wipe down counters after every meal and cooking session - put all dishes in dishwasher as they are used (I seem to run it 3x day) - empty dishwasher immediately after cycle is finished - wipe down table or shake out tablecloth - wipe down bathroom fixtures in the main bathroom - tidy family room - a general tidy i.e., walking things back to the proper room when they've wandered away The boys have to: - put away their books, papers, and toys a couple of times a day - make bed (I wish I could say they put away their clothes every day, but it doesn't happen that way :tongue_smilie:) - hang clothes on the clothesline, bring them in - load or unload the dishwasher - whatever else I assign Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted May 17, 2009 Author Share Posted May 17, 2009 I have tried Flylady, twice. Once I lasted for 6 weeks, the other for 2 weeks. It seems like it should be easy but it was too many charts for me. I had my weekly chores, daily chores, decluttering schedule, deep cleaning/zone schedule and kelly's missions. I was flipping through my control journal and just got tired of it and would ignore a page here and there until I was barely opening the journal at all. Then I'd just go back to crisis cleaning. I also tried the SHE method of organizing with index cards. I liked it a bit better than Flylady because I just went through index cards every day. That only lasted a few weeks because I got tired of forgetting or not having time for chores and having to rethread cards into the proper places. Motivated moms looks interesting but I don't like not being able to tailor it to my needs. Some of the chores listed on the sample pages look weird. I'm not sure if I'd feel like I was cleaning my home. I guess I should try Flylady again. My DH loved that 6 weeks I was doing it faithfully. The kids were much younger. I'll see what I can do to make it more my style, like less pages to flip through each day. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted May 17, 2009 Author Share Posted May 17, 2009 Oh! I forgot to ask. How does one 'swish the toilet'? When I clean it, I use long rubber gloves, cleanser and a cloth. I only do major bathroom cleanings once a week if that. I don't even own a toilet brush anymore because the thing seemed so useless! Boy do I feel stupid asking such a question. :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefly Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 You've got a lot of good advice here! I just wanted to add, the single biggest thing that's helped us is that old adage: a place for everything. It really keeps clutter from building up (which makes cleaning easier, if you don't have to move a pile off the counter to wipe it). Everything has a "home" and the kids know when it's clean up time to go around and put things where they "live". :) Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixeldog Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I'm a FlyLady fan, too! She lives in my town and is a really great person. When I "swish", I just use a toilet brush (maybe mine fits my toilet better than yours...there are all sorts of shapes and sizes) and swish it all around the bowl. I only use cleanser once a month or so because I just swish pretty regularly. I also grab a somewhat large wad of toilet paper and wipe the bowl on the rim under the seat and just toss the wad. I do use a clorox-based spray on the seat and on the floor once a week. I use the toilet paper wad technique on the counter part of the bathroom sink A LOT, too, at least once a day, and I just use my hand to clean the inside of the sink every day (washing my hand afterward, of course). I try to do this without using cleansers very often b/c the chemicals creep me out and we have a well and septic tank. Then I don't have to "gear up" so much to keep everything maintained. I do use a *mild* clorox/water solution on my old hardwood floors and shower/tub about once every two weeks, and I use the clorox spray on my kitchen counters every other day or so. Otherwise, it's just water. I also sweep once a day instead of vacuming so much. It's so much easier. I have one of those fine bristle Asian brooms that I keep hanging in a handy spot and it gets the big and the little stuff. I keep a lot of cloths handy and change them out often (twice a day). Again, I don't "gear up", I just wipe frequently and toss it in the dirty clothes. I use the cloths to keep a clean sink, clean counters and clean kitchen table. As far as dusting and vacuming goes, I don't have a regular schedule. I just do it when it needs it, which varies depending on what we're up to, the weather, etc. I guess you could say I'm more of a maintainer rather than a scheduler. I found myself overwhelmed with some of FlyLady's tools, but kept the ones that made life easier for me. I think a lot of what helped me most is her philosophy about "stuff" (keep it moving in/out, less is more) and making sure everything has a home. I definately use the 15 minute/3 bag technique and I can say that has been the biggest help of all. As far as family help goes, I don't know your situation well enough, but I think that using the FlyLady *philosophies* (from Sink Reflections) has helped my guys more than anything. Twice a year we have a *serious* clean out and the boys always say how much they like their rooms when we're done. Plus, they love donating their stuff. "The simpler, the better" works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyR Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 This was posted quite a while ago and it helped me a great deal: My schedules Daily in Chronological Order from the time I get up to bedtime: Upon waking: empty dishwasher, put load of laundry in (1 load a day), Make bed, help kids with their morning chores Right before lessons at 8:00 move load of laundry to dryer Fold laundry when dryer is done put in piles to be put away (kids do their own) Right before lunch I clean a room and the kids do their afternoon chores (Living Room, Master Bedroom, Bathrooms dep. on day: dust, vacuum, wash surfaces, put things away) Clean up after lunch, load dishwasher At 4:30 I begin dinner prep (for dinner at 5:30-6:00) Clean up dinner dishes, load dishwasher, wipe down kitchen, set up coffee, start kids' bedtime routine Monday is Living Room day (vacuum, dust furniture and baseboards, wash windows & tv) Tuesday is Master Bedroom day (vacuum, dust furniture, baseboards, wash windows, put things away) Wednesday is Master Bath day (tub, sink, toilet, windows, sweep/mop, baseboards, mirror) Thursday is Kids' Bath day (same as Master Bath) Friday or Saturday is Kitchen day (sweep/mop, removing everything from counters and scrub, wipe down cabinets, clean oven if it needs it, etc.) The kitchen is swept during the week by one of the kids, albeit not quite right but it's done. That or Roomba takes care of it for me. Sunday is no cleaning. Laundry: Monday- Towels Tuesday- Whites Wednesday- light Colors/khakis Thursday- darks Friday- Jeans No laundry on Saturday or Sunday unless I forgo laundry on Friday and it gets done on Saturday. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimm in WA Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I also recommend Motivated Moms. Inexpensive, printable for putting on the fridge and not annoying like flylady's e-mails (to me). I color-code it with a highlighter marker so each of the 4 kiddos knows what they're responsible for and also ME. Kimm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcoastmom Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I find it really helps when I give my kids chores and jobs. My 4 year old washed the floor today. When they are cleaning, they usually aren't making a mess...... and most of the mess in my house is from my kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 For some things I have a simple rule: Do it now. When we do something in the kitchen, we clean up now--wash, dry and put away the dishes, clean the counters, whatever. And we try to keep fairly regular meal-preparation times, as opposed to people being in the kitchen all day long. We have a dishwasher, and we put dirty dishes in it all day, running it whenever it is full (and emptying it right away when it finishes). Also, I put out a clean dishcloth and a clean dishtowel every morning. I make my bed as soon as I get up in the morning, before leaving the bedroom. I take my shower at night so I can get dressed right away, too (I wash my hair in the morning, in the kitchen sink, which I guess grosses out some people, lol). So first thing in the morning, before we get started doing anything, I'm dressed, my bed is made, and the kitchen is clean. If I get nothing else done all day, I still feel as half my housework is done. One day I realized that we had clutter because we had developed the very bad habit of putting things down instead of putting them away. There was a chair by the front door where we'd stash purses, sweaters, books, whatever was in our hands. So I began nagging dh and dds to just walk down the hall and put their things away. (I had to nag myself, too.) I didn't need Flylady or Sidetracked Home Executives or anything else to do it now. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katrina Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I have tried Flylady, twice. Once I lasted for 6 weeks, the other for 2 weeks. It seems like it should be easy but it was too many charts for me. I had my weekly chores, daily chores, decluttering schedule, deep cleaning/zone schedule and kelly's missions. I was flipping through my control journal and just got tired of it and would ignore a page here and there until I was barely opening the journal at all. Then I'd just go back to crisis cleaning. I also tried the SHE method of organizing with index cards. I liked it a bit better than Flylady because I just went through index cards every day. That only lasted a few weeks because I got tired of forgetting or not having time for chores and having to rethread cards into the proper places. Motivated moms looks interesting but I don't like not being able to tailor it to my needs. Some of the chores listed on the sample pages look weird. I'm not sure if I'd feel like I was cleaning my home. I guess I should try Flylady again. My DH loved that 6 weeks I was doing it faithfully. The kids were much younger. I'll see what I can do to make it more my style, like less pages to flip through each day. :) I think you were trying to do to much to fast. Start by setting up one new habit until it becomes a habit, then add one more. I like Flylady as well, but I have problems trying to do too much too soon and end up burning out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 After breakfast I do these three things: 1. Start a load of laundry 2. Load the dishwasher 3. pick up the floor & start the roomba. 4. plan dinner - get it started if crockpot or put out items to defrost At 10ish (Snack/break Time) 1. Move laundry around and fold 2. Move the roomba to another room. At lunch time 1. ask one of the kids to unload the dishwasher 2. load the dishwasher 3. ask one of the kids to take the towels upstairs and put them away. 4. ask another kid to clear and wipe down table & chairs At 2ish 1. move the laundry around again 2. as another kid to unload the dishwasher 3. move roomba to another room At 6:45 ish 1. kids take their laundry baskets up and load their drawers 2. kids pick up misc. stuff off all floors. 3. give the roomba a rest. :001_smile: This helps me keep things respectable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornerstonemom Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 We have a board that has assigned areas that the kids clean. When the house seems out of control I yell out, "everyone clean their areas" and they check the board to see what their assignment is for that day. I love doing this. After they are done I make a final sweep and call it finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Rittenhouse Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 (edited) Quickly, I've used my own SHE method of cards for years. I couldn't afford the product/book so I made my own up. The only way I can make the system work for me is each card has a chore on it and a "frequency" on it, for example...make beds (everyday) or wash floor (once per week). When each card comes up, the first question I have to ask myself is does this really need done today? If not, then I MUST give myself permission to refile the card knowing that it will come up again with the correct frequency and the chores will get done when it truely needs to be done. Toilet brushes.....get one, use one! Flush the toilet and brush and flush all surfaces each day. Takes a few seconds each morning as you tidy the baths. Once a week a few squirts of toilet bowl cleaner and swish and flush again. Use a bleach wipe for the seat and rim, toss into waste basket. No gloves, no scrubbing....only if you brush quickly each day though. I'll never rubber glove a toilet again! Edited May 18, 2009 by Anne Rittenhouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpidarkomama Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Something that made a HUGE difference: DECLUTTER! And I don't mean take a few things to Good Will. Take vanloads. Get rid of any surfaces that are clutter magnets. I never thought of us as having that much "stuff" until I decluttered every single cupboard, closet, counter, file, box, etc. I got each of our wardrobes down to an 8-day supply of clothes + those extra things you need (like winter coats, etc.). Laundry (with 6 people) is a cinch now. One day/week I just keep the laundry machine busy, sort clothes as they come out of the drier (each person + downstairs other + upstairs other). As we have a chance we each put away a basket. Our motivation was putting our house on the market. We sure wish we'd done this much sooner. Keeping it clean is so much easier now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Routines really make a difference: A.M. Start laundry. Kitchen: load dishwasher or wash, dry, put away whatever breakfast dishes, wipe down counters, table, appliances, fridge. sweep and spot clean (mop Tues/Fridays). Living room: pick up, dust furniture (baseboards and fans weekly), vaccuum. Bedrooms: all beds made, dust, vaccuum. Bathrooms: brush toilet, wipe out tub, and counter tops, clean mirror, sweep/spot clean floors (weekly wipe down cabinets and baseboards) P.M. a lighter version of the morning. I also keep up with potential clutter throughout the day. The kids do help and have their rooms to keep up with. There are also extra weekly chores like sweeping the front porch, weeding etc. Routines really help. When in a pinch for time the minimum and kitchen(I hate an unorganized, cluttered kitchen), floors picked up, beds made and bathrooms wiped down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 On your down-times, just do basic maintenance. I would normally do some of the weekly things more than once a week, but we're talking bare bones here to keep yourselves from feeling bad about the house: Daily: Laundry (no more than 1 load a day, but there are only 4 of us.) Dishes - after each meal, including washing the sink when done the dishes (with soap and rag) Put things away as soon as possible after use Clean up playroom (twice a day, but ONLY for 5 minutes each time.) Sweep kitchen floor Wipe counter Weekly Wipe bathroom sink, toilet (shower can go for a long time if necessary) Vacuum Dust Handle all mail issues. Pay bills, file papers. Mop kitchen floor (I sometimes go 2 weeks on this-my floor is forgiving.) Put all the things away that you didn't do daily. (You know-hammer back in the basement, coat put back in closet, etc.) Empty trashcans For our 5 minute room rescue, we can clean the entire playroom in 5 minutes, except for vacuuming. Once the timer beeps, we stop, even if it's still dirty. My kids are only 4 and 6 and if I didn't let them stop after 5 minutes, they would feel betrayed and there would be rebellion in the ranks. If anyone refuses to work during the 5 minute room rescue, then they have to do the room for 5 minutes BY THEMSELVES. I haven't had to make good on that threat yet. (Thankfully-because I hate standing over them forcing them to work.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikeBookBread Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I'm SOOOO excited to see this thread. I just purchased (a very nominal $8!!!) the Motivated Moms schedule. It is great. I already have printed off this week's schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 (edited) I'm not a list lover when it comes to cleaning...Flylady is nice at setting a routine of doing a little something here and there and it adding up to a whole lot over the morning, day, week etc. The biggest key for me was letting go of the idea that it all needed to be NOW. The job will never be done, but I feel better knowing the little bits add up and the idea of blessing my family and home makes the working much less of drag. No control journal for me. A quick trip to the website for the daily mission and having done the book list for a few weeks helped me wrap my arms around the just get started... work for those few minutes... Bag boogies are my clutter control and done at least seasonally here and before all holidays and birthdays. Look around and determine what makes your home look clean to you. First thing, I make my bed and the kitchen is a biggie for me. I can't stand dishes and messy counters. If my kitchen and bathrooms are clean and the living areas are tidy, I'm happy as a clam. Laundry no longer troubles me because I do a load or two daily knowing they'll just make more. Find what works for you. I find 15 minutes in the morning and 15 after dinner can do wonders as I try to beat the clock and I do have helpers if I want them. Edited May 19, 2009 by Tammyla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 See now, I can read these suggestions and if I was in a "down time", they would still be too much. My dear best friend who recently passed away with cancer, she and I would make a list just for a day and if we did something that wasn't on our list we would put it on there just so we could cross it off. I really don't know what to tell you, it seemed to me that you were asking what your family could do.I recommend a Roomba if you can and getting your children to have daily items to do, just a couple things each that would be vital to have done when you are down - not so much a chore chart but a task or two each that is simply their responsibility, rain or shine. Our ds has a couple of his responsibilties that are his. If there are no clothes to put away, lucky him, but if he has a basket, they are to get put away. He feeds pets daily and empties one waste basket daily - he picks which one. You would not believe what a relief it is to just have that not be my concern - no overflowing trashbins? hurray! By the time he is twelve, my goal is that he will do his own laundry, it's not like we iron things! Good luck and hang in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I love our open concept home. You open the front door and see everything..... INCLUDING untidiness. We have EVERYONE take 10 - 15 minutes to clean up. There are 6 of us who clean (my mom can't help) and it usually will only take 10 minutes for us ALL to tidy up. The rule is: it doesn't matter WHO'S it is or WHO left it there, we all pick up and put away. we all strip our beds and launder the sheets on the same day. I windex my glass vessel sink at night when everyone is in bed. They awake to a sparkling sink, and i know I've removed the spots for the day. I have ONE hamper for 6 of us. Mom has her own as we were told to keep her laundry separate. I do this because when it's full, it's time for laundry. I've always done this until last month when I taught the kids to do their own laundry. Downstairs is all windows. I windex one side of the house one day, then the next, and so on..... I have lists of "chores" during the week but do my big clean on Fridays so the house is clean on weekends and I can rest or work outside, and I clean from the weekends on Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehon Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 What daily household jobs do you do to keep your home looking somewhat tidy? Kitchen: dishes, counters, sink, clean stove (dh does most of the cooking & apparently likes to see exactly how dirty he can leave the stove:glare: :D), sweep/vacuum Family Room: vacuum, quickly wipe down toilet (1/2 bath), quick clean up Living Room/Dining Room: vacuum, shake out or change tablecloth You've no doubt noticed that there's a lot of vacuuming going on. I really don't like to vacuum; we, however, are blessed w/a big, black lab who sheds constantly (even when brushed) AND we live in a rural area and are constantly tracking in dirt, etc. You may not need to vacuum quite so often. At least 1 load of laundry/day - there are 6 in the family What daily/weekly cleaning do you do that keeps any part of your home from getting downright filthy? (thinking mostly of kitchen and bathrooms) Mop kitchen, wipe down any cabinets/drawers that need it, clean bathrooms (more complete clean of toilet, sinks, showers/tubs, sweep/mop), change bed linens, laundry. I'm trying to make a list of things my family can help me with to keep the house from getting really dirty when I'm going through a "down" period with my bipolar disorder. My moods whether "down" or "up" usually last anywhere between a couple of days and a couple of weeks. Going 2 weeks or more without good decent housecleaning really stresses us all out. My DH does the laundry, cleans the kitchen, and cooks. He prefers when I help him, but he's adapted to doing at least those things when I cannot help. All other housework is left undone until I'm in an "up" mood. This is really not working well for us anymore. I've never liked having chore charts for any of us. I prefer a general list of things that the family can just check off. DH is great about assigning jobs when we need the kids to do things but nothing is regular enough for us to have official chore charts. My DH and I feel very overwhelmed with the current lack of a system. But honestly, we're just not good at routines. Well, my ds12 with Aspergers is very good with routines, but the rest of us not so much. Is there help for us? :tongue_smilie: Maybe you should just have a list of things which must be done and everyone does one and crosses off that job on the list. Your list could be taped on the icebox. You could have 2 columns: daily and weekly. Of course, with all that crossing off, you might have to print a list weekly or something. I agree with another poster who said that you should try to form 1 new cleaning habit at a time. Perhaps you were trying to do too much at one time? I used FlyLady's lists as a guide and adapted them for my family. <light bulb of memory goes off> PariSarah had a list of chores she made up. I printed off her system and used that as a basis for my list as well. Now where did I see it? I don't remember if she posted it here or over at her blog. It was several years ago...maybe someone else remembers better. It was a wonderful post or blog entry or something. Real helpful, huh. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Storage. Dh does the bathrooms weekly and I vac a couple of times a week. All of us tidy the kitchen at night. The teens do their own laundry and dh does his. But the stuff piles up, and we are not pack rats. We have an old home, and they were not built with any extras in mind. Not to mention we have dogs, cats, kids, and friends bringing dust and dirt in and out. Daily. I am beginning to think that we have been sold a bill of goods. Somebody call Oprah and have her cleaning fairies do their magic here. Daily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMCassandra Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Something that made a HUGE difference: DECLUTTER! I agree. With a decluttered home and a do-it now philosophy, things stay manageable. Along with this, we have a weekly scheduled time when everyone cleans (children have assigned jobs). We can clean in about two hours. Daily chores for the children include keeping the laundry and dishes cycling through, although DH and I do most of the hand dishes. We are starting to train our 12yo on hand dishes, though. The do-it-now is important to keep the decluttering effective. When we get home from something, things are unloaded/unpacked right away. When a meal is finished, we do the dishes. When someone makes a mess, he/she must clean it up right then. When a child discovers that he/she has outgrown an item, it goes in the Goodwill pile, and I take it on the next errand day. When I have a yard sale, unsold items at the end of the sale are immediately driven to Goodwill--they don't go back in the house. When the children receive new toys, they must give up some old/unusable ones to make room (not as mean as it sounds). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunflowerlady Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I deal with health issues that affect me from time to time. I like Flylady , the SHE method, and I do have the Motivated Moms planner. However, I find that I often need the most simplified plan I can get.:) So, I have gone back to doing what I used to do, which is cleaning certain rooms/areas on certain days. If you do this as your regular routine, your family can just jump in when you are unable to do the work yourself. So, for example, my schedule is a two week one: Week 1: Monday- clean porch : do a 15 min pickup in the dining room and living room. I usually vacuum the dining and living room on this day also. Tuesday- clean bathrooms. Do another 15 minute pickup. Wednesday- clean kitchen thoroughly; clean bedrooms. I clean my room. Dd is responsible for cleaning hers. Thursday- clean dining room and living room thoroughly Friday- day off I only do laundry or misc picking up etc Week 2: Monday: laundry room/bathrooms Tuesday: schoolroom Wednesday: dining room and living room Thursday: day off Friday: bedrooms In addition to this, I do a load of laundry every day and get it folded and put away. Dd does her own laundry one day per week. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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