I’m the type of person that can’t function with a lot of visual clutter. The house can go from clean and picked up, to a mess in 10 minutes flat. Wait…. make that 1 minute flat.
What works for me, is to have set times of the day where things are put back in order. Since we homeschool, and there are 6 children home all day, here is what we do.
Morning
First thing in the morning, a load of laundry is started. After breakfast, we do table chores together to get it done quickly. Table chores include putting clean dishes from the dishwasher away, wiping down all the counters and the table. Sweeping the floor, and cleaning the sink basin. Then, loading dirty dishes. Next, we focus on school.
Lunch
Once it’s lunchtime, we take a break and do a quick tidy of the house. Laundry is switched to the dryer. After eating, another group cleanup of the kitchen. Then, right back to school. I set the kitchen timer, and we keep switching loads until it’s all done. I strive for 2 loads, by 2 o’clock. That includes folding and putting away.
Afternoon
Once school is done (or we stop of the day – around 3 or 4pm), we focus on cleaning chores. It always entails another tidy of the house, vacuuming, swishing of the toilet, washing the mirror and bathroom sink, emptying trash, taking out recycling. I keep a dishwand of soap in the tub so I can scrub it down when I take my showers. The laundry is brought up, folded and put away. I start dinner and clean up after myself as I go. The kids have free time, and one child helps me prepare dinner.
Dinner
What happens after dinner? You guessed it! A group cleanup of the kitchen. I find the biggest help, is to make sure the kitchen is ready for the next day, before I go to bed. I can’t stand waking up to a messy kitchen.
Routine is my friend. Some days are harder than others, but it’s reasonably clean, and I’m okay with that. I save bigger cleaning chores for when I have bigger blocks of time.
Throughout our days, there is a lot of mentoring going on. I teach the children how to do jobs, as we go along. Once they become an expert in something, they learn something new. I tend to always have a child in training with cooking. They love to help in the kitchen! These are great life skills to have, and helps me keep sane!
Do you have a daily routine? What helps you keep the house reasonably tidy?
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