MY CLEANING RHYTHM

When we approach our tasks with joyful and grateful hearts the mundane becomes meaningful

The Homemaking Momma

Hello, my dear readers! Today I’m taking a break from all the Christmas talk to chat with you about my daily homemaking tasks. I get asked often how I organize my time, how I keep house, what my rhythm looks like. Today I’m going to share in detail how I keep up with the tidying while caring for my family. I don’t even remember a time in my life when I wasn’t a tidier. Even as a young girl I remember always cleaning my room up before going to bed. Literally I would be snuggled up in my bed and not be able to fall asleep without first tidying up and getting everything back in it’s home. Now as an adult I’m still very much the same. Tidy spaces relax me. I feel like I can think clearer when everything is picked up and in it’s home. Let’s start with what I do each and every day. Doing these few things helps me to stay on track and keeps things and tasks from piling up. Having a routine and tasks to accomplish is a good thing. There is joy in these things. Having a rhythm is helpful, but always be gracious with yourself. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We are all different, families, homes, schedules. What matters is our heart behind the tasks we are doing and the people we are doing them for.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

Daily:

• Make the beds. I wasn’t always a bed maker. But over the years I’ve found it to be a simple pleasure to crawl into a neatly made bed each evening. It’s become second nature now.
• One load of laundry. I usually throw in a load in the morning while my coffee is brewing and get it started right away.
• Wash dishes. Each night before bed we run the dishwasher, and then in the morning after I throw the laundry into the washer I begin unloading the dishwasher.
• Sweep up after eating/cooking meals. I literally keep a broom in our eating nook and after each meal and snack I sweep all the crumbs into a pile. Unless it’s rice, then I leave it there to harden first, haha. Does anyone else do this?
• Timed pick up. I do this at least once a day with help from the boys. I set the timer and we do a speed tidy. I especially do this if we are leaving. It’s super stressful to come home from time away, errands, play date etc to a messy house. So we make it a priority to pick up before we leave so when we return we can feel relaxed.
• One touch rule. I am a firm believer that the items in my home should have a home I’ve made it a mission to clean as I go. Growing up my mom always said, “A good cook always cleans as she goes.” I believe that to be true both for cooking and for keeping home. Nothing is ever perfect, so of course things pile up, but the kids and I are always tidying up right after we’ve finished with something and I try to stay on top of it. If you can complete a task, like putting something away in 90 seconds or less…do it in the moment!
• Wipe down surfaces and clear horizontal surfaces. This is a need to do type of thing for me, crumbs and smudges counters are no go for me, so I’m always wiping down with a Norwex rag or using my natural cleaning spray to wipe down and remove any grime!

Moving on to weekly tasks:

I do these things throughout the day when I am able. Typically in the afternoon when school is finished and the boys have their free time. I also enlist them for help with some of these tasks!

• Monday – is my main wash day. My mother in law has always made Monday her wash day, and I picked this up from her! Monday mornings I strip down all the beds and get to washing. If I’m in a pinch and have a busy day scheduled, I will just throw our spare set on, but normally I try to wash and dry and put back on the bed in the same day. I also use Mondays for catching up on any laundry I may have fallen behind on and tidying up the laundry room. I also usually do our grocery shopping on Monday as well.
  • Wash all bedding, throw blankets, any scatter rugs. If rugs can’t be washed I use a rug beater outside.
  • Treat clothing with stains.
  • Wash bathroom and kitchen towels. I do this throughout the week as well, but whatever I have I throw in on this day as well.

• Tuesday – is for our mudroom, play area, and school room and basement bathroom. Earlier this year we finally finished the remodeling in our basement and I found I needed a whole day to clean it. To be honest we used the space so little before, I would only occasionally go down there to spruce it up and clear away the dust. Now that we use it everyday it needs to be tidied often.
  • Wipe down all the surfaces.
  • I wipe major touch areas, light switches, the railing, door knobs etc.
  • Dust baseboads and furniture
  • Vacuum the floors and about once a month I’ll wash the floors with my Norwex wet mop. We don’t wear shoes in the house so I feel like our floors, aside from dust bunnies don’t get super dirty.
  • Clean and sanitize the bathroom
  • If I have time I’ll clean out the car on Tuesdays too

• Wednesday – is dedicated to the bedrooms. I always like to start from top and work my way to the bottom. I clear away and tidy up first getting rid of anything that may have accumulated.
  • Wipe down all the surfaces
  • Dust the baseboards and furniture — ceiling fans when they need it. Light fixtures etc
  • Vacuum the floors.

• Thursday – I clean my main living areas – living room and sunroom
  • I follow the same routine as the bedrooms and basement.

• Friday – is for the kitchen and upstairs bathroom + whatever I didn’t get to in the living areas.
  • Sweep under furniture
  • Vacuum and mop floors in the bathroom and kitchen
  • Dust surfaces in each room.
  • Wipe down appliances, cabinets, and baseboards.
  • Give the bathroom as a whole a good scrubbing and sanitizing.

• Weekend is for resting and also for meal planning, and cleaning out the fridge.

I’m so glad you could stop by today. I hope this has been encouraging and helpful!

Sources:

Bed frame – Wesley Allen Furniture – Style; Braden linked HERE

Bedding – Target and Piper Classics [buffalo check pillow cases]

Curtains – Piper Classics

Bedside Lamp – Target

Sofa – Home Reserve in the color Revere Bisque

School Room Rug – Loloi Rugs

Blessings,

Bree

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