Housekeeping routines

[Desiree Allen-Baker]

I'm in a funk and need a different perspective on doing my housekeeping. Would anyone care to share your routine? :basic07

[Terri Knoll]

live with someone else who cleans lol

[Desiree Allen-Baker]

live with someone else who cleans lol
That's helpful. :rolleyes: :laughing

[Wendy Smith]

Desiree

Not sure what kind of funk you are in as far as cleaning but maybe this could be helpful..or maybe not! LOL

A few years ago I was introduced here on Naznet to www.flylady.net
Lots of good info there on organizing and cleaning.

She suggests cleaning in Zones. Each day clean a different zone. If you look at that site, it will explain the zone concept. You can sign up for daily email reminders also.
I tried it for awhile but i can't seem to stick to it.
Can't hurt to check it out see if it will work for you.

I am in some kind of cleaning funk myself. Tho i think that comes from trying to repack ornaments and things, so the rest of my house suffers while i am doing this project. So I am behind on laundry, bathroom cleaning etc. Happens everytime i have any projects going on...I fall behind.
Since i don't have a routine, can't wait to see if someone shares their ideas here!
Wendy

[Joanne Vergin]

I second flylady. I use her 11 commandments. http://www.flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_11commandments.asp

[Barb Bouldrey]

My dad left us when I was 10 and Mom had to go to work. We had a routine that I still do today. When I go to bed at night my house is in order. When I get up in the morning I make the bed right away.

When I was teaching school I would start a load of laundry as I left the house in the morning and put it in the dryer as I arrived home before supper. By the time supper was over, I could fold the clothes and put them away, after I did the dishes. It did not hurt the laundry to stay in the washer all day.

I never leave the kitchen after a meal until the dishes are done.

I read a book once that suggested that if you want to take back your home and have it clean you start with whatever is inside the front door and clean it first...coat closet, living room, hallway. The next day you tackle the kitchen, but straighten what you cleaned the day before. Work your way around the house, but start each day straightening what you have already cleaned.

The key is to go to bed with your house in order, even if it is not clean and there is laundry to do the next day.

When we left for school and Mom left for work, the house was in order. When we went to bed, the house was in order. We spent every Wed night at the laundramat and every Thursday night we stood at 2 ironing boards all night, ironing shirts and blouses and nurses uniforms for 11 people. I hate ironing today.

Barb

[Sheya Stephens]

I used to do Flylady. I still try to keep some of her basic concepts. I have started a new job and with 3 young children, my house usually looks VERY lived in, but there is an organized chaos (does that sound like denial?). I do what Barb does with the laundry. It does help to keep it going and you get at least one load done a day. If I didn't do that, my house would be unbearable. I have also realized that I focus on different areas at different times. So for a while I will try to keep my kitchen in order before I go to bed, so that it is ready to make the girls breakfast when we wake up... or I try to have the family room in order so that we can enjoy family time without the clutter... or sometimes (and probably not often enough) I try to keep my bedroom organized and clean so that my husband and I have a place that isn't as chaotic as the rest of the house.

I guess it depends on what our life and days are like for the period of time. the trick would be to keep everything going at once. I was raised by a perfectionist, so I tell my husband that this is my way of rebelling... I just can't be a perfectionist when it comes to worrying about my house.

[Desiree Allen-Baker]

Thanks ladies, for the the thoughts so far. I have used FlyLady's "routine" before, and have come away with a lot of good, basic ideas I can use for my family. I did try to do the emails, but they were getting out of hand for me and so I've got a household notebook now that I'm trying to "build" with routines that I can refer to until I get them down pat.

What I am finding in myself is a situation very similar to what Sheya describes: working a full time job with small children makes it very easy to come home absolutely exhausted and say, "I'm too tired to do (this or that)..." And, of course, there is the excuse that I'm a single mom and it's sooooo tiring driving to work and school and keep up on my housework alllllll by myselllllllf. (Can you hear the whining in my voice?) My mom told me last night that if I can't have the President over, my house isn't clean enough. This frustrated me, because I grew up in a house with six children and two parents, and our house was NEVER that clean.

Do you think it is different when you have two children as opposed to six? or does it depend on the attitude of the parent and what he/she instills in him/herself and the rest of the family? Maybe that's the funk I'm in... maybe my attitude needs an adjustment...

[Barb Bouldrey]

My mom had 7 kids. It did not matter how many. She liked a house that was in order when she left for work and when she went to bed.

It is a shame when a mother makes her daughter feel like a failure when the daughter does not clean house the way the mother thinks she should. A mother does not walk in her daughter's shoes and this is a different time than when the mother was young.

My house is always in order, but it is never completely clean. The older I get, the less often I dust. I just do not care. I never move furniture to sweep under it. I just do not care.

There is a difference between having your home in order and having it perfectly clean.

Personality type makes a difference, too. I hate clutter. I love simplicity. What some people consider "decorating" is clutter to me.

It is hard when a woman feels pressured by a spouse or parent to do better at cleaning the house. It is better when the drive to do it comes from within.

Barb

[LoraineStanton]

Your mom said WHAT:eek::eek::eek:
Pardon me, but that's a bunch of rot in my opinion. If the president wants to come over, let him send his housekeeping staff ahead:basic05

I mean obviously you don't want any breeding spots for bugs or mice. You'd like to be able to get from the front door to the bathroom in a hurry, and you don't want any smells sneaking out that make the neighbors wonder if their is a dead body in there some where. But let's be real.

It's taken me years of getting FlyLady e-mails just to absorb three things
1. it does NOT have to be perfect
2. babysteps
3. I can NOT have it all because I don't have enough places to keep it

Now all I need to do is figure out what to keep and what to let go of

[Desiree Allen-Baker]

Now all I need to do is figure out what to keep and what to let go of
Me too. ;)

[Marsha Lynn]

I'm in a funk and need a different perspective on doing my housekeeping. Would anyone care to share your routine? :basic07

Hi, Desiree. As my NazNet profile indicates, I am domestically-challenged. I have visual tune-out strong enough to compete with any man and can sit in a dirty, cluttered room without noticing a thing -- until a guest walks in. :eek:

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum from Barb. Housecleaning is not a matter of simply putting everything in order before I go to bed. It is screwing up the strongest, most resolute self-discipline I can possibly come up with. For me, maintaining a neat and tidy home ranks right up there with losing that last ten pounds and developing a consistent exercise routine. I have long maintained that it takes me twice as long to do half as much as other women.

I discovered years before I ever heard of Flylady the value of a kitchen timer hung from a belt around my waist. Without a timer, I wonder off-task at every little distraction. With the timer, I submit everything to the clock. I have a list of tasks I have developed over the years (daily, weekly, monthly, bimonthly) and work to that list - for example, my "daily list" includes 10 minutes in the kitchen, 3 minutes in the living room, 2 minutes in each bathroom, etc., for a total of 41 minutes to start the day. When I manage to get into the cleaning groove, every time the timer goes off I drop what I'm doing wherever I am and move on to the next task. It gives me a sense of freedom and control to do that and helps me keep going. After all, there's no task on my list to which I devote more than 20 minutes. At the end of the cleaning day, it's no big deal to make a sweep of the house and tidy up what I left lying about.

It has been a while, but as soon as my household members go back to work and school after the holidays, I plan to get back on schedule. In order to do that I will have to make a pledge to "finish this week's cleaning list if it kills me -- and there's a good chance it may".

When I read the "just tidy up before you go to bed" advice, it makes me wonder if I am the only woman anywhere for whom a clean house is such a daunting goal. It's sort of like those who advise that the way to lose weight is to simply eliminate between-meal snacks.

One of the great realizations of my life was that the promise of ways to fight clutter is on the cover of almost every issue of 'house and home' magazines. Maybe I'm not alone after all.

It's a new year. Onward and upward.

:fav16

Marsha

[Joanne Vergin]

Let go Rai let go!!!
Can I come over and help you do an intervention?

[Sheya Stephens]

My husband was raised in a house where it rarely clean. No friends were ever allowed and having the occassional guests meant they had to start cleaning weeks in advance and then cutting it close as the guests were walking up the sidewalk.

My mom was a perfectionist. We weren't allowed to walk on the 'tracks' of a vaccuumed room. We didn't have people over because they might make a mess.

So when we first started out together... I thought cleaning together would be the end of our marriage. My husband went into this frenzy... yelling (from him), tears (usually mine), etc. I assummed that if the guests wanted my house clean, then they can bring their own mop. :)

I keep the house picked up... but with toys, schedules, etc I fall behind. It isn't that hard to get it back on track.

My husband doesn't like having people over because he sees the faults that our house has, but I really don't care and invite people over anyways. It is still stressful and we still don't clean together. Pretty amazing what that difference in our upbringing did to our early married years.

[Barb Bouldrey]

Marsha,

Your post made me chuckle. Do you really have a timer on your belt? What an idea!

A lot of it is how we are raised and who we are. The Mrs. Perfect Susie Homemaker went out the window a long time ago.

It is good to see Sheya write that she really doesn't care and invites people over anyway. That is the way it should be.

We do the best we can and should not have to live up to anyone's expectations of what we should be.

I am a "FAST" housecleaner. I get up and get it done and get it over with so I can do things I want to do...like read or play on NazNet.

I am my mother's daughter. After being trained to make my bed as soon as I get out of it, I still do that. After being the only daughter with 6 brothers and getting up from the table and starting the dishes so I could go do what I wanted, I still get up from the table and immediately get the dishes done, or dishwasher going.

If I have an envangelist staying with us and we have to be at church for a service, I am often accused of taking his plate from under his nose. LOL I will start to clear the table and put things away while the men are talking and often an evangelist will grab his plate and hold on just to tease me. I like having everything put away and the dishwasher going as I leave for church.

My mother would shake her head if she saw how I do not clean the way she did at my age. LOL That woman moved every piece of furniture once a week and swept under it. She would wash the molding around the base of the walls every week, too. She did spring and fall cleaning. I don't do any of those things. I might wash curtains every 5 years unless we move before that, and then I wash them. LOL

Barb

[Joanne Vergin]

Sheya,
we have been living parallel lives. :)

[Desiree Allen-Baker]

Wow, who woulda thought a tiny little request could have stirred up this much discussion! I've thoroughly enjoyed reading all of your posts!

[Joanne Vergin]

Just goes to prove there are no tiny little requests!

[LoraineStanton]

Let go Rai let go!!!
Can I come over and help you do an intervention?

:eek:You sure know how to scare me don't you Jo?

[Joanne Vergin]

Like it's my mission in life!

[Paula Karr]

My mom told me last night that if I can't have the President over, my house isn't clean enough. This frustrated me, because I grew up in a house with six children and two parents, and our house was NEVER that clean.

Boy, did THAT comment bring back memories. I'm 61 and I have yet to do ANYTHING right in my mother's eyes. After the horrendous abuse I endured as a child, I've spent time with therapists several times to work out issues so that my adult life would not be impacted.

One time, I said to my therapist, "My mother is going to be at my house this weekend. I hate it when she comes over. No matter how hard I try, she finds things to criticize. The last time she was there, she pointed out that my tablecloth had not been ironed well, because the fold marks were still visible." My therapist asked me if I owned an iron. I said, "Of course I do." He said, "If your mother makes a comment like that again, hand her the iron and invite her to make it look the way she wants it to look . . . and make sure to tell her that it looks fine to you just the way it is." He told me that I had to see myself as an adult and I had to let her know that she needed to accept that in my house, things would only have to please me, not her.

What a liberating session that turned out to be. I actually DID let her know that she needed to understand that -- although I was her child -- I was now a functioning adult and expected her to treat me with the same courtesy she would treat anyone else in their own home. She did NOT like hearing that, but it was the beginning of her "backing off" from constantly criticizing me.

I take my cleaning lessons from the late Erma Bombeck.


If you're too short to see the top of the refrigerator, there's not much sense in dusting up there.

If you make your bed and there are no dirty dishes in the sink, you can pretty well fool people into thinking you're an adequate housekeeper.


My way of cleaning now: Leave out a check for the lady who comes every other Friday while I'm at work!

[Desiree Allen-Baker]

My way of cleaning now: Leave out a check for the lady who comes every other Friday while I'm at work!
If I could, I would. :basic02

[Sara Sheppard]

I know it might be a strech financially, but you'd be surprised how inexpensive you might be able to get a high school or college student to come over and dust,sweep, mom, clean the tub. You know, the big stuff. If you let the college student bring their laundry and use your washer/dryer while they clean...you can get a really good deal.

Sara

[Barbara Moulton]

Have you figured out a way to make the bed while your husband is still in it? LOL

[Donna Adams]

I do not go around cleaning up the messes everyone else makes in my home. We have an exchange student living with us, she refuses to clean the toothpaste spit out of the sink because in her home it is no big deal to leave it there..OH NO not in MY house. She has to clean it or else here.
My dear husband is very good at helping with dishes and housecleaning, and I do not ask him too. Teach your young children now to clean up after themselves. It will pay off later.

[Desiree Allen-Baker]

Teach your young children now to clean up after themselves. It will pay off later.
I am terrible with my follow-through. :o It is a mini-goal of mine to be better about this.

[Katy Bean]

I take a room a day, One load of laundry a day, and house straighed up before I go to bed. I am the children's pastor at our church, Family readiness group leader for my husbands company in the army, I have 2 boys with cystic fibrosis, 1 also with autism, diabeties and seizures.AND a teenage daughter so scheduling and planning is a must in my home. If I can't clean that one room I don't sweat it because I believe its more important right now to spend quality time with the kids. Just take it one day at a time, no stressing and all will fall right into place.

[Barbara Moulton]

Here's something neat I found through the Organized Home website.

http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/web/pdf/0505/cleaning_chart.pdf

[Laurie Florence]

I have to take down my Christmas trees and put away decorations. I love Christmas so much, I don't want to put the stuff away. But I have to. Someone, please tell me to put away the Christmas stuff!

[Barbara Moulton]

I have to take down my Christmas trees and put away decorations. I love Christmas so much, I don't want to put the stuff away. But I have to. Someone, please tell me to put away the Christmas stuff!

AHHH..so we have finally found a point of difference between us Laurie. :)

After Christmas I always want to clear out my Christmas stuff right away. I took all my decorations down on Dec. 29th this year and took down my tree on Jan. 1.

I love the feeling of packing it all away neatly and getting room back in the livingroom.

[Dee Smith]

Get a robot. I got an iRobot vacuum for Christmas (my choice!) and I can hardly wait to let 'er rip. My dog might eat it though.

Oh dear.

[Terri Knoll]

I second flylady. I use her 11 commandments. http://www.flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_11commandments.asp

hahaha

[Anne and Dwayne Hood]

Isn't tomorrow Epiphany and the date of old Christmas--celebrating the coming of the Magi? So, put your Christmas things away Monday.

[Terri Knoll]

if a president came to my house and made a fuss over the mess, I would know he wasn't in touch with the people lol...and I would probably make him do the dishes and take the trash out and clean the doggie doo in the yard......

[Katy Bean]

Thats funny terri, you always have wonderful words of wisdom =)

[Allison Finer]

I'm kinda in a funk too, I've been really sick and have very little energy. But I honestly wake up every morning and before I even set outta bed, I ask God to give me the energy to do what I have to do... I'm a SAHM and I beat myself up if my house isn't spottless...

Lately I've been making lists to help me keep up w/ everything. And since my Dh will be home on leave for 57 days (PRAISE GOD they found his paperwork today), he's got to help me go through our house before our move... SO I'm now in the "throw EVERYTHING away" mode, lol... it helps!

[Katy Bean]

Praise God Allison they found his paper work, I've been praying that somewhere, some how the Army would do something different and find something, rather then loose it =).
Remember NO STRESS, 3 months from now if you stress or not you will be moved, so why not do it stress free. =)

[Sheya Stephens]

Praise God Allison they found his paper work, I've been praying that somewhere, some how the Army would do something different and find something, rather then loose it =).
Remember NO STRESS, 3 months from now if you stress or not you will be moved, so why not do it stress free. =)

Those are words I live by, Katy. It will happen whether or not you stress, panic, etc. so choose to go day by day and it will happen.

sheya

[Desiree Allen-Baker]

Let us know if there's any way we can help you, Allison!