Wax on, Wax off....Wax on, Wax off....

Posted by  | Thursday, May 15, 2008  at 12:00 AM  
Oh, the disciplines of Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid. "Wax on, wax off".... If only I could be THAT disciplined with the simple, daily things in life.

I have wanna-be wood floors ( I believe they are called Pergo floors) in our living room and carpet in the bedroom, and I am so thankful that we have this set-up because it's easy to clean and there's no dirt (or poop for that matter) being smashed into the main room. But if you have anti-carpet flooring, you're all-too familiar with the sneaky, fluffy dust bunnies that bed down underneath your couches, entertainment centers and corners in a matter of seconds. You gotta be on your game to keep those little stinkas from showing up on the day someone just happens to "drop by" your house. Here recently, I've had to put my foot down and say, "No more dust bunnies! I'm sick of them!" What did I do? What's my game plan?


Monday: Sweep and mop floors in whole house (after Laney is asleep)
Wash diapers
Run dishwasher after lunch and unload before dinner (this is key!)

Tuesday: Clean both bathrooms top to bottom
Run dishwasher after lunch and unload before dinner
Wash light-colored clothes

Wednesday: Dust blinds, ceiling fans, flat surfaces
Clean out fridge
Mow grass (Hugh)
Wash diapers & towels
Run dishwasher after lunch and unload before dinner

Thursday: Sweep and mop floors in whole house
Weekly Trash run (Hugh)
Prepare next week’s menu & grocery list
Run dishwasher after lunch and unload before dinner
Wash darks

Friday: Grocery shop
Run dishwasher after lunch and unload before dinner
Wash sheets

Saturday: Wash diapers
p/u farm milk
Vacuum whole house
Prepare Sunday lunch
Run dishwasher after lunch and unload before dinner

Sunday: Worship, reheat food & REST – Do NOTHING.


1.) I do most of my "floor" cleaning at night and really try to seize my time with Laney in the daytime. I can clean mop ten times faster after she's down for the night than I can when she's awake.  Everything else like laundry, vacuuming, unloading the dishwasher, etc.. is done throughout the day. Maybe I can manage to get the floors done during the day once my part-time job ends in June. I will probably change my schedule up a bit once I get a bit more time at home.

2.) Why don't I run my dishwasher at night? Been there, done that. That plan didn't work. I waited for the water to evaporate on the dishes and dry off, but by the time they were ready to be unloaded, I was ready to go to bed. Come morning, I had numerous tasks to start the day, one being unloading the dishwasher asap so dishes wouldn't build up. And I know how the Carson family works, we have grown to love the dishwasher, even though it uses SO much water. So, knowing that, I love running the dishwasher around 1:00 after Laney goes down for her nap. It also provides nice "white" noise for my occasional naps. I clean up from lunch, load it up, run it and unload it before dinner, so that while cooking, I can put the dishes in there right way. Laney started helping me upload the dishes when she was about 15.5 months. She actually hands me the dishes and bowls. We've only broken one bowl (ha!) and I've only had one smashed toe thus far (from a plate landing square on it.) Laney loooves to help unload the dishwasher!  My goal is to start using the dishwasher every other day.

3.) The dust bunnies have to be DEALT WITH twice a week in our house, partly due to the fact that we have a dog that contributes to the making of the bunnies. :)

4.) Saturday night is my night of work. I cook for the upcoming week. I cook a pot of rice for Laney and all of our meals. We're big rice fans. I make Laney's applesauce, yogurt, and oatmeal for Sunday morning. (We eat eggs every morning except Sundays). It's easy cooking all of this at once because these are "simmer foods". I also cook our Sunday meal Saturday night. I'm not a big fan of going out to eat after church. I don't mind it every now and then, but I'd rather come home, eat, put Laney down for her nap and bed down myself for some much needed rest. This plan works well, but once I am back at home again, I'll probably start doing this during the day as I'm playing with Laney.

5.) I wash diapers every other day, but if I am to have the same schedule every week, there has to be a day where I was diapers two days in a row, and that's not a big deal at all. If I could, I'd wash them every night to prevent smells and bacteria from building in the diapers, but as you can see, there's other washing to be done.

6.) Cleaning out the fridge. We were THOSE kinds of people that had hair growing on some ground beef from a month back, so I just had to work this into my weekly schedule. I despise cleaning out the fridge. I just can't stand it, but if I get into the habit of doing it, then it's no big deal. Plus, I loooooooove coming home from grocery shopping only to find a super clean, wiped down empty refrigerator. Notice the order of events: wednesday-clean out fridge, thursday- make grocery list, friday-grocery shop. If I can't get out Friday to shop, then we go Saturday morning.

Any advice as to how I can tweek this any more? Have I forgotten anything? What does your schedule look like?

12 comments:

Miranda said...

Can I ask where you get your milk? I have been researching places to get fresh, farm milk in WF.

ChezDeshotels said...

hollie,

I love the organization of your schedule... I am super organized and I actually love to clean. We just moved into our new house about 2.5 months ago. So my schedule is sort of like this:

Monday: Lydia has ballet at 9:30 in the morning so we leave to go to class and then Monday is our errand and Library day we arrive home and I lay Lydia down for a nap. I do Derek's work clothes for laundry...he works out on the farm and has poison ivy on his clothes so it has to be washed seperately.
I usually take a cooler bag and take lunch for the park or road on Monday....We live in the country and so for the price of gas you don't go back and forth all the time.

Tues: Vacume, dust all wood surfaces, clean bathrooms and wash white clothes. This is also a day I make veggie and fruit purees etc... Cook lunch load dishwasher and run...Unload before dinner.

Wed: Change sheets and wash sheets and towels, Cook and handle all business work answer mail etc... as well as file important information.

Thursday: Wash remaining laundry and vacume, spot clean the bathrooms and cook.

Friday: prepare menu and grocery list for the new week and cook do dishes.

Saturday: Grocery shop usually I try to go alone and that gives Derek and Lydia some play time and me a break because Derek works 2 jobs so he is gone alot!

Sunday: Church rest and play!

This is sometimes subject to change as things always com eup, but Lydia is such a big helper with the dishes and laundry as well as sweeping she is 2.5. We so all our work during the day so that in the evening we can play withour daddy and after Lydia goes to bed I can do my hobbies...and work...I am a freelance photographer and I also love to sew and make things so I need that time to not be cleaning....Hope this gives another example.

AJ

Jessica said...

Don't judge me...

Mon: Quiet Time
Tidy
Dishes (I leave them after dinner so I can spend time with my husband, I do them in the morning so he's at work)
Sweep/vacuum house
bathroom
cook dinner
pack Rusty's lunch

Tue: Quiet Time
Tidy
Dishes
dust entire house
Living Room
Laundry- darks
cook dinner
pack R's lunch

Wed: QT
Tidy
Dishes
grocery list
kitchen
dinner
R's lunch

Thu: QT
tidy
dishes
grocery shop
L- sheets & towels
L-lights (I put the first load in while I qt/tidy/dishes so that I put the first load in the dryer, the second in the washer right as I leave for the grocery store... it seems to be the most efficient way to get two loads done in a day)
dinner
R's lunch

Fri: QT
tidy
dishes
sweep/vac.
bedrooms
dinner
R's lunch for monday

Sat: QT
tidy
dishes
iron
dinner

Sun: NOTHING (ahhh)

This was my schedule before having the baby... now I'm trying to figure out how to get stuff done and feed a baby constantly. Now I'll have to divy them up by feeding times.

Hollie Carson said...

Aarrgg...Those spam comments are so weird. I'm about to delete it.

Miranda,
email me: hughandhollie@gmail.com and we can discuss it.

AJ,
awesome comment! I would like to really work hard during the day(all the while still enjoying time with Laney), so that my nights are free from work. It's important that we get "our" time as well. Every night I think about sewing and reading, and most of the time I have cleaning or cooking to do. And it will probably be this way until the beginning of June. I will definitely be trying out other people's schedules to see if it's a fit for me. Thanks so much for sharing!

Hollie Carson said...

Jessica,
Wow! What I love about your schedule is that number one your time with the Lord is numero uno on your list. And being that you just had a newborn, I'm very impressed. Keep seeking and following hard after the Lord!

Secondly, I like the fact that you pack Rusty's lunch at night. Does your sandwich get soggy or do you do that in the morning? Or do you cook a meal? What do you put his to-go meals in? I'm looking for "glass" containers with lids so the food can be reheated in glass. Walmart has these little glass containers with lids and they are perfect for Laney's food, but I would like a divided glass plate with a lid. Do those even exist?

Thirdly, spending time with Hubby is essential and sometimes we have to leave everything "as is" to go spend quality time with them. I commend you for choosing wisely, especially if it doesn't bother you and you're cool with cleaning in the morning.

Oh and awesome with cooking too!!!

Bethany O'Bryant said...

Wow, I have to say that all you ladies are amazing! I have no schedual, I try to just keep things picked up and uncluttered throughout each day, so the house never really looks like a complete disaster. And I vacuume (about twice a week) when I can, I mop...if I'm lucky...once a week when the kids are down for a nap, I dust...once again,if I'm lucky... once a week, I wash my diapers about once a week, and the dishwasher runs when it is full. I grocery shop when we need food and I make a meal plan and grocery list the night before. I do cook almost every night, and when the boys go down for a nap, I rest, read and sew. After the boys are down for bed, Jason and I have some quality time, although with Joanna, we now spend from 8-10 trying to keep her awake so she will sleep good at night, so it is not very realxing, but it is at least time together. So it's not a schedual, but it works. the boys pick up there toys and when I vacuume they help me pick up the house. So maybe later this summer we'll have a more detailed schedual, but as of right now...we're flying by the seat of our pants...and it works.

Curt, Mariah, & Carli Badura said...

Jessica- I too would like to know more info about packing lunch for your husband the night before. I have TRIED to program the coffee maker for the next morning and prepare Curt's sandwiches for the next day after cleaning up supper each night. Some nights, I postpone it until the next morning and am always so rushed!! I've never tried preparing Monday's lunch on Friday night though!


All- So all of you have great schedules and I am trying to develop one...

I just made a "to do" index card box, but haven't started using it. How do each of you keep up with your chore list? Do you just print out a list and keep it posted or do you just REMEMBER what to do and when? (I don't have a very good memory right now, guess that is what happens when you have a 19 month old and are 10 weeks pregnant!??)

I also want to create a scripture memory box soon and a prayer box....

Check out our blog if you have time and PLEASE leave comments... cmbadura.blogspot.com!

Looking forward to more posts and comments!

Mariah

Hollie Carson said...

Maria
I type my chore list up and hang it inthe 00031
123
0
kitchen (Laney is trying to be like Mommy and type while I'm typing.)

I like to change my schedule up as weeks/months change and semesters come to a close, so the advantage of typing it up is that you can easily edit your schedule. :)
Hollie

Jessica said...

this is silly, but when I pack Rusty a sandwich for lunch, I pack everything separatly so that he can build it at work. That way it doesn't get soggy. It uses lots of glad-ware, but it gets it done.

Jennifer said...

I just started using a schedule since I'm home with a two-month old. Due to the crazy days, my schedule even has reminders as to how to pray specifically for our family and home. It looks like this:
Monday:pray for purpose and the name of Creator
Carpool (I have an 8-yr old stepson)
Empty dishwasher
Clean bathrooms
Laundry
Cook dinner
Load dishwasher

Tuesday: pray for wisdom and the name of Lord
Carpool
Empty dishwasher
Tidy downstairs
Vacuum
Errands
Cook dinner
Load dishwasher

Wednesday: pray for health and the name of Healer
Carpool
Empty dishwasher
Clean kitchen
Dust
Cook dinner
Load dishwasher

Thursday: pray for relationships and the name Father
Carpool
Empty dishwasher
Tidy upstairs
Laundry
Errands
Cook dinner
Load dishwasher

Friday: pray for protection and the names Strong Tower, Refuge, Shield
Carpool
Empty dishwasher
Make grocery list/menu
Cook dinner
Load dishwasher

Saturday: pray for finances and the name of Provider
Empty dishwasher
Grocery shopping
Family time

Sunday: pray for faith and the name of King
Church
Day of Rest!!!

It's taking some time to get adjusted, but it seems to be manageable so far!

Hollie Carson said...

Thanks Jessica and Jennifer for sharing! Jennifer, great schedule!

Nicole McCurdy said...

I need some real help. I am going on a woman's retreat monday with my 2 month old. She is extremely uncomfortable with the old front carriers and the sling. I have been looking and want to by a tummy to tummy carrier. The problem to expensive or you can only order on line. I was wondering if anyone had one I could borrow next week around Wake Forest. If so please email me at oneway2redemption@yahoo.com. Thank you, Leah for all the great advice on the slings and wraps.

Nicole

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