New Cleaning Schedule

Posted by  | Wednesday, August 31, 2011  at 2:25 PM  
Recently the Lord has prompted my heart (through some convicting conversations with my husband) that I am not fulfilling my role as homemaker well. I love staying home and being with the kids, but at times it is more like I am the babysitter, the one who watches the kids rather than the one who is managing her home. One of the key ways this plays out is in my housecleaning (though there are several other manifestations). I don't like to clean. I make no bones about it. I like the way a clean house looks, but I can live with some clutter and dust (okay, a lot of dust) for a long time. My general M.O. is to halfway straighten up a couple of times a week, clean the house on a surface level every couple of weeks, and about once every two months (usually right before family visits) spend an entire day scrubbing everything. I know, it's shocking.

After mulling it over and praying about my attitude, I settled into forming a cleaning 'routine' that I would follow every week. I know that most of you have heard of this, and probably many of you already implement it, but I'm a little slow. Instead of overwhelming myself (and my husband, because he is often corralled into helping during the frenzied before-family-arrives-cleaning) with a big clean, I am going to attempt to clean the house every week, by doing one or two things a day. Novel, isn't it?

So here's my schedule:
Monday- Mop, Laundry and Bill payments
Tuesday- Dust and Vacuum Downstairs
Wednesday- Clean Bathrooms
Thursday- Dust and Vacuum Upstairs, Laundry
Friday- Clean Windows and Backdoor, Dust Blinds and Fans, Wash Linens

Now, ask me if I've actually completed a week :-) I have had this schedule for just a couple of weeks, and I have not yet finished each task on the day assigned. But I have finished most of them, and this schedule helps to keep me on track. If I do a little bit each day, my house shouldn't need a deep scrubbing as often!

I am not perfect, and I still don't enjoy cleaning, but I have found a few things to help me out.
1. Invite people over. Nothing is more motivating to clean than having guests
2. Find a scent that you like. I used to make my own cleaners, but I fell in love with Mrs. Meyer's All Purpose Cleaner in Basil, so I dilute that in a spray bottle and use it on everything (bathrooms, kitchen counters, etc). The smell makes me smile and makes my house smell good.
3. Involve your children. My kids love cleaning the back door. I spray water on the door, give them rags (old cloth diapers) and let them clean it off. I hope to incorporate more chores for them over time.
4. Pray for the right attitude. I do not want to be a legalistic about having a perfect home when people come over. I do not want to be a sloppy housekeeper either, whose disarray distracts from the message of the gospel. I want to be a good wife, mother and homemaker without feeling like I must meet every single qualification of the Proverbs 31 woman. I pray for grace to let go if things don't go to plan, and discipline to do my JOB though I really don't want to run the vacuum.

How do you handle your cleaning and homemaking?

5 comments:

DeenaSplet said...

I've tried to do the cleaning schedule thing, too. In fact, I have one posted on my fridge but never get it accomplished and it has been there for at least 2 years. Just remember if you did meet the qualifications of a Proverbs 31 woman you would have servant girls to help you out with some of your tasks ;)

Rachael Davis said...

Leah, I'm so glad you posted this. I've gone back and forth between cleaning my house one day a week and using a cleaning schedule like this. It's been a while since I've done it on a "schedule," but this is a new phase of life for us since I'm at home full-time, so maybe I'll try it again so that the house stays perpetually clean instead of it taking an entire morning. Thanks for sharing!

ChezDeshotels said...

My schedule is a little different but I am also a self admitted neat freak. I can't stand a messy house but I do laundry two days a week and I pick up every night and always leave a clean kitchen between meals so if the kitchen is clean the whole house feels clean or cleaner... Every morning all beds are made (my oldest makes her own. Dirty clothes immediatly go to the hamper and my whole family does that. I dust once a week and I vacumme 3 times a week (we have a dog that sheds) and I clean bathrooms 1 time week I do not always have a set day since we have things that come up but I find if I keep clutter and the house picked up on a daily basis then the dusting can not be so strict.

Meg said...

Leah, I think I am much like you :) I like a straight house, but would rather be reading to my girls and the clutter bothers my husband much more than me! Thank you for this post and I hope to implement a similar cleaning schedule soon!

Sarah A. said...

Great post and I always appreciate your honesty! I suspect that more often than not, we all feel the same way that you do but just don't say it, ha. Anyway, for our family, we gave up and hired a cleaning lady. It might be the best money we spend. I would give up a very long list of luxuries before it!!

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