Cleaning Day

Cleaning is my nemesis.  It's a slippery one that has a much bigger army that I do.  And to make things worse, my army seems to help the enemy more often than they help me.

So, armed as a one woman militia, I trudge through the house every weekend just trying to keep the house from caving in. 

Honestly, my house looks pretty decent most of the time.  It's a mirage, in some ways, but what helps most is vacuuming and clutter-control.  If those two things get done daily (or nearly), then the rest of the "filth" is less noticeable. 

Until the weekend.

Now, I visited this theory/practice before.  But, it actually does seem to be working for me this year.

Since I work and my son has after school activities, I have little time for housework during the week.  But, as I cannot function (literally) without a "clean" house, I have broken the regimen down to this.

Everyday

• Try hard to keep from creating a bigger mess in the morning - put things back when they've been used (a.k.a. the peanut butter jar, the hair dryer, and the clothes I have thrown to the side in exasperation because they looked better on the hanger).  Basically, this boils down to simply putting things away after you get them out.  A simple concept, but one that many of us could put into practice more often.
• As soon as I walk in the door, I put one load of laundry in, and fold the ones that were dried yesterday. (This cycle repeats daily, with each load carrying into the next day - it ain't gonna kill the clothes to sit for one night - though I do have to "fluff" dry them again right before I fold them).
• Take a one-room-at-a-time approach to clutter-control.  This amounts to racing through the house finding more appropriate places to put all of the piles that have insidiously taken root to surfaces all over the house.
• Put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher (unload as necessary).

Occasionally during the week
Sometimes, it cannot be avoided.  With two dogs and three cats, the rugs, like hungry velcro, become covered in fur; little furry spots on the couch begin to look like they will sprout eyes and begin to meow; and the "tumbleweeds" of fur that blow across the laminate wood floor grow, and grow, and take up root in corners, sinisterly glaring out at the world.  When this occurs, I must vacuum and sweep.  But, I'm quick about it.  I sweep quickly...everything gets swept ON to the the rugs.  Then I vacuum the rugs.  Saves time.

Weekends

• Saturday is it, usually.  I finish the week's laundry, do one set of sheets (I alternate each week between our's and the boy's), and get it all put away (usually).
• I sweep and vacuum.
• I run around with a duster and move the dust from one surface to another, filling the air with sparkly little motes.
• I clean the bathrooms (quickly, and only as much as necessary).
• And I clean ONE room from top to bottom.  This weekend it was the kitchen, which entailed spraying down counters, cleaning out cupboards, mopping, spraying down all the stainless steel appliances, and clearing the counters of useless crap.  The kitchen will now be put back into survival mode until I get back around to it.  (Last weekend it was our bathroom - scrubbing tile floors, cleaning grout, emptying drawers of expired meds...)  I try to pick the room that needs it the most.  This keeps me from trying to deep clean the whole damned house every weekend.

Doing things this way, usually leaves time for Sunday to be all about relaxation.  It also, when I do it right, leaves much of Saturday for errands and such.  I usually sweep and vacuum and do a few more loads of laundry on Sunday...and pack gym bags and soccer bags and school bags, so they are all ready to go Monday morning.  I pick out Monday's clothes, do the week's budget and plan the week's schedule (who's picking up whom when and where, who's working, who's cooking, who's got appointments...).

And yes, if you're thinking I'm a bit anal retentive and obsessive about planning, I am.

But....the chores get done, the kid gets picked up and carted to practice, and dinner gets cooked.  Usually.  Don't get me wrong - plans fall apart...on a regular basis around here.  We are definitely a "plan B" (or D or Z) type of family.