A Realistic Cleaning Schedule Working Parents Can Stick To

The post A Realistic Cleaning Schedule Working Parents Can Stick To appeared first on Penny Pinchin' Mom.

As a working mom, keeping a realistic cleaning schedule for your home is the only way to go. Yes, you might feel like you can do it all in one weekend, but trust me when I tell you, that isn’t the best of plans.

For one thing, your house will remain a complete mess until the weekend arrives, then go back to being a complete mess come Tuesday, and the cycle starts all over again.

Another thing is that the weekends are supposed to be your rest days. Filling them up with house chores leaves you with nothing to look forward to after a long week of hard work.

So, moms, please don’t leave all the house chores for the weekend. Instead, you can create a realistic cleaning checklist and schedule that incorporates all the days of the week.

Nothing too crazy; a little wiping here, a little sweeping there, maybe some decluttering sprinkled in… you know, break those house chores down to simple daily tasks that can easily be done consistently, and you will have a clean house without necessarily breaking your back or wasting your weekend.

As a working mom, here’s what my realistic cleaning schedule looks like!

Every Day Can be a Cleaning Day

“Cleanliness is not next to godliness; it is godliness.” – Mahatma Gandhi

That’s the motto around my house. I have implemented a chore chart that includes everyone in the family, and every day is a cleaning day.

Monday: Declutter

Being the day right after the weekend, there’s going to be stuff lying around the house. So this day is for decluttering, and it’s an all-hands-on-deck affair at my house.

Rooms: Everyone starts by decluttering their rooms first before we assemble in the common rooms, such as the living room, kitchen, and bathrooms. 10-minute Tidy-up Rule: I have this thing in my house where we all take 10 minutes at the end of our days to tidy up our personal spaces, and this is done every day. Being that the weekend gets very busy with the kids playing and running around, the previous 10 minutes are often not enough to get everything done, so that spills over to Mondays.

The idea here is to keep the spaces as clutter-free as possible. After that, people can go about their business.

Tuesday: Dust and Shine Day

Dusting is a necessary part of the house cleaning process. So much so that if I weren’t a working, busy mom, I think I might dust the house daily. Not that it’s that much fun, but because it serves the following main purposes:

It keeps the house looking spick-and-span Improves the air quality

When it comes to dusting, the trick is to start with the highest points and slowly but methodically work your way down. Since dust tends to settle, starting at the bottom would be a waste of time; you’ll have to redo those spaces after you are done with the higher ones.

Wednesdays: Kitchen

At my house, everyone does the dirty dishes in turns, so that’s never really an issue. However, there are more than just dishes in the kitchen, and on Wednesdays, I like to focus on those other things.

Appliances: Every appliance needs to be wiped down properly. I like to give each child their own appliance to focus on. From the toaster to the microwave and coffee maker, each child is responsible for making sure that their appliance(s) are clean. I usually take on the oven because I’m quite particular about that one, and I don’t fully trust those adorable little rascals to get that one right! Surfaces: Whoever’s not doing the dishes on that day helps with wiping down the countertops and other surfaces, as well as organizing the cabinets. We also clean the fridge out before every trash day. We don’t want last week’s tuna casserole living in the back of the fridge for another week, do we?

Thursday: Bathrooms

I can tell you this right now: not very many people are going to want to help with cleaning the bathrooms, but they have to be done. If you have more than one bathroom in the house, divide and conquer. Split the labor force evenly.

Clear the surfaces: Make sure that all the items in the bathroom are neatly tucked away in the cabinets or in their rightful place. This leaves you with clutter-free surfaces that you can dust and wipe down. Scrub the bowls: From the bathroom sink to the bathtub and shower, you need to thoroughly scrub these bowls and surfaces with the right cleaning supplies. This isn’t something you are doing for the sake of doing it. Bathrooms can be a hotbed for bacteria and fungi. Using a powerful disinfectant is always advisable.

Friday: Floors

On Friday, I like to have all the floors cleaned and vacuumed. Done weekly, this cleaning becomes straightforward.

Vacuum and Sweep: The trick is to focus on the often neglected spaces, such as under the furniture and corners. You’ll find lots of pet hair and dust gathered in these places throughout the week. Clean and Mop: Once you are done with the sweeping and vacuuming, you can mop up the areas in the house where the floors need to shine a bit. You know your house best; make sure that each floor material gets cleaned with its own specifically unique cleaning material and method.

Saturday: Laundry Day

Saturday is laundry day. Everyone brings out their dirty clothes from the week. After tossing them in the washer, everyone pitches in to iron and fold and put them away.

It’s that simple. In my house, you are responsible for your own laundry. Mom isn’t going to put your socks and underwear away for you!

Of course, I take on the lion’s share of the cleaning routine, but involving the family makes things much easier and lighter. I like to leave Sunday free.

It’s the one day we hardly do anything except light chores like cooking and washing dishes. On this day, I like to review the progress we made during the past week and tweak whatever needs tweaking to make sure that the coming week is even more efficient.

I find that this is a realistic cleaning routine and schedule that my family and I can stick to despite our busy lives. Now and again, I hire a professional cleaning service to get to those places we don’t usually get to, but that’s about it. My house is almost always spick and span. Almost!

The post A Realistic Cleaning Schedule Working Parents Can Stick To appeared first on Penny Pinchin' Mom.