Now, however, I am a homemaker by profession. (Gulp). That means the entire job of keeping this place organized and clean is up to me. My husband is the provider and I am the keeper of our home (although he is super sweet and always looking for ways to help).
This has always been the job I dreamed of having, but all of a sudden I feel completely inadequate at actually doing it. I don't want to clean! I want to play with my baby and read a good book while she sleeps. Or maybe even sleep while she sleeps.
(Please reassure me that I am not the only one who feels this way)
So you may have noticed the short break I took from blogging, and much of that had to do with reorganizing myself for the sake of keeping my home clean and organized. I was falling behind, and blogging was beginning to take up time I should have been using to keep my home.
I used the template from Time-Warp Wife to put together a housekeeping schedule, which I keep posted in my kitchen for easy reference. While there is always going to be variation, these are the minimum tasks I attempt to complete every day (attempt being the key word here).
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| This is literally the version on my fridge (notice the fuzzy magnet at the top?) |
I intentionally didn't schedule anything for Sunday, as that is church and family day. I do have to complete the everyday tasks, but those are not too difficult, especially with Andrew right next to me wanting to help. We have also instituted a rule for no electronics on Sunday. This last Sunday we spent the day at church, enjoying and playing with our baby, going for walks, and playing board games (I lost, per usual).
Some days of the week are more time-consuming than others, and that allows me to build-in time for this blog. But I will talk more about that in a later post when I discuss my daily routine, which is ever evolving, but is something I have had to work hard to create over the last few months.
Do you follow a housekeeping schedule? Have you found it easy or difficult to stick to?
What is your least favorite part about cleaning and what would you much rather be doing? I'm going to be honest, I almost built nail polishing time into my weekly schedule, as it is something I find very relaxing. Alas, it didn't make the cut.
I logged onto my blog this morning to share my cleaning routine and discovered you have also just shared yours! Haha, great minds think alike? (We'll consider ourselves great minds, at least) ;)
ReplyDeleteYours looks good! Thanks for sharing! I always find it helpful to collect ideas from others, and then come up with our own. I had a cleaning routine pre-baby and attempted to continue that post- baby, but found myself spending an entire nap time working when I really needed to be resting or enjoying some personal time (ie read a book, blog, or anything else that interests me). I also found that I could no longer keep up with tidying all rooms all the time. (Even as adults, we're still working on the notion of picking up after ourselves!). So, I had to break it down to where I only complete one or two deep cleaning tasks and a room tidy a day. I also rotate the task list. (Yeah, please don't think me gross if I don't wash windows, mop, vacuum, dust etc. every week. I get the things that need done each week, and then save the others for a bi-weekly clean). Having fewer tasks each day has made a HUGE difference in my ability to stick with a cleaning routine. The house actually stays cleaner and I don't feel so overworked. I think everyone has to find what works for her.
May I end with saying, "Good job!" in desiring to maintain caring for your home while you also care for your child. I find that so often caring for these two areas of life is presented as an either/or situation (ie either you care for your children or you care for your home). I fully believe both can be accomplished, and accomplished well. Your cleaning routine demonstrates just that. Thank you for sharing, inspiring and encouraging the professionalism of homemaking! :)
You are so sweet, Whitney. Thank you for your encouragement. I often go to bed at night not having accomplished everything on my list, but I make a valiant effort. Sometimes I skip a day and go over to a friend's house, or go out to the zoo, or just don't feel well and cuddle up on the couch while Victoria sleeps. On those days, tasks wait another week to get done. I am ok with that, but I make an effort to accomplish at least most of my tasks every day.
DeleteBaby wearing has totally saved me, as I feel like I can spend time with my baby and also get things done. I also don't want to raise a child who thinks life is only about playing, so I like that I'm involving her early.
Looking forward to reading your weekly schedule as well!
I work full time so my cleaning time happens only in the evenings, generally after my children have gone to sleep. I too have a general routine and if I don't keep up with it, I catch up on the weekends. My husband is a great help as we share most all chores, but I thrive on a routine. Polishing my nails and a bath to shave my legs is built into my schedule/routine! As is watching one television show each week (during which I fold clothes and iron)!
ReplyDeleteI can reassure you that you are not alone, Amy. Staying at home as always been my dream job too, and yet in this first month of not working it has been hard to stay on task, because I don't want to clean all the time! I have a cleaning schedule with check boxes on the fridge but I'm still not sure if it works for me or if I should find something better. Sometimes I look at it and it's overwhelming and don't want to do any of it! I too have felt so inadequate at being a homemaker, which has quite honestly REALLY surprised me. I have always thought myself to be very good at homey things, but it is different to be here at home always doing it. I would never want to go back to my 120 mile round trip commute or the office job, but it is taking adjustment to get into the swing of things. I really do believe that I will get better at this, and already I am learning a lot! The main reason I haven't been blogging is that I wanted to get my house under control before I spent time on other things.
ReplyDeleteI had a great schedule going when I was pregnant with my 2nd baby. After she came, everything got overwhelming and I couldn't get back on track. I kind of have a once a week cleaning spree method right now. It could be worse and it could be better. Thanks for sharing your method. Oh, and take it easy during naps every now and then. It won't always be like this. ;)
ReplyDeleteI don't have a schedule, but rather do chores as I notice they need to be done - my daily schedule is much like yours, but I don't dust or meal plan; I do, however, spend quite a lot of time with meal prep, since we grow nearly all our vegetables and fruits ourselves, which means a lot of visits to the garden, washing, shredding, cutting, etc. I also make my own bread every two days, and while it's not so very time consuming it requires some planning since I've had the baby.
ReplyDeleteI think your schedule looks very practical, and I'm glad you don't berate yourself if you sometimes don't manage to tick off all the items off your list. While it's possible and right to take care of both children *and* house, as Whitney said, children undoubtedly should come first, so I think you're doing great.