In my last post I shared about how I set up my cleaning system for my house that complements our lifestyle of learning.
I think even more important than my cleaning system are the few flexible routines I’ve developed that help keep my house from becoming chaotic and me not feeling frustrated and a slave to housework either.
For the most part, I don’t like having a life built around routine. I’ve always enjoyed and received a lot of energy from living spontaneously and taking advantage of opportunities that come my way without worrying about how it will affect a pre-set schedule.
But, I’ve found that for me, if I have a few flexible routines, a routine helps me keep those tasks I don’t enjoy that much automatic and something I don’t have to think about that much.
- I doubt any of you will be able to follow these routines exactly or even want to. Routines are highly individualized. But I’m hoping that reading my thought process behind the routines and how I’ve developed them might help you develop some key routines that might make your life run more smoothly and leave more room for those things take give your life passion and purpose.
Laundry
I do almost all my laundry on one day. I think I’m probably really different that way. Most people I know try to do a few loads every day or two. But for me, getting it done all in one day (either on Sunday or Monday), puts the job on automatic. I don’t have to think about it, and I don’t have to worry if it’s piling up and that we won’t have any clean clothes to wear.
Here are some specifics to my routine:
– I quickly strip the sheets and pillowcases and gather the bathroom towels and throw them in the washing machine sometime Sunday afternoon.
– We usually watch a movie or an episode of a series we’re watching on Sunday evenings together. I sort all the rest of the laundry while we’re doing this. This way it goes quickly and I don’t even have to think about it. Then I throw the first load in that evening and place the sheets and towels in the dryer.
– Since the sheets are already off our beds, it kind of forces me to put on new ones before we go to bed whether I’m in the mood to do it or not!
– On Monday morning, first thing I put in a new load in the wash. Then throughout the rest of the day, I fold clothes as they are done when I have a few minutes, and put in new clothes until everything is folded and put away. I try to ask help from the kids with doing this. Between Sunday and Monday I usually do about five loads
– On Thursday or Friday morning, I usually thrown in one load of the kids’ clothes since they dirty more of their clothes during the week and might not have enough to last them through the rest of the week if I don’t do an extra load.
Dishes/Kitchen Clean Up
If we’re at home I have two times a day that I do dishes. We’ve developed a habit since the kids were 6 months old of reading together during lunch. It started because the kids were not and still are not the best eaters. If I read to them, they’d stay in their seats a little longer and eat a little more.
Now they’re so used to me reading to them while they eat, that they will get upset if I don’t!
So after reading together, and sometimes doing some science experiments or playing a game, the kids usually go off and watch a DVD or play together, and then it’s my turn to eat lunch while I work on writing for about an hour. Then I wash all our dishes (we don’t have a dishwasher), including the breakfast dishes and wipe the table.
Of course, if we’re out than I’ll do breakfast dishes either when we come home or with the dinner dishes.
After dinner if we’re home, I clear the table and wipe it down, wipe down the stove and counters quickly, wash the dishes, sweep the kitchen floor, and put the dishes away. This is usually a nice time when Steve can play with the kids and they get time alone with him. And some nights Steve will do the dishes for me, which is always nice J
Of course, things aren’t always this perfect. It might be a gorgeous night and right after dinner we want to take a bike ride. Since we usually eat dinner around 6:30 or 7:00, it’s late when we come home from the ride, and I might be tired and not feel like cleaning up. It’s more fun to read a few chapters at night together as a family, so I happily skip cleaning the kitchen.
But waking up to a fairly clean kitchen is always best for getting me in the mood to start a fun project or working on something first thing in the morning.
Straightening
I have to be very honest here. This area is not my strength at all.
If I had a choice to straighten or clean the bathroom, I’d choose cleaning the bathroom every time.
Weird, huh?
But when I’m having a good week, here are some things that help me take care of straightening quickly so I have more time for the things I’d really like to do.
– Asking the kids to help for 10-15 minutes at a certain time each day, usually just before I start making dinner. This can be hard when you don’t have a set schedule and every day is different. But if the three of us work together on a consistent basis every day, I’m always amazed at what a difference it makes.
– Using the 5-10 minute stopwatch method. Sometimes when the house starts to get bad, I feel a little overwhelmed. Just cleaning in one room for awhile tends to bore me, too. So I clean like mad in one room for five minutes and then rotate to another room. If I only have twenty minutes, than I can make a little dent in all the rooms downstairs and immediately feel better about the house. Or I keep doing that until all the rooms are done.
Next Wednesday, I’ll share how I set up some flexible routines for my meal planning, shopping and preparation.
Photo Credit: seanmfreese
If anyone has some really great suggestions for keeping your house fairly straightened without it eating up a lot of your time each day, I’d really love to hear them!