As the title of my blog suggests, I am just a regular mom. To me, this means I do the best I can with what I have and make up the rest as I go. I've had a lot of people ask me lately how I handle everything without my life spinning out of control. Now, I think you should know that on any given day I feel as if my life, or at least my sanity, is on the verge of spinning out of control. Most of the time, though, we somehow manage to make it through one day and on to the next without complete chaos. Anyways, I thought maybe I should write about some of the ways our family manages to hold it all together. We are by no means experts and have come to our "system" through a lot of trial and a lot of error. So, here's a glimpse into our household in any given week.
I've mentioned before that I love Flylady. This lady has helped me to get over my perfectionist attitude toward cleaning (you know, the "if I don't have time to do it just the way I want to, I might as well not even start" attitude) and recognize that any amount of cleaning is better than none! I've taken parts of her system and made them work for me. For instance, I designate one hour a week as my cleaning hour. I fly through the house vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, cleaning windows, feather dusting and cleaning toilets. It literally only takes me one hour a week to feel like I'm on top of the cleaning. Then, every week, I designate one other room to do a little deeper cleaning in. That way, at least once a month, everything gets dusted well, sheets get changed, corners are vacuumed, etc. There's a couple things I do every single day that make all the difference in the world. I do one load of laundry every day. My laundry baskets are never empty, but they're never overflowing, either. I also keep clorox wipes in each bathroom and wipe down the countertops and toilet seats every day. It's a bit of a splurge for this homemade cleaner gal, but I love knowing that all those germs are taken care of on a daily basis and it's easy for the kids to help with this one. That's literally the basics of my cleaning. One hour a week and about 15 minutes a day.
The other thing I do every week that saves us from a lot of chaos is I plan a weekly menu. I sit down every Thursday afternoon and plan my menu for the following week. I use the grocery ads to plan around what's on sale and make my grocery list as I plan my meals. I also have my calendar in front of me so I can plan crock pot meals for the days I'm working, easy meals for nights we're busy, etc. This takes me about an hour, which may seem like a lot, but I never have to wonder what's for dinner, make last minute trips to the store, eat out, etc. This saves me time and money and saves my sanity!! I designate one day as errand day and try and save all my running around for that day. This helps me spend less money, saves on gas and allows me to have days where I don't have to leave the house. I love those days!!
There you have it, that's a glimpse into our home. I really love hearing about how other people handle their households, looking for gems I could incorporate into my crazy life. I figured maybe somebody somewhere could glean something from hearing about my regularness (pretty sure that's not a word).
This is really great! Thanks for sharing. I love the idea of designating an hour per week where you "fly through the house" cleaning. I think I will try that. Also, great idea to do a weekly menu. I try to do that, too, but don't always manage it before it's time to go shopping. It is nice to hear that it takes you about an hour, because I felt like I was spending too much time on it. But you are right--it is important!
ReplyDeleteThe only semi-gem that I have to share is that I clean up the kitchen every night before bed. It doesn't take long--just put everything away/in the dishwasher and wipe down the counters. But it lets me start each day with a clean kitchen--a great feeling!
I do that too! It's so horrible when I'm too lazy and I wake up to a dirty kitchen, sets the whole day off wrong. It also helps that I have a hubby who cleans up after dinner every night :-)
DeleteThanks for reading and sharing, Jenn!