My new job

I believe I've mentioned before how difficult it has been to transition from the career workforce to being a stay at home wife and mom.  Even though I had previously worked out of the house I had to mentally block any housekeeping in order to focus on my job.  It just continued after I stopped working!  Then I looked around and didn't know where to start - it was SO overwhelming!  In the summer, my sister introduced me to the book Large Family Logistics which I have mentioned here previously.  It helped me start thinking of a plan of attack - encouraging yet challenging.  So in this post, I am going to share how I intend to keep the house moderately sane and clean.  I have been following this schedule for a month or so and it has been helping immensely!  I don't feel overwhelmed anymore!  Granted, things come up.  For example, this weekend Kale'a was sick with a high fever and is still recovering which means my job is to cuddle and care - which I love!  Dishes can wait, the bathrooms can wait, but sick baby can't!  Anyways, here is my schedule...

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Rest Day	Laundry Cleaning	Kitchen day -     Baking -     Cleaning	Office Projects visit Aimee’s	Town day	Cleaning	FUN Projects Cleaning Yard Work

Now you're probably saying "What do some of these days mean?  Office?  Town Day?"  Well, Town Day is errand day.  Office Day is things like pay bills, file, menu planning, etc.  Project Day is for crafts or other personal projects that never seem to get done.  The Monday Cleaning is usually catch-up from the weekend since I generally don't do dishes, especially on Sunday, and the house can be a mess.

CLEANING:  I have found a way to not go too crazy.  I say that knowing the older the kids get and the more I have, this will probably change.  What I do is spend one week to focus on a certain room of the house.  This week are the bathrooms.  Because cleaning is spread out during the week, I can either clean it little by little or all at once on Friday.  I have found most rooms don't need deep cleaning  more than once a month.  So my categories are: Kitchen, Bathrooms, Bedrooms and Living/Dining Room.  I used to feel stressed out trying to clean the whole house in one day, usually Saturday, then wait 6-8 weeks to do it again!  No more!

I will use following posts to show how I clean certain rooms.  You may think the kitchen is just washing dishes, wiping counters, sweep/mop floors and the occasional cleaning out of the refrigerator.  Nope!  There is so much to do (but not every time) that you will be amazed but satisfied when you do it!

So what about you?  Do you have a housekeeping "plan"?  Share!  How do your kids help out?  If you feel stressed about housekeeping, I hope you feel encouraged and enlightened by these posts.