A Manageable Cleaning Schedule
Cleaning a home can be a chore, literally. Managing a home can be an even bigger undertaking. The modern-day homemaker is not always as you would expect. While yes, she spends a lot of time at home taking care of her home and family, she is also so much more. She thrives under a schedule, she schedules everyone else in the family, she does things selflessly and more often than not, without praise, not that she is expecting it. She is the heart of the household.
Being a wife and mother has always been a big job, and while technology has arguably helped with this considerably, it has also allowed us to put so much more pressure on ourselves to do even more. Go bigger, be better, tackle more, have more skills, and more often than not, also work a job outside of the home. The stay-at-home-mom works an average 98-hour workweek, breaking down to approximately 14 hours a day. This does not mean a 9-5 day either, this can range from 5am or earlier to unexpected wake-ups in the middle of the night. A mothers job is never done!
Inspired by the late Caroline Ingalls, an American schoolteacher and the mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of Little House on the Prairie books, she had a renowned weekly schedule to stay on top of her household duties.
Wash on Mondays
Iron on Tuesdays
Mend on Wednesdays
Churn on Thursdays
Clean on Fridays
Bake on Saturdays
Rest on Sundays
I have adapted my own weekly schedule, but more dedicated to cleaning. I came across an Instagram account years ago, Clean Mama, that has a set cleaning schedule to follow and I can remember thinking how brilliant it was. I tried their schedule for the first little while, but quickly realized it didn’t quite jive with my lifestyle in the order it was presented. So I changed it up a little and I encourage you to do the same to fit your daily life.
The whole point of having a cleaning schedule is to try and prevent having an overwhelming day of chores all at once. While this method may work for some people, or it may be what fits your lifestyle best, I found it to be a bit too much for me. I do still have days that are more full of tasks than others, but by spreading them out, it allows me to focus on these things more, per it’s assigned day. If I miss a day of chores for whatever reason, I then add it to my to-do list for the next day.
Here is what works for me and my daily lifestyle.
Monday: Bathrooms – Cleaning the toilets and sinks, wiping down the tub and shower, shake out the bath mats and clean the floors. I clean the mirrors, wipe down baseboards and walls, and wipe down any fixtures and surfaces within the bathrooms.
Tuesday: Dusting – Throughout the house, I dust all surfaces. Lamps, shelving, electronics and whatever else may get ignored in the average day.
Wednesday: Kitchen – Wiping down all of the appliances. Cleaning out the fridge and pantry in preparation for fresh groceries. I wipe down all counters, cabinet doors and the backsplash. And I thoroughly clean the kitchen sinks.
Thursday: Grocery Shopping & Mopping – We tend to vacuum our house multiple times a week due to daily wear and tear and owning a cat, and while I may steam mop a couple times throughout the week as well, Thursdays are dedicated to a proper mop on the flooring in our home. First I vacuum to gather any crumbs or hairs or whatever else, and then I take a mop to the floors to give them a fresh start. Thursdays have also become our grocery shopping day, where we restock and meal plan for the week ahead. We try to only shop for groceries once a week for our budgeting needs.
Friday: Wipe All Surfaces – We could say this was inspired due to the worlds latest pandemic, but on Fridays I go around the house and disinfect all of the surfaces in our home that get used quite often. Wiping down all light switches, doorknobs, remotes and phones, the counter tops, this list can be endless, but you get the idea.
Saturday: Laundry – I try to tackle all of our laundry on Saturdays, and this includes folding the loads and putting everything away. As we add more family members, this could change due to more demand, but for the time being, this works for us.
Sunday: Reset – Sunday is a pile of miscellaneous tasks. Wiping down the toys, cleaning the pet food and water bowls, launder our towels and wipe down the microwave. I will also sit down on a Sunday to review our family calendar and prepare for the week ahead. Every other Sunday I change all of our bedding and launder the sheets. Sundays can be busy and full of all sorts of tasks.
While I try to maintain these tasks assigned to their specific days, this doesn’t always happen. Life is unpredictable. Sometimes I have to do certain tasks multiple times a week or somethings I don’t get to at all. This is a guided schedule for myself to try and follow, and I am not ashamed of myself if I do not get to everything on it. I tend to be an overachiever and pile on too much at once, which sets us up for failure when not done strategically. It is all about balance and trying our best.
Melanie xoxox