Housewife Life: Cleaning House

I know, I KNOW! Cleaning is my least favorite activity, don’t worry, laundry is at a very close second. Since becoming a stay at home mom (housewife…gosh i hate that term!) a few years ago, I’ve had to figure this whole daily cleaning house business out. I am home and I feel like I need to clean at LEAST one thing a day. I’ve tried a million different versions of making myself a schedule, setting alarms in my phone and even staying up late after the kids go to bed to clean. What a total bummer that was. How does Jessica Simpson do it?

Now that school has been back in for a few weeks, I’ve had to put myself on a bit schedule and make a few lists to get things done. I’m pretty sure its built into a woman’s DNA to schedule things and make lists, and if you’ve ever met my mom…you know exactly where i get this tendency from. Somehow a list makes the tasks I have to complete more doable, and crossing them off the list is quite cathartic.

So after trying a million ideas on Pinterest, and failing at them ALL, I came up with a list of basic weekly cleaning jobs that needed to be done, and divided them up by day of the week. Each item takes about 30 minutes and I tackle it right after the kids go down for nap, leaving me a good 30-45 minutes to do whatever i want after that. We typically spend a few hours over the weekend doing a deep clean, (by we, i mean my husband) so the week is just upkeep in between. If you don’t already have a roomba, you are seriously missing out. Mine is scheduled to run every day at 6am, so i wake up to a freshly vacuumed carpet each day. I’m basically a princess y’all. Join the club.

Monday: Bathrooms. Yuck you guys. Since monday already sucks, i just go ahead and clean the bathrooms. Why ruin another day of the week with that chore? Also, here’s my thinking, usually i have guests over for some portion of the weekend and it needs a good cleaning. My task here is toilets, sinks and floors…not a top to bottom scrub. I love the smell of Fabuloso, so i go in and spray the sink, seat and floors. I use my  Bona Microfiber Mop over the floor quickly, wipe down the sink in a flash and then the toilet seat. That’s it. Get in. Get out. Get on with your day.

Tuesday: Clean out the fridge. Our garbage men come wednesday mornings, so i make sure to do this on tuesdays. Think take out tins or restaurant/pizza boxes trashed. Leftovers that haven’t been eaten yet, trashed. Once the shelves look bare, i spritz my microfiber cloth with Fabuloso and wipe it out. Done and Done. House wife win!

Wednesday: Dust and Windex. This one is kind of cheat because my 4 year old LOVES to dust (praise the Lord) and windex, so i use her to help. I spray each of my lower cabinets with Pledge, hand her a microfiber rag and let her go to town. Same goes for all the rest of the wood at her level like out entertainment stand, tables etc. I spray our sliding glass door down and let her wipe that too. I hit the bathroom mirrors quickly and check that off my list. There are also days where i don’t actually clean anything, I just spritz the pledge right before my husband gets home, and he falls for it every time. “It smells so clean in here!” Hahaha! Don’t tell him that you guys, mom promise.

Thursday: Vacuum and Mop. I run my Dyson (pet series since we have a dog) around and that takes about 10 minutes. I got that thing as a wedding gift 5 YEARS ago and its still running like a champ…even if my husband did attempt to vacuum up dog vomit with it once, but that is a story for another day. By now you probably can guess what i mop with…FABULOSO! I swear i’m addicted. Call for help! Anyhow, a quick mop down (i do typically mop a little under my toddlers seat each day anyway because its a sticky mess, but that’s just a spot treatment) and I’m good to go. Don’t forget, my roomba runs daily (sometimes twice a day if its especially crumb riddled) so it picks up the dirt for me in between.

Friday: I don’t do jack y’all. This housewife takes a day off! Its typically my day to get out of the house and run some errands or dr apointments because that’s my moms day off and she watches the kids for me. My hubby and I do date night for dinner, so i don’t even cook. I love fridays! Can’t every day be friday? For some of my ideas on dating your husband, check out my post here.

That’s it. And no, I don’t follow this religiously but its loosely what i do to keep my husband from a break down (he’s a clean freak) and my house a little less gross and my housewife status in the green. So now, when your partner comes home at the end of the day and says,  “what did you do today?” you can add a little more to that list, without adding a lot more to your plate.

If this is just too much for you, consider a maid 😉