the cleaning routine that is changing my life

I love to organize. I hate to clean… except for when I’m stressed-out to the max, then somehow it becomes therapy. But I used to live in this state of bliss where I would go to work and come home and cook, then kick back and relax and let the house fall to complete disarray. Then a week or so later I’d walk in the door with the perspective of a stranger, finally notice the nearly-worthy-of-it’s-own-TLC-show mess that had become my house, and go on a cleaning frenzy. For hours. It was this sick cycle. I loved things being clean, but it was waaaaaaay to against my free-spirited DNA to become a slave to keeping my house clean as the expense of a night out or a last-minute meet-up with friends or just plain relaxing on my couch and watching netflix with J. So the cycle continued on for years. Years, you guys.

Then I gave birth to the most precious little person I’ve ever laid eyes on, quit my job as a teacher, and stayed home with that little fella… and ALL OUR MESS. When you look at it all day, every single day it becomes a lot less tolerable! See, when I worked, my classroom was somewhat of a sanctuary. I spent an entire summer in that room almost every day working out the perfect lighting and sound set-up, putting up inspiring quotes and sewing pillows and rugs and picking out the perfect colors to give off this happy, yet soothing vibe. I even created this life sized "oak tree" out of wood-grain contact paper that covered my reading nook. And no matter how messy my house was, that was only where I spent a very small fraction of my day. The rest was spent in my “sanctuary” of sorts. These days, I have no such escape. Well, besides Target of course, but that sanctuary starts shrinking my bank account the second I step foot in the door. So I decided it was time to try something new and made a plan.

I’ve seen a thousand of those chore charts and cleaning plans on pinterest. In fact, back in my pre-baby days I made this habit of scoffing at them and trying to imagine what the crazy, OCD person who came up with them must be like (as I sat there in the floor on my computer surrounded by mountains of laundry and dust so thick that if I waited a few months longer I could just call it faux snow and everyone would think I was really on it, decorating for the holidays with attention to detail). I didn’t think those ridiculous charts were for me and I didn’t think there was a happy medium until I actually tried it. Y'all. WHY DID I NOT DO THIS SOONER?!?!

Its the perfect solution for the person who hates cleaning and wants to be able to do whatever, whenever, and be able to invite friends over or throw a party on a whim. I never have to designate hours to cleaning anymore because my house is always somewhat clean. And somewhat is really the key word here. If you’re a perfectionist this my not fly, but for me its perfect. I don’t have to have everything in a continual state of spotlessness. The primary purpose of our house is for living in, not looking at, after all. But at the same time, I welcome the drop-in or last minute dinner-with-friends-at-our-place on a whole new level. This is my schedule and it’s a mix of a few I’ve seen floating around.

MORNING
wipe down bathroom surfaces
make bed
unload dishwasher

NIGHT
load dishwasher
wipe down kitchen counters
take out trash
sort dirty laundry

WEEKLY
M \\ vacuum & spot mop
T \\  grocery day 
W \\ toilets and shower
T \\ mirrors + windows + surfaces
F \\ swing day
S \\ laundry

SWING DAYS
1.0  clean cabinets and organize something
2.0  clean oven, microwave and fridge
3.0  vacuum and clean sofas
4.0  clean baseboards and under furniture

I’ll be honest, with you… 

> The first week was a lot of work, but after that it got so much easier and I so fell in love with being home and not feeling like I needed to clean something because I had done all I needed to for that day and still had tons of time to do whatever else I wanted!

> I wipe down bathroom surfaces while I swish mouthwash and brush my teeth and now have no idea what in the world sort of useless things I used to do with those 3 minutes. 

> It may seem crazy or redundant at first to clean the same thing so often (like wiping down bathroom surfaces every morning or cleaning windows once a week) but the beauty of it is that because you’re doing it that often, you don’t have to do it perfectly every time. If you miss a spot - or a lot of spots - no big deal because it will only be few weeks before you’ve covered it all. 

> Swing day is for chores that need to be done monthly instead of weekly. 

> I do the 1 big daily chore each day (like vacuuming) while Eli naps, so I don’t feel like I’m giving up time with my baby to make my house spotless. I put him in the Ergobaby, turn on my music, and view it as part of my daily workout. Which it really is, you guys! A 20lb baby strapped to your body while doing any normal task = majorly sore (yet super toned!) muscles. 

> I still skip days every now and then.

> I only go to the grocery store every other week, so every other Tuesday can be a day for me to catch up, get ahead or just take it easy. 

> I don’t spend more than a half hour doing whatever daily chore I have for the day (besides grocery shopping). It really takes that little time. 

> Even though "laundry day” is Saturday, I still do at least 1 load every day just because it’s too easy not to… also because I cloth diaper a 6 month old.  =)


While we’re on the topic, I read THIS beautiful post last week about the near extinction of the “drop-in” and it totally resonated for me. It also made me feel really good about taking on this new way of maintaining our house because it puts me in a position to be more open to the drop-in and available to my dear, sweet friends… more people focused, less thing (house included) focused. That’s the direction we keep moving in, and each step so far - no matter the adjustments required - has been one more in the right direction.