Get past the CHAOS n get TO CLEAN!

Feeling very overwhelmed by the house and all that work I’ve let go these past few weeks. Christmas prep has taken over every free moment I squeezed out of my already overly jam packed schedule n now that it’s here, as I attempt to sit back n enjoy my kids vacation from school n all the family that’s coming around, I’m blind sided by the nastiness around every corner and on every surface.

Wrapping paper half stuffed under the couch, the last dryer load of laundry my husband folded, still strewn across the dining table along with all the kids new games. Did I meantion? Sink full of dishes. Ugggggggh!

How did I let this happen? “How can we be so disgusting?”, I keep asking myself, as I begin to lecture my family for dropping the ball amd taking a free for all when moms not there driving the whip. But I stop myself. I dropped the ball, and I really expected the rest of the house not to as well? Pointing the finger is so draining and yet goes no where. I resolve to save my energy for getting this place in order. Not like I can relax in this pig sty anyways🤨

”I’m a professional”, I coach myself, “no task too big, I’ve been in this ditch too many times not to know exactly how to pull myself out of it already”.

Ignoring the messy house and ignited by a sudden gust of enthusiasm, I head to my computer and print out a cleaning calendar  template from cleanmama.com

…….absolutely LOVE all the freebies that Savy mom puts on her site. Thanks, Becky! Any calendar will do actually but I want mine to have two extra spots on it, one for notes (typical) and the other for rotational tasks (critical). You know the stuff you notice while cleaning or TRYING to relax that needs your attention n been neglected too long? That stuff gets jotted down on the rotational task spot n saved for when you have a free quick 15-30min n don’t know where to start. Just reference the rotational task n knock one down, as you feel like it. It’s actually addicting. And just as rewarding to write it down as it is to take care of it then m there for some reason. It’s kinda like when you see your oil change light come on in the car n you just tell your husband about it. So then it’s his problem. It’s this weird sense of accomplishment already. Writing down things on the rotational task sections has the same sensation😊

Then I laminate my cleaning calendar and dig through a box of stickers for my Velcro dots. I meant to organize this dang box a THOUSAND times but soooo not getting distracted by that now, just sharpie-ing that on the rotational task section of my laminated calendar and after FINALLY finding my Velcro dot, I stuck it to the back of my laminated template.

Now for the Strategy………….

This is the most essential part, the part that takes me from overwhelmed, not knowing where to start or what to do first, to having an organized approach n feeling like if I just kick the ball, it will eventually knock down all the pins.

From a professional standpoint I see cleaning categorically, or by task: dusting, kitchen, bathroom, floors (vac/mop) and laundry, possibly including bed changes.

So for my 1500sqft home I’m going to allot 45min for dusting, 1.5 hours for vac and mop, 1.5 hours for my kitchen vs the usual 45min for a routine clean because I got like 3 cookie sheets in line to be washed by the sink, both insta pot inserts to be washed out from the last two meals, as well as a sink full of dishes to load into the dishwasher. Then adding an hour for my 1.5 bathrooms (35min for full; 15min for half) and since I need to at LEAST change the bed that mom will be using when she visits this weekend, I’m adding 30min for that.

Back to the drawing board! This is where my new calendar template is gonna help out. I need to organize this 4.5hr house Cleaning into this coming week because let’s face it I don’t have that kinda chunk of time to get it done in one fell sweep, like I typically prefer to do saturdays, but since my mother will be arriving bright n early n punctual like her usual polished n perky self, it’s gotta get done before then.

Tues/Thursday I work, but M/W/F from home and around only a few scheduled outings so it seems those might be the best days to bite off a full hour each day set aside for cleaning, and 30min on the days I work in “in the field”. But knowing myself I’m gonna be too tired so it would really be best if I leave that for worst case scenario n first try to extend the work from home days by 15min.

I sharpie in on my template “DUST” on Monday and in my rotational task section I’m adding a couple areas in that category that I noticed are particularly nasty like the ceiling fan over dining table. Just in case mom turns it on, I’m getting that this week in addition to my Veeeery heavily occupied media center in the LR. I have a wood stove n it just tends to CAKE it in dust. Writing under “dust” on Monday,      “ *half bath” which should be a good 15 min add on to unload it from Tuesday after work. This way I can just focus on dinner dishes and those cookie pans.

Resolving one load of laundry each day until mom gets here to kill the piles in everyone’s rooms now overflowing onto the floors, and one dishwasher load each day too, to stay on top the daily dishes. I always found running it before bed and emptying in the morning as I start my coffee works best because then it’s empty to load all day. Some of you all who run multiple dishwasher loads in a day, well, your gonna have to run n empty before/after lunch as well cause you obviously home to make all those dishes. I can’t jmagine! I mean we have 8 in my household n I only run once daily unless we have guests for Sunday night dinner. Any more than that you must have some kitchen hands that use like one spoon for each stir….. like my husband! God bless you! Exactly why I just keep him OUT of the kitchen…..”want me help you, love” he’ll say occasionally flirting with me by the stove n I’ll just as flirtatiously say, “HEEEEELLS no, thank you, love-muffin”😉

So! Back to the cleaning schedule, Tuesday is baking pans n all that loads my counters, do Wednesday, I can make Kitchen day. Thursday since I’ll be pretty much useless from working all day, don’t roll your eyes at me, cleaning house for 6-8 hrs straight in a day is enough to make you beg for a bubble bath spiked with Epsom salts n a glass of wine. So Thursday I’ll just about only be able to strip that bed, run all the towels/mats from the kitchen n bathroom with the sheets, and for my bathroom rotational task I’m adding the shower curtain n liner (because that sounds like just about a full load). Then all I have to do Thursday is strip bed, start laundry, switch over when I get home n make bed before going to bed. Not to shabby for a Thursday. We good. On a roll…almost done! Friday I leave floors so they HOPEFULLY still look good by time mom walks in Saturday morn. And I’m gonna put a reminder in my phone to make kids tidy up Thursday night or Friday morning so it’s a straight shot job with less bending over n stopping to throw wet socks from under couch in laundry or glasses from living room into sink (let’s face it everything that’s on the floor the kids put there anyways, so just taking the maid outta mom here thats all).

Saturday morning that leaves a dishwasher n laundry load to run when I wake up n grab my coffee n do my 15min freshen up JUST before mom walks in. It always ensures BIG compliments, you would kill to know that hack. Trust! Check out my 15 min freshen up post for that inside info👍🏻

I have to say I feel really accomplished already! My plate feels unloaded n I haven’t even started. I’m not stressed because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. So rather than running around frantically picking here n there like a hen getting no where, I stick my cleaning schedule inside my most frequented kitchen cabinet, and watch a Christmas movie with my kids.

Heres the key all….just break it up! You’re house didn’t fall apart in one shot, you worked at it day by day or hour by hour if your in my house cause that’s all it takes, honestly. So give yourself the same amount of time to put it back together. And the more natural the flow, the more likely you are to do it again because when we binge clean, it takes a whole day, your hurting afterwards n likely loose all motivation to EVER do it again. Just kick the ball;)

HAPPY CLEANING!!