Squeaky Clean

If you've ever popped over and visited me, you may have been surprised by my clutter, my dust, and my general messiness.  I even have a magnet that reads: "You can touch my dust but please don't write in it."  It drives me insane that my house is not in order, but somewhere along the way I just gave up on it.  I figured whatever.  It's never going to be clean so what's the point.  The end result: hours and hours of deep cleaning required anytime I know someone is coming over.  The even deeper end result: inviting people over drops lower and lower on the list of things I want to do, mostly because I will be embarrassed by the condition my house is in if I don't get the chance to scrub it down and de-clutter. 

Please don't get me wrong.  I am not disgusting dirty.  Just clutter dirty.  But still, I don't think it brings glory to God, nor does it give me the freedom to invite a neighbor over at any given moment or that couple at church that just looks downtrodden and in need of fellowship and encouragement.  Plus, I am never at peace.

So, as you may have seen in an earlier posting, I made a New Year's Resolution to create a home organization notebook, and in that notebook would go my cleaning schedule.  Last year my friend Amy directed me to an awesome monthly cleaning schedule at Just Mommies and I tried to use it.  I loved how the calendar gives you a job to do throughout the month to keep your house squeaky clean, in addition to regular weekly chores.  What I didn't like was that you had to look in two different places for that day's chores.  So I looked through the months and found a pattern and created my own calendar on my iCal (could use Outlook or other calendar program) that has all of the montly chores, weekly chores, and monthly de-clutter challenge chores listed, with Sundays always off, no matter what.  Then I printed it out and stuck it in my notebook.  I cross off the things I get to and the things I don't get to  I do by the end of the week if I can.  At any rate, my house is cleaner than I think it has ever been.  :-)

I realize that this might be helpful for others who may be challenged daily with disorganization and messy houses, so each month I will post at the beginning of the month what the schedule is.   I am a little late this month, but nevertheless here are the remaining days for January:

12-Clean bathrooms, vacuum, dust

13-laundry, clean refrigerator and microwave, wipe down door knobs and light switches, clean windows

14-vacuum, replace air filters, menu plan

15-laundry, mop, clean automobile

16-wipe down kitchen cabinets and pantry, wipe down master bedroom walls/doors/trim

17-off

18-laundry, change bed linens, change towels

19-wipe down kitchen chairs, clean bathrooms, dust, vacuum

20-vacuum insides of sofas, laundry, clean windows, wipe down door knobs and light switches

21-menu plan, vacuum

22-clean oven, laundry, mop

23-wipe down blinds in master bedroom, clean toaster and coffee maker

24-off

25-laundry, change bed linens, change towels, wipe down baseboards in kitchen/bathrooms

26-vacuum, clean bathrooms, dust ceiling fans and light fixtures, dust

27-clean windows, wipe down door knobs and light switches, laundry

28-vacuum, menu plan, clean refrigerator and microwave

29-wash out trash cans, mop, laundry

30-wipe down air vents throughout the house

31-off

As the site suggests, I am also trying to make a daily habit of making my bed (and ensuring the kids make theirs), wiping down bathroom counters, and setting out dinner in the morning, and making sure the house is tidied and the kitchen is clean before bed.  I do enjoy coming downstairs to a clean kitchen and drinking coffee without staring at a pile of dishes from the night before.  :-)