Blessings From Home

Cleaning Marathon-Day 1-The List

It seems I made a grave mistake when beginning our school year this year. I wasn't prepared. I had all the school books bought and ready, I had all the supplies we needed, I even had my lesson plans prepared. So where was my mistake? My house is a mess. We started school right in the middle of our mini home remodel because I felt a need to get started.

The problem I'm incurring now however is that I'm so behind in housework that I have no hope of catching up while schooling three children at the same time. Things still needing to be unpacked, rooms finished, laundry caught up, decluttering to be done. I'm struggling daily to fit in everything that needs doing, but all that I seem to be able to do is get some of the daily doings done, like dishes, dinner, laundry, while the rest of the mess just sits there waiting for another day. So I sat the children down, and told them they were going to get a short reprieve from school work until next Tuesday, after labor day. They were actually a little sad, which made me feel good, to know that they're enjoying their school time. But were ready to help mom get the house under control.

I know there are a lot of families starting homeschooling next week as well, so if you're wanting to get your house in order before starting like us, I would love for you to join in, so that we can encourage and urge each other on to get it done.

I'm starting this afternoon by making my list of all that I want to get done before next week, and sorting it into things that the children can do, that I can do, and things that will need dh's help, like getting the old toilet off of the front porch, and of course the things we will work on all together.

Counting today, we have 6 days to get everything done, although I would like to try to get it all done by Saturday evening, as Sunday is a family day and church day for us, and Monday is Labor day, and we will likely do something together then as well. So I'm shooting for 4 days. I'll get on here later and post my list and if you're joining in with us, post your list either here or on your blog, and let me know about it. On your mark, get set, go!

Updated to add my list instead of starting a new post.

So I have 4 days and 12 areas of my home and around my home that I would like to work on. That works out to be 3 rooms or areas per day. I sorted them out so that I'm not doing more than one really messy room at a time. Here's the breakdown....

Wednesday-Living/dining room, Kitchen, and Master bedroom/bathroom.

Thursday-Playroom, Hallway, and Boy's room

Friday-Bathroom, Girl's room, Family room

Saturday-Laundry room, front yard, backyard

For today, my list for the living/dining room, kitchen, master bed/bath is:

~Clean, declutter, and organize in each room

~Work on laundry, at least 3 loads

~In the kitchen, get all the dishes done up, wipe down cabinets, sweep, and mop

~In the living/dining room, break down empty boxes, straighten designated yard sale gathering spot.(where all my decluttered stuff will go. We're planning a yard sale in a few weeks after we declutter through all of our things. Also, wipe down dining table, sweep and mop floor, and vacuum area rug.

~In the master bed/bath, get all dirty laundry out of the room and ready to wash, make bed, unpack remaining boxes, clean off nightstands and dressers, set up pack and play for baby, wipe down toilet, tub, and sink, and sweep and mop.

I'll report back later, probably on this same post, about my progress.

Have a blessed day!

sara

Untitled Comment

{ 02:24, Wednesday, August 27, 2008 } { Posted by Isabella }

I don't blaim you for taking a few days off to clean. It is hard to focus when your house is a mess. We will have six weeks completed on Friday and we will take a few days off to deep clean and enjoy. We do a lot of "quick" cleans when school starts and then deep clean during breaks. It seems to be less stressful for us. God Bless. I