All In A Day - House Cleaning

All in a Day - House Cleaning (Daily or Weekly) How we did it with only little children Years ago, when I was pregnant with my third child, I hired a cleaning crew just before I was to give birth. I wanted a fresh, clean house to come home to. I hired one of those companies who sends out two or three people and spend just two hours. Not the best way to go, at least not for me. They weren't thorough enough. I later found a woman who cleaned homes and I started having her come every two weeks. She talked too much and didn't get enough done. So, I let her go. It was a few years before I hired anyone else. I began praying for someone who was capable, hard-working and reliable. Emerita entered our lives. She was recommended to me by my Bible Study Fellowship leader. I started having her come every two weeks. Then, I bumped it up to every week. We paid her like an employee, withholding the normal taxes so she will later be able to collect Social Security. It was wonderful to have the whole house at the same level of cleanliness at least one day a week. She would also watch my children if I needed that. It was a wonderful relationship. But, as my children grew up, their abilities increased and their responsibilites increased. I let Emerita go after six years. I had her return once right before the twins were born and again right before Charity was born. I'm all in favor of hired help or bartering for help, or however it can be done to get outside help. But, for us, it was for a season in our lives and now we do the cleaning as a family. How we do it now The best motivator to getting the house clean is to invite people over. Yes, it's true. That is when the most thorough work is done. My house is approximately 3,400 sq. ft. Five bedrooms and four bathrooms. It's tough to cover it all in a day, even for several people. (I don't know how Emerita did it, she is one hard-working woman!) I will say, that we typically don't have a schedule for cleaning. We do it several different ways.

• We start at one end of the house and begin in one room (only the older six or seven children with me). We will set the timer and get to work, giving ourselves only 15 minutes per room. If we are finished with, say, a bathroom before the timer goes off, we add the leftover minutes to the next room. It all evens out in the end.

• With the floors - we have tile throughout except for the bedrooms. I have several brooms and several mops. I'll assign one child to start at one end of the house and begin sweeping. Another child starts at the other end of the house with another broom. Sometimes, a third child sweeps in the middle of the house, which is the living room. Then, the same thing is done with mopping. We can get the floor done quickly when many people are working on it simultaneously. We also have two vacuums, a central vac and an upright.

• Another method we use is the number system. My older girls make a list of what needs to be done and assign a number to each task. Then, each person who will be cleaning picks a number. Whatever that job is, is the one that person does. It keeps people from only doing the jobs they prefer to do, ie. the easy ones. It's random and adds a little element of surprise :)

• Lastly, we sometimes just clean as needed. Whatever is bothering me at the time will get the attention. I'm getting ready to do all the windows, inside and outside...for this job, I've assigned one -two windows per day over the next couple weeks.

I'm much more relaxed about housecleaning than I used to be. There are more important things to take care of...relationships, schooling, fun bonding times. My husband is also more relaxed about what he expects, which helps a lot.

If schedules work for you, then that's the way to go, but be flexible to allow for those appointments God injects into your life that we sometimes call interruptions.

Check out the other All in a Day Bloggers...

Carrie @ Our Full House

Christi @ Where the Creek Meets the Lake

Elizabeth @ Yes They're All Ours

Kristy @ Homemaker's Cottage

Lori @ Happy Busy Mama

Monica @ Natural Mama

Renee @ Bakers Dozen

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