Before having kids, I would always clean my home on Sundays. Every weekly cleaning task I wanted to complete would be done on Sunday. I loved starting the week off with a clean home. After having kids, this Sunday cleaning day has not worked for me. I cannot carve out one whole day or even just a few hours just for cleaning.
I have tried many different ways to clean my home with kids around. I have tried getting the tasks done while my husband is home, but the kids always want my attention. I have tried doing all of the tasks in one hour while my husband took them out to the park, which did work but I felt left out of the family time. Basically, on days when my husband is home, I want to hang out with him and not throw the kids on him and clean.
I have my daily tasks, most of which I get done in my nighttime routine:
- Make bed
- Reset rooms at the end of day
- Dishes
- Wipe down surfaces
- Clean kitchen sink
- Sweep/Run Roomba
However, the weekly tasks are what I have struggled to find time for.
I have found that if I separate all of the tasks I like done weekly and only do one task a day, it makes it more manageable for me to get it done. I don’t really have a set time of day to complete the tasks, I just know it has to get done that day of the week.
These are the weekly tasks I do on each day of the week:
- Sunday – Trash
Our trash trucks come on Monday morning, so on Sunday nights I empty all of the trash cans around the house and put the trash cans on the curb. While I’m emptying trash cans, I also do a quick check in the fridge and pantry for spoiled food. We usually eat most of our food before it spoils because we keep to a nice meal plan system, but I still like to check while I am taking out the trash.
- Monday – Water plants
We have a few indoor plants in our house that need to be watered weekly. So, on Mondays I water all of the indoor plants in the house. This is something that can be done at literally any point in the day, but I usually do it during my nighttime routine.
- Tuesday – Vacuum carpet
We have carpet upstairs in the bedrooms and on the stairs. This is something I have to do during the day because I can’t vacuum while everyone is sleeping. I try to remember to do it first thing in the morning (after coffee, of course) before all of the toys come out and clutter up the carpet.
- Wednesday – Laundry, including sheets/towels
I do laundry two days a week, but only sheets and towels on Wednesdays. I used to do laundry once a week, but ever since our family grew to 4, I have needed to split it into two days a week so I am not folding clothes for hours.
I do all of the laundry throughout the day and save the folding for the end of the night during my nighttime routine. I like folding at night because trying to fold clothes with young kids around is almost impossible. My oldest loves to “help” and he usually picks up something to “fold” that I have already folded, undoing my work. He will learn eventually, but at the moment he is still too young and this is easier and better for my sanity.
- Thursday – Mop
On Thursdays I mop the downstairs. We don’t have any pets so I don’t really feel the need to mop more than once a week. If some spills happen throughout the day or if under the dinner table looks a little messier than normal, I do a quick clean up of that right away.
This is another task I save to do during my nighttime routine. It is just easier to get done without toys in the way or new spills happening on my freshly mopped floors. When they are mopped at night, I at least know my floors will be perfectly clean for at least 8 hours while everyone is asleep.
- Friday – Bathrooms
Fridays, I clean all of the toilets, wipe down the sinks, showers, and tubs, and clean the mirrors. My husband somehow gets so much water splatter on the mirror, I sometimes feel like I need to do this task more than once a week.
This is a task I can do during the day if both my kids are napping, but since my two-year-old doesn’t take a nap everyday, I usually just end up doing this at night during my routine after everyone has gone to bed. I have found it is not a cleaning task I can do while my kids are awake.
- Saturday – Laundry
Finally, I have another laundry day, except this day is much more minimal because I am not doing sheets or towels. It ends up only being one or two loads of clothes. I once again do the laundry throughout the day and save the folding for the end of the night during my nighttime routine.
If you want to implement this into your own home, you can most definitely change the days you do tasks. If it would be easier for you to do laundry on Tuesdays, then move it to Tuesday! This schedule is just what has become more and more permanent in our household and I have shifted things around until I figured out what worked best. Clearly, things come up and the tasks either don’t get done one week or get shifted a day or two.
I hope you found something in here that you can implement into your own cleaning schedule. This is a schedule that I have been tweaking overtime and I feel like I have recently perfected what works in our house and for our family. Don’t be afraid to try something just to see if it works and if not, you can always tweak it to make it work for you.
With love,
Victoria O’Brien