WFMW - Housekeeping for the non-housekeeper

I am not good at housekeeping. I never have been. Just ask my sister who had to share a room with me growing up. Of course, she's always been a neat freak. She would be grumbling as she picked up my clothes and took them to the bathroom hamper before I even finished putting on my pajamas at night. Her house is always still perfectly made up at all times. Anyone who's been to my house knows that is not the case here. Add to the fact that I am not a natural housekeeper that I get tired easily and distracted/overwhelmed by all that I need to do, I have to have a system. Sometimes I forget to do part of my system but when I do it, it really works! Ask Adam how much better the house looked on Monday when he got home from work!

So what's my system? First have a plan. I have a master list that hangs up in my kitchen of my daily chores. I use it to keep myself on track. I don't have a time schedule, it's an order schedule.

1) start laundry
2) Kitties - litter boxes!!! and food/water
3) Kitchen AM
4) Master bathroom
5) Master bedroom
6) Guest Bathroom AM
7) Living Room
8) Weekly chores
9) Kitchen PM
10) Guest Bathroom PM


Almost everything has a detailed how-to posted in it's appropriate room. I think I've only made it through the entire list a few times and sometimes when company is coming #7 gets done after 3. But each day I start some laundry and take care of the kitties first. Then I do the Kitchen AM chores. Now in between I can get distracted by phone calls, the computer, my daughters.

Looking at the list, you may wonder why if it's seen by all guests, the living room isn't first on the list. A number of years ago, President Monson gave a talk about cleaning out the corners and then the rest takes care of itself. His point was if you focus on the corners, then the middle of the room will naturally become clean. If the living room is constantly seen by our family as well as guests, it is automatically kept cleaner. If my bathroom was at the bottom of the list because no one but our family sees it, it would probably NEVER get cleaned.

How do I deal with getting tired or distracted by my want to dos? I set a timer. I "work" for 20 minutes then I get 10-20 minutes depending on the day to do other things. Morgan tags along with me to do the chores. For some reason, she especially loves being with me as I clean out litter boxes and sweep around them. And even more of a love for her is the dishwasher. Now if she would only let the dirty dishes stay in the dishwasher to get washed.

This system Works for me (when I remember to do it)! For more Works for Me Wednesday, go to Rocks in my Dryer.

WFMW - School Birthday Treats

My daughter turned 6 last Wednesday. But it was a snow/ice day so no school. We finally went back on Friday, but Kaylyn complained about her tummy hurting, so she stayed home. So finally on Monday, she got to go to school. She was so excited because she had me bringing in birthday treats for her class.

Our public schools do not allow you to bring homemade items for treats. They must be store bought. Ugh! Expensive when you are buying for 24 kids. Last year for preschool (also part of the public schools), we got the idea of buying the ice cream sandwiches from Sam's Club. They were a major hit so this year we decided to do a repeat. It's 36 sandwiches for $6.74! When they saw ice cream, all the kids were excited.

Simple. Less expensive than alternatives. Delicious, with leftovers! Works for me!

For more, Works for Me Wednesday, check out Rocks in My Dryer.